Borough of Carteret, NJ Sewer Use

Any nongovernmental user of the system works which discharges more than 25,000 gallons per day of sanitary wastes or a volume of process waste or combined process and sanitary waste equivalent to 25,000 gallons per day of sanitary wastes.

Any nongovernmental user of the system which discharges wastewater to the system which contains toxic pollutants or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in or have an adverse effect on the waters receiving any discharge from the treatment works.

MAJOR CONTRIBUTING INDUSTRY

All commercial users of the system demonstrating discharge characteristics as outlined in Subsections (1) and (2) above.

INDUSTRIAL WASTES

The liquid or solid wastes of industrial manufacturing processes, trades or businesses as distinct from domestic or sanitary sewage.

INTERFERENCE

Inhibition or disruption of the Carteret sewer system, treatment process or operations.

One that:

Has a flow of 50,000 gallons or more per average workday;

Has a flow greater than 5% of the flow carried by the municipal system receiving the waste;

Has in its waste a toxic pollutant in toxic amounts as defined in standards issued under Section 307(a) of the Act; or

PRETREATMENT REQUIREMENTS

Has significant impact upon the quality of the sewage treatment plant influent, either singly or in combination with other contributing industries, on the treatment works or the quality of its effluent, as determined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, MCUA or the Borough of Carteret.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

MCUA

The Middlesex County Utilities Authority.

[Added 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

NATURAL OUTLET

A naturally formed discharge point, such as a watercourse, river, stream, stream bed or other body of surface or ground water, including storm sewers and combined sewer overflows.

NPDES

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System enforced by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the state.

The reciprocal of the logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration. The concentration is the weight of hydrogen ions in grams per liter of solution.

PRETREATMENT

The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater to a less harmful state prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into the sewerage system. The required reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means except by dilution, which is prohibited.

Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment.

PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE

The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in sanitary sewers with no particle greater than one-half (1/2) inch (1.27 centimeters) in any dimension.

PROPERTY OWNER

The owner of the property on which a user discharging to the Carteret facility is located.

SANITARY SEWER

A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm- , surface and ground water are not intentionally admitted and are restricted from future introduction thereto.

SANITARY WASTE

Waste derived principally from the average residential dwellings, office buildings and sanitary conveniences, or as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. When segregated from industrial wastes, "sanitary waste" may come from the workers of industrial plants or commercial enterprises.

SECTION

Section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1977, 33 U.S.C. Section 466 et seq. (commonly called the "Clean Water Acts").

SEWAGE

A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences, business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such ground- , surface and storm water infiltration as may be present.

SEWAGE WORKS or SEWERAGE SYSTEM

All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.

SEWER

A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.

SLUG

Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which, in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow, exceeds, for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal operation and shall adversely affect the collection system and/or performance of the wastewater treatment works.

STORM DRAIN

(sometimes termed "storm sewer") — A sewer which carries storm- and surface waters and drainage but normally excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than unpolluted cooling water.

STRENGTH OF WASTE

A measurement of suspended solids and/or biochemical oxygen demand and/or chemical oxygen demand and/or any other parameter determined by the appropriate regulating agency as a fair indicator of the relative use, other than volumetric, of Carteret facilities by industrial wastes.

SUSPENDED SOLIDS

Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface of or is in suspension in water, sewage or other liquids and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

SYSTEM OF THE BOROUGH

All facilities constructed or acquired, owned and operated by the Borough, including but not limited to trunk and interceptor sewers, pumping stations and force mains, flow meters, meter chambers and the wastewater treatment plant.

TOXIC WASTES IN TOXIC AMOUNTS

As defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 40 CFR 129 (38 F.R. 24342, 9-7-73) and any subsequent revisions.

USER

Any individual, person, firm, company, association, society, corporation, group or municipality using the sewerage system of the Borough.

USER CHARGE

A charge levied upon users of the Carteret sewerage system established by the Borough, based on volume, strength, flow rate and/or other parameters, to pay for the use of the facilities and for the users' proportional shares of the cost of operation and maintenance and treatment incurred by the Borough.

