[Adopted 9-21-1989]
A.Â
For the purpose of ensuring compliance with standards for the health
and safety of the inhabitants of the Town of Orleans and to provide
for the pumping and disposal of the contents of portable toilets,
cesspools and septic tanks and as a public service, it shall be the
duty of the Board of Health to examine, remove or prevent health hazards
due to improper on-site sewage disposal systems, and the Board of
Health is directed and authorized to perform on-site system inspections
and regulate the maintenance, disposal and treatment of the contents
of such septic systems, as an alternative to the system of common
sewers, in order to protect the surface and groundwater resources
of the town from pollution.
B.Â
The Board of Health shall have express authority, under this regulation,
to make inspections of on-site sewage disposal systems. Failure to
maintain a proper system shall be deemed a health hazard, and the
Board of Health shall require such systems to be cleaned and/or repaired,
as necessary, at the expense of the property owner.
C.Â
To ensure compliance with the requirements of Title 5 of the State
Environmental Code (310 CMR 15.00), every owner, agent or occupant
of premises in which there are private sewage disposal systems, shall
keep such systems in proper operational order, including means of
access for inspection and pumping, and shall have such systems cleaned
and/or repaired, at such time as ordered by the Board of Health.
These rules and regulations are adopted by the Board of Health
of the Town of Orleans, acting under the authority of Chapter 111,
Section 31 of the Massachusetts General Laws, for the purpose of inspection
and maintenance of cesspools and septic tank systems and the collection,
disposal and treatment of the contents of such systems.
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A covered pit with open-jointed lining in its bottom portions,
into which raw sewage is discharged; the liquid portion of the sewage
being disposed of by seeping or leaching into the surrounding porous
soil, and the solids or sludge being retained in the pit to undergo
partial decomposition before occasional or intermittent removal. For
the purpose of these regulations, a "cesspool" is a single component
for the final discharge of sewage with no additional leaching facilities.
In cases where an overflow leaching facility has been added to a cesspool,
the "cesspool" shall be treated as a septic tank.
A septic system shall be considered to have failed when:
Any component does not function as intended;
The system caused effluent to be discharged to the surface of
the ground, stream or other watercourse;
A tank or cesspool is pumped to remove septage more than twice
in any twelve-month period, except that grease traps may be pumped
in accordance with Title 5, 310 CMR 10.05 (13); or
Laundromats, restaurants, food service or other establishments,
determined to be high-water users by the Board of Health, and which
are pumped frequently, shall be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
A mass of solids floating on the surface of the liquid of
a septic tank or cesspool.
A watertight receptacle, which receives the discharge of
sewage from a building sewer, and is designed and constructed so as
to permit the retention of scum and sludge, digestion of the organic
matter, and discharge of the liquid portion to a leaching facility.
A mass of heavy solids settled at the bottom of the septic
tank.
A.Â
All on-site sewage disposal systems, within the Town of 0rleans,
shall be inspected by the Board of Health within three (3) years of
the effective date of this regulation. Systems installed and approved
in the year prior to the start of this program are exempt from the
initial three-year inspection period. Owners shall be notified forty-five
(45) days before the inspection.
[Amended 9-5-1991]
B.Â
It shall be the owner's responsibility and expense to locate and
expose the first component of their system, i.e., the tank or cesspool.
The inlet or outlet manhole (preferably outlet) shall be capable of
being easily opened by the inspector, at the time of the inspection.
The manhole shall be brought up to twelve (12) inches of the finished
grade, as per Title 5, 310 CMR 15.06 (12).
C.Â
After the initial inspection, each residential system shall be inspected
or pumped every three (3) years. A system consisting of a single cesspool,
however, will not be required, under these regulations, to be pumped
every three (3) years. Commercial/business septic systems shall be
inspected or pumped every year, except septic systems that serve office
buildings and dry goods stores, which shall be inspected or pumped
every three (3) years, after the initial inspection. Owners shall
be notified forty-five (45) days before expiration of each three-year
period, and given the option of pumping by that date or being reinspected.
Owners shall be responsible for the expense of locating and exposing
the first components of their systems and the pumping.
[Amended 9-5-1991]
A.Â
During the initial inspection, property location forms for each on-site
system shall be prepared, indicating the owner's name, address, lot
number, any visible signs of failure, location(s) of the first component
of the system (cesspool, septic tank), system description (when possible),
and system maintenance record. These forms shall be signed by the
inspector and a copy of the form shall be kept on file at the Health
Department, the septage treatment plant and with the owner.
B.Â
The inspector shall examine the septic tank for sanitary tees and
determine the thickness of the scum and sludge layers in relation
to the volume of the septic tank. The inspector shall also check and
record the pH of the septage.
C.Â
In the case of a cesspool, the inspector shall inspect the cesspool
and report to the Board of Health, the condition of the system, as
follows:
A.Â
Any system, or component thereof which is found to be malfunctioning,
or a nuisance to public health, safety and welfare or to the quality
of surface waters or groundwaters, shall be ordered remedied in accordance
with Title 5 of the State Environmental Code.
B.Â
If the inspection of the septic tank, required by § 185-24B indicates that no sanitary tee is present, the owner shall be responsible for installing such a tee.
C.Â
Pumping will be required if the inspection of the septic tank reveals
that the combined amount of sludge and scum is more than one-third
(1/3) [thirty-three percent (33%)] of the volume of the septic tank.
Structures or dwelling units having more than one (1) septic
system shall identify each one with an alpha/numeric code affixed
to the system in a manner visible to the pumper, and shall record
these numbered systems with the Town Board of Health, within sixty
(60) days of the effective date of this regulation. The system number
shall be used as part of each pumping record.
The inspection of the sewage disposal system will be the responsibility
of the Town of Orleans. All other costs, incurred through this program,
shall be the responsibility of the owner.
A.Â
Compliance with Title 5 and with these rules and regulations, will
be enforced by the Board of Health and its agents.
B.Â
All violations of these regulations and Title 5, discovered during
on-site sewage disposal system inspections, or otherwise, shall be
reported and appropriate corrective actions shall be ordered by the
Board of Health.
C.Â
Whoever himself or by his servant or agent, or as the servant or
agent of any other person or firm or corporation, violates any provision
of these regulations, for which no penalty by way of fine or imprisonment,
or both, is provided by law, shall be punished by a fine of not less
than five hundred dollars ($500.).
The Board of Health may vary the application of any provision
of these regulations with respect to any particular case when, in
its opinion, the enforcement thereof would do manifest injustice,
provided that the decision of the Board of Health shall not conflict
with the spirit of these regulations and the state Environmental Code.
Any variance granted by the Board of Health shall be in writing. A
copy of any such variance shall, while it is in effect, be available
to the public at all reasonable hours, in the office of the Clerk
of the town, or in the office of the Board of Health.
A.Â
Whenever possible, these regulations shall be deemed to be supplementary
to (not contradictory with) state and federal statutes and regulations.
B.Â
In the event any of these regulations shall be held invalid, any
such regulation or regulations shall be deemed to be severed from
the others and struck from these rules, but the remaining regulations
shall continue in full force and effect.
The Board of Health may, in any particular case, when such action
is in the public interest, and not inconsistent with the intent and
purpose of the State Environmental Code, waive strict compliance with
these regulations.
