millercoors letter

8/6/2019 MillerCoors Letter

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MilierCoorsJames SmithVice Pretideot and Pfant ManagerMilloCoooLLCK63Ea*MM


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since the brewery is a zero waste to landfill facility, the proposed landfill is not necessary to ourcontinuing operations at the brewery.Below are our concerns regarding the Special Us e Permit Application. The required criteria for theSpecial Use Permit Application are reiterated below in italics, followed by our comments.

(a ) Tha t th e u s e o r d ev elo p men t is loc ate d , designed a nd p ro p o s ed to be ope ra te d so a s toma in ta in o r p r o m o t e th e pubtfc heal th , , safety a n d gen er a l welfare;

After careful review of the documentation and narratives submitted by P B K Holdings, LLC regardingthe design and operation of the proposed landfill, we are concerned that the development will no tmaintain or promote the public health, satiety and general welfare.

Th e submittal fails to discuss the long-term operations of the proposed facility and what will be doneto en sure compliance with existing regulations. The application also fails to disdose the name of theoperating company; therefore, no review of operating history and compliance at other sites ownedor operated by this company can be m ade. Operating history at other sites is critical tounderstanding how successful a new operation in Rockingham County might be.Although PBK Holdings, LLC states the landfill will be located outside of required riparian buffers, thesupporting documents and engineering drawings show the landfill cells will be located directly ontop of multiple waterw ays and wetlands leading to the Dan River, which disregards the requiredbuffer zones. This is a significant risk to public health and safety. Norma l landfill o perations involvetemporary roadways and soil disturbances that can contribute to river impairment if continualvigilance to erosion control is not maintained.However, even with such vigilance, a b uffer is required to be maintained to limit any negative impactto the river, including solids an d debris. Other potential failures such as a liner breach, flooding,leachate collection system overflow or human e rror, could cause leach ate to immediately drain intothe Dan River potentially impacting m any downstream w ater users. Any of these mentioned failureswill cause public health risks due to increased bacteria levels including fecal coliform , organiccompounds, heavy metals, acids, carcinogenic compounds and other contaminants to be dischargeddirectly into the adjacent Dan River. Such a failure would pose a contamination risk to the citizens ofRockingham County drinking wa ter source. The proposed landfill has the potential to causesignificant and harmful risks and all design criteria should anticipate operational failures, w ithredundant controls, to protect public health, safety and general w elfare.( b ) That the use or d e v e l o p m e n t compiles wi th al l required regulat ions and standards o f this

ordinance a n d wi th a ll o t h e r appl icable regulat ions;With regard to North Carolina Solid Waste regulations, it is unclear if the proposed landfill location iscapable of meeting the requirements of NCAC 130A-295.6(b), w hich requires a "buffer betw een anyperennial stream or wetland and the n earest waste disposalunit of a sanitary landfill of at least 200


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feet."As the landfillcells areproposed to besiteddirectlyon top of existing perennialstreamsandwetlands, the application foils to demonstratecompliancewith the200-foot buffer requirement.NCAC 130A-295.6(c)(2) prohibitsalandfill from beingconstructed in:

(2 ) A wetland, unless the applicant or permit holder can show al l of the ollowing, asto thewaste disposal unit:a. Where applicable under s ection 404 of the federal Clean W ater Act or applicableState wetlandslaws, the presumption that a practicable alternative to the proposed

waste disposal wit Is available which does not involve wetlands Is clearly rebutted;b. Construction of the waste disposal unit will not do any of the following:1. Cause or contribute to violations of any applicable State water qualitystandard.2. Violate any applicable toxic effluent standard or prohibition u nder section30 7 of the federal Clean W ater Act.3. Jeopardize the continued existence of endangered or threatened species orresult in the destruction or adverse modification of a critical habitat,

protected und er the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973.4. Violate any requirement under the ederal Marine Protection, Research, an dSanctuaries Act of 1972.c. Cons truction of the waste disposal unit will not cause or contribute to significantdegradation of wetlands.d. To the extent required under section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act orapplicable State wetlands laws, any unavoidable wetlands impacts will bemitigated.

