drinking water branch fy2011 annual report - Alabama Department ...

• Each Surface Water Engineer has made AWOP a priority for the systems in their district
and incorporates AWOP into their daily activities.
Enforcement Activities
Drinking Water Branch enforcement activities are shown in Table 3. 75 violation letters (e.g. –
Maximum Contaminant Level exceedances, Monitoring and Reporting violations, etc.) were
mailed to water systems during FY2011. Because of the seriousness of MCL violations,
Drinking Water staff attempt to perform as many follow-up inspections as possible for this type
of violation. These follow-up inspections were conducted as either separate inspections or in
conjunction with the annual inspection or sanitary survey. Circumstances surrounding the
violation were discussed with system personnel and, if necessary, procedural changes were
implemented by the system to prevent recurrence of the violation. Drinking Water Branch staff
conducted a total of eight of these follow-up visits.
TABLE 3
ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
Enforcement Action
No.
Violation Letters 75
Compliance Meetings 0
Violation Follow-ups 8
Notices of Violation 12
Show Cause Hearings 0
Consent Orders 10
Unilateral Orders 0
Court Cases 0
Twelve Notices of Violation (NOVs) were issued for systems incurring multiple violations,
having multiple deficiencies at one time, or having an issue needing increased attention from the
water system. The majority of the ten consent orders were issued for water systems that became
disinfection byproducts Significant Non-Compliers (SNC). Prior to finalizing a consent order, a
water system is afforded the opportunity to meet with Branch staff and “show cause” why the
order should be modified or withdrawn. No show cause hearings were held during the fiscal
year. The Department did not enter into any court cases during FY2011.
Bacteriological Monitoring and Compliance
A total of 530 community water systems were required to monitor for bacteriological
contaminants. Thirteen systems incurred monitoring violations, and fifteen systems incurred
MCL violations. A complete list of all water systems with bacteriological violations can be
found in Appendices B and C.
97.5% of the community water systems were in compliance with monitoring and reporting
requirements for the Coliform Standard and 98.4% were in compliance with MCL standards.
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