[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Beverly
as Art. XXXIV of the Code of Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Mayor and City Council may lay, make and maintain all such
main drains or common sewers as they adjudge to be necessary for the
public convenience or the public health through any of the streets
or ways of the City, and through the lands of any person, and may
repair the same whenever it is necessary. Main drains and common sewers
so laid shall be the property of the City, and all drains and common
sewers in a street or highway shall be substantially made or repaired
with brick, stone or with such other materials and in such manner
as the Mayor and City Council may direct.
A.
Responsibilities of property owner. Commencing at the sewer line,
all sewer connections, sewers, sewer services and sewer maintenance
shall be the responsibility of the property owner.
B.
Responsibilities of building owner; work to be performed by person
licensed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and by the City of Beverly
Engineering Department. All sewer repairs or sewer replacements between
the street line and property building will be the responsibility of
the owner of the building.
C.
Responsibility of City Department of Public Services. All sewer repairs
or sewer replacements between the main sewer line and street line
will be the responsibility of the Department of Public Services.
D.
Need. The need of such work will be determined by the Director of
Public Services.
The City Council shall grant sewer connection licenses as required
by this chapter as recommended by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner
of Public Services, Public Works and also approved by the Mayor. All
work performed by the contractors will be inspected and approved or
disapproved by representatives of the Department of Public Services.
The Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services,
Public Works shall, whenever any main drain or common sewer is ordered
to be built, ascertain its depth, dimensions and mode of construction,
distance from street lines and general direction, and insert the same
on plans of sewerage on file in his office. He shall from time to
time ascertain and insert on the plans the particular location of
all private drains entering into such main drain or sewer.
All main drains and sewers owned or constructed by the City,
and all property connected therewith, shall be under the care of the
Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works,
and all appropriations for sewer connections shall be expended under
the direction of such Commissioner.
A.
Permit required. No person shall enter his particular drain into
any main or common sewer without a permit in writing from the Director
of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works, which
permit, the application therefor, and the granting thereof shall be
in such form and under such regulations as the Commissioner may prescribe,
and any person to whom such permit shall be granted shall pay therefor
the sum of $100, payable to the Director of Engineering, Commissioner
of Public Services, Public Works.
B.
Construction. Any particular drains entering any main drain or common
sewer shall, so far as the same shall be constructed within the limits
of any street or way, be built of such materials, of such size and
in such a manner as the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public
Services, Public Works may direct.
No gasoline or other explosive or inflammable substance shall
be caused or allowed to enter directly or indirectly any common sewer
or other public drain.
No brine or other injurious substance shall be caused or allowed
to be emptied directly or indirectly into any public catch basin.
A.
Generally. When a main drain or common sewer is laid in any street
or way of the City, the City Council shall assess upon owners of estates
abutting on such street or way the cost thereof, based upon the estimated
average cost of the sewers in the sewerage system adopted by the City
by the following fixed uniform rate: $1.50 per foot of frontage which
such estates have upon any street or way where a sewer is constructed,
and $0.015 per square foot of area which such estates contain within
100 feet from such street or way; provided, however, that no assessment
in respect to any such estate, which by reason of its grade, level
or any other cause cannot be drained into such sewer, shall be made,
certified or notified by the Director of Engineering until such incapacity
is removed. Such assessment shall be ascertained, assessed and certified
by the City Council to the Board of Assessors for assessment, and
notice thereof shall be given to the party to be charged, or his tenant
or lessee.
B.
Exception. Any drain or sewer laid in any land or way, public or
private, which is opened or proposed to be opened for public travel
and accommodation, shall be a main drain or common sewer, and if such
drain or sewer is laid in a public or private way or land at the expense
of the owner thereof, his land shall not be assessed for such drain
or sewer, except for the cost of connecting it with common drains
or sewers already established.
C.
Estates abutting on more than one street. When estates abut upon
more than one street or way, assessment for sewers based upon frontage
shall be assessed upon the frontage of one such street or way and
upon so much of such other street as is not exempted by the City Council;
and the City Council may exempt from assessment so much of the frontage
on such other street as it may deem just and equitable.
D.
Assessments to constitute lien. Assessments so made hereunder shall,
for two years after they have been committed to the Treasurer-Collector
for collection, constitute a lien on the real estate assessed, and
may, together with incidental costs and expenses, be levied by sale
of such real estate if the assessment is not paid within three months
after a written demand for payment made either upon the person assessed
or upon any person occupying the estate, such sale to be conducted
in like manner as sales for the payment of taxes; provided, however,
that if any owner of real estate within 30 days after notice of a
sewer assessment thereon, or of any charges made for entering or using
any public sewer, notifies in writing the Board of Assessors to apportion
the same, such Board shall apportion the same into such number of
equal parts, not exceeding 10, as the owner shall in the notice state.