WASTEWATER FACILITIES

The structures, equipment and processes required to collect conduit and treat domestic and/or industrial wastes and dispose of the effluent.

"Shall" is mandatory; "may" is permissive.

§ 207-3 Restrictions on discharges.

Subsequent to the passage of this Article, no new area or point source shall be constructed or caused to be constructed which shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer of the system of the municipality, either directly or indirectly.

Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers or to an approved natural outlet. Unpolluted industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged to a storm sewer, natural outlet or other discharge point as approved by the Borough.

No user shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following-described liquids or wastes to any part of the system of the municipality:

Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, crude oil, grease or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas or any liquid, solid or gas which, alone or by interaction with other substances, may cause fire or explosion or blockages of the sewer system.

Any liquids or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in the sewer system of the municipality.

Any liquids or wastes having a pH lower than the standards of this Article or having a corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewerage system works.

Any septic or holding tank waste into the system of the municipality without written consent of the municipality.

(5)

Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size as to be capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the sewerage system, such as but not limited to ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails and paper and plastic dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

No user shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if it can be demonstrated by the appropriate regulatory agencies that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming its opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the municipality will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials of construction of the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment process, capacity of the sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant and other pertinent factors. The substances prohibited in quantity or concentrations in excess of limits established by federal, state or public agencies or MCUA standards and guidelines are:

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

Any liquid or vapor having a treatment plant influent temperature higher than 104º F. (40º C.).

Any liquid or vapor having a flash point lower than 187º F. as determined by the tagliabue (tag) closed-cup method.

Any soluble oils or any liquid or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous.

Any garbage or solid waste that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths (3/4) horsepower or greater shall be subject to review and approval of the Consulting Sanitary Engineer and/or Superintendent of the Sewer Department.

(5)

Any liquids or wastes containing strong-acid iron-pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(6)

Any liquids or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, lead, mercury and similar objectionable or toxic substances having a pH at the discharge point outside of the maximum and minimum limits, which are five point zero (5.0) to nine point zero (9.0), or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement.

(7)

Any liquids or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances after treatment of the composite sewage.

(8)

Any radioactive waste or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by applicable state or federal regulations.

(9)

Materials which exert or cause:

(a)

Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as but not limited to fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues, or of dissolved solids, such as but not limited to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.

(b)

Excessive discoloration, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.

(c)

Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs, as defined herein.

(d)

Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or high chlorine demand requirements.

(10)

Liquids or wastes containing substances which are not compatible to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed or are compatible to treatment only to such limited degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

(11)

Wastewaters from service, residential, commercial or industrial activities containing floatable oils, fat or grease.

(12)

Any liquid or wastes which, either alone or by interaction with other liquids or wastes in the sewer system, release obnoxious gases, form suspended solids which interfere with the collection system or create a condition deleterious to structures or treatment processes or which might result in the discharged effluent causing interference, inhibition or disruption of the sewage treatment plant treatment process or operation or pass through the sewage treatment plant untreated.

(13)

Wastewater containing petroleum products or by-products, chemical products or by-products, nonbiodegradable cutting oils or products of mineral oil origin.

(14)

Wastewater discharges violating United States Environmental Protection Agency pretreatment categorical standards, if and when promulgated by the federal agency in the future.

§ 207-4 Pretreatment requirements.

If any liquids or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which liquids or wastes violate standards and guidelines of regulatory agencies and/or contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in § 207-3D of this Article and which, in the judgment of the Consulting Sanitary Engineer and/or Superintendent of the Sewer Department, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works or system processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the municipality may:

Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers of the system of the municipality consistent with the provisions of P.L. 95-217 and in conformance with all pretreatment requirements of this Article.

Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge.

Require payment of a surcharge to cover the added cost of handling and treatment of the wastes, consistent with the provisions of P.L. 95-217.

If the MCUA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection or United States Environmental Protection Agency permits or requires the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the Consulting Sanitary Engineer and/or Environmental Protection Agency and subject to requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws. The time limit for the installation of any permitted or required pretreatment facilities shall be mutually agreed upon but must meet the time limitations set by the appropriate federal or state regulatory agencies.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

§ 207-5 Grease, oil and sand interceptors.

Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when they are necessary for the proper treatment of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Consulting Sanitary Engineer and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.

§ 207-6 Maintenance of facilities.

Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any liquids or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.

§ 207-7 Compliance with standards.

Any and all users of storm sewers shall comply with all requirements of Section 308 of the Act.

All contributing users shall comply with the pretreatment standards and any other applicable requirements promulgated pursuant to Section 307 of the Act, and, as more particularly set forth in this Article, contributing industrial users shall submit to the Consulting Sanitary Engineer periodic notice (at intervals not to exceed nine months) regarding specific actions taken to achieve full compliance with the requirements of Section 307 of the Act. All contributing users may be required to provide to the Consulting Sanitary Engineer specific information of the quality, characteristics and quantity of effluents introduced by each user, including the number, location and size of every discharge into the Borough collection system. Such information shall be reported on a quarterly basis by major contributing industrial users.

Any new system services shall comply with the following: New sewers and connections to the system shall be properly designed and constructed. All residents shall connect to the public sewers within six months after completion of sewer construction. New source significant industrial users (SIU), as defined by N.J.A.C. 7:14A-1 et seq., shall obtain a state NJPDES/SIU permit prior to commencing discharge into the treatment works.

[Added 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

Nothing in this Article shall relieve any user from his obligations to comply with any and all state and/or federal standards and regulations.§ 207-8. Amendments.

§ 207-8 Amendments.

The provisions set forth in these standards may be revised, amended or supplemented from time to time by the borough to specify effluent limitations for any or all of such pollutants in accordance with industrial best practicable technology requirements or water quality standards as set forth in the Act.

§ 207-9 Maximum pollutant limits.

[Added 4-3-1986 by Ord. No. 86-6]

The total maximum pollutant limits for all influents to the Borough sewage treatment plant in the entire Borough of Carteret shall be as contained on Schedule A attached hereto and as amended by the Borough Council.[1] The Borough's Sanitary Engineer shall apportion individual maximum pollutant limits to each significant industrial user based upon the total maximum pollutant limits shown on Schedule A.

[1]

Editor's Note: Schedule A is included at the end of this chapter.

§ 207-10 Inspections; sampling.

The municipality, the Consulting Sanitary Engineer, the Superintendent of the Sewer Department and/or any other duly authorized employees of the municipality, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all properties within the service area of the municipal system and/or cause excavations to be made for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Sampling chamber.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

When required by the Borough, the owner of any property serviced by a sanitary and/or combined sewer of the municipality carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable chamber, together with such necessary access or appurtenances in the connecting sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such chamber, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be located in accordance with plans approved by the Consulting Engineer.

The design and construction of the sampling chamber shall be consistent with the typical details for a sampling chamber attached to and made part of this Article.

The chamber shall be satisfactorily installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times. The cost of the installation, maintenance and of the operation of the measuring or testing devices shall be the responsibility of the owner/user.

The sampling chamber shall include automatic flow monitoring and sampling equipment where required by the Borough Engineer to obtain representative flow proportioned composite samples of the discharge. The flow monitoring and sampling equipment shall be as approved by the Borough Engineer and shall be permanently installed and capable of continuous flow monitoring and flow proportioned composite sampling. All of the provisions set forth in § 207-10 shall apply to the above. The make and model of the flow monitoring and sampling equipment shall be consistent with the approved systems on file in the office of the Borough Engineer.

[Added 8-18-1994 by Ord. No. 94-37[1]]

[1]

Editor's Note: This ordinance was amended 11-15-1994 by Ord. No. 94-57 to provide that it shall be effective as of 120 days from the date of the introduction of the amendment.

Measurements, tests and analyses.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this Article shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be determined at the chamber provided or upon suitable samples taken at said chamber. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of the constituents upon the sewer system of the municipality and treatment process and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. The costs of all such measurements, tests and laboratory analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes and any other expenses incurred resulting from state or federal regulatory agency mandate shall be borne by the owner/user at his own expense and shall be paid directly to the Borough within 10 days of the receipt of the bills for said tests.

