The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) has scheduled a public hearing for August 19 to gather comments on the draft renewal permit for Badin Business Park. This facility, formerly known as Alcoa Inc.’s aluminum industrial site, is located in Badin, Stanly County.
The hearing will take place at 6 p.m. in the Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at Stanly County Commons, Albemarle. Speaker registration begins at 5:30 p.m. on-site.
Although the aluminum products facility ceased operations in 2010, DWR continues to regulate groundwater and stormwater discharges from the site under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit (NPDES permit No. NC0004308). The current permit was last issued in 2019 and remains active until a new one is approved.
Under the proposed permit, Badin Business Park must continue monitoring pollutants at discharge points and report findings to DWR after testing them in certified laboratories. New monitoring requirements include checks for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and metals at several outfalls leading to Little Mountain Creek and Badin Lake.
Draft documents related to the wastewater permit are available online through Public Notices and NCDEQ’s Laserfiche repository. Printed copies can be reviewed by appointment at the Mooresville Regional Office. To schedule an appointment, contact Andrew Pitner at 704-235-2100.
Comments can be submitted verbally during the hearing or sent by mail or email. Mailed comments should be addressed to Derek Denard, NPDES Wastewater Permitting, with a postmark no later than August 20. Email submissions should be sent to publiccomments@deq.nc.gov with “Badin Business Park Permit” as the subject line by 5 p.m., August 20.
All feedback will be considered before making final decisions regarding the permit issuance and its provisions.
