Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
ANNUAL PRODUCTION DAYS
The number of days per year a structure is open for business
as documented by verifiable records.
BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (BOD)
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
or organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C. expressed in milligrams per liter.
BUILDING INSPECTOR
A person assigned by the City to inspect existing systems
and the installation of new systems for the purpose of enforcing this
article.
CITY MANAGER
The duly appointed or designated City Manager of the City
of Harrington, as well as such other person under his or her supervision
who is appointed to enforce the provisions of this chapter.
[Amended 6-16-2014 by Ord. No. 14-06]
CLEAN-OUT
A capped vertical pipe extending from the sewer lateral to
the ground surface which allows for access to the sewer lateral in
case of stoppage.
EQUIVALENT DWELLING UNIT (EDU)
A term used to express the load produced on a sanitary sewerage
system approximately equal to one dwelling place or 250 gallons per
day.
[Amended 6-16-2014 by Ord. No. 14-06]
FLOATABLE OIL
Oil, fat, or grease in a physical state such that it will
separate by gravity from wastewater by treatment in an approved pretreatment
facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of floatable fat if
it is properly pretreated and the wastewater does not interfere with
the collection system.
GARBAGE
The animal and vegetable waste resulting from the handling,
preparation, cooking, and serving of foods.
GREASE TRAP
A device designed and installed so as to separate and retain
deleterious, hazardous or undesirable matter from normal wastes and
permit normal sewage or liquid wastes to discharge into the disposal
system.
HOUSE DRAIN
The continuation of the house sewer, extending from a point
not less than four feet outside the outer wall of the building through
or under the foundation walls and as far as the last soil stack, which
receives the discharge from all soil stacks and waste pipes within
the building and conveys this discharge to the house sewer.
IMPACT FEE
A one-time fee imposed by the City upon the owner(s) of any
new, remodeled, restored or enlarged residential, commercial, institutional
or industrial structure or structures or any combination thereof which
results in an increased sewer flow to the existing sanitary sewer
system.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The wastewater from industrial processes, trade, or business
as distinct from domestic or sanitary wastes.
MAY
Permissive (see also definition of "shall" below).
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation,
or group.
pH
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen-ion concentration.
The concentration is the weight of hydrogen-ions, in grams, per liter
of solution. Neutral water, for example, has a pH value of seven and
a hydrogen-ion concentration of 10.
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 public sewers, with no particles greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters)
in any dimension.
PUBLIC SEWER
A common sewer controlled by a governmental agency.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer that carries liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions,
together with minor quantities of groundwater not admitted intentionally.
SEWAGE
The spent water of a community. The preferred term is "wastewater,"
as defined below.
SEWAGE FLOW
Shall be determined by water consumption in accordance with
water meter readings, unless a sewer meter is installed by the owner
at no expense to the City. Sewer meter installations must be reviewed
and approved by the City Engineer.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit that carries wastewater or drainage water.
SEWER CONNECTION FEE
The one-time fee, rate, charge, or assessment imposed by
the City Council on an owner of a new, remodeled, or restored residential,
commercial, institutional, or industrial structure or structures,
or any combination thereof, served or to be served by the City to
defray the cost of installing sewer service lines and connections
to sewer mains. All service taps on existing sewer mains shall be
installed by the City of Harrington or its designated representative.
New mains installed at the expense of a developer may be tapped by
a licensed contractor only upon prior approval by the City of Harrington.
SEWER LATERAL
That part of the house connection from a point not less than
four feet outside the outer wall of the building to the point of discharge
into public sewer.
SHALL
Mandatory (see definition of "may" above).
SLUG
Any discharge of water or wastewater 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 performance of the wastewater treatment
works.
SOIL STACK
Any pipe which receives the discharge from one or more water
closets, with or without the discharge from other fixtures, and conveys
this discharge to the house drain.
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
Total suspended matter that either floats on the surface
of, or is in suspension in, water, wastewater, or other liquids, and
that is removable by laboratory filtering as prescribed in Standard
Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater and referred to
as “nonfilterable residue.”
UNPOLLUTED WATER
Water of quality equal to or better than the effluent criteria
in effect or water that would not cause a violation of receiving water
quality standards and would not be benefitted by discharge to the
sanitary sewers and wastewater treatment facilities provided.
VENT PIPE
Any pipe provided to ventilate the plumbing or drainage system,
and is the continuation of any soil or waste pipe used to prevent
siphonage or back pressure, and does not receive the discharge from
any fixtures.
WASTE PIPE
Any pipe which receives the discharge from any fixture except
a water closet and conveys this discharge to the soil stack or house
drain.
WASTEWATER
The spent water of a community. From the standpoint of source,
it may be a combination of the liquid and water-carried wastes from
residences, commercial buildings, industrial plants, and institutions,
together with any extraneous permissible groundwater, surface water,
and stormwater that may be present.
