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• • 3 STAFF REPORT MUSCO FAMILY OLIVE COMPANY AND THE STUDLEY COMPANY CONSIDERATION OF WDRS AND A C&A ORDER 6 September 2002 Regional Board Agenda The Regional Board adopted California Water Code Section 13308 Time Schedule Order(TSO) No. R5-2002-0014 at its 25 January 2002 meeting. The Order includes technical report submittal requirements, specific compliance requirements, and specific administrative civil liabilities that may be imposed for noncompliance. In meetings prior to the 25 January 2002 Regional Board meeting, and during the Regional Board meeting, the Discharger stated it will not have a viable business if it is limited by the flow and DIS limits of WDRs No. 97-037. As part of the TSO, Regional Board staff recommended interim higher wastewater flow and DIS limits to allow the Discharger to operate until improvements at the facility could be constructed and the Regional Board could consider adoption of updated WDRs. These interim limits are in place until 7 September 2002. On 5 April 2002, the Discharger requested a flow limit increase for the time period from April 2002 to 6 September 2002. The Discharger stated that it made improvements to the land application areas that allowed higher hydraulic application rates during the summer months when evapotranspiration is higher than what was allowed by the TSO No. R5-2002-0014. However, staff remained concerned about loading rates of dissolved solids, nitrogen compounds, and BOD. The Regional Board adopted the Revised TSO No. R5-2002-0014-ROI on 6 June 2002. The revised TSO allowed increased flow during the period from 6 June to 6 September 2002, allowed the use of wastewater for dust control measures at the active pond construction area, required a report describing additional steps to minimize odors, required a report to evaluate the adequacy of monitoring well MW-9, and required an additional groundwater monitoring event. In May 2002, the Discharger submitted the RWD for use in preparing updated WDRs that are scheduled for consideration at the 6 September 2002 Regional Board meeting. On 12 June 2002 staff informed the Discharger that the RWD was incomplete. The Discharger submitted additional information on 24 June 2002. Regional Board staff have met with the Discharger and participated in telephone conference calls in an attempt to resolve outstanding technical issues. Staff have carefully considered the Discharger's submittals and have made many minor clarifications and changes in the tentative WDRs. However, there appear to be two remaining technical issues: the wastewater flow limitation and the determination of background water quality. WASTEWATER FLOW LIMITATION As part of the RWD,the Discharger was required to submit a water balance to demonstrate that it has adequate treatment, storage, and disposal capacity for its requested flow rate. The current WDRs contain an implied flow rate of 500,000 gpd, while the revised TSO allow a weekly flow limit of 820,000 gpd. The RWD contained a water balance with a flow rate of 1,000,000 gpd. Staff carefully reviewed the initial water balance, and spent many hours talking with the Discharger's consultants about our concerns. The consultants have since submitted several revised water balances. One major revision had to do with the capacity of the storage pond (which is currently under construction). The original water balance used a storage capacity of 114 million gallons, but the Discharger now estimates that the pond's actual capacity will be only 84 million gallons.