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Schenone Specialty Food., _.ic. 06 Sep 2009 Dear Ms. Serra, Mr, Kenny, Mr. Ceccarelli, and Mr. Rosenbaum; As you may recall we built and operate a small chocolate factory with wastewater flows on the order of 600 to 1000 gallons per day. We have a multiple tank passive grease/septic treatment system followed by pressure dosed leach fields and seepage pits. We are currently regulated under order number R5-2004-0034. We have been issued several violations that we are still working diligently to resolve. This has taken longer than anticipated and has put myself in a very precarious and unfortunate situation. My original interactions with county EHD staff and engineers led me to believe that the County EHD would be the lead agency and had an engineered septic system that was approved by them, designed and installed. During the actual course of construction the lead agency was changed from the county to the state. I admittedly wasted a lot of effort and goodwill trying to get the state to accept the counties approval. After all these years, and quite an education in wastewater systems, I know understand the legitimacy of the States position and wish that I had spent my efforts working with a different installer, installing a different system. I had no idea how bad this could get. Purpose of This Memo I respectfully request that you allow me the opportunity to outline to you my approach to comply with the WDR violations and provide a brief status of our waste treatment system. Please allow me to update you on the progress we are taking to make our system in full compliance with the requirements of the CRWQCB. Although I do not offer as an excuse for my continued noncompliance, I do want to reiterate that the record should show that I have attempted to work with the Regional Water Board staff to keep them apprised of the issues and challenges we are facing. I also want to reiterate that I take my obligations and commitments to the Board seriously but I have been unable to comply despite my best intentions. My non- compliance to date has not been malicious or negligent but rather I have experienced extreme financial hardships and unforeseen business challenges. My business has suffered greatly many issues including a divorce, a drop in business, due to the economy, the increased overhead of our new building, family illness, and the very large costs of monitoring and compliance. Again I want to make clear that I am not offering these reasons as justifications to absolve myself of my responsibilities but rather I do want you to understand that if could have, I would have fixed these issues immediately it would not have taken as long as it has to achieve the limited, yet incomplete, resolution I still face. My immediate goal of course is to comply with the WDR as soon as possible and become in full compliance with the Boards requirements and intentions. Page 2 of 5