WASTEWATER FACILITIES
The structures, equipment, and processes required to collect,
carry away, and treat domestic and industrial wastes and dispose of
the effluent.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
An arrangement of devices and structures for treating wastewater,
industrial wastes, and sludge. Sometimes used as synonymous with "wastewater
treatment plant."
[Added 5-20-2002 by Ord. No. 02-01]
A. General.
(1) As the owner and operator of a wastewater treatment
plant, the City of Harrington is aware of the necessity to control
wastewater discharges which originate at industrial user locations.
The City shall maintain discharge quality standards through monitoring
and enforcement of permit limits and/or the City of Harrington Sewer
Usage Ordinance.
(2) The City of Harrington Industrial Pretreatment Program
Enforcement Response Plan (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "the
plan") is intended to provide defined and uniform response during
the course of enforcement of wastewater discharge compliance with
respect to the Sewer Ordinance. The plan applies to all contributors
to the City's sanitary conveyance system.
B. Legal authority. Legal authority is established by this Article
II, as adopted pursuant to the powers conferred upon the City of Harrington in Chapter 215, Volume 64, Laws of Delaware.
C. Program administration.
(1) The City Manager is directly responsible for staffing
and overseeing the industrial pretreatment program. The City Manager
assigns responsibilities for program management and approves enforcement
actions.
(2) The City Manager shall appoint a pretreatment coordinator,
who shall be responsible for all routine and nonroutine pretreatment
activities involving City compliance with federal and state pretreatment
program regulations, program development, industrial user compliance
monitoring inspection, draft permits and new user applicant screening.
The pretreatment coordinator shall be the primary contract for all
pretreatment related issues, comments and questions.
D. Definitions. As used in this section, the following
terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ADMINISTRATIVE FINE
A punitive monetary charge unrelated to actual treatment
costs which is assessed by the City rather than a court.
ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
A document which orders the violator to perform a specific
act or refrain from an act. For example, the order may require users
to attend a "show cause" meeting, to cease and desist discharging
or to undertake activities pursuant to a compliance schedule.
ANALYSIS (or ANALYSES)
A laboratory procedure(s) which determines the concentration
of individual elements or compounds (which are regulated within permits
and/or this article) which may be present in wastewater discharge
to the City's sanitary sewer.
CHRONIC VIOLATIONS (CV)
A violation in which 66% of more of the measurements obtained
for a single compound or element exceed the daily or average permit
limit. The violation is determined for a revolving six-month monitoring
period.
CIVIL ACTION (or CIVIL LITIGATION)
A lawsuit filed in a civil court. If the court rules that
the defendant industrial user violated the law, the court may impose
civil penalties, injunctions or other equitable remedies and/or cost
recovery.
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION
An investigation requested of appropriate law enforcement
authority by the City of Harrington against an accused violator.
INDUSTRIAL USER (IL)
A source of indirect process wastewater discharge in combination
with or separate from domestic waste.
INFREQUENT OR ISOLATED VIOLATION
One violation of an industrial wastewater discharge permit
and/or the Sanitary Code as reported for the past 10 analyses for
a single contaminant compound or element.
NOTICE OF VIOLATION (NOV)
Written notification sent to an industrial user in violation
of the City of Harrington ordinance or an industrial wastewater discharge
permit.
PERMIT LIMITS
The limits of contaminant concentration that shall not be
exceeded by an industrial user. The limits may be different for each
industrial user and are found in each industrial users discharge permit.
RECURRING VIOLATION
More than one violation of an industrial wastewater discharge
permit and/or this article as reported for the past 10 analyses for
a single contaminant compound or element.
REPORT CERTIFICATION
A signed statement required with each monitoring report which
certifies accurate and complete data. The statement must replicate
40 CFR 403.6(aa) and must be signed by an authorized representative
of the industrial user.
SHOW-CAUSE ORDER
A requirement of an administrative order which instructs
an industrial user to attend a hearing to show cause as to why a more
severe enforcement action should not be placed upon it.
TECHNICAL REVIEW CRITERIA (TRC) VIOLATION
A violation in which 33% or more of the measurements obtained
for a single compound or element exceed the daily or average permit
limit by more than the product of the limit times the TRC value. The
violation is determined for a revolving six-month monitoring period.
There are two groups of TRC values:
(1)
Group I (conventional: BOD, TSS, oil and grease):
TRC equals 1.4.
(2)
Group II (all other pollutants): TRC equals
1.2.
VIOLATION
Any action or lack of action which in itself or in connection
with other actions causes a condition which violates requirements
of the Sanitary Code or industrial wastewater discharge permits. Each
contaminant which equals or exceeds permit limits is a separate violation.
E. Significant noncompliance. Significant noncompliance
(SNC) shall be defined as a violation or violations which meet one
or more of the following criteria:
(1) Violations of wastewater discharge permit or this
article.
(b)
Technical review criteria (TRC) violations.
(c)
Any violation(s) of an effluent limit (average
or daily maximum) that has caused, alone or in combination with other
discharges, interference or pass-through, or has endangered the health
of the public or sewage treatment personnel.
