[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of North Whitehall as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-2-1985 by Ord. No. 1985-2]
This article may be cited as "Ordinance No. 1985-2 of the Township of North Whitehall."
The purposes of this article are:
A. 
To insure the public health, safety and welfare and the nature and quality of life for the citizenry of North Whitehall Township; and
B. 
To establish a program for the control of the use of groundwater in the affected area of the Township of North Whitehall.
The affected area shall be that area of land bounded by the following roads and highways: Mauch Chunk Road (L.R. 39038), Willow Street (L.R. 39111), the boundary line currently existing between the Townships of North Whitehall and Whitehall, Old Post Road (LR 39050) and Main Street, Ormrod (LR 39049).
A. 
From and after the effective date of this article, no well shall be drilled within the affected area for the purpose of providing water for human consumption, animal consumption or any other purpose without first obtaining permission and approval from the Board of Supervisors of the Township of North Whitehall.
B. 
In order to obtain approval for a well in the affected area, an applicant shall provide the Township with all the information the Township requests, including, but not limited to, the location of the well, its depth and the proposed nature and extent of the use of the water. Upon receipt of the required information, the Board of Supervisors will evaluate the application and will approve a permit for such well if the area in which the well is proposed is deemed suitable for potable usage as determined by the Board of Supervisors in conjunction with advice and guidance of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Protection.
C. 
The Township and its designee shall have the right from time to time to monitor the well and rescind and/or revoke the permit in the event it determines that the use of the water constitutes a danger to the public health, safety and general welfare. The revocation of the permit shall not in any fashion subject the Township to liability for damages.
Each separate provision of this article shall be deemed independent of any other provision of this article, and if any provision, sentence, clause, section or part thereof is held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstance, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts of this article, or their application to other parts or circumstances. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that this article would have been enacted as if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional provision, sentence, clause, section or part had not been included therein and as if the person or circumstances to which this article, or any part thereof, is inapplicable had been specifically exempted therefrom.
To the extent that the requirements hereof differ from those established or to be established by state law, by regulation of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, or by any other commonwealth agency, both the commonwealth requirements and the requirements of this article shall be deemed to be applicable, it being the intent of this article to impose requirements more stringent than those applied by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Should the requirements hereof be determined to be incompatible or conflict with state law or regulations, the provisions hereof shall be deemed null and void and to no effect only to the extent of the incompatibility or conflict.
A. 
Violations of this article shall be punishable as a summary offense as set forth in § 1-16A of this Code.
[Amended 5-21-1997 by Ord. No. 1997-1]
B. 
Notwithstanding any of the other provisions of this article, if the Township Board of Supervisors finds that any person is violating any provision of this article or any of the rules or regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, the Township Board of Supervisors may order such person to immediately discontinue such act. Upon failure to comply with such order, the Township Board of Supervisors may request the Township Solicitor to commence appropriate civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction to secure a temporary restraining order, a preliminary injunction, a permanent injunction or other appropriate relief or may declare that the operation is creating a public nuisance and order immediate abatement of same, with the costs of such abatement to be borne and assessed in accordance with law.