Volume 20, Spring/Summer Issue May 2017
This newsletter is pub-lished
as a service to
certified well contrac-tors
and others in the
groundwater industry.
Suggestions for articles
for publication in the
newsletter are welcome.
Lunchbox Food Safety 1
Promotion of Certification 1
Summary of Enforcement
Actions
2
Pump Wiring and Plumbing 2
Have You Submitted Your
Notice of Intent?
3
Passing the Exam 3
Commission Members &
Staff
3
Certification Today 3
NC Division of Water
Quality– APS
3
Certification Renewal 4
NC Department of Health
& Human Services
3
Share Your Pictures 2
Well Owners Guide 2
Commission Meetings 4
JUBILEE in June 4
In This Issue:
The Driller’s Digest
Published by the North Carolina Well Contractors Certification Commission
Lunchbox Food Safety
by Terri Ritter, REHS, LSS; Environmental
Health Regional Specialist
Pack and Transport Food Safely!
With summer approaching and
temperatures rising be sure to
keep your food safe: from the re-frigerator……
to the lunch box…..to
the job site!
Keep cold food cold. Place cold food
in a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs.
Cold food should be stored at 41°F or
below to prevent bacterial growth.
Some foods may be packed while still
frozen so that they stay colder longer.
Organize cooler contents. Consider
packing beverages in one cooler and
perishable foods in another. If you open
and reopen your beverage cooler to grab
another drink, the perishable foods
won’t be exposed to warm outdoor air
temperatures.
Keep coolers closed. Once at the job
site, limit the number of times the cool-er
is opened as much as you can. Keep-ing
the cooler closed helps to keep the
contents cold longer.
Clean your produce and fruit. Rinse
fresh fruits and vegetables under
running tap water before packing them
in the cooler - including those with skins
and rinds that are not eaten. Rub firm-skinned
fruits and vegetables under
running tap water or scrub with a clean
vegetable brush while rinsing with run-ning
tap water. Dry fruits and vegeta-bles
with a clean cloth towel or paper
towel.
Food safety begins with proper hand
cleaning even in outdoor settings. Be-fore
you begin eating, make sure hands
and surfaces are clean.
Outdoor Hand Cleaning: If you don’t
have access to running water, simply
use a water jug, some soap, and paper
towels. Or, consider using moist dispos-able
towelettes for cleaning your hands.
Utensils and Serving Dishes: Take
care to keep all utensils and plates clean
when preparing food.
Promotion of Certification
by WCC Staff
To educate the general public about the
well contractor certification require-ment,
and promote certified well con-tractors
and well water protection, the
Well Contractor Certification (WCC)
staff recently had a booth at the South-ern
Ideal Home Show in Raleigh.
During this three day event WCC staff
spoke with current and future well
owners and a few real estate agents.
Well Owner Guides were handed out to
these contacts to reinforce the need to
hire certified well contractors to con-struct,
repair or abandon wells.
Crystal Lee Pow Jackson from the Occu-pational
& Environmental Epidemiology
Section also joined WCC staff at the
booth with additional information on
some of the constituents that may be
tested for when performing water tests
on a new or existing well.
If you have an idea for public outreach
please contact staff at
andrew.morgan@dhhs.nc.gov or
joanne.rutkofske@dhhs.nc.gov.
Summary of Civil Penalty Assessments
Penalties for violations of NCGS Chapter 87, Article 7 &
7A vary depending upon the particular facts and
circumstances present in each case. Note: only finalized
uncontested cases or cases not seeking remission and
at the collection stage are included in this list. Payment
of fines and corrections of violations may already have
occurred.
Brandee Todd Gwaltney
Edgecombe County, NC. Allegations of contracting
without the benefit of certification, in violation of 15A
NCAC 27. Assessed a civil penalty of two thousand
dollars ($2,000.00).
Effective Date 11/15/16 Case # WCC 03-16
Brandee Todd Gwaltney
Edgecombe County, NC. Allegations of contracting
without the benefit of certification, in violation of 15A
NCAC 27. Assessed a civil penalty of one thousand
dollars ($1,000.00).
Effective Date 12/1/16 Case # WCC 04-16
PAGE 2 THE DRILLER’S DIGEST VOLUME 20, SPRING/SUMMER
for certified well contractors as the well permit
constitutes authorization.
3) Plumbing and/or electrical license not required for
certified well contractors working between the
well head and pressure tank and/or pump switch.
4) Plumbing and electrical installations must meet
applicable codes and inspection requests called in.
The new plumbing clarification and permit exemption
has been added to the electrical exemption which
originally took effect September 18, 2014 as part of
Session Law 2014-120 (Senate Bill 734)
If you wish to read or print these bills, visit
www.ncleg.net
Pump Wiring and Plumbing
by WCC Staff
Senate Bill 770 became Session Law 2016-113 on July
26, 2016 when the bill was signed by Governor
McCrory.
Section 17 (on page 13) of this bill clarifies that certi-fied
well contractors can plumb from the well head to
the pressure tank and install water pipes and electri-cal
wiring in a single ditch.
The local health department must notify building in-spections
of the issuance of a well permit as the well
permit constitutes authorization for the installation of
electrical wiring from the switch to the pump along
with installation of water piping from the pressure
tank to the well head when installed by a certified
well contractor.
The plumbing and electrical installations shall meet
all current applicable codes. Well contractors still
must call for any electrical and/or plumbing inspec-tions
required by the building inspections department.
To sum it up, since July 26, 2016:
1) Local health department must notify building in-spections
when a well permit is issued.
2) Electrical and/or plumbing permits not required
Well Owners Guide
by WCC Staff
The Well Owners guide is a folder printed with
general well information for well owners and has
room to store well records and related docu-ments.
The Guide is available on request to well
contractors and county environmental health de-partments
for distribution to the public.
