State considers action against Kill Devil Hills hotel

State regulators are considering issuing an enforcement action to the owner of the Clarion Hotel in Kill Devil Hills for violations of its wastewater treatment plant permit that include improper discharges of nitrates and two types of methanes.

In a June 19 letter from the state Division of Water Quality, the hotel was notified that the facility was in violation of groundwater quality standards, and that a required plan to upgrade wastewater treatment and disposal had not been submitted. The hotel is also in violation for not performing off-site monitoring of the discharge, the division said.

"What the hotel was asked to do was provide a plan as to how they would address operational problems with the wastewater treatment system," said David May, the aquifer protection regional supervisor at the Washington, N.C., office of the state Division of Water Quality.

"The groundwater-quality problems appear to be related to the quality of the treated wastewater that the system can produce."

May said the state issued the current permit to the 30,000-gallon-per-day plant in May 2006. The facility is across the road from the hotel, which is on the oceanfront off N.C. 12. Next to the plant are rotary distributor beds, where metal arms release the wastewater that trickles into a sandy area. The sand allows the water to quickly infiltrate, he said, but it is not intended as a filter or treatment device.

Michelle Pharr, vice president for Landmark Hotel Group, the owner of the Clarion and Comfort Inn South in Nags Head, said the wastewater facility is 30 years old and would have to be upgraded to meet new state groundwater nitrate standards. In lieu of that, Pharr said, the hotel has asked a privately owned wastewater treatment plant in Kill Devil Hills to allow it to connect to the utility.

Pharr said it is her responsibility to address the violations, not the plant operator, David Pharr, who is her husband. She said on Tuesday she expect s the notice of violation to be satisfied within 10 days.

May said the plant has had issues with its operation since the 1990s. According to state records, David Pharr has been the operator in responsible charge - commonly called the ORC - since Aug. 30, 2002, and as such he is "ultimately responsible for making sure that the system is operating correctly."

Earlier this month, the division held a show-cause meeting with David Pharr to explain circumstances concerning the operation of the town of Manteo's wastewater treatment plant and collection system. Pharr is the collection system operator in Manteo and had been the plant operator.

Manteo has been fined a total of $72,000 for 184 violations at the plant since January 2004. The town is appealing the most recent fine of $37,000.

Information provided by Michelle and David Pharr in an e-mail and interview shows that Pharr was the Manteo plant's operator January 2006 through March 2008, when his nephew Nathan Pharr became operator. David Pharr also became operator of the collection system in June 2007. Confirmation on those dates was unavailable from the state, but Manteo records show that Pharr first worked for the town in December 2005.

"There have been no violations as long as I have been ORC as far as the collection," David Pharr said in an interview.

Michelle Pharr said that her husband has had to deal with problems that happened before he started at the plant.

"At the time of taking charge at the plant," she said in an e-mail, "the plant was not in compliance and since that time (he) has made repairs, took part in hiring and training staff capable of running a Waste Water Plant and brought the system under compliance according to the state regulatory standards of DWQ."

A decision on the outcome of the show-cause meeting is expected by this week, said Al Hodge, regional supervisor of the division's surface water protection section.

Another show-cause meeting was held regarding Pharr's operation at the Ginguite Woods wastewater treatment facility in Southern Shores, where he started in January 2006, May said.

The division had concerns about improper recording of maintenance logs, field notes and log sheets and the condition of some key equipment in the 32,500-gallon- a-day system, May said.

Issues with the Clarion hotel also were discussed, he said.

May said Pharr resigned on July 26, 2007, and the division did not pursue the matter further.

Jack Flythe, supervisor of Dare County Environmental Health, said David Pharr also is listed as the ORC for 10 sub surface discharge wastewa ter treatment systems, including facilities at the Lone Cedar Restaurant in Nags Head; the

Hatteras Island ferry; the Comfort Inn South; the Rodanthe fishing pier; the Hatteras Cabanas and some single family homes.

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com