[Added 12-29-2022 by L.L. No. 1-2023]
A. The City of Middletown ("Middletown") possesses authority to implement and enforce applicable pretreatment provisions of this Sewer Use Code ("Code") against industrial users located in Sewer District No. 1. With respect to the applicable pretreatment provisions of this Code, Middletown may take any action under this Code that could have been taken by the Town, including all rights of entry as provided in and subject to §
138-100, for purposes of determining compliance and enforcement and including the enforcement of this Code in the courts of law. Middletown shall have primary enforcement authority, and Middletown shall implement and enforce the applicable provisions of this Code in the same manner as Middletown implements and enforces the Middletown Sewer Use Code against industrial users in Middletown.
B. Middletown possesses authority to perform technical and administrative
duties necessary to implement and enforce the applicable pretreatment
provisions of this Code against industrial users in Sewer District
No. 1. Middletown possesses authority to:
(1)
Update the industrial waste survey on an annual basis;
(2)
Issue permits to all industrial users required to obtain a permit;
(3)
Conduct inspections, sampling and analysis;
(4)
Take all appropriate enforcement action as outlined in Middletown's
enforcement response plan and provided for in this section; and
(5)
Perform any other technical or administrative duties deemed
appropriate by the Town and Middletown.
C. In addition, Middletown possesses authority to take emergency action
to stop or prevent any discharge which presents or may present an
imminent danger to the health or welfare of humans, which reasonably
appears to threaten the environment, or which threatens to cause interference,
passthrough, or sludge contamination.
D. If necessary, the Town will assist Middletown in obtaining access
to the facilities of industrial users which pretreat or are required
to pretreat sewage discharges for the purpose of inspection, sampling
and any other duties deemed necessary by Middletown.
Whenever the System Operator finds that any
user has violated or is violating this chapter, or any wastewater
discharge permit, order, prohibition, limitation, or requirement permitted
by this chapter, the System Operator may serve upon such person a
written notice stating the nature of the violation. Within 30 calendar
days of the date the System Operator mails the notice, an explanation
of the violation and a plan for the satisfactory correction and prevention
thereof shall be submitted to the System Operator and the Town Engineer
by the user. The correction and prevention plan shall include specific
actions. Submission of this plan in no way relieves the user of liability
for any violations caused by the user before or after receipt of the
notice of violation.
The Town is hereby empowered to enter into consent
orders, assurances of voluntary compliance, or other similar documents
establishing an agreement with the user responsible for the noncompliance.
Such orders shall include specific action to be taken by the user
to correct the noncompliance within a time period also specified by
the order. Consent orders shall have the same force and effect as
an administrative order.
In the event the System Operator issues any
administrative order, terminates the user's permit, or makes any fine
as set forth in this article and the user fails, within the designated
period of time set forth, to petition the Town, as provided in appropriate
sections of this article, the user shall be deemed in default, and
its rights to contest the System Operator's notice, administrative
order or fine shall be deemed waived.
The notices, orders, petitions, or other notification
which the System Operator shall desire or be required to give pursuant
to any sections of this chapter shall be in writing and shall be served
personally or sent by certified mail or registered mail, return receipt
requested, postage prepaid, and the notice, order, petition, or other
communication shall be deemed given upon its mailing as provided herein.
Any notice, administrative order, or communication mailed to the user
pursuant to the sections of this chapter shall be mailed to the user
where the user's effluent is discharged into transmission lines to
the Town's POTW. Any notice, petition, or other communication mailed
to the System Operator shall be addressed and mailed to the Town offices,
Town Hall.
The Town shall have the right, at the Town's
sole discretion, to utilize any one or more appropriate administrative
remedies set forth in this article.
Whenever a user has violated or continues to
violate the provisions of this chapter or permit or order issued hereunder,
the Town, through the Attorney for the Town, may petition the Court,
in the name of the Town, for the issuance of a preliminary or permanent
injunction or both (as may be appropriate) which restrains the violation
of, or compels the compliance with, any order or determination thereunder
by the sewer district.
The Town Board may decline to reissue or issue
a permit to any user which has failed to comply with the provisions
of this chapter or any order or previous permit issued hereunder unless
such user first files with it a satisfactory bond, payable to the
POTW, in a sum not to exceed a value determined by the Town to be
necessary to achieve consistent compliance.
The Town may decline to reissue or issue a permit
to any user which has failed to comply with the provisions of this
chapter or any order or previous permit issued hereunder, unless the
user first submits proof that it has obtained financial assurances
sufficient to restore or repair POTW damage caused by its discharge.
The Town Supervisor shall provide public notification,
in the daily newspaper with the largest circulation in the Town, of
users which were in significant noncompliance of local or federal
pretreatment standards or requirements since the last such notice.
The frequency of such notices shall be determined by the Supervisor.