No person shall establish, construct, substantially
alter, own, operate or maintain any municipal waste storage, treatment
processing or disposal site or facility in the Township without first
obtaining a permit for such site or facility pursuant to the provisions
of Part 5 of this chapter.
A.
The disposal of residual and hazardous wastes shall be prohibited at any municipal waste storage, treatment, processing or disposal site or facility covered by Article II of this chapter. Any violation of this Subsection A whatsoever shall result in the immediate revocation of all applicable municipal permits and the issuance of a cease and desist order from the Mayor.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
B.
The disposal of municipal waste shall be prohibited
in areas where continuous or intermittent contact occurs between the
waste and the ground water table.
C.
The municipal waste storage, treatment, processing
or disposal sites or facilities shall be operated or maintained in
such manner as to prevent health hazards and environmental degradation.
D.
The storage, treatment, processing or disposal of
municipal wastes shall be practiced so as to prevent the attraction,
harborage or breeding of insects or rodents and to eliminate conditions
which are harmful to public health or which create safety hazards,
odors, dust, unsightliness and public nuisances.
E.
The proposed operation of a site or facility shall
not: create any nuisance which shall include, but not be limited to,
excessive noise, odor, rodent or insect infestation or effects similar
in nature, or impose a hardship on adjoining property owner or result
in an undue burden upon the Township, the Township's municipal services
and/or infrastructure.
F.
All equipment shall be stored inside totally enclosed
buildings during those hours when the landfill is not in operation.
G.
Bonding and liability insurance in such amounts with
companies and upon forms acceptable to the Township must be established
by the site of facility operator to compensate private property owners
and the Township for well contamination, property damage, etc.
A.
A one-hundred-yard buffer zone shall be established
upon which no municipal waste shall be deposited adjacent to perimeter
property lines unless otherwise approved by the Mayor.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
B.
Within the buffer zone, two parallel rows of six-foot-high
arborvitae set three feet apart, as well as trees, shrubs and other
suitable vegetation, shall be planted and landscaping provided to
fully obscure any view of the site or facility from public roadways
and adjacent public or private properties and to maintain, preserve
and enhance the environmental integrity of the surrounding area. Arborvitae
shall be set back not less than 50 yards from all property lines.
C.
All municipal waste storage, treatment, processing
or disposal sites or facilities shall be completely enclosed by chain-link
fencing or such other durable fencing as approved by the Township,
which fencing shall be no less than six feet in height but which shall
not exceed the maximum height limitation of eight feet. All fencing
shall be set back at least 15 feet from the property line.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
The Mayor, the Board of Commissioners, any Township
fire official, law enforcement officer or building, housing or zoning
official or inspector or representative of Whitehall Township Authority
shall have the authority to inspect each municipal waste storage,
treatment, processing or disposal site or facility, and all structures
of buildings situate thereat, as often as may be necessary for the
purpose of ascertaining or causing to be corrected any condition which
may be in violation of this chapter or any regulation promulgated
thereunder.
Access to any municipal waste storage, treatment,
processing or disposal site or facility shall be limited in the following
manner:
A.
Access to the site or facility shall be limited to
normal operating hours.
B.
A gate or barrier as approved by the Township at the
entrance to the site or facility shall be erected to block access
to the site or facility during times when an attendant is not on duty.
C.
Normal operating hours of the landfill during weekdays
shall be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on weekends from 7:00 a.m.
to noon on Saturdays. No operation of the site or facility of any
type, including waste deliveries, shall be permitted at any other
time and the site or facility shall be closed on:
D.
Hours of operation and other limitations regarding
access to the site or facility shall be prominently displayed on a
sign at the entrance which sign shall have a minimum size of three
feet by four feet.
E.
Access to the site or facility shall be limited to
vehicles bearing identification stickers issued by the Township. Such
stickers shall be plainly visible on all vehicles admitted to the
site or facility. Access to the site or facility by unauthorized vehicles
or persons shall be prohibited.
F.
Operators shall, upon request, provide access keys
to the facility for emergency personnel.
A.
Portable fencing constructed of wire mesh, snowfencing
or other suitable material shall be used to control blowing litter.
B.
Litter control fences shall be located in the immediate
operating area or working face of any municipal waste landfill or
similar site or facility. The nature of the waste or excessive winds
may require additional litter control measures, which shall be provided.
C.
The entire site or facility shall be adequately policed
and litter shall be collected daily from fences, roadways and any
trees or live barriers.
D.
Provisions shall be made to prevent dust from interrupting,
hampering or preventing operations at the site or facility and from
causing health or safety hazards or public nuisances.
E.
An equipment cleaning area shall be provided at the
site or facility at a location approved by the Mayor. All equipment
used to grade and compact waste in, on or at the site or facility
shall be cleaned daily to prevent odors, vectors and other nuisances.
All drainage from equipment cleaning areas shall be managed so as
to prevent water pollution and shall be discharged to a sanitary sewer
system or other facility approved by the Mayor.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
F.
A tire cleaning area shall be provided on the access
road within the site or facility. All tires on all vehicles leaving
the site or facility shall be cleaned. Runoff from the tire cleaning
area shall be controlled in accordance with Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection Landfill Management Regulations.
G.
Requirements.
