Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of this part or who knowingly makes any false statements, representations or certification in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this part; or who falsifies, tampers with or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this part shall be enforced by a summary action brought before a Magisterial District Judge and if found guilty shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $1,000 per day for each violation and shall pay the costs of prosecution, including attorney fees, and in default of payment of such fine and costs such person shall be imprisoned for a term according to applicable law. Each day of the continuation of a violation shall constitute a separate offense.
All owners of property connected or connecting with the sewage system who refuse an inspection of their improved property as provided for in § 355-137 of this Part 4 shall, at the discretion of the Board of Supervisors of the Township, be subject to pay an additional quarterly penalty in an amount equal to their quarterly sewer rental.
Any user who violates the following conditions of this part, or applicable commonwealth, federal or agency regulations, is subject to having his permit revoked by the Township:
A.
Failure of a user to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of his discharge.
B.
Failure of the user to report significant changes in operations, or wastewater constituents and characteristics.
C.
Misrepresentation or failure to fully disclose relevant facts in the permit application.
D.
Falsifying self-monitoring reports.
E.
Tampering with monitoring equipment.
F.
Failure to pay fines, sewer charges or surcharges.
G.
Failure to meet effluent limitations.
H.
Failure to meet compliance schedules.
I.
Failure to provide advance notice of transfer of ownership.
J.
Violation of any pretreatment standard or requirement.
K.
Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises for the purpose of inspection or monitoring.
L.
Violation of any condition of the permit or of this part.
Whenever the Township finds that any user has violated or is violating this part, industrial waste permit or any prohibition, limitation of requirements contained herein, the Township may serve upon such person a written notice stating the nature of the violation. Within 30 days of the date of the notice, a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof shall be submitted to the Township by the user or the permit shall be revoked immediately.
The Township reserves the right to seek injunctive relief from discharge of substances to the sewer system which it deems harmful and/or to require compliance with the terms and conditions of this part.
When the Township finds that an industrial user has violated or continues to violate this part or any permit or order issued hereunder, the Township may issue an order to cease and desist all such violations and direct those persons in noncompliance to comply forthwith and/or to take such appropriate remedial or preventative action as may be needed to properly address a continuing or threatened violation, including immediately halting operations and terminating the discharge.
An industrial user is in significant noncompliance if the violation meets one or more of the following criteria:
A.
Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which 66% 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.
B.
Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which 33% or more of all of the measurements for any 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 value. The TRC values are:
C.
Any other violation of the pretreatment effluent limit (daily, maximum or longer-term average) that the Township determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass through (including endangering the health of the Township personnel or the general public)
D.
Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment, or has resulted in the Township's exercise of its emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge.
E.
Failure to meet, within 30 days after the scheduled date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a user permit, control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction or attaining final compliance.
F.
Failure to provide, within 30 days after the due date, required reports including, but not limited to, baseline monitoring reports, ninety-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, significant industrial user reports and reports on compliance with compliance schedules.
G.
Failure to accurately report noncompliance.
H.
Any other violation or group of violations which the Township determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the pretreatment program.
Any violation that meets the criteria of § 355-198 above shall be considered a major violation.
At least once a year, the Township may publish in the largest daily newspaper published in Berks County, a notice to the public of industrial users which were in significant noncompliance. This notice shall include the name(s) and address(es) of the user and may also include additional information such as the duration of the violation, nature of the violation, compliance action taken (if any), whether the user is currently complying with the compliance schedule and whether the user has returned to compliance. At the discretion of the Township, the type of enforcement action undertaken may also be reported. This provision does not prohibit the publication of this notice in more frequent intervals.
The Township may also take such other enforcement response actions it deems necessary to bring the user into compliance with this part.
The Township may immediately suspend a user's discharge, after informal notice to the user, whenever such suspension is necessary to stop an actual or threatened discharge which reasonably appears to present or cause an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons. The Township may also immediately suspend a user's discharge, after notice and opportunity to respond, that threatens to interfere with the operation of the treating POTW, or which presents, or may present, an endangerment to the environment.
Any user notified of a suspension of its discharge shall immediately stop or eliminate its contribution. In the event of a user's failure to immediately comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the Township may take such steps as deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the treating POTW, its receiving stream or endangerment to any individuals. The Township may allow the user to recommence its discharge when the user has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Township that the period of endangerment has passed, unless the termination of permit proceedings are initiated against the user.
A user that is responsible, in whole or in part, for any discharge presenting imminent endangