Town of Thompson, NY Article V Use Restrictions; Damage to System

§ 194-22 Stormwater and other unpolluted drainage.

A. No person 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.

B. Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the Sewer and Water Superintendent. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged, upon approval of the Sewer and Water Superintendent, to a storm sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet.

§ 194-23 Prohibited discharges.

A. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:

(1) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

(2) Any waters 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 receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of two milligrams per liter as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.

(3) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.

(4) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works, 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 dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

B. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes:

(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150º F. (65º C.) or discharge causing the influent at the publicly owned treatment works to be greater than 104º F. (40º C.).

(2) Any waters or wastes containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32º F. and 150º F. (0º C. and 65º C.).

(3) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of 1/4 horsepower (0.76 horsepower metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Sewer and Water Superintendent.

(4) Any waters or wastes containing strong-acid iron-pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(5) Any waters or wastes containing toxic substances as defined pursuant to Section 307 of the Act.

(6) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Sewer and Water Superintendent in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.

(7) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.

(8) 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 BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.

(d) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs as defined herein.

(9) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed or are amenable to treatment only to such a degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

§ 194-24 Actions by Sewer and Water Superintendent.

A. If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in § 194-23B and which, in the judgment of the Sewer and Water Superintendent, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Sewer and Water Superintendent may:

(1) Reject the wastes;

(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable level stipulated in state and federal pretreatment regulations and subject to state and federal review and approval for discharge to the public sewers;

(3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or

(4) Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of § 194-29.

B. If the Sewer and Water Superintendent permits 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 Sewer and Water Superintendent and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.

§ 194-25 Grease, oil and sand interceptors.

Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the Sewer and Water Superintendent, they are necessary for the proper handling 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 Sewer and Water Superintendent and shall be located so as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.

§ 194-26 Maintenance of preliminary treatment facilities by owner.

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

§ 194-27 Control manhole.

When required by the Sewer and Water Superintendent, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances, in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Sewer and Water Superintendent. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.

§ 194-28 Measurements, tests and analyses.

All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this Part 1 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 control manhole provided, or upon suitable samples taken at said control manhole. In the event that no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property. (The particular analyses involved will determine whether a twenty-four-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pH's are determined from periodic grab samples.)

§ 194-29 Agreement for Town to accept certain wastes.

No statement contained in this article shall be construed as preventing any special agreement between the Town and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the Town for treatment, provided that state and federal regulations are not violated and subject to payment therefor by the industrial concern.

§ 194-30 Damage to sewage works.

[Amended 10-21-2003 by L.L. No. 2-2003]

No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the sewage works. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest and penalties as provided in this Part 1.