The municipality or its representatives shall have no authority to inquire into any processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic, paper or other industries, beyond that point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or facilities for waste treatment.

The costs of any such inspected work described above shall be borne by the owner of the premises involved.

While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in § 207-3A above, the Consulting Sanitary Engineer, the Superintendent of the Sewer Department or duly authorized employees of the municipality shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the property owner or manufacturer, and the property owner or manufacturer shall be held harmless for injury or death to the municipal employees, and the municipality shall indemnify the owner against loss or damage to its property by the municipal employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the owner and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the owner to maintain safe conditions.

§ 207-11 Charges.

The charges for industrial wastes discharged into the municipal sewer system are under study and, upon determination, shall be fixed and made a part of this Article.

§ 207-12 Discharge limitations and pretreatment standards.

Intent and purpose. The pretreatment standards and requirements set forth herein are meant to establish a policy to:

Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the sewage treatment plant which will interfere with the operation of the sewage treatment plant or contaminate the sewage sludge.

Prevent the introduction of pollutants into the sewage treatment plant which will pass through the treatment works into the receiving waters or into the atmosphere or otherwise be incompatible with the sewage treatment plant.

Eliminate discharges of high volumes or concentrations of certain pollutants which can inhibit or interfere with the proper operation of the sewage treatment plant causing it to do an inadequate job of treating normal domestic wastes as well as industrial wastes, resulting in the inability of the sewage treatment plant from meeting or being prevented from meeting its NPDES permit requirements for discharge quality, until connection to the MCUA system and plant.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

Procedures and reporting requirements.

An inventory of all users shall be compiled and maintained by the Borough.

Each user shall identify the character and volume of pollutant contributed to the Carteret sewerage system when and as requested.

Each user identified in the user inventory violating the effluent limitations stated herein shall be notified of his violation and shall be notified of his requirements to comply with the discharge limitations in effect in the Borough.

The Borough shall receive and analyze any self-monitoring reports and/or other statements and reports submitted to the Borough for review and determination of the nature of their discharge. The Borough may conduct random sampling and analysis of the effluent of each user and conduct inspection activities in order to identify, independent of information supplied by the user, occasional and continuing compliance, changes in volumes, concentrations or effluent characteristics and/or noncompliance with discharge limitations promulgated by this Article. Sample-taking and analysis and the collection of other information shall be performed with sufficient care to produce evidence admissible in enforcement proceedings or judicial actions.

(5)

If requested, a statement, signed by an authorized representative of the industrial user and certified by a New Jersey professional engineer or authorized representative of the user, shall be submitted, indicating whether or not the discharge limitations are being met on a consistent quarterly basis and, if not, whether additional operational and maintenance activities and/or additional pretreatment is required for the industrial user to meet the pretreatment standards.

§ 207-13 User charge system.

Purpose of user charge. The user charge system shall provide that the cost of operation and maintenance of the sewerage system is included with the amounts paid through user charges.

[Amended 11-18-1985 by Ord. No. 85-48]

User charge system based upon actual use. The Carteret user charge system shall result in the distribution of the costs of enforcement, operation and maintenance of the sewerage system distributed to each user in proportion to each user's contribution to the total wastewater loading by all users of the treatment works. Factors such as discharge strength, discharge volume, delivery of flow rate and characteristics shall be considered and included as the basis for the user's contribution to ensure a proportional distribution of the costs to each user.

Toxic pollutants. The user charge system will require that each user who discharges any toxic pollutants or liquids or wastes in violation of the effluent limitations which cause an increase in the cost of the operating, managing and treatment of the effluent of the Carteret sewage treatment plant shall pay for such increased costs in proportion to the contribution of such pollutants or flows.

Basis for enforcement, operation and maintenance charges.

Initial determination of enforcement, operation and maintenance charges. For the first year of the program, enforcement, inspections, operation, treatment and maintenance charges shall be determined as to amounts based upon past experience where available for existing treatment facility costs and proportioned for each user by such empiric data as water bills, effluent sampling and metering, flow metering, etc.