[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of the Township of Swatara as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Health Officer — See Ch. 40.
Animals — See Ch. 104.
Sewers and sewage disposal — See Ch. 231.
Solid waste — See Ch. 244.
[Adopted 4-14-1976 by Ord. No. 1976-28 (Ch. 10, Part 4, of the 1990 Code)]
[Amended 12-11-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-6]
It shall be the duty of the Health Officer of the Township of Swatara to enforce the provisions of this article. Said duty shall be in addition to the duties of the Health Officer that are prescribed by other ordinances, or by laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or by rules and regulations of the various agencies and departments of the commonwealth.
A. 
When used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings assigned to them in this section, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
ORGANIC WASTE
Garbage, offal, pomace, dead animals, or any waste substance subject to the process of putrefaction.
PERSON
Any natural person, partnership, association, firm or corporation.
SEWAGE RECEPTACLE
Any privy, urinal, cesspool, septic tank or other receptacle for human excrement.
VECTOR
Any insect or rodent capable of carrying disease.
WATERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH
All streams and springs and all bodies of surface and of ground water, whether natural or artificial, within the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. 
In this article, the singular shall include the plural, and the plural shall include the singular, and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.
No sewage receptacle shall be constructed, maintained or used which directly or indirectly drains or discharges over or upon the surface of the ground or into any waters of the commonwealth. Nor shall any such receptacle be constructed, maintained or used so that vectors may have access to the excrementitious matter contained therein.
All sewage receptacles shall be emptied or cleansed at sufficiently frequent intervals to prevent the contents from overflowing.
The transportation of human excrement shall be accomplished in watertight containers with tight-fitting lids. Such containers shall be thoroughly cleansed after each use.
No human excrement or material containing human excrement shall be placed on the surface of the ground, buried, or otherwise disposed of where it is likely to gain access to any waters of the commonwealth. Its use as fertilizer shall be permitted, however, if it is not allowed to become a health hazard or nuisance and is not used to fertilize crops eaten without cooking. The contents of sewage receptacles shall not be used on any ground on which vegetables which are eaten uncooked by humans are being grown.
No kitchen or laundry water shall be allowed to discharge or flow into any gutter, street, roadway or public place.
No organic waste shall be thrown or deposited in any ravine, ditch or gutter, on any street or highway, into any waters of the commonwealth, or be permitted to remain exposed upon the surface of the ground. The transportation of organic waste shall be effected in watertight vehicles or containers, properly covered to avoid spillage, and shall be cleansed at sufficient intervals to prevent obnoxious odors.
Manure shall not be allowed to accumulate in any place where it may contaminate any source of drinking water or where it may contribute to the breeding of vectors.
The carcass of any dead animal not killed for food shall be removed and disposed of by burial or incineration or some other sanitary method within 24 hours after death. If the carcass is buried it shall be placed so that every part shall be covered by at least two feet of earth and at a location not less than 1,000 feet from any waters of the commonwealth, and not subject to overflow by such waters. In all cases of death from communicable disease the carcass shall be thoroughly enveloped in unslaked lime.
No person shall maintain, or permit to be maintained, any pond, privy vault, cesspool, well, cistern, rain barrel or other receptacle containing water unless such receptacle is constructed or maintained in a manner to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
A. 
No person maintaining a slaughterhouse, rendering works, depository of dead animals, glue works, tannery, wool-washing establishment, paper mill, by-product coke oven, dye works, oil refinery, dairy, creamery, cheese factory, milk station or similar establishment; or engaged in the manufacture of gas chemicals, explosives, fertilizers or similar products; or in the business of soapmaking, fish oil extraction, bone boiling or any similar occupation, shall allow any of the following:
(1) 
Any noxious gases which are deleterious or detrimental to public health to escape into the air.
(2) 
Any substance which is deleterious or detrimental to public health to:
(a) 
Accumulate upon the premises;
(b) 
Be thrown or allowed to discharge into any street, roadway or public place; or
(c) 
Be thrown or allowed to discharge into any waters of the commonwealth.
B. 
All slaughterhouses, rendering works, bone boiling establishments, depositories for dead animals, garbage disposal works, piggeries, and similar establishments handling organic matters shall have an adequate water supply for the purpose of keeping the place clean and sanitary. All floors shall be constructed of concrete or other impervious material, and shall have adequate provision for drainage to a cesspool, to a sewer, or to a treatment works approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
C. 
No blood pit, dung pit, offal pit or privy well shall remain or be constructed within any slaughterhouse.
D. 
No pigsty or piggery shall be built or maintained on marshy ground or on land subject to overflow, nor where it may prejudicially affect any water supply, nor where, as a source of vector breeding, it may become a menace to the public health, particularly in the following circumstances:
(1) 
If garbage is fed to pigs, provisions shall be made so that all unconsumed garbage shall be removed daily and disposed of by burial or incineration.
(2) 
All garbage shall be handled and fed upon platforms of concrete or other impervious material.
(3) 
Unslaked lime, hypochlorite of lime, borax or mineral oil shall be used daily in sufficient quantities to prevent the breeding of vectors.
No owner or occupant of any premises shall maintain any well, spring, cistern or other source of water supply used for drinking or household purposes to which the public has or may have access and which is polluted or which is so situated or constructed that it may become polluted in any manner which may render such water supply injurious to health.
[Amended 4-11-1990 by Ord. No. 1990-1]
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $30 nor more than $600 and costs of prosecution, or, in default of payment of such fine and costs, to imprisonment for not more than 30 days. Every day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Amended 12-11-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-6]
The Health Officer of the Township of Swatara may require the abatement and removal of any condition in the Township when, in the opinion of the Health Officer, such condition is prejudicial to the public health. Notwithstanding any provision of this article, the Township may require the removal of any nuisance on public or private grounds; in default of which the Township may cause the same to be done and collect the costs thereof, together with a penalty of 10%, in the manner provided by law for the collection of municipal claims, or by any other appropriate means.
[Adopted 1-11-1989 by Ord. No. 1989-2 (Ch. 6, Part 8, of the 1990 Code)]
The voiding of human urine or excrement on any street, avenue, alley, sidewalk, thoroughfare, public property, or private property of the Township, except in the appropriate toilet, lavatory, urinal, or other receptacle or implement designed for the voiding of human urine or excrement, is prohibited.
Any person violating the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $600 and, upon failure to pay said fine, imprisonment for a period not to exceed 30 days.