[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992; Ord. No. 1243, 3-24-1999]
No person shall cause, suffer to be caused, or in any way contribute
to, the discharge, release, or accumulation of any hazardous/toxic
material upon any public way or any other area open to the public
within the City of Holland; and any such discharge, release, or accumulation
shall be deemed to be a public nuisance. This provision is intended
to impose strict liability upon the driver of every vehicle which
is involved in an accident resulting in the discharge, release, or
accumulation of any such hazardous/toxic material and is intended
to include, without limitation, all instances of passive fault or
no fault at all.
[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992]
"Hazardous/toxic material" as used in this article means any
material or substance which because of its quantity, concentration,
or physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics, presents a direct
or immediate threat to the public health or safety or to the environment
and which requires immediate action to mitigate the threat.
[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992]
The Fire Chief or his or her authorized representative may immediately
abate the discharge, release, or accumulation of any such hazardous/toxic
material without approval of the City Council.
[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992]
The Fire Chief or his or her authorized representative shall
have the ability to recover by assessment all expenses incurred in
abating such discharge, release, or accumulation. Such expenses shall
include but not be limited to the actual labor and materials costs
to the City of Holland (including workers compensation benefits, fringe
benefits, administrative overhead, cost of equipment operation, cost
of materials, cost of disposal, cost of any contract labor or materials,
and any other cost) associated with abatement, mitigation, and cleanup
in order to ensure the safety of the City of Holland and its populace.
Such expenses shall be assessed to, and shall be, the joint and several
responsibility of each person who has caused, suffered to be caused,
or in any way contributed to, such discharge, release, or accumulation,
regardless of whether that person has any other legal liability therefor
apart from this section. The Fire Chief or his or her authorized representative
may assess such expenses directly to the insurer of any person made
responsible therefor under this section.
[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992; Ord. No. 1243, 3-24-1999]
All assessments shall be paid within 30 calendar days unless
otherwise approved by the Fire Chief or his or her authorized representative.
Any person who fails to pay expenses addressed pursuant to this section
within 30 calendar days of service of the assessment, shall be considered
in default. In case of default, the City of Holland may commence suit
to recover the assessed expenses together with interest, costs, and
attorneys fees incurred in collection of such assessment or otherwise
allowed by law.
[Ord. No. 1071, 10-21-1992]
(a)
If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase
of this article shall be declared invalid for any reason whatsoever,
such decision shall not affect the remaining portions of this article,
which shall continue in full force and effect, and to this end, the
provisions of this article are hereby declared severable.
(b)
This article shall not affect violations of any other ordinance,
code, or regulation of the City existing prior to (ordinance effective
date), and any such violation shall be governed and shall continue
to be punishable to the full extent of the law under the provisions
of those ordinances, codes, or regulations in effect at the time the
violation was committed.