(1)
Vehicles utilizing the site or facility shall take
appropriate measures to guarantee that all waste materials, including
solid, semisolid and liquid wastes, shall remain within the transportation
vehicles during the trip to the site or facility. Any open-bodied
vehicles shall be provided with a suitable cover which shall remain
in place during transportation to and from the site or facility. Any
transporting vehicles shall travel only those designed routes that
are established by the Mayor with the approval of the Board of Commissioners.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
A.
Access roads to the entrance of a municipal waste
storage, treatment, processing or disposal site or facility shall
be paved with asphalt, curbed and provided with a base capable of
withstanding anticipated load limits. Two-way traffic access roads
shall have a minimum cartway width of 36 feet or two single cartways
each a minimum width of 16 feet. For one-way traffic, separate access
roads with a minimum cartway width of 16 feet shall be established.
B.
Any cartway from a site or facility entrance into
the dumping or unloading areas, working faces or treatment facility
located within the property boundaries of the site or facility shall
be constructed in a manner which will be negotiated by loaded collection
vehicles and provide utilization by such vehicles in all weather conditions.
A.
Measures and procedures to prevent and minimize fire
hazards shall be established and practiced at the site or facility
which measures or procedures shall be at least equivalent to the Township
Fire Control Ordinance or regulations enacted or adopted from time
to time.
B.
Necessary measures shall be taken to prevent and extinguish
fires. Water of adequate volume and pressure, as determined by the
Township Engineer after consultation with the Township Fire Chief,
to supply water hose streams or foam producing equipment or water
spray systems as well as necessary equipment, compatible with the
local fire department equipment, such as hoses, nozzles and pumps
for minimizing fire hazards, shall be available at the site or facility.
All equipment and buildings at the site or facility shall be equipped
with functional fire extinguishers. In addition to the foregoing,
at least three functional Scott air packs shall be housed at the site
or facility. All employees, prior to commencing work at the site or
facility, undergo a training program in cooperation with local fire
departments, designed to teach basic firefighting techniques.
C.
Telephone or radio communication shall be located
at the site or facility or shall be readily available or accessible.
Furthermore, a list of all emergency numbers shall be provided for
the plant operators. The Township shall be provided with information
including the names, addresses and phone numbers of the appropriate
plant operators, managers and owners to be contacted in case of an
emergency.
D.
Each site or facility shall have onsite, during all
operating hours, at least one person certified in first aid cardiopulmonary
resuscitation by the American Red Cross or the equivalent.
A.
The unloading of municipal wastes shall be controlled
and restricted to the working face of the municipal waste landfill.
The size of the working face shall be confined to an area no greater
than that which can be easily compacted and covered daily.
B.
A uniform six inch compacted layer of daily cover
material shall be placed on all exposed waste by the end each working
day, at the end of every 24 hours or at the completion of every shift,
whichever interval is less.
C.
A layer of intermediate cover material, compacted to a minimum uniform depth of one foot, shall be placed on completed portions or areas within the site or facility where there is a clear intention to dispose or store additional waste materials within one year. When additional waste is not deposited within one year, additional cover and vegetation shall be provided as required by Subsection D hereof for final cover.
D.
Complete portions of a disposal or storage area within
the site or facility where there is no intention of placing any additional
waste materials at any time shall receive final cover within two weeks
of completion. Final cover shall provide a cap consisting of a uniform
and compacted one foot layer of clay placed over the surface of the
final lift, a drainage layer capable of transmitting flow and preventing
erosion placed over the cap, and a uniform and compacted layer of
soil at least two feet in thickness placed over the drainage layer.
Final cover shall not exceed the height of the original contour of
the land on which the facility is situate. Seed bed preparation and
planting operations to promote stabilization of the final soil cover
shall be completed as soon as weather permits and seasonal conditions
are suitable for the establishment of a vegetative cover suitable
to prevent erosion.
E.
Soils to be used as daily, intermediate and final
cover material shall be soils that fall within the United States Department
of Agriculture ("USDA") textural classes of sandy loam, loam, sandy
clay loam, silty clay loam, loamy sand and silt loan. For final cover
to be acceptable, the same shall compact well, not crack excessively
when dry and support a vegetative cover.
[Amended 6-8-2009 by Ord. No. 2776, approved 11-3-2009]
The Mayor may, with the approval of the Board
of Commissioners, grant a variance upon a showing that compliance
with the requirements of this article of this chapter, or any regulations
promulgated pursuant thereto, would not endanger the public health,
safety and welfare and that the best interests of the residents of
the Township would be served by granting the variance.
A.
The Township is hereby empowered to enter into agreements
with other municipalities or other public bodies in Lehigh County
for the purpose of establishing a cooperation among such municipalities
toward the completion and implementation of a solid waste management
plan so long as the parties adhere to the following terms:
(1)
The Township will commit itself to participation as
an active member in the solid water management planning process.
(2)
The Township shall authorize Lehigh County to prepare
the solid waste management plan required by law.
(3)
The Township shall cooperate with participating entities
in approving a budget and other related fiscal activities necessary
to undertake the appropriate planning process.
(4)
The Township shall share in the cost of the planning
process on a per capita basis, which per capita amount shall be agreed
upon by a simple majority of the participating municipalities.
(5)
The Township shall appoint an individual to serve
in the Lehigh County Solid Waste Association.