The landfilldesign, proposal, plans andapplication for Special UsePermit do not dearly rebut thepresumption thata practicable alternative to theproposedwastedisposalunitis available thatdoesnotinvolve wetlands.The mpacts to wetlandslocatedonWhittFamilyFarms, LLCpropertyareunavoidablein theproposedplanand t isunclear howtheseimpactswillbemitigateddue to thelandfilldesignandsiting.At thepresent time,theapplicationdoesnotshow howthese regulationswillbesatisfiedandit isin ouropinionthat they cannotbe satisfiedasalternative locations thatdo not impactwetlands likelyexist in Rodcingham Countyandother surroundingcountieswithin the PiedmontTriad Region.Additionally,NCAC 130A-25.6(h)(2) requires that "a leachate collection system shall be designed toreturn the head of the liner to 30 centimeters or less within 72 hours. The design shall be based onth e precipitation that would fall on an empty cell of th e sanitary land fill as a result of a2S-year-24~hour storm event. Th e eachate collection sys tem shall maintain a head of less than 30centimeters at alt t imes during leachate redrcutotion." It isunclear if anon-slte leachate treatmentfacility or arrangements with others to manage leachate will meet theapplicable regulationsandmitigate impacts to downstream drinkingwater users.Finally, in NCAC 130A-295.6(f), states that "a sanitary landfill, other than a sanitary landfill for thedisposal of construction an d demolit ion debris waste, shall be constructed so that thepost-settlement bottom elevation of the liner system, or the post-settlement bottom elevation of th ewaste if no liner system Is required, is a minimum of four feet ab ove both the seasonal highgroundwater table and the bedrock datum plane contours." It isunclear if the landfill linerwillmeet


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this requirement since additional information and a geological survey would be required, which hasnot been provided.IrIn summary, the S pecial Use Permit Application fails to clarify if applicable regulations and the

Unified Dev elopment O rdinance are satisfied and therefore f a l s e l y claims tha t these requirementshave already been met It is our belief tha t at the present time, these requirements are not capableof being satisfied. Rockingham County is encouraged to require full compliance for all applicableregulations in accordance with the requirements of the Special Use Permit and county developm entordinances.( e ) T h a t th e u s e o r d e v e l o p m e n t I s l oca ted , d e s i g n e d a n d p r o p o s e d t o b e opera ted s o a s t om ain t a in o r e n h a n c e t h e va l ue o f c o n t i g u o u s proper ty , or t h a t t h e u s e o r d e v e l o p m e n t I s a publ icn e c e s s i t y ; a n dTh e Eden Brewery is near the proposed landfill site and uses water immediately downstream of theproposed landfill site located ad jacent to the Dan River. Th e submittai by P B K Holdings, UC fails toaddress the impact to the v alue of contiguous comm ercial property, Including p roperty w ithin theDan River watershed and dow nstream users of water. Th e location of the proposed landfill creates anongoing vulnerability that threatens the value of the water resource in Eden not to mention propertyvalues. Regardless of the quality of design, compliance with regulatory requirements or quality ofoperational management due to its location the landfill cannot be designed or operated to maintainor enhance the value of nearby properties and businesses, especially those that rely on the river fortheir livelihood.

The abov e mentioned concerns are serious. Th e proposed landfill has not been demon strated to benecessary. We are concerned that it will pose a risk to the public health, safety, w elfare and value ofsurrounding properties and entities, and; therefore, does not meet the requirements of the RockinghamCounty Unified Development Ordinance or other applicable regulations.A s a community partner and responsible industrial leader in Rockingham County and as a significantemployer, MlllerCoors is very concerned with the siting of the proposed landfill and its impact on ourcom munity, particularly the Dan River watershed. Please contact And rew L u c a s at ( 3 3 6 } 627-2592 shouldyou have any questions regarding the information contained within this submittai.Sincerely,

ames SmithVice President and Plant Manager

millercoors letter

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