SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

Home Browse Search

WASTE DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS 2 CALIFORNIA CONCENTRATE COMPANY WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL FACILITY SAN JOAQUINCOUNTY 6. The wastewater generated from these processes is characterized by intermittent slug flows with wide variations in hydraulic and organic loading, and by very high average 136D5 concentrations (in the range of 4,700 mg/1). 7. The average total dissolved solids (TDS) in the wastewater is 593 mg/l, based on four readings taken on the aeration pond from November 1996 to March 1997. The TDS in the groundwater supply is 300 mg/l, based on a single reading recently taken. 8. Solid wastes including stems and leaves,pomace, and other solids from grape processing are dropped into bins or directly onto trucks and used for land application at a nearby vineyard. Solids from barley processing are dropped from a roof-mounted screen into trucks,then are hauled off-site and used for animal feed. 9. Storm water during facility operations is treated as wastewater. Over weekends and on holidays when the plant is not in operation, storm water can be diverted to a pecan orchard on the south side of the property. 10. According to a 4 July 1988 Federal Emergency Management Agency Flood Insurance Rate f Map (Panel No. 145),the Discharger's office and processing facility buildings and the northern portion of the designated disposal area are outside the 500-year floodplain, but the southern evaporation and percolation(EP)beds may be within the 100-year floodplain. The pecan orchard is within the 100-year floodplain, and both the beds and the orchard are within a State Reclamation Board Designated Floodway. In the winter and spring of both 1995 and 1997,the disposal ponds were inundated with Mokelumne River water because the inner levee protecting this area was breached. Effective and routine maintenance of the levees surrounding the ponds and EP beds is critical to providing adequate flood protection for the treatment and disposal facilities. 11. Since 1985,the Discharger has had chronic nuisance odor problems because the wastewater treatment and disposal system was not adequate to handle the wastestream, and the disposal beds or ponds were often under anaerobic conditions. On 22 May 1987,the Board adopted Administrative Civil Liability Order No. 87-095 because the Discharger failed to submit a technical report addressing the short and long term solutions to the odor problem at the facility. On 3 October 1996,the Board issued Cleanup and Abatement Order No. 96-707, in large part because of the continued odor nuisance and the numerous complaints received from the public on the issue. 12. Since late 1996,the Discharger has made a number of physical and operational improvements in their waste handling and treatment and disposal system. These improvements include better solids separation,reuse of solids off-site, installation of an aeration pond and an additional aerator and timer, purchase and use of a dissolved oxygen meter, levee strengthening, and