[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Littleton 9-19-2011. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.Â
The Littleton Board of Health recognizes the following;
(1)Â
Floor drains in industrial and commercial facilities are often tied
to a system leading to a leaching structure (e.g., dry well, cesspool,
leach field) or a septic system.
(2)Â
Poor management practices and accidental and/or intentional discharges
may lead petroleum and other toxic or hazardous materials into these
drainage systems in facilities managing these products.
(3)Â
Improper maintenance or inappropriate use of these systems may allow
the passage of contaminants or pollutants entering the drain to discharge
from the leaching structure or septic system to the ground.
(4)Â
Discharges of hazardous wastes and other pollutants to floor drains
leading to leaching structures and septic systems have repeatedly
threatened surface and ground water quality throughout Massachusetts.
(5)Â
Surface and ground water resources in the Town of Littleton contribute
to the Town's drinking water supplies.
The Littleton Board of Health adopts the following regulation
pursuant to authorization granted by MGL c. 111 §§ 31
and 122. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable
facilities, existing and new, within the Town of Littleton.
For the purposes of this regulation, the following words and
phrases shall have the following meanings:
A public or private establishment where the principal use
is the supply, sale, and/or manufacture of services, products, or
information, including but not limited to: manufacturing, processing,
or other industrial operations; service or retail establishments;
printing or publishing establishments; research and development facilities;
small or large quantity generators of hazardous waste; laboratories;
hospitals.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The accidental or intentional disposal, deposit, injection,
dumping, spilling, leaking, incineration, or placing of toxic or hazardous
material or waste upon or into any land or water so that such hazardous
waste or any constituent thereof may enter the land or waters of the
commonwealth. Discharge includes, without limitation, leakage of such
materials from failed or discarded containers or storage systems and
disposal of such materials into any on-site leaching structure or
sewage disposal system.
An intended drainage point on a floor constructed to be otherwise
impervious which serves as the point of entry into any subsurface
drainage, treatment, disposal, containment, or other plumbing system.
Any subsurface structure through which a fluid that is introduced
will pass and enter the environment, including, but not limited to,
drywells, leaching catch basins, cesspools, leach fields, and oil/water
separators that are not watertight.
A device designed and installed so as to separate and retain
petroleum-based oil or grease, flammable wastes as well as sand and
particles from normal wastes while permitting normal sewage or liquid
wastes to discharge into the drainage system by gravity. Other common
names for such systems include MDC traps, gasoline and sand traps,
grit and oil separators, grease traps, and interceptors.
Any substance or mixture of physical, chemical, or infectious characteristics posing a significant, actual, or potential hazard to water supplies or other hazards to human health if such substance or mixture were discharged to land or water of the Town of Littleton. Toxic or hazardous materials include, without limitation, synthetic organic chemicals, petroleum products, heavy metals, radioactive or infectious wastes, acids and alkalis, and all substances defined as toxic or hazardous under Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) Chapters 21C and 21E or Massachusetts Hazardous Waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000), and also include such products as solvents, thinners, and pesticides in quantities greater than normal household use, and as defined by the Code of the Town of Littleton § 111-3.
The handling, generation, treatment, storage, or management
of toxic or hazardous materials.
A.Â
With the exception of discharges that have received (or have applied
and will receive) a Department-issued permit prior to the effective
date of this regulation, no floor drain(s) shall be allowed to discharge,
with or without pretreatment (such as an oil/water separator), to
the ground, a leaching structure, or septic system in any industrial
or commercial facility if such floor drain is located in a nitrogen-sensitive
area and any of the following:
(1)Â
An industrial or commercial process area;
(2)Â
A petroleum, toxic, or hazardous materials and/or waste storage area;
or
(3)Â
A leased facility without either Subsection A(1) or (2) of this section, but in which the potential for a change of use of the property to a use which does have either Subsection A(1) or (2) must, on change of ownership or lease, come before the Board of Health for review of floor drain use to determine whether the floor drain regulation applies.
B.Â
Determining if a facility is in a nitrogen-sensitive area shall be
the responsibility of the property owner.
(Please note: The state requires floor drains, with containment,
in all commercial and industrial buildings. For further reference
see 248 CMR 10.09 or ask the Plumbing Inspector.)
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A.Â
The owner of a facility in operation prior to the effective date of this regulation with a prohibited (as defined under § 211B-4) floor drain system shall:
(1)Â
Disconnect and plug all applicable inlets to and outlets from (where
possible) applicable leaching structures, oil/water separators, and/or
septic systems;
(2)Â
Remove all existing sludge in oil/water separators, septic systems,
and where accessible, leaching structures. Any sludge determined to
be a hazardous waste shall be disposed of in accordance with state
hazardous waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000). Remedial activity involving
any excavation and/or soil or groundwater sampling must be performed
in accordance with appropriate Department policies;
(3)Â
Alter the floor drain system so that the floor drain shall be either:
(a)Â
Connected to a holding tank that meets all applicable requirements
of Department policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted
to the Littleton Board of Health at the time of hauling;
(b)Â
Connected to a municipal sanitary sewer line, if available,
with all applicable Department and local permits; or
(c)Â
Permanently sealed. (Any facility sealing a drain shall be required
to submit for approval to the Board of Health a hazardous waste management
plan detailing the means of collecting, storing, and disposing any
hazardous waste generated by the facility, including any spill or
other discharge of hazardous materials or wastes.)
B.Â
Compliance with all provisions of this regulation must be accomplished
in a manner consistent with Massachusetts Plumbing, Building, and
Fire code requirements.
The effective date of this regulation is the date posted on
the front page of the regulation, which shall be identical to the
date of adoption of the regulation.
A.Â
Existing facilities:
(1)Â
Owners/operators of a facility affected by this regulation shall
comply with all of its provisions within 120 days of the effective
date.
(2)Â
All applicable discharges to the leaching structures and septic systems
shall be discontinued immediately through temporary isolation or sealing
of the floor drain.
B.Â
New facilities:
(1)Â
As of the effective date of the regulation, all new construction
and/or applicable change of use within the Town of Littleton shall
comply with the provisions of this regulation.
(2)Â
Certification of conformance with the provisions of this regulation
by the Board of Health shall be required prior to issuing of construction
and occupancy permits.
Failure to comply with provisions of this regulation will result
in the levy of fines of not less than $10, but no more than $1,000.
Each day's failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation
shall constitute a separate violation.
Each provision of this regulation shall be construed as separate
to the end that, if any provision, or sentence, clause or phrase thereof,
shall be held invalid for any reason, the remainder of that section
and all other sections shall continue in full force and effect.