NCDEQ Division of Water Resources to hold public hearing on draft water discharge permit for former Alcoa aluminum facility

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) will hold a public hearing on Aug. 19 in order to accept public comments on the draft renewal permit for Badin Business Park, a former Alcoa Inc. aluminum industrial facility located in Badin in Stanly County.

Public Hearing Details  
When: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, at 6 p.m. 
Where: Gene McIntyre Meeting Room at Stanly County Commons, 1000 N. First Street, Albemarle, N.C., 28001.  
Register: Speaker registration opens at 5:30 p.m. onsite via sign-in sheet.

Badin Business Park’s (BBP) aluminum products facility, also known as Alcoa Badin Works, closed in 2010. While the facility is no longer operational, DWR regulates groundwater and stormwater discharged from the site under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, permit (NPDES pemit No. NC0004308).  

The permit was last issued in 2019, and has been administratively continued. Until DWR renews the permit, Badin Business Park must continue meeting limits in the existing permit. DWR’s proposed permit will continue to require Badin Business Park to monitor for pollutants at certain outfalls, or discharge points, to have results tested at a laboratory certified by DWR, and to report those findings to DWR. 

Additional monitoring requirements have been added to the permit, including monitoring for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), and metals at several outfalls that discharge to a tributary of Little Mountain Creek, and to Badin Lake (outfalls 005, 012 and 013).

To review the permit and any additional changes, view the draft wastewater permit and related documents available online: Public Notices. In addition, the materials can be found in NCDEQ’s online document repository, Laserfiche: Badin Business Park online permit file.  

Printed copies of the draft permit and related documents may be reviewed at the department's Mooresville Regional Office at 610 E. Center Ave., Suite 301, Mooresville, N.C., 28115. 

To make an appointment to review the documents, please call Andrew Pitner, Mooresville Regional Office regional supervisor, at 704-235-2100. File materials may not be removed from any DWR office; copy machines are available for use upon payment of the cost thereof to DWR pursuant to G.S. 132-6.2.

In addition to receiving verbal comment at the hearing, the public can also submit comment by mail or email.

Public comments on the draft permit may be mailed to: Attn: Derek Denard, NPDES Wastewater Permitting, Attn: Badin Business Park Permit, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1617, and must be postmarked no later than Aug. 20. 

Public comments may also be submitted by email to: publiccomments@deq.nc.gov. Please include “Badin Business Park Permit” in the email subject line. Comments will be accepted via email until 5 p.m. Aug 20.  

All comments will be considered in the final determination regarding permit issuance and permit provisions.