StopChathamNorth
To the Residents of Briar Chapel,
We’ve got a couple of important updates that we want to share with you.
Chatham County Planning Board Meeting – Newland Asking for Final Plat Approval
On Tuesday, September 1st, NNP Briar Chapel, LLC (Newland) will be requesting final plat approval for Briar Chapel Phase 13 Section 3, consisting of 59 lots located off Great Ridge Parkway and Phase 14, consisting of 89 lots (townhomes) located off Catullo Road. As a reminder at the August 4th meeting, the Planning Board voted unanimously to put the final plat approval for Phase 13 Section 3 on hold until Newland could provide confirmation that the Briar Chapel Wastewater Treatment System is “up to meeting the needs” of this community.
If you are interested in attending this meeting remotely via webinar, you can register at: Planning Board Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/851378650233028622.
Update on July 26th Sewage Spill
On August 14th, NCDEQ issued a Notice of Violation & Intent to Assess Penalty to ONSWC for the July 23rd sewage spill from a manhole below Lift Station B off Great Ridge Parkway/Saxapahaw Bend (2,000 gallons) and the larger sewage spill on July 26th at pump station A off Great Ridge Parkway due to a pipe break (8,400 gallons).
We are told that NCDEQ is still investigating the July 26th spill and has asked ONSWC to provide information on how they arrived at the self-reported duration of the spill (150 minutes) and volume of the spill (8,400 gallons).
We are continuing to wait on further word from Mr. McDonald on when Integra Water/ONSWC plans to replace the force main within Briar Chapel with stronger materials (as indicated in his July 27th email).
Recent Sewage Spill Occurred August 20th
On August 20th, a sewage spill occurred at Pump Station E located on Quarter Gate Trace. A resident first reported the spill to Integra Water @ 6pm after seeing the flashing red alarm. It was again called in at 8:15pm and again at 9:30pm. An Envirolink operator arrived at 10:10pm to turn off the source of the spill and tape off the area. Here’s video that was taken the morning after the spill.
We have documented this sewage spill and sent information to NCDEQ. We’ve also expressed our concerns over the significant delays (4 hours+) that have occurred with our last two spills. In both instances, there were delays in getting the Envirolink staff and/or equipment to the site. In this last spill, the pump station had telemetry that should have automatically alerted the Envirolink operator, but the system did not appear to work.
ONSWC/Envirolink is in the News
On Friday, August 21st, Chatham News & Record posted an article that confirms the ongoing issues that ONSWC/Envirolink have been experiencing, including:
· Recent decision by Town of Pittsboro to sever their contract with ONSWC/Envirolink for Chatham Park WWTP
· Decision by the Williams Corner developer to put their rezoning application on hold
· Ongoing sewage spill issues in Briar Chapel
· Continued delay in their attempt to get approval to connect the Briar Chapel and Fearrington Village wastewater treatment systems.
NOV issued to Fearrington Village WWTP
On 8/11/2020, NCDEQ issued a Notice of Violation & Intent to Assess Penalty to Fitch Creations on their June 2020 DMR for exceeding the daily maximum allowed for fecal coliform in their discharge of treated wastewater into Bush Creek, a tributary of Lake Jordan.
Spray Irrigation
The sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) injection to our spray irrigation has been installed and certified. ONSWC requested this back in January as a deterrent to odors in the spray irrigation.
ONSWC/Envirolink has started irrigation within most of the common areas of Briar Chapel. Residents have been very helpful in reporting incidents of overirrigation and runoff of irrigation water into storm drains and creeks which is a violation of their permit. When we get these notifications from residents, we notify NCDEQ and pass the information to the BCCA Infrastructure Task Force who is working with Envirolink to try to resolve these issues.
Please contact us at mailto:stopchathamnorth@gmail.com if you experience any strong odors, discolored irrigation, oversaturation, pooling of irrigation water, runoff of irrigation water into storm drains/ponds/creeks, running of the irrigation system during inclement weather, or sinkholes caused by the irrigation system. Video and pictures are helpful.
It’s time to Document our Concerns
Thank you for documenting your complaints, concerns or questions to Envirolink. We have been surprised at the volume of complaints we have received since early February. The number of complaints has significantly exceeded the number of complaints reported by ONSWC/Envirolink in their response to testimony to the NCUC. While we regret that our residents are experiencing these issues, we believe this documentation will make a difference in showing that Briar Chapel residents have serious concerns that have been underreported.
It’s important to document any concerns or complaints that you personally experience with the Briar Chapel wastewater system (odor, runoff, spills, spray effluent pooling). Just a simple email works. If your concern can be documented with a picture (e.g., spills, spray effluent pooling), please attach any pictures you’ve taken of the incident to your email. It is imperative that we continue this effort. We also know that you experience some of these conditions over and over (i.e., odor) but again it is important to document these concerns each time you experience them.
When you have a complaint, Integra Water asks that you call their customer service number 877-511-2911. Please do so. To make sure your complaint is documented, we ask that you also email your concern to us at STOPCHATHAMNORTH@gmail.com. Your concern will only be tracked if you send the email.
Fundraising
Total contributions to date (as of 8/25/2020): $33,667.80
To date we have spent: $11,539.07
Total number of contributors: 352
We’d like to thank everyone who has already donated towards the cost of legal representation. These funds will be used to pay for our attorney’s representation at the NCUC hearing through to final decision. If you haven’t had a chance to make a donation yet, please consider doing this.
You can donate via PayPal by using this link:
https://paypal.me/STOPCHATHAMNORTHNC?locale.x=en_US
If you prefer not to use PayPal:
You can write a check to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH and mail it to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH in care of Liz Rolison, 1900 Briar Chapel Parkway, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 or simply drop the check at Liz’s house.
We are maintaining a full accounting of these funds and will return any unused funds to all homeowners who contribute on a prorated basis. Thank you again for contributing. If we all work together, we have a better chance of achieving our goals.
StopChathamNorth
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Mission Statement
StopChathamNorth is an unincorporated non-profit association representing concerned homeowners within Briar Chapel. StopChathamNorth does NOT support a regional wastewater treatment plant within the residential community of Briar Chapel. We are aware that there are a number of new communities surrounding Briar Chapel that are planning to utilize our WWTP, in addition to the current proposal to add Fearrington Village to our WWTP. We are opposed to all of these plans to expand Briar Chapel’s WWTP for uses outside of the Briar Chapel residential community. We also believe that the WWTP and ONSWC must be fully compliant with all governance and regulatory guidelines to ensure operations do not create nuisance, unhealthy or hazardous conditions for Briar Chapel residents.
For more information: www.stopchathamnorth.com