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~~ . <br />Weslem Fuels{olorado <br />P.O. Box 628 <br />Nuda, Colorado 81424 <br />J <br />Telephone 9701864.2164 <br />fu 9701861-2168 <br /> <br />I I ~~ _ <br />l <br /> <br />/ /. <br />`Ms. Carla Lenkey <br />Colorado Department of Health <br />^ Water Quality Control Division <br />Permits and Enforcement Section <br />' W~CD PE-B2 <br />4300 Cherry Creek Drive South <br />Denver, CO 80222-1530 <br />Dear Ms. Lenkey: <br />RECEIVEa <br />JAN 2 g 2002 <br />Division of Minerals & Gec ,w <br />As we discussed on the phone last Tuesday, Western Euels Colorado wishes to advise you that <br />our 4t1i Qtr 2001 Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) test for discharge pointNPDES 008 failed the <br />acute Ceriodaphnia portion of the test for water collected on 26 December, 2001. Our lab, <br />Water & Environmental Testing (W.E.T.), Inc. of American Fork, UT, notified us on 3l <br />December, and so we resampled the outlet on 2 January, 2002 as per the Automatic Compliance <br />Schedule section of our permit. That sample failed a retest of the Ceriodaphnia as well. <br />As 1 described to you, the water discharged from NPDES 008 is pumped out of a groundwater <br />sump located in the southern, downdip portion ofoar Turn Slot The water, which is ver~leac, <br />is pumped out at a rate between about 100 gpm to about 500 gpm, depending on pump size anti <br />dewatering requirements. This discharge is split roughly equally and piped to both the NPDES <br />008 and NPDES 007 ponds. Because of its clarity, the NPDES 008 water is manifolded directly <br />into the discharge barrel of Pond 008, while the waterto the NPDES 007 site is discharged into <br />the pond (Pond 007) behind it. Pond 007 has a surface area of about 4.2 acres and normally <br />holds water year round. TDS values for both tlTe NPDES 007 and NPDES 008 WET tests are in <br />the 4,000 mg/L range. The 4t1i Qtr 2001 WET test for Pond 007 (NPDES 007 outfall) passed. <br /><~ <br />During the summer irrigation season, Pond 007 water can come from both pit and surface <br />sources. However, during the latter part ofthe 4th qtr, Pond 00Ts sole source ofw ier was from <br />the pit pump. Since this water passed its WET lest and the NPDES 008 discharge water did not, <br />something must occur in Pond 007 that does not occur during the direct discharge from the <br />NPDES 008 outfall. <br />In an attempt to discover why, N~PC has taken the following steps, and these steps are largely <br />based on conversations with Lee Rawlings of W.G.T, Inc. and Chris Gates, of the Colorado <br />Department of Nealth; <br />I) Stopped discharging from NPDES 008. Because our discharge piping currently <br />has the capacity, we have transferred all of our pit water to the Pond 007 /NPDES 007 <br />outfall. This outfall will be monitored as per our current permit requirements. Because <br />there is no further water to test a[ NPDES 008, the accelerated WET testing Itas also <br />