[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Commissioners of Upper Moreland Township as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fire prevention — See Ch. 153.
[Adopted 5-23-1988 by Ord. No. 1157 (Title 4, Ch. 6, of the 1977 Code)]
For the purpose of this article, the following terms shall be defined as indicated in this section:
ABATE or ABATEMENT
The removal and disposal of hazardous substances in accordance with applicable federal, state or local laws or regulations and in such a way as to prevent damage to persons, property or the environment, or danger to the public health, safety and welfare, and shall include, but not be limited to, actions necessary to monitor, assess and evaluate such danger or damage.
DEPOSIT
Any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing.
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE
Any solid, liquid or gas that has a degree of hazard rating in health, flammability or reactivity of 2, 3 or 4, as ranked by NFPA 704, 1987 Edition, or future equivalent publications published for the National Fire Protection Association, and/or any flammable, combustible or corrosive liquid; poisonous, toxic, radioactive, oxidizing or explosive material; flammable solid or unstable (reactive) chemical, as defined in the BOCA Fire Prevention Code, 1987 Edition.
PERSON
An individual, firm, corporation, association, partnership, joint venture or other private or commercial entity.
The existence of hazardous substances negligently, accidentally, unintentionally upon public roadways, public lands or private property within the Township shall be deemed a public nuisance and shall be abated immediately by the person responsible for such deposit of hazardous substances.
Except in case of an emergency or imminent danger to the public health, safety or welfare, the Fire Marshal, Assistant Fire Marshal or Code Enforcement Officer shall serve notice upon the person responsible for the public nuisance. The notice shall sufficiently described the condition found and shall require the abatement within 10 days of the mailing of the notice. If the owner cannot be located, it shall be sufficient to forward notice to the last known address and to post a copy of such notice at the site of the nuisance.
[1]
Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).
Should any person responsible for a public nuisance as described herein fail, neglect or refuse to abate such condition to the satisfaction of the Fire Marshal, or if the Fire Marshal shall determine that the nature of the hazardous substances negligently, accidentally or intentionally deposited is of such nature as to pose an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare, and the person responsible is unable or unwilling to take immediate steps to abate such condition, the Township shall act to abate the said public nuisance, and any cost of abatement by the Township shall be paid by the person who negligently or intentionally deposited the hazardous substance, or it may be assessed as a municipal claim against the property involved and such costs collected as provided for by law.
Any person violating the terms of this article shall be guilty of a summary offense and, after conviction thereof before a magisterial district judge, shall be liable to pay a fine of not less than $25 and not more than $1,000, together with the cost of prosecution, and to be imprisoned for not more than 90 days in the Montgomery County Prison. After the expiration of time for abatement under the first notice provided for under § 179-3 above, each day that such violation shall continue shall constitute a new and separate offense without any necessity of new notice thereof and punishable as provided above. The payment of any fines hereunder shall not relieve the obligation to abate the nuisance or to reimburse the Township for any costs incurred in abatement of such nuisance.
[Adopted 3-6-1995 by Ord. No. 1331 (Title 4, Ch. 8, of the 1977 Code)]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BUSINESS
Any person, corporation, partnership, company, association or other entity engaged in the buying, selling, storing, transferring, transporting, manufacturing or processing of items who does so for a fee, price, retainer, percentage or other means of compensation for the purpose stated or otherwise or realizing a profit or other gains.
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT
Any incident that occurs from the storage, transportation, use, manufacturing, process or discharging of any substance potentially dangerous to the public health and welfare at large, that necessitates:
A. 
The intervention of the Upper Moreland Township Police Department, Fire Department or any of the emergency agencies or services which may assist Upper Moreland Township, including but not limited to fire companies or rescue squads operating in Upper Moreland Township or the Upper Moreland Township Emergency Management Organization or emergency response agencies employed by Upper Moreland Township.
B. 
The need for cleanup and/or abatement measures to be performed by Township employees and any related services resulting in expense to the Township.
PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE
State, county or Township bridges, state highway, Township street and navigable waterway or any other roadway or watercourse owned by a governmental unit.
A. 
The business which owns or leases the premises on which an industrial accident occurs shall be responsible for and bear all costs that occur which result from an industrial accident, including administrative costs and attorneys' fees. In the event an industrial accident occurs during transportation on a public thoroughfare or in delivery to any entity other than a business, as defined in § 179-6 hereinabove, the entity which owns or has custody or control of the vehicle or substance involved in the industrial accident shall bear all costs of such accident.
B. 
In the event that any person undertakes, either voluntarily or upon order of the Upper Moreland Township Emergency Management Organization, Fire Marshal or other Township officials to clean up or abate the effects of an industrial accident, the Upper Moreland Township Emergency Management Organization or other Township officials may take such action as is necessary to supervise or verify the adequacy of the cleanup or abatement. The business or entity described in § 179-6 hereinabove shall be liable to the Township for all costs incurred as a result of such supervision or verification.
C. 
For the purpose of this section, costs of an industrial accident shall include, but are not limited to, the following: expenses incurred by police, fire and/or emergency medical services; actual labor costs of Upper Moreland Township personnel, including benefits and administrative overhead; costs of consultants or others preparing reports concerning the industrial accident; costs of equipment operations; costs of materials obtained directly by the Township; cost of any contractual labor and materials for cleanup and/or abatement; engineering costs, attorneys' fees and all costs imposed upon the Township of Upper Moreland connected with the industrial accident.
D. 
The costs of such industrial accident as set forth in Subsection A hereinabove shall be determined by the Township Manager or his/her designee.
E. 
Such costs for all emergency services rendered shall be due and payable directly to the Township through the office of the Upper Moreland Township Finance Officer within 30 days from the date on which the Township issues an invoice for such charges.
Whenever the requirements of this article are in conflict with other requirements of the codified ordinances of Upper Moreland Township, the most restrictive or those imposing the higher standard shall govern.