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INFORMATION SHEET <br />GENERAL ORDER FOR DISCHARGE OF <br />GROUND WATER FROM CLEANUP OF <br />PETROLEUM FUEL POLLUTION <br />TO SURFACE WATERS <br />This Order serves as a general NPDES Permit for the discharge to surface water <br />of ground water from the investigation and cleanup of ground water polluted with <br />petroleum fuels, such as gasoline, diesel, and heavier fuel oils. The wastewater <br />will be discharged to surface water and surface water drainage courses. The <br />treatment and discharge of ground waters polluted with other chemicals, such as <br />industrial solvents or pesticides, are not covered by this Order. Also not <br />covered by this Order are: I) Treated waste waters discharged to municipal <br />wastewater collections systems (which do not need waste discharge requirements <br />from the Board), and 2) discharges to ponds, infiltration basins, spray disposal <br />areas, subsurface infiltration, or other methods not involving discharge to <br />surface waters and surface water drainage courses (which are covered by general <br />waste discharge requirements for land disposal adopted by the Board). <br />The presence of fuel constituents in the ground water poses a threat to existing <br />and potential beneficial uses of the ground water. The number of proposed and <br />ongoing ground water cleanups of fuel constituents is increasing. The primary <br />constituents of concern with fuels are: Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the <br />gasoline, diesel and heavier ranges; Benzene; Toluene; Xylene; Ethylbenzene; and <br />Tetraethyl lead. Existing wastewater treatment technology, primarily utilizing <br />air stripping and/or activated carbon, is capable of dependably removing these <br />constituents to concentrations which are generally non-detectable by current <br />analytical technology. Wastewater from a ground water cleanup may include: <br />treated ground water which had been polluted with fuel constituents; unpolluted <br />ground water pumped from beneath a layer of free product in order to establish <br />a cone of depression to aid in the containment and extraction of the free <br />product; extracted water from short- and long-term pump tests; well development <br />water; purge water prior to well sampling. These wastewaters may be produced and <br />treated on a continuous or batch basis. Treated wastewater will be disposed of <br />to surface water and surface water drainage courses. <br />The monitoring program enclosed within this general permit has been set up for <br />a typical groundwater extraction/treatment facility. The monitoring program can <br />be changed to address site-specific concerns (sensitivity of receiving waters, <br />reliability of treatment unit, etc.) by issuing a separate Monitoring and <br />Reporting Program which either increases or decreases the monitoring frequency. <br />If the monitoring frequency is decreased the monitoring program may need to be <br />re-noticed and sent out for comments. <br />Effluent limits have been established as follows: <br />a. 30-Day Median Concentrations for TPH, Benzene, Ethylbenzene, Toluene, and <br />Xylene are established as 'non-detectable', that is, less than the <br />detection concentrations for specified, commonly available analytical <br />technology. A 'median is used rather than an 'average' or 'arithmetic <br />mean' to allow for the detection of a constituent in individual samples <br />without automatically causing violation of the monthly limitation, as