(d)
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused
imminent endangerment to human health and/or welfare or to the environment
and has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority
to halt or prevent such discharges.
(2) Violations of compliance schedule milestones contained
in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting or
completing construction and attaining final compliance by 90 days
or more after compliance schedule dates.
(3) Failure to provide reports for compliance schedules,
self-monitoring data or categorical standards (baseline monitoring
reports, ninety-day compliance reports, compliance and periodic reports)
within 30 days from the due date.
(4) Failure to accurately report noncompliance. The City
shall annually publish in the Harrington Journal newspaper a list
of industrial users which have demonstrated significant noncompliance
(SNC) with applicable pretreatment standards or other pretreatment
requirements during the 12 previous months as required by 40 CFR 403.8(f)(2)(vii).
The notice shall also summarize any enforcement actions taken against
the user(s) during the same 12 months.
F. Response to violations.
(1) Summary of enforcement responses.
(a)
Upon notification of discharge violations, the pretreatment coordinator shall initiate appropriate responses as required within the
Enforcement Response Guide.
(b)
Depending upon the nature of each violation,
the enforcement responses shall be:
|
Response
|
Responsible Official
|
---|
|
Telephone notification
|
Pretreatment coordinator (WWS)
|
|
Notice of violation
|
Pretreatment coordinator (WWS)
|
|
Administrative order
|
City Manager
|
|
Show-cause hearing
|
City Manager
|
|
Administrative fine
|
City Manager
|
|
Civil action
|
City Manager
|
|
Termination of service
|
City Manager
|
|
Criminal investigation
|
City Manager
|
|
Search warrant
|
City Manager
|
(2) Initial response actions:
(a)
The wastewater treatment plant coordinator (WWS)
shall immediately determine the magnitude of any violation with respect
to dangers to health or environment upon receiving notice of such
violation. Responses to violations which are determined to most likely
not present immediate hazards shall be managed within time frames
specified below.
(b)
All notifications shall be investigated to determine
whether the industrial user has taken appropriate action to minimize
the effect of the violation. The investigation shall, in cases of
violation of discharge limits, include additional or confirmatory
sampling at a frequency which shall best define the extent of the
violation. Investigations shall, if necessary, include site visits,
records and plan review, interviews with industrial user staff and
report generation.
(c)
As an ongoing and dynamic activity, newly identified
users of the sanitary system shall be examined for wastewater discharge
quality. Any user determined to be in violation of this article shall
be notified of the violations and procedures for application for industrial
wastewater discharge shall be followed.
(d)
In the event that an industrial user is suspected
of discharging wastewater in violation of this article or wastewater
discharge permits and the industrial user denies such activity, the
pretreatment coordinator (WWS) shall utilize alternative methods to
obtain representative wastewater samples which originate at the site
in question.
(e)
Whenever necessary, appropriate federal, state
and local enforcement agencies shall be notified of the circumstances
of unusual violations.
(3) Time frames for responses.
(a)
With the exception of emergencies, all violations
shall be identified and documented within five days of receiving compliance
information.
(b)
Initial enforcement responses which involve
requesting industrial users to provide information with regard to
corrective or preventative actions shall occur within 15 days of receiving
compliance information.
(c)
Follow-up actions for continuing or reoccurring
violations shall be conducted within 60 days of initial enforcement
responses. Compliance schedules shall be developed as necessary and
shall direct further response schedules.
(d)
Violations which threaten health, property or
environmental quality are considered emergencies and shall receive
immediate responses as necessary to minimize possible hazards.
(e)
All violations meeting the minimum criteria
for significant noncompliance shall be addressed through the issuance
of an administrative order within 30 days of receiving compliance
information.
(f)
Response to uncommon events which occur at frequencies
unrelated to permit or enforcement order schedules and are considered
significant to the operation of the City pretreatment program shall
be conducted within an appropriate time frame to minimize violation
magnitude.
G. Administrative fines.
(1) Fines shall be assessed to industrial users found
to be in violation of industrial wastewater discharge permits, this
article or pretreatment regulations or an administrative order by
the City Manager. The determination of fines for violations shall
be approved by the City Manager after consideration of relevant circumstances
regarding each violation. The City Manager shall consider the extent
of any harm caused by violations, preventative measures or corrective
action industrial users may have enacted as well as the compliance
history of the industrial user. The following table is intended to
guide the most basic application of assessing administrative fines.
|
Incident
|
Fine
|
---|
|
First
|
$100
|
|
Second
|
$200
|
|
Third
|
$300
|
|
Fourth
|
$400
|
|
Fifth
|
$500
|
|
Sixth
|
$600
|
|
Seventh
|
$700
|
|
Eighth
|
$800
|
|
Ninth
|
$900
|
|
Tenth
|
$1,000
|
|
Additional
|
$1,000
|
(2) Any fine assessed hereunder may be appealed to the
Superior Court of the State of Delaware in and for Kent County, in
accordance with the Superior Court Civil Rules.