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CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD <br /> CENTRAL VALLEY REGION <br /> CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT ORDER NO. R5-2002-0149 <br /> FOR <br /> MUSCO FAMILY OLIVE COMPANY AND THE STUDLEY COMPANY <br /> WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND LAND DISPOSAL FACILITY <br /> SAN JOAQUINCOUNTY <br /> This Order is issued to Musco Family Olive Company and the Studley Company(hereafter known <br /> jointly as "Discharger") based on provisions of California Water Code Section 13304 which authorize <br /> the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region (hereafter known as Regional Board) <br /> to issue a Cleanup and Abatement(C&A) Order. <br /> The Regional Board finds, that with respect to the Dischargers' acts, or failure to act, the following: <br /> 1. On 6 September 2002, the Regional Board adopted Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) Order <br /> No. R5-2002-0148 allowing the Discharger to discharge a monthly average of 700,000 gallons per <br /> day of wastewater to cropland. This Order revised and rescinded WDRs Order No. 97-037. <br /> 2. Musco Family Olive Company operates an olive brining and packaging plant south of the town of <br /> Tracy, near Patterson Pass Road. The facility(Assessor's Parcel Numbers 209-11-18, 209-11-31, <br /> 209-11-32, 251-32-08, 251-32-09)is in Section 34, T2S, R4E, and Sections 3 and 4 of T3S, R4E, <br /> MDB&M. Musco operates the facility on land leased from the Studley Company. <br /> 3. Wastewater generated at the facility is regulated by two separate Waste Discharge Requirements <br /> (WDRs). Order No. 96-075 regulates the Class H surface impoundments that are used to store <br /> concentrated brines, while Order No. R5-2002-0148, adopted by the Regional Board on <br /> 6 September 2002, regulates the less concentrated wastes that are applied to land. <br /> BACKGROUND <br /> 4. Musco Family Olive Company processes approximately one-half the total table olive crop in the <br /> State. In 1999, the Discharger acquired an olive packing facility in Visalia, closed that facility, <br /> and transferred the production to Tracy, without first making improvements to its existing <br /> wastewater treatment or disposal system. That consolidation has lead to an increase in wastewater <br /> flow rates and numerous violations of WDRs Order No. 97-037. The Regional Board responded <br /> to the violations with various enforcement actions that are described below. <br /> 5. The facility processes and cans olives on a year-round basis and generates wastewater with <br /> extremely high concentrations of dissolved solids, sodium, and chloride. Processing consists of <br /> receiving olives, storage in acetic acid solutions, curing in sodium hydroxide (lye), pitting, and <br /> canning in a brine solution. <br /> 6. The facility is equipped with 734 storage tanks ranging in size from 3,600-gallons to 8,800-gallons <br /> and 98 processing tanks that are 2,500-gallons each. Additional olives are stored at the <br /> Discharger's Visalia and Orland facilities and are trucked to Tracy for processing. <br /> 7. A wastewater system is used to collect and apply the industrial wastewater to land. Wastewater is <br /> collected throughout the facility by floor drains and is piped to a central collection area from <br /> which it is either directed to the Title 27 ponds or is pumped to a 1-million gallon settling pond. <br /> From the 1-million gallon pond, the wastewater is directly to the land application areas. Once the <br />