The Assessors shall add one of such parts with interest to the annual
tax of such real estate each year next ensuing, until all such parts
have been so added. Such assessments or charges or apportionments
thereof shall constitute a lien upon the real estate, and may be collected
according to the provisions of law made for the collection of taxes
upon real estate. All liens for the collection of such assessments
or charges shall continue until the expiration of two years from the
time when the last installment is committed to the Treasurer-Collector,
and interest shall be added to all such assessments or charges until
they are paid, provided that nothing herein contained shall be constructed
to prevent the payment at any time in one payment of any balance of
such assessment or charges then remaining unpaid, notwithstanding
a prior apportionment.
E.
Extension of time payment. The City Council may extend the time of
payment of assessments upon estates not built upon, when requested
by the owner, until built upon or for a fixed time, provided that
interest at a rate of 4% per annum shall be charged or paid annually
upon the assessment from the time it was made, and in such case the
assessment shall be paid within three months after such estate is
built upon or after the expiration of such fixed time.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meanings
of terms used in this article shall be as follows:
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system
which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage
pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building
sewer, which begins five feet (1.5 meters) outside the inner face
of the building wall.
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer
or other place of disposal.
A sewer receiving both surface runoff and sewage.
The Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services,
Public Works of the City, or his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
The South Essex Sewerage District.
Sewer lines, appurtenances, and other works owned and operated
by the South Essex Sewerage District.
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and
sale of produce.
The liquid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trades, or businesses, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Any outlet into a watercourse, pond, ditch, lake, or other
body of surface water or groundwater.
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
The Plumbing Inspector of the Department of Municipal Inspections
of the City.[1]
The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing
of food that have been shredded to such a degree that all particles
will be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing
in public sewers, with no particle greater than 1/2 inch (1.27 centimeters)
in any dimension.
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal
rights, and which is controlled by public authority, or a sewer laid
in any land or way, public or private, open or proposed to be opened
for public travel.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface
water and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions, and industrial establishments, together
with such groundwater, surface water, and stormwaters as may be present.
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating
sewage.
All facilities for collecting, pumping, treating, and disposing
of sewage.
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
Any discharge of water, sewage, or industrial waste which
in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds,
for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes, more than five
times the average twenty-four-hour concentration or flows during normal
operation.[2]
A sewer which carries stormwater and surface waters and drainage,
but excludes sewage and industrial wastes, other than unpolluted cooling
water.
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension
in, water, sewage, or other liquids, and which are removable by laboratory
filtering.
A channel in which a flow of water occurs, either continuously
or intermittently.
No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently
break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure,
appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the sewage works.
A.
The Director and Plumbing Inspector, and other duly authorized employees
of the City bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be
permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection,
observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with
the provisions of these regulations. The Director and Plumbing Inspector,
or his representative, shall have no authority to inquire into any
processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic,
paper, or other industries beyond that point having a direct bearing
on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or
facilities for waste treatment.
B.
The Director and Plumbing Inspector, and other duly authorized employees
of the City, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall
be permitted to enter all private properties through which the City
holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited
to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair, and maintenance
of any portion of the sewage works lying within the easement. All
entry and subsequent work, if any, on the easement shall be done in
full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining
to the private property involved.
A.
Any person found to be violating any provision of this article, except § 227-11, Unlawful tampering with sewage works, shall be served by the Director or Plumbing Inspector with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of such time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.
B.
Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in Subsection A or § 227-11, Unlawful tampering with sewage works, without the necessity of written notice, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of $50 for each violation. Every day during which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense; such offense may be prosecuted by indictment or complaint before a District Court. Such a fine shall be in no way any defense to the proceedings by the Director or Plumbing Inspector for enforcement of any such order or regulations, by injunction or otherwise, or any complaint or prosecution under MGL Chapter 266 for malicious mischief or malicious damage to property.[1]
C.
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall
become liable to the City for any expense, loss, or damage occasioned
the City by reason of such violation.
A.
Permit required. No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connections
with or opening into, use, alter, or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance
thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Director
of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works, or
his authorized deputy, agent, or representative.
B.
