By RUSTY DENNEN
A Spotsylvania County campground is facing a $6,000 fine over continuing issues with its sewage-treatment plant.
The State Water Control Board included the fine as part of a proposed consent decree with Dominion Campground Inc. on Brookside Lane. The site is about two miles north of the Ni River near the western border of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties.
A consent decree is a voluntary, negotiated settlement between the agency and, in this case, a business.
Prior to 2003, the campground was cited with violating its discharge permit as a result of exceeding allowable amounts of chlorine, ammonia and other potentially toxic substances.
In July of that year, the board required Dominion to build a new sewage-treatment plant to replace an existing treatment lagoon.
That began operation in October 2008, but in subsequent reports sent to the Department of Environmental Quality, the company said the plant was exceeding discharge limits. This time, it was for suspended solids, nitrogen and phosphorus, between May and September 2009.
In June 2009, according to the consent decree, Dominion submitted an incomplete discharge monitoring report, and filed incomplete monitoring data for August of that year.
The company informed DEQ that the problems were related to rainfall seeping into the system.
DEQ then issued four additional discharge violation notices between July and October of last year.
In November, Dominion, its plant operator and engineering firm met with DEQ to discuss the violations and gave the agency a plan for correcting the problems.
Three additional discharge violations were issued between November and January.
Dominion this spring submitted a revised plan and schedule for repairs and upgrades to the system.
DEQ is accepting public comment through Aug. 19 on the proposed consent decree.
Comments can be e-mailed to Daniel Burstein at
Email: Daniel.Burstein@deq.vir ginia.gov, or by mail to his attention at DEQ's Northern Regional Office, 13901 Crown Court, Woodbridge, Va. 22193.
A copy of the order is available online at: deq.virginia.gov/export/sites/default/enforcement/publicnotices/DominionCampgroundAmendment forPublicNotice.pdf.
Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com