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CONFII3ENTI_AL ATTO,�NEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE Mr, Scott Malm Cassel Milia Fagundes, LLP September 9, 2008 Page 2 solids cleaned from the screen fall back down into the pump vault and then can easily enter the effluent distribution system and cause plugging. The secondan- disposal system suffers gradual loss of infiltrative capacity, which has resulted in system failure a number of times. Although not confirmed, biomat Formation is likely the cause of failure. The seepage pits for the secondary disposal system did not have inspection ports and were not located as drawn in the as-built drawings. The wastewater system was initially expected to be regulated by the San Joaquin County Environmental Health Department. After reviewing the application information, Regional Nater Board staff determined that they should regulate the system rather than San Joaquin Counry. Permit costs,monitoring, and reporting costs have been eery high. If the system had been planned properly, it may have been possible to remain under County regulation at far lower annual costs. The system was supposedly designed to handle up to 1,800 gallons/day (gpd) of effluent. Even with the average daily flow for the last several years of operation at approximately 800 gpd, the system has still experienced failures. The most significant design issue was the assumption of the designer, Mr. Don Chesney(Chesney), that the wastewater strength would be similar to domestic wastewater. Chesney did not measure the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) from the operations existing at the time of design, as he had proposed,nor did he calculate BOD based on information supplied to him. Chesney was reportedly told that chocolate syrup waste would be approximately 2 quarts per day comprising 50% sugar and 20% cocoa. Based on the chemical composition of sugar and available references on cocoa, oxygen demand from this readily degradable waste can be calculated to be approximately 3.2lbs/d, not including any allowance for other incidental chocolate wastes from the factory, or store. Combined with the domestic wastewater at an assumed 140 mg/L BOD concentration after the primary septic tank, this would translate to a total BOD of approximately 500 mg/L. Nolte subsequently measured the BOD from the cleanup wastewater at the old Stockton factory at 1,470 mg/L, and estimated total combined wastewater strength at 570 mg/L. If Chesney had either calculated or measured the wastewater strength, the basis of design would have been for wastewater strength approximately 2 to 3 times what he assumed. The actual strength after septic tank treatment has been approximately 1,000 mg/L, or 7 times as strong as domestic septic tank effluent. There are two wastewater disposal systems at the Chocoholics factory—the priman disposal system and the secondary disposal system. The primary disposal ststem is intended to provide sufficient disposal capacity for the entire design flow. The four points below describe issues with the design of the primary wastewater disposal area which result in less capacity than being claimed by Chesney, even if it had been constructed properly.