Authority of Director. No person shall lay or connect a sewer in
any land or way, private or public, open or proposed to be opened
for the public travel, or connect any such sewer to an existing sewer,
except by authority of the Director.
C.
Permit application; form; fee. The owner or his agent shall make
application on a special permit form furnished by the City Plumbing
Inspector, if work is being performed in the building to within 10
feet of the building, or the Engineering Department, if work is being
performed outside of the building to the sewer main. The permit application
shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications, or other information
considered pertinent, in the judgment of the Commissioner and Plumbing
Inspector, for services to commercial buildings and establishments
producing industrial wastes.[1]
D.
Costs and expenses of connections. All costs and expenses incident
to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be
borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the City from any loss
or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation
of the building sewer and maintenance thereof.
E.
Separate sewers. A separate and independent building sewer shall
be provided for every building.
F.
Old building sewers. Old building sewers may be used in connection
with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and review
by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner of Public Services, Public
Works and Plumbing Inspector to meet all requirements of this article.
G.
Construction methods; compliance with technical codes; connection
of drains, downspouts.
(1)
The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building
sewer, and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe,
jointing, testing, and backfilling the trench, shall all conform to
the requirements of the building and plumbing codes, or other applicable
rules and regulations of the City. In the absence of code provisions,
or in amplification thereof, the materials and procedures set forth
in appropriate specifications of the ASTM (American Society for Testing
and Materials) and the WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation)[2] Manual of Practice No. 9, shall apply.
[2]
Editor's Note: Now the Water Environment Federation.
(2)
Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building
at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which
any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public
sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted
by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer. The owner
shall hold the City free from any claim for damage from the backflow
of sewage due to malfunction or stoppage within or due to such building
drain.
(3)
No person shall make connection of roof downspouts, exterior foundation
drains, areaway drains, or other sources of surface runoff or groundwater
to a building sewer or building drain, which in turn is connected
directly or indirectly to a public sanitary sewer.
(4)
The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall
conform to the requirements of the building and plumbing codes, or
other applicable rules and regulations of the City, or the procedures
set forth in appropriate specifications of the ASTM (American Society for
Testing and Materials) and the WPCF (Water Pollution Control Federation)[3] Manual of Practice No. 9. All such connections shall be
made gastight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedures
and materials must be approved by the Director of Engineering, Commissioner
of Public Services, Public Works and Plumbing Inspector before installation.
[3]
Editor's Note: Now the Water Environment Federation.
H.
Inspection upon connection to public sewer. The applicant for the
building sewer permit shall notify the Director of Engineering, Commissioner
of Public Services, Public Works when the building sewer is ready
for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection
shall be made under the supervision of the Director and the Plumbing
Inspector, or their duly appointed representatives.
I.
Barricades; restoration of disturbed public property. All excavations
for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades
and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks,
parkways, and other public property disturbed in the course of the
work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the City.
A.
Prohibited discharges. No person shall discharge or cause or allow
to be discharged into any sewers under the control of the City or
any sewer tributary thereto within the South Essex Sewerage District
the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if
it appears likely, in the opinion of the City, that such wastes can
harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, have
an adverse effect on the receiving waters, or can otherwise endanger
life, limb, public property, or constitute a nuisance. In forming
its opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the City and
the South Essex Sewerage Board will give consideration to such factors
as the quantities of wastes in relation to the flows and velocities
in the sewers, nature of the sewage treatment plant, capacity of the
sewage treatment plant, degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage
treatment plant, materials of construction of the sewers, and other
pertinent factors. The substances prohibited are:
(1)
Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F.
(2)
Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease, or oils, whether
emulsified or not, in excess of 100 mg/l, or containing substances
which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°
F. and 150° F.
(3)
Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation
and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-quarters
horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval
of the Commissioner and Plumbing Inspector.
(4)
Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes
or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.
(5)
Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc, and
similar objectionable or toxic substances; or wastes exerting an excessive
chlorine requirement to such degree that any such material received
in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the
limits established by the South Essex Sewerage Board for such materials.
(6)
Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing
substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established
by the South Essex Sewerage Board as necessary, after treatment of
the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal,
or other public agencies or jurisdiction for such discharge to the
receiving waters.
(7)
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration
as may exceed limits established by the South Essex Sewerage Board
in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
(8)
Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.
(9)
Materials which exert or cause:
(a)
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but
not limited to, fuller's earth, lime slurries, and lime residues)
or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride
and sodium sulfate).
(b)
Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes
and vegetable tanning solutions).
(c)
Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand, or chlorine requirements
in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage
treatment works.
