[Adopted 10-10-1977 by Ord. No. 735 (Ch. XXI, Part 4, of the 1972 Code of Ordinances)]
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
AUTHORITY
The Redbank Valley Municipal Authority, Armstrong and Clarion Counties, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a body corporate and politic, organized and created by the Boroughs of New Bethlehem and South Bethlehem and Porter Township.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
BUILDING DRAIN
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the sewage or discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the building sewer, beginning five feet outside the inner face of the building wall.
BUILDING SEWER
The extension from the building drain to the public sewer or other place of disposal.
COMBINED SEWER
A sewer which carries a combination of sewage and intentionally admitted stormwater, surface water, groundwater and drainage.
GARBAGE
Solid wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food, and from the handling, storage, and sale of produce.
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
The liquid wastes from industrial processes as distinct from sanitary sewage.
INSPECTOR
The person appointed by the Borough of New Bethlehem and the Authority and mutually acceptable to both, to inspect sewage works, including both public and semipublic sewers, and including also inspection of building sewers and other connections between occupied homes and other buildings and the public sewers and semipublic sewers.
NATURAL OUTLET
Any outlet directly or indirectly into a watercourse, pond, gutter, ditch, lake or other body of surface or groundwater.
OWNER
The person, firm, corporation or association having an interest or representing itself as owner, whether legal or equitable sole or partial, in any premises which is or is about to be furnished sewage service by the sewage works.
PERSON
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation or group.
PROPERLY SHREDDED GARBAGE
The wastes from the preparation, cooking, and dispensing of food that has been shredded to such 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 in any dimension.
PUBLIC COMBINED SEWER
A combined sewer which has been constructed and is owned by the Borough of New Bethlehem, or constructed and is owned by the Authority, or has been constructed by private parties and has been accepted by the Borough of New Bethlehem as a combined sewer.
PUBLIC SANITARY SEWER
A sanitary sewer which has been constructed and is owned by the Borough of New Bethlehem, or constructed and is owned by the Authority, or has been constructed by private parties and has been accepted by the Borough of New Bethlehem as a sanitary sewer.
PUBLIC SEWER
A sewer in which all owners of abutting properties have equal rights, and is controlled by public authority.
SANITARY SEWER
A sewer which carries sewage and to which stormwater, surface water, and groundwater are not intentionally admitted.
SEMIPUBLIC SANITARY SEWER or SEMIPUBLIC COMBINED SEWER
Either a sanitary sewer or a combined sewer constructed and laid by a developer pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Borough of New Bethlehem relating to sewers, and with the intent that the said sanitary sewer or combined sewer shall eventually become a part of the public sewer system, but the responsibility for laying, construction and maintenance of said sanitary sewer or combined sewer and the disposal of sewage therefrom still remains with the developer or other private persons.
SEWAGE
A combination of the water-carried wastes from the residences, business and commercial buildings, apartments, institutions and industrial establishments, together with such groundwater, surface water, stormwater and drainage as may be present.
SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating sewage.
SEWAGE WORKS
All facilities for collecting, transporting, pumping, treating and disposing of sewage.
SEWER
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
STORM SEWER or STORM DRAIN
A sewer which carries stormwater and surface water and drainage, but excludes sewage and polluted industrial wastes.
A. 
From and after the effective date of this article, the owners of all new premises, at their own expense, shall provide said premises with separate sanitary sewers and storm sewers. Said sanitary sewers shall extend to a point or points of connection to the public sanitary sewers. Said storm sewers shall be extended to a point or points of connection to the public storm sewers, if available, or to a natural outlet approved by the Borough, or in the absence of either of these means, then through a separate connection or connections to the public combined sewers.
B. 
From and after the effective date of this article, the developer or developers of all new plans of lots, at the expense of others than the Borough of New Bethlehem, shall provide said plans with separate sanitary sewerage and storm sewerage systems. Said sanitary sewerage systems shall be connected to the public sanitary sewers or combined sewers, and said storm sewerage systems shall be connected to the public storm sewers, if available, or to a natural outlet approved by the Borough, or in the absence of either of these means, then through separate connection or connections to the public combined sewers. All right, title and interest to such sewerage systems shall be conveyed by the developer or developers to the Borough of New Bethlehem, and upon acceptance by the Borough of New Bethlehem, the Borough or authority as applicable shall have the right to make further extensions beyond or laterally from said systems.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
A. 
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
B. 
Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers or combined sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the Borough, subject, however, to the provisions of § 425-14A of this article. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process water may be discharged, upon approval of the Borough, to a storm sewer, combined sewer, or natural outlet.
C. 
Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public or semipublic sewer:
(1) 
Wastes containing ashes, cinders, sand, mud, greases, lime or acetylene sludges, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, sawdust, paunch manure, cotton, chemical or paint residues, wool, plastic or other fibers, hair, hides, dead animals, spent mash and grain, pulp from food processing, water or wastes containing grease, fat or oil in excess of 100 ppm, or any other liquids, gases, solids or viscous substances which by reason of their quality, quantity or characteristics may cause fire, explosion, obstruction to the flow in the sewage works, or in any other way interfere with or be deleterious to persons, the structure, or the proper operation of the sewage works;
(2) 
Wastes or sanitary sewage having a temperature in excess of 120° F. or less than 32° F.;
(3) 
Wastes or sanitary sewage having pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 9.0 having any corrosive property capable of causing damaging or hazards to structures, equipment or personnel of the sewage works. When the Borough deems it advisable, it may require any customer discharging wastes or sanitary sewage to install and maintain, at no expense to and, in a manner approved by the Borough, a suitable device to continuously measure and record the pH of the wastes or sanitary sewage so discharged;
(4) 
Garbage, whether ground or not, except properly shredded garbage from a private dwelling unit, resulting from the proper use of a garbage grinder or disposer of a type: a) approved by the Borough; and b) maintained in good operating condition; provided, however, that no private dwelling unit shall operate more than one grinder or disposer which shall be not greater than 3 HP in size and, when so required by the Borough shall be equipped with an approved water meter and limited in use to the consumption of an average of not more than 1,500 gallons of water per day;
(5) 
Wastes containing mineral acids, waste acid, pickling plating liquors from the pickling or plating of iron, steel, brass, copper or chromium, or any other dissolved or solid substance which will endanger health or safety, interfere with the flow in, or attack or corrode, or otherwise interfere with or be detrimental to, the sewage works or the operation of either thereof;
(6) 
Wastes or sanitary sewage containing cyanides or cyanogen compounds capable of liberating hydrocyanic gas on acidification; and wastes or sanitary sewage containing any of the following substances in concentration exceeding those shown in the following table and wastes and sanitary sewage containing other chemicals or other matter detrimental to the operation of, or causing erosion, corrosion or deterioration, in the sewage works;
Substance
Maximum Permissible Concentration
(ppm)
Phenolic compounds as C6H5OH
1
Cyanides as CN
1
Cyanates as CNO
10
Iron as Fe
15
Trivalent Chromium as Cr
3
Hexavalent Chromium as Cr
0.5
Nickel as Ni
3
Copper as Cu
2
Lead as Pb
2
Tin as Sn
2
Zinc as Zn
2
(7) 
Wastes containing any noxious or malodorous gas or substance which, either individually or by interaction with sewage or other wastes, is in the opinion of the inspector likely to create a public nuisance or hazard to life, or prevent entry to sewage works for their maintenance and repair;
(8) 
Wastes containing insoluble, nonflocculent substances having a specific gravity in excess of 2.65;
(9) 
Wastes containing soluble substances in such concentrations as to cause the specific gravity of the waste to be greater than 1.1;
(10) 
Wastes containing more than 10 ppm of any of the following gases: hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, or any of the halogens;
(11) 
Wastes containing gases or vapors, either free or occluded, in concentrations toxic or dangerous to humans or animals;
(12) 
Any waste containing toxic substances in quantities sufficient to interfere with the biochemical processes of sewage treatment works or that will pass through the sewage treatment works and exceed the state or interstate requirements for the receiving stream;
(13) 
Any waters or wastes containing suspended solids of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle such materials at the sewage treatment plant; and
(14) 
Any toxic radioactive isotopes without a special permit.
D. 
Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be provided, by the owner at the owner's expense when, in the opinion of the inspector, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, or any flammable wastes, sand, and 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 said inspector, and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. Grease and oil interceptors shall be constructed of impervious materials capable of withstanding abrupt and extreme changes in temperature. They shall be of substantial construction, watertight, and equipped with easily removable covers which when bolted in place shall be gastight and watertight.
E. 
Where installed, all grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be maintained by the owner, at the owner's expense, in continuously efficient operation at all times.
F. 
The admission into the public sewers of any waters or wastes having 1) a five-day biochemical oxygen demand greater than 300 parts per million by weight; or 2) containing more than 300 parts per million by weight of suspended solids; or 3) containing any quantity of substances having the characteristics described in Subsection C ; or 4) having an average daily flow greater than 2% of the average daily sanitary sewage flow of the Borough, shall be subject to the review and approval of the Inspector. Where necessary, in the opinion of the Inspector, the owner shall provide, at his expense, such preliminary treatment as may be necessary to 1) reduce the biochemical oxygen demand to 300 parts per million and the suspended solids to 275 parts per million by weight; or 2) reduce objectionable characteristics or constituents to be within the maximum limits provided for in Subsection C; or 3) control the quantities and rates of discharge of such waters or wastes; plans, specifications and any other pertinent information relating to proposed preliminary treatment facilities shall be submitted for the approval of the Borough or their designated authority and of the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and no construction of such facilities shall be commenced until said approvals are obtained in writing.
G. 
When required by the said inspector, the owner of any property served by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessible and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Borough of New Bethlehem or their designated agent. 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.
H. 
All measurements, tests, and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in Subsections C and F shall be determined in accordance with "Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Sewage," and shall be determined at the control manhole provided for in Subsection G, 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.
No person shall maliciously, willfully, or negligently break, damage, destroy, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the municipal sewage works. Any person violating this provision shall be subject to immediate arrest under charge of disorderly conduct.
The inspector and duly authorized employes of the Borough of New Bethlehem and the Authority, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter upon all properties at reasonable times during the day for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.
A. 
Any person found to be violating any provision of this article shall be served by the Borough of New Bethlehem 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 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, upon being found liable therefor, shall pay a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $600, plus court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by the Borough in the enforcement proceedings. If the penalty is not paid, the Borough shall initiate a civil action for collection in accordance with the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. Each day a violation exists shall constitute a separate offense, and each section of this article that is violated shall also constitute a separate offense. In addition to or in lieu of enforcement under this section, the Borough may enforce this article in equity in the Court of Common Pleas of Clarion County.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
C. 
Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall become liable to the Borough of New Bethlehem or Authority for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the Borough of New Bethlehem or Authority by reason of such violation.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
D. 
Failure to correct a violation or a repeated violation identified in a notice shall not require an additional notice of violation applying to the same person, property or premises within the same calendar year or within 150 days of the first notice, whichever is longer.
[Amended 6-15-2021 by Ord. No. 941]