No user shall contribute or cause to be contributed, directly
or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will cause interference
or pass through. These general prohibitions apply to all users whether
or not the user is subject to national categorical pretreatment standards
or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
A user may not contribute the following substances to the City POTW:
A. Any liquids, solids or gases which by reason of their nature and
quantity are, or may be, sufficient either alone or by interaction
with other substances to cause fire or explosion or be injurious in
any other way to the POTW or to the operation of the WPCP. At no time
shall two successive readings on an explosion hazard meter, at the
point of discharge into the system or at any point in the system,
be more than 5% nor any single reading over 10% of the lower explosive
limit (LEL) of the meter. Prohibited materials include, but are not
limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene,
ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates,
bromates, carbides, hydrides and sulfides and any other substances
which the City, state or EPA has notified the user is a fire hazard
or a hazard to the system.
B. Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow
in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the wastewater
treatment facilities, such as, but not limited to, grease, garbage
with particles greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension, animal guts
or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails,
whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or
marble dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags,
spent grains, spent hops, wastepaper, wood, plastics, gas, tar, asphalt
residues, residues from refining or processing of fuel or lubricating
oil, mud or glass-grinding or polishing wastes.
C. Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.5 or having any other corrosive
property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment
and/or personnel of the POTW.
D. Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity,
whether singly or by interaction with other pollutants, to injure
or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard
to humans or animals, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters
of the WPCP or to exceed the limitation set forth in a categorical
pretreatment standard. A "toxic pollutant" shall include, but shall
not be limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to Section 307(a)
of the Act.
E. Any noxious or malodorous liquids, gases or solids which, either
singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create
a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry
into the sewers for their maintenance and repair.
F. Any substance which may cause the WPCP effluent or any other product
of the WPCP, such as residues, sludges or scums, to be unsuitable
for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with any reclamation process.
In no case shall a substance discharged to the POTW cause the WPCP
to be in noncompliance with sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines
or regulations developed under Section 405 of the Act or any criteria,
guidelines or regulations affecting sludge use or disposal developed
pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic
Substances Control Act or state criteria applicable to the sludge
management method being used.
G. Any substance which will cause the WPCP to violate its SPDES permit
or the receiving water quality standards.
H. Any wastewater with objectionable color not removed in the treatment
process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning
solutions.
I. Heat in amounts which will inhibit biological activity in the WPCP,
resulting in interference, but in no case heat in such quantities
that the temperature at the POTW treatment plant exceeds 40° C.
(104° F.) unless the Approval Authority, upon request of the POTW,
approves alternate temperature limits.
J. Any pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.)
released at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which a user
knows or has reason to know will cause Interference to the WPCP. In
no case shall a slug load have a flow rate or contain a concentration
or quantities of pollutants that exceed for any time period longer
than 15 minutes more than five times the average 24-hour concentration,
quantities or flow during normal operation.
K. Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such
half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the
Superintendent in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.
L. Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or creates a public
nuisance.
M. Petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral
oil origin in amounts that will cause interference or pass through.
N. Pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or
fumes within the WPCP in a quantity that may cause acute worker health
and safety problems.
O. Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated
by the WPCP.
P. Pollutants which create a fire or explosion hazard in the POTW, including,
but not limited to, waste streams with a closed cup flash point of
less than 140° F. or 60° C. using the test methods specified
in 40 CFR 261.21.
Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in
the opinion of the Superintendent, they are necessary for the proper
handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or
any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients, except that
such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters
or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity
approved by the Superintendent and shall be located as to be readily
and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.
Where provided for any waters or wastes, preliminary treatment
or flow-equalizing facilities shall be maintained continuously in
satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.
When required, 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, or in the case
of industrial wastewater, as approved by the Administrator of the
EPA, and shall be determined at the control manhole provided or upon
suitable samples taken at said control manhole. In the event that
no special manhole has been required, the control manhole shall be
considered to be the nearest downstream manhole in the public sewer
to the point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall
be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect
of constituents upon the POTW and to determine the existence of hazards
to life, limb and property. (The particular analyses involved will
determine whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally,
but not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from
a 24-hour composite of all outfalls, whereas pH is determined from
periodic grab samples.)
Upon the promulgation of the federal categorical pretreatment
standard for a particular industrial subcategory, the federal standard,
if more stringent than limitations imposed under this chapter for
sources in that subcategory, shall immediately supersede the limitations
imposed under this chapter. The Superintendent shall notify all affected
users of the applicable reporting requirements under 40 CFR 403.12.
No person shall discharge wastewater containing in excess of
the following:
State requirements and limitations on discharges shall apply
in any case where they are more stringent than federal requirements
and limitations or those in this chapter.
The City reserves the right to establish by local law more stringent limitations or requirements on discharges to the wastewater disposal system if deemed necessary to comply with the objectives presented in §
278-1 of this chapter.
No user shall increase the use of process water or, in any way,
attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute
for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with the limitations
contained in the federal categorical pretreatment standards or in
any other pollutant-specific limitation developed by the City or state
without the prior written consent of the Superintendent.
[Amended by L.L. No. 3-2012]
A. Each user shall provide protection from slugs and the accidental
discharge of prohibited materials or other substances regulated by
this chapter. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited
materials shall be provided and maintained at the owner's or user's
own cost and expense. Detailed plans showing facilities and operating
procedures to provide this protection shall be submitted to the City
for review and shall be approved by the City before construction of
any new facility, which will be an SIU. All existing SIUs shall complete
such a plan by January 1, 1985. No SIU who commences contribution
to the WPCP after the effective date of this chapter shall be permitted
to introduce pollutants into the system until accidental discharge
procedures have been approved by the City, including control plans.
Review and approval of such plans and operating procedures shall not
relieve the industrial user from the responsibility to modify the
user's facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter.
In the case of an accidental discharge, it is the responsibility of
the user to immediately telephone and notify the WPCP of the incident.
The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste,
concentration and volume and corrective action. The required elements
of the control plan include:
(1) Description of the discharge practices, including nonroutine batch
discharges.
(2) Description of stored chemicals.
(3) Procedures for immediately notifying the City of slug discharges,
including any discharge that would violate a prohibition under 40
CFR 403.5(b) with procedures for follow-up written notification within
five days.
(4) If necessary, procedures to prevent adverse impact from accidental
spills, including inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling
and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control
of plant site runoff, worker training, building of containment structures
or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including
solvents), and/or measures and equipment for emergency response.
B. Written notice. Within five days following an accidental discharge,
the user shall submit to the Superintendent a detailed written report
describing the cause of the discharge and the measures to be taken
by the user to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification
shall not relieve the user of any expense, loss, damage or other liability
which may be incurred as a result of damage to the POTW, fish kills
or any other damage to person or property; nor shall such notification
relieve the user of any fines, civil penalties or other liability
which may be imposed by this article or other applicable law.
C. Notice to employees. A notice shall be permanently posted on the
user's bulletin board or other prominent place advising employees
whom to call in the event of a dangerous discharge. Employers shall
ensure that all employees who may cause or suffer such a dangerous
discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedure.
[Amended 10-5-1989 by L.L. No. 4-1989]
No 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. Any person violating
this provision shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to a fine
not to exceed $250 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 15 days,
or both, for each offense.