(10)
Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable
to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed,
or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment
plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having
jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters;
(11)
Any sewage, drainage, substances, or wastes containing caustic
lime, calculated as CaCO3 (calcium carbonate),
in excess of 75 mg/l.
(12)
No person shall discharge or cause or allow to be discharged,
directly or indirectly, into any sewer under the control of the City
or any other sewer tributary thereto within the South Essex Sewerage
District, any of the following described waters or wastes:
(a)
Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable
or explosive liquid, solid, or gas.
(b)
Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids,
or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with
other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process,
constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance,
or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment
plant.
(c)
Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any
other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures,
equipment, and personnel of the sewage works.
(d)
Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable
of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference
with the proper operation of the sewage works, such as, but not limited
to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags,
feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch
manure, hair and fleshings, entrails, paper dishes, cups, milk containers,
buffing dust, or waters or wastes containing suspended solids in excess
of 500 mg/l.
(e)
Any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface
drainage, cooling water, uncontaminated cooling water, or unpolluted
industrial process water which the State Division of Water Pollution
Control determines is sufficiently free from contamination to permit
its discharge into the nearest stream, drain or watercourse.
B.
Options of City regarding admission into system of hazardous waste.
(1)
If any waters or wastes are discharged or proposed to be discharged
into any sewers under the control of the City or any sewer tributary
thereto within the South Essex Sewerage District, which waters contain
the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in prohibited
discharges section of this article, and which in the judgment of the
City and the South Essex Sewerage Board may have deleterious effects
upon the sewerage works, processes, equipment, or receiving waters,
or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public
nuisance, the City may:
(2)
If the City permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows,
the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject
to the review and approval of the Commissioner and Plumbing Inspector,
and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances,
and laws.
C.
Traps and separators. Garages and other establishments, where wastes
containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable waste, sand
or other harmful ingredients can be discharged and are connected,
directly or indirectly, with public sewers, shall be provided with
a suitable trap or separator. All traps or separators shall be of
a type and capacity approved by the Director of the Division of Water
Pollution Control or his authorized representative, and shall be located
so as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
D.
Maintenance of facilities. Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing
facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained
continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner
at his expense.
E.
Required control manhole. When required by the Director and Plumbing
Inspector, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer
carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole,
together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances, in the
building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling, and measurement
of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and
safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans
approved by the Director and Plumbing Inspector. The manhole shall
be installed by the owner at his expense, and shall be maintained
by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.
F.
Compliance with Standard Methods; sampling. All measurements, tests
and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which
reference is made in this article shall be determined in accordance
with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of
Water and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association,
and shall be determined at the control manhole provided, or upon suitable
samples taken at such control manhole. In the event that no special
manhole has been provided, the control manhole shall be determined
by the Commissioner. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily
accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage
works, and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and
property. (The particular analyses involved will determine whether
a twenty-four-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate,
or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but
not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour
composites of all outfalls, whereas pHs are determined from periodic
grab samples.)
G.
Agreements allowing acceptance of unusual-strength wastes. No statement
contained in this article shall be construed as preventing any special
agreement or arrangement between the City and any industrial concern
whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be
accepted by the City for treatment, subject to payment therefor by
the industrial concern.
A.
Any owner aggrieved by the refusal of the Director of Engineering,
Commissioner of Public Services, Public Works to issue a sewer permit,
or aggrieved by an order of the Director of Engineering, Commissioner
of Public Services, Public Works issued in accordance with this article,
shall have the right to review such refusal or decision of the Director
with the Committee on Public Services, such review to be requested
in writing within five days of the receipt by the owner of the decision
or refusal; the Committee shall issue a final decision after review,
and shall establish and direct that the decision of the Director shall
stand, or revise the decision of the Director, or remand the decision
of the Director for further investigation, or revoke the decision
of the Director and render an appropriate decision in writing in accordance
with this article.
B.
An owner aggrieved by a decision of the Director of Public Health
or Plumbing Inspector rendered in accordance with this article shall
have the right to a review of such refusal or decision, so far as
it pertains to the Board of Health, by notifying the Chairman of the
Board of Health in writing within five days of the receipt of the
decision of the Plumbing Inspector or the Director of Public Health,
and the Board shall issue a decision after review and shall establish
and direct that the decision of the Director shall stand, or review
the decision of the Director, or remand the decision of the Director
for further investigation, or revoke the decision of the Director
and render an appropriate decision in writing in accordance with this
article.
