[HISTORY: Adopted by the Borough Council of the Borough of Pennsburg 10-6-1980
by Ord. No. 4-80. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The purpose of this chapter is to establish procedures for the use and
maintenance of holding tanks designed to receive and retain sewage, whether
from industrial or commercial uses, and it is hereby declared that the enactment
of this chapter is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation
of the health, safety and welfare of the inhabitants of this borough.
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise, the
meanings of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
Pennsburg Borough, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage and is
designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of the sewage at
another site. "Holding tanks" include but are not limited to the following:
CHEMICAL TOILETA toilet using chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
RETENTION TANKA holding tank where sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
VAULT PIT PRIVYA holding tank designed to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
Any property within the borough upon which there is erected a structure
intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy or use by human
beings or animals and from which structure sewage shall or may be discharged.
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole or partial,
of any property located in the borough.
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation or
other group or entity.
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or excrement
or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals and any noxious
or deleterious substance being harmful or inimical to the public health or
to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water for domestic water supply
or for recreation.
Holding tanks shall, subject to approval by the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Resources, be permitted only for commercial or industrial
purposes.
The Council is hereby authorized and empowered to undertake within the
borough the control and methods of holding-tank sewage disposal and the collection
and transportation thereof.
The Council is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt such rules and
regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary, from time to time,
to effect the purposes herein.
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Council shall be in conformity
with the provisions herein, all other ordinances of the borough and all applicable
laws and applicable rules and regulations of administrative agencies of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The Council shall have the right and power to establish the time and
manner of inspection of the holding tanks. Such inspections shall be made
not less than one time per year.
The Council shall have the right and power to fix, charge and collect
charges for the inspection of holding tanks.
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any improved property
utilizing a holding tank shall be done under the direction and control of
the Council, and the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site or sites
as may be approved by the Department of Environmental Resources of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes a holding tank shall:
A.
Maintain the holding tank in conformance with this chapter
or any ordinance of this borough, the provision of any applicable law and
the rules and regulations of the borough and any administrative agency of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B.
Permit only those approved by the Council to collect,
transport and dispose of the contents therein.
Any person who violates any provisions of § 58-10 shall, upon conviction thereof by summary proceedings, be sentenced to pay a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $300 and costs and, in default of said fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment in the Montgomery County Prison for a period not in excess of five days.
In addition to any other remedies provided in this chapter, any violation of § 58-10 above shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the municipality or the Authority by either seeking appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.
