Aquifer Protection Section

The Aquifer Protection Section, with a central office in Raleigh and offices in DWQ's seven regions, focuses on the protection and enhancement of the state’s groundwater - the primary source of drinking water for half of North Carolina residents. To protect this important resource, the section:  

• Implements permitting and compliance for wastewater that is applied to land, whether it is from municipal, residential, commercial, industrial or agricultural treatment systems.
• Permits construction of wells for monitoring groundwater quality and for extracting or treating contaminated groundwater. 
• Permits construction of injection wells, such as those used for heating and cooling, or aiding in remediation.
• Does groundwater planning on the interaction of groundwater and surface water and groundwater and geological formations in order to better characterize and anticipate groundwater contamination and potential threats to human health. 
• Supports a drill team to aid in investigation of groundwater contamination.

Useful Links

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Aquifer Protection Section :: Application Forms

Animal Feeding Operations

• State Permits
• NPDES Permits

Groundwater Protection

• Geothermal Heating and Cooling Injection Wells
• In Situ Groundwater Remediation Injection Wells
• Large Capacity Water Supply Wells
• Monitoring Wells
• Non-Discharge Pump and Treat Groundwater Remediation
• Other Injection Wells
• Recovery Wells
• Well Construction Variance

Land Application

• Agreements, Attachments, Etc.
• Closed-Loop Recycle Systems
• Express Review Forms
• High-Rate Infiltration Systems
• Other Non-Discharge Wastewater Systems
• Reclaimed Water Systems
• Residuals Management
• Single-Family Residence Wastewater Irrigation Systems
• Wastewater Irrigation Systems

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Aquifer Protection Section :: Compliance Reporting

Groundwater Quality Monitoring Report Form (GW-59)

Groundwater Quality Compliance Report Form (GW-59A)

Form Submittal Instructions - a summary of the August 15, 2007 submission guidelines policy

Animal Feeding Operations

• Record Keeping Forms
• Reporting Forms

Groundwater Protection

• Injection Wells
• Non-Discharge Pump and Treat Groundwater Remediation
• Other Reporting Forms

Land Application

• Land Application of Residuals
• Non-Discharge Wastewater

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 Aquifer Protection Section :: News

• APS Express and Standard Review Program Evaluations
• NC Science Advisory Board (NCSAB) Draft Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) Risk Assessment
• Reclaimed Water Rule Changes and Public Hearing Announcement
• New Groundwater Standards Effective January 1, 2010

APS Express and Standard Review Program Evaluations

Recently, the Aquifer Protection Section completed a detailed evaluation of the non-discharge Express and Standard Review Programs to determine the strengths and weaknesses of both programs in an effort to improve overall permitting efficiency and customer satisfaction.  The results of this evaluation are provided below for your convenience:

• APS Express and Standard Review Program Evaluation
• Appendix I

If you have any questions about this evaluation, please contact Nathaniel Thornburg at (919) 715-6160 or nathaniel.thornburg@ncdenr.gov, or Lori Montgomery at (919) 715-6187 or lori.montgomery@ncdenr.gov. 

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NC Science Advisory Board (NCSAB) Draft Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) Risk Assessment

The NC Science Advisory Board is accepting public comments on its draft PFOA risk assessment until June 1, 2010.  Once finalized, this risk assessment will be used to reevaluate the current PFOA interim groundwater standard of 2 ug/L (ppb).

The risk assessment is available at: http://daq.state.nc.us/toxics/risk/sab/ra/ 

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Reclaimed Water Rule Changes and Public Hearing Announcement

A Division-sponsored workgroup was formed in April 2007 to examine issues surrounding reclaimed water and to investigate potential rule changes that would facilitate the use of reclaimed water while assuring protection of public health and the environment.  The resulting draft rule revisions were approved by the Enviromental Management Commission (EMC) in September of 2008 and the associated fiscal analysis was completed in November of 2009.

G.S. 143-355.5, adopted as part of Session Law 2008-143, states that it is the public policy of the State to reuse treated wastewater or reclaimed water to meet the existing and future water supply needs of the State.  The Statute directs the EMC to encourage and promote safe and beneficial reuse of treated wastewater as an alternative to surface water discharges, and to adopt rules to identify acceptable uses of reclaimed water, facilitate the permitting of reclaimed water systems, and establish standards for reclaimed water systems that are adequate to prevent the direct distribution of reclaimed water as potable water.  The proposed rule changes fulfill the directive of G.S. 143-355.5.

