Any person, firm or corporation who accidentally, negligently, or intentionally causes, suffers or permits the release, discharge, deposit or spill of hazardous material(s) (hereinafter referred to as a "hazardous materials incident") upon or onto any property or facilities within the city shall be liable to the City of DeSoto for the payment of all costs incurred by the City of DeSoto and any other governmental agencies which assist it, for the cleanup and abatement of such condition. Any person, firm, or corporation who owned, possessed or controlled the hazardous material(s), or the container which held such hazardous material(s) at the time of the discharge, release, spill or deposit of hazardous material(s) shall also be liable to the city for the cost of cleanup and abatement. The remedy provided by this article shall be in addition to any other remedies provided under city ordinances and state law.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.601)
For the purposes of this article "hazardous materials" shall be defined as any substances or materials in a quantity or form which, in the determination of the fire chief or his authorized representative, poses an unreasonable and imminent risk to the life, health or safety or persons or property or to the ecological balance of the environment, and shall include, but not be limited to, such substances as explosives, radioactive materials, petroleum or petroleum products or gases, poisons, eliologic (biologic) agents, flammables and corrosives.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.602)
For purposes of this article, costs incurred by the City of DeSoto or other governmental agencies shall include, but shall not be limited to, the actual out-of-pocket expenses attributable to the abatement and cleanup of any hazardous materials, including the cost of equipment operation, cost of materials utilized, costs of specialists, experts or other contract labor not in the full-time employment of the city, actual labor costs of city personnel, including benefits and administrative overhead, overtime costs and any other incidental costs incurred by the City of DeSoto as a result of the abatement and cleanup.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.603)
The authority to recover costs under this article shall not include actual fire suppression, rescue, medical, etc. service which are normally or usually provided by the fire department and other city departments and are unrelated to a particular hazardous material(s) incident.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.604)
The city shall keep an itemized record of expenses incurred in the abatement and cleanup of hazardous materials and shall immediately after completion of the abatement, send written notice of the claim for expenses by certified mail, return receipt requested, to each responsible person, firm, and corporation, which notice shall further state that unless the amounts are paid in full within thirty (30) days after the date of mailing the city will use lawful means to collect the expenses incurred.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.605)
The city may use lawful means, including a civil action to collect the cleanup and abatement expenses incurred by the city against any person, firm, or corporation responsible for the abatement and/or cleanup of a hazardous materials incident.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 7, Article 7.600, Section 7.606)