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CENTRAL VALI ' REGIONAL WATER QUALIT ONTROL BOARD INSPECTION REPORT 10 July 2001 - DISCHARGER: Bear Creek Winery LOCATION & COUNTY: San Joaquin County CONTACT(S): Vince Westphal, Craig Rous INSPECTION DATE: 7 June 2001 INSPECTED BY: Tim O'Brien, Wendy Wyels ACCOMPANIED BY: OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS: This inspection was made prior to requesting a Report of Waste Discharge (RWD). The existing Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) are outdated and do not reflect the current regulation of winery wastewater. The Discharger asked for a copy of a current set of WDRs and the application information for the NPDES Stormwater Permit. Bear Creek Winery is a"bulk'winery; all wine produced by this facility is shipped to other wineries or sold to individuals. No bottling takes place here, although there is some kegging of wine. Most wastewater is produced during the crush. Previous flow measurements are thought to be highly inaccurate. The Discharger is expanding its tank farm so that they can crush an additional 1,000 tons of grapes/year. Wastewater flows from the concrete pads in the tank farm to an intermediate sump,where it is screened and then pumped to the final sump (beyond the disposal field). Effluent samples are collected from the final sump. Wastewater is currently spread by checks on a relatively small land disposal area; however, 103 acres are available for wastewater disposal. No crops are being grown on the disposal ground. Significant odor was noted along the eastern edge of the disposal field. The field is bermed along the north side (parallel to a public road). There was no evidence of overflows from the disposal field into Bear Creek. Filter press material is stored on the ground before it is hauled to the fields and incorporated. Pomace is conveyed directly to trucks and then spread on any of 5,000 acres of vineyards. There are 103 acres of vineyards contiguous with the Bear Creek Winery and an additional 5,000 acres of grapes owned by the Discharger in the local area. The distillery has not been operated for at least five years; there are no plans to run it again. There are two distillery boilers. One is inefficient and would need to be replaced before the distillery could operate again. The other boiler was used for about 1-1/2 days last year to generate hot water for the winery. Before the distillery could operate again, the Discharger would need to obtain County and ATF permits. We agreed that the updated WDRs will prohibit the use of the distillery. If the Discharger decides to use it again,then they would file a new RWD.