• Public Hearing Announcement
• Reclaimed Water Rule Revision Fact Sheet
• Approved Fiscal Analysis
• 15A NCAC 02T .0113 Revision
• 15A NCAC 02T .0506 Revision
• 15A NCAC 02T .0900 Repeal
• 15A NCAC 02U Adopt
• DRAFT Proposed 2U Strikeout Version (shows changes)
• DWQ Presentation on Proposed Rule Changes

Written Comments Received during Comment Period:

Cape Fear Public Utility

City of Raleigh

Don Safrit Comments and Appendix A

Gus Simmons

Lisa Routh Alley

NC AWWA-WEA

NC Conservation Network

NC League of Municipalities

NC Nursery & Landscape Association

ONWASA

Patricia Drummey

Ray S. Taylor

Dr. Bob Rubin

Scott Carpenter

Steve Cavanaugh

Timothy Baldwin

Town of Apex

Town of Cary

Town of Holly Springs

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New Groundwater Standards Effective January 1, 2010

The following revisions to 15A NCAC 02L .0202 Groundwater Quality Standards become effective January 1, 2010. 

In Section .0202(c):

• “concentrations at or above the practical quantitation limit” was added to the text to clarify the meaning of “detection".

In Section .0202(g):

• Units of measure were changed from milligrams per liter (ppm) to micrograms per liter (ppb), except where otherwise noted;
• Standards were rounded to one scientifically significant figure, where appropriate;
• The groundwater standard for endrin and total endrin was combined into one total endrin standard;
• A  formaldehyde standard was added;
• Seven interim maximum allowable concentrations (IMACs) were added as permanent standards--benzoic acid, bis(chloroethyl)ether, dibromochloromethane, ethyl acetate, hexachlorobutadiene, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene;
• The standard for fourteen substances was made more stringent (arsenic; barium; chromium; 1,1-dichloroethane; 1,4-dioxane; lindane; methyl tert-butyl ether; naphthalene; petroleum aliphatic carbon fraction class C9-C18; petroleum aliphatic carbon fraction class C19-C36; phenol; selenium; styrene; toluene).
• The standard for twelve substances was made less stringent (acetone, boron; butylbenzyl phthalate; 1, 2-dibromo-3-chloropropane; 1,4-dichlorobenzene; 1,2-dichloropropane; 1,3-dichloropropene; ethylene dibromide; 2-methylnaphthalene; 3-methylphenol; 4-methyphenol; vinyl chloride).
• The chemical names for ten substances were updated to the term most commonly used by analytical laboratories and EPA databases as follows:
  • Di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate is now listed as bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate;
  • Di-n-butyl phthalate is now listed as dibutyl phthalate (di-n-butyl phthalate);
  • Orthodichlorobenzene is now listed as 1,2 dichlorobenzene (orthodichlorobenzene);
  • Metadichlorobenzene is now listed 1,3 dichlorobenzene (metadichlorobenzene);
  • Paradichlorobenzene is now listed as 1,4 dichlorobenzene (paradichlorobenzene);
  • Cis-1,2-dichloroethene is now listed as 1,2-dichloroethene (cis);
  • trans-1,2-dichloroethene is now listed as 1,2-dichloroethene (trans);
  • p-dioxane is now listed as 1,4-dioxane (p-dioxane);
  • Diphenyl is now listed as 1,1-diphenyl (1,1-biphenyl);
  • Endosulfan II is now listed as endosulfan because the standard is based on a technical mixture of alpha and beta isomers (endosulfan II is the beta isomer).

The revised 15A NCAC 02L .0202 rule is located on the Division of Water Quality’s Web site at http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/wq/ps/csu/rules.  It will be available in the NC Administrative Code in January 2010 at http://reports.oah.state.nc.us/ncac.asp.
 

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Aquifer Protection Section :: Organization

The Aquifer Protection Section consists of personnel in five Central Office Units and seven Regional Offices.  The duties and responsibilities of each include:

• Animal Feeding Operations Unit - Responsible for the oversight of animal waste systems in accordance with federal and state rules and regulations.
• Groundwater Investigation Unit - This is the Division of Water Quality's drill team, and they assist in the characterization of the state's groundwater aquifers and investigate contamination cases.
• Groundwater Planning Unit - Conducts invesigations and monitoring to aid in the prevention of groundwater pollution, to protect public heath and the environment, and to promote efficient and effective response to environmental emergencies.
• Groundwater Protection Unit - Focuses on the prevention and investigation of instances of groundwater contamination, groundwater remediation permitting and compliance, as well as technical support for well construction.
• Land Application Unit - Permits and performs compliance of wasewater treatment and various non-discharge disposal systems, such as wastewater irrigation, single-family residence wastewater irrigation, high-rate infiltration, reclaimed water utilization and closed-loop recycle systems.  The unit is also responsible for the permitting and documenting compliance of the distribution and land application of residuals.
• Regional Offices - Performs inspections of all non-discharge wastewater treatment and disposal systems, as well as investigates compliance issues and pollution incidents.

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Aquifer Protection Section :: Policies and Memorandums

Table 1 - Policies

Table 2 - Memorandums 

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