(1)
Unlawful discharges. Any discharge in violation of any section of sections 4.002 to 4.094, the conditions of a discharge permit, or any other violation of these sections is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Such nuisance may be abated or enjoined and damages assessed therefor in accordance with other provisions in the city code or in any other manner provided by law.
(2)
Activities Causing Unlawful Discharge. Any activity which could result in or cause discharges in violation of any section of sections 4.002 to 4.094 on at least one day a month for any six months during the course of twelve consecutive calendar months is hereby declared to be a public nuisance. Such nuisance may be abated or enjoined and damages assessed therefor in accordance with other provisions in the city code or in any other manner provided by law.
(3)
Additional
Personnel or Monitoring Devices. The city manager may order the employment
of one or more personnel and/or the installation of secured monitoring
devices to assure compliance with any abatement order. Where the city
manager deems such action necessary, the city manager may select the
persons to be employed as monitors. The cost for compliance with such
order shall be apportioned according to the laws regarding nuisance
abatement.
(1)
In the event of any actual or threatened discharge in violation of any section of sections 4.002 to 4.094 or the conditions of a discharge permit, which discharge presents an imminent or existing danger to the health or welfare of persons, property or the environment or which has caused or will cause interference, pass through or contamination of the resulting sludge, the city manager may issue an order to cease and desist and direct that the person responsible for such violation:
(2)
If the person in violation fails to comply with the order, the city shall take such steps as are deemed necessary or proper including immediate severance of the sewer connection. The city shall reinstate the wastewater treatment service upon proof of the elimination of the actual or threatened violation. The filing of an appeal pursuant to the sections 4.088 and 4.090 shall not stay enforcement by the city manager.
If the city manager finds that a discharge has taken or may take place in violation of any section of sections 4.002 to 4.094 or the conditions of a discharge permit, the city manager may require the person responsible therefor to submit for approval, within such time and with such modifications as the city manager deems necessary, a detailed time schedule of specific actions which the person shall take in order to prevent or correct the violation.
(2)
The
order shall be signed by the city manager and shall specify the nature
and source of the violation. The order shall be delivered or sent
by regular mail to the address of the industrial user. The order may
specify the corrective actions to be taken and shall allow reasonable
time for satisfactory correction. If the industrial user does not
correct the violation within the time specified, or such additional
time as may be allowed in writing by the city manager, the discharge
permit shall be revoked and/or the sewer connection severed as provided
in the order. Correction of the violation shall not preclude assessment
of monetary penalties.
(3)
The filing of an appeal pursuant to section 4.088 and 4.090 shall stay enforcement of the action by the city manager under this subsection pending final administrative action on the appeal. This provision supplements and does not restrict other provisions of this code, laws or regulations authorizing termination of service for the delinquency in payment of fees or charges.
(4)
The
industrial user whose discharge permit is revoked pursuant to this
section shall be prohibited from applying for a new discharge permit
for a period of two years from the date of final decision. The prohibition
may be waived if the city manager determines that the issuance of
a new discharge permit is necessary to avert an imminent or existing
danger to the health or welfare of persons, property, or the environment.
The city shall publish in a daily newspaper with the largest daily circulation in the metropolitan area, not less than annually, a list of those industrial users which during the previous twelve months were in significant noncompliance with any section of sections 4.002 to 4.094 or their discharge permits. This notification will summarize enforcement action by the city during the same twelve months. For purposes of this provision, an industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its violation meets one or more of the following criteria:
(1)
Chronic
violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined herein as those
in which 66 percent or more of all of the measurements taken during
a six month period exceed (by any magnitude) the daily maximum limit
or the average limit for the same pollutant parameter;
(2)
Technical
Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33
percent or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter
taken during a six month period equal or exceed the product of the
daily maximum limit or the average limit multiplied by the applicable
TRC (TRC=1.4 for BOD, TSS fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all other
pollutants except pH);
(3)
Any
other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (daily maximum or
longer-term average) that the city manager determines has caused,
alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass
through (including endangering the health of city personnel or the
general public);
(4)
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or the environment or has resulted in the city’s exercise of its emergency authority under section 4.060 of this code to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5)
Failure
to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule
milestone for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining
final compliance;
(6)
Failure
to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports such
as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic
self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance
schedules;
(7)
Failure
to accurately report noncompliance.
(8)
Any
other violation or group of violations which the city manager determines
will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the pretreatment
program.
The city manager is authorized and directed to promulgate such rules and regulations as may be deemed necessary or proper to carry out the purposes or provisions of sections 4.002 to 4.094. Nothing in these sections shall prevent the city manager from seeking judicial or governmental agency assistance to implement the purposes and provisions of this code.
(1)
In addition to any penalty or fine which may otherwise be charged or other enforcement action which may otherwise be taken against any industrial user found to be in violation of any provision of sections 4.002 to 4.094, the city manager may:
(a)
Issue
a written notice of noncompliance.
(b)
Issue
a written notice of violation.
(d)
Issue
a written compliance order. The person to whom the compliance order
is issued shall comply with the order. Any violation of the compliance
order shall be subject to the same enforcement actions as any other
violation of this code.
(2)
The
notices or orders authorized hereunder shall advise the industrial
user of the right to appeal the penalty or order in accordance with
the provisions of 4.090 and 4.092.
A noncompliance penalty may be levied by the city manager when
either a constituent limitation has been exceeded or a compliance
requirement has not been met. The city manager may impose a penalty
on any such industrial user for each day the industrial user has allowed
a discharge in violation of this code, rules adopted hereunder, notice
of violation, or administrative compliance order, or in excess of
permit limitations or otherwise has failed to observe the requirements
of its discharge permit. The city manager may adopt a schedule of
graduated penalties based on the nature, length and frequency of noncompliance.
A constituent limitation is exceeded when:
(1)
The
concentration of a restricted substance in any sample or in any series
of samples taken during the appropriate time period therefor, has
exceeded limitations published by the city manager, or any other limitation
imposed by a discharge permit; or
(2)
The
pH of any sample is outside the permitted pH range, or
(4)
The
volume restrictions of a discharge permit are exceeded.
A compliance requirement has not been met when any requirement established by the discharge permit or by any provision of sections 4.002 to 4.094, or by regulations published by the city manager or by an order issued by the city manager other than a constituent limitation, has not been met, including a failure to submit any required reports.
Collection of the penalties determined by the city manager may
be in the manner provided in this code for the collection of sewer
user charges, in accordance with any other provisions of this code,
or in any manner provided by law.
Any person who violates any provision of sections 4.002 to 4.094 or any provision of a discharge permit shall be liable to the city in a sum not to exceed $2,500.00 for each day in which such violation occurs.
[Section 4.084 amended by Ordinance No. 6010, enacted May 15, 2002]
Any person who knowingly:
(2)
Makes any false statement, representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to sections 4.002 to 4.094 or a discharge permit or who knowingly falsifies, tampers with or renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under these sections or a discharge permit, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $2,500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both for each day in which such violation occurs.
[Section 4.086 amended by Ordinance No. 6010, enacted May 15, 2002]