Pictures of the Guide are posted on
www.wellcontractors.nc.gov on the “Publications”
page. If you would like to request a copy please
email staff at joanne.rutkofske@dhhs.nc.gov or
andrew.morgan@dhhs.nc.gov.
Share Your Pictures
By WCC Staff
We are looking for fresh content for the photo wheel
on www.wellcontractors.nc.gov. Do you have an elec-tronic
photo of North Carolina certified well contrac-tors
in action? Want to show off that new drill rig? Or
maybe you would like to share a picture of your certi-fication
decal on your favorite truck.
Email photos to commission staff at
Joanne.Rutkofske@dhhs.nc.gov. Make sure to include
a short description of what type of well contractor ac-tivity
taking place, type of machinery, location, etc.
All photos received will be considered for placement
on the front page of the NC Well Contractors Certifi-cation
website.
Help WCC staff make the website fresh, fun and in-teresting!
Certification Today
Total number certified…………………………....…..1113
Total number of applicants for certification………....45
Certifications currently suspended…………….…...….0
North Carolina Well Contractors
Certification Commission
1653 Mail Service Center / Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1653
Telephone: (919) 707-5881 Fax: (919) 845-3973
Commission Members
Daniel Ortiz, REHS Chairman -Autryville
Jonathan Dills Vice Chairman -Winston-Salem
Justin Barefoot, NCWC -Newton Grove
David Brown, NCWC -Hamptonville
Douglas McVey, REHS, MS –Hot Springs
Thomas Whitehead, NCWC -Wilmington
William “Billy” Yow, NCWC -Greensboro
WCC Staff
Drew Morgan, REHS (919) 707-5882 (enforcement, apps)
Andr ew.Mo rg an@dhhs.nc . gov
Joanne Rutkofske (919) 707-5881 (CE, website, exams)
Joanne .Rutko fske@dhhs.nc .gov
www.wellcontractors.nc.gov
VOLUME 20, SPRING/SUMMER THE DRILLER’S DIGEST PAGE 3
NC Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ)
Division of Water Resources
Water Quality Regional Operations Section
deq.nc.gov/contact/regional-offices
Asheville 828-296-4500
Fayetteville 910-433-3300
Mooresville 704-663-1699
Raleigh 919-791-4200
Washington 252-946-6481
Wilmington 910-796-7215
Winston-Salem 336-776-9800
1200 copies of this document were printed at a cost of
$771.96 or $0.64 each. Print date 5/2017.
Have You Submitted Your Notice of
Intent (NOI)?
by WCC Staff
Geothermal drillers- have you been submitting the
Notice of Intent for closed loop aqueous and direct
expansion systems to the Division of Water Re-sources
(DWR) regional office and the local health
department as required in 2C.0200?
Rules 2C .0222(d) and .0223(d) require notification of
intent to construct these wells. The NOI is to be sub-mitted
two (2) days prior to drilling for single family
residential systems and thirty (30) days prior to drill-ing
for all other installations.
Failure to submit the NOI prior to drilling may re-sult
in issuance of a Notice of Violation (NOV), a civil
penalty assessment and/or a request for disciplinary
action.
Please make sure an NOI is submitted to the DWR
regional office and the local health department prior
to drilling that closed loop geothermal well. Sending
one form before drilling can avoid receiving several
forms after drilling!
NC Department of Health and Human
Services (DHHS)
Division of Public Health
Environmental Health Section
http://www.deh.enr.state.nc.us
N.C. DHHS is an equal opportunity employer and provider.
Passing the Exam
By WCC Staff
The well contractors certification exam can be a hard
test to pass. Make sure you or your applicant has all
the references needed to study. The list of exam ref-erences
are posted online at
www.wellcontractors.nc.gov on the “Get Certified”
page. On the same page there are also some sample
questions and general test taking tips. Take the time
to read the rule books listed and review the sample
questions relevant to your level.
Did you know that if an applicant fails the exam they
can request a free exam review? The applicant must
be eligible to retake the exam (have an active appli-cation)
and the request must be received within 6
months of the failed exam. Staff will walk through
the materials to make sure you have what you need
to study and you will have the opportunity to review
the questions you missed.
To bring the exam a little closer to home we have al-so
added a new location for our scheduled exams.
Starting this year we will hold a scheduled exam in
Hickory, NC in October.
1653 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1653
PUBLISHED BY THE NORTH CAROLINA WELL
CONTRACTORS CERTIFICATION COMMISSION
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Report Uncertified Well Contractors to the local health department or call (919) 707-5882
JUBILEE in June
by WCC Staff
For 2017 the South Atlantic Jubilee is returning to
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The Jubilee will take place June 10-12 2017 at the
Myrle Beach Convention Center. Courses have been
preapproved for NC well contractors for CE credit.
Visit their website at jubileewatershow.com for more
details.
Certification Renewal
By WCC Staff
A friendly reminder that certification renewal notices
are mailed out in the beginning of May each year. Well
contractor certifications expire on June 30, 2017. Well
contractors that have not renewed by the June 30
deadline are no longer certified as of July 1.
Supervising or performing well contractor activities
after June 30 without certification renewal is a viola-tion
of Article 7A (Well Contractors Certification Act)
and may subject that individual to a civil penalty as-sessment.
If you have not received your renewal notice by mid-
June contact staff at 919-707-5881.
If you have ideas for future
Drillers Digest articles please
contact staff at:
Joanne.Rutkofske@dhhs.nc.gov
Commission Meetings
by WCC Staff
Would you like to attend a meeting of the NC Well
Contractors Certification Commission? All commis-sion
meetings are open to the public. Come see your
representatives in action! Meeting dates and loca-tions
are posted online at
www.wellcontractors.nc.gov on the “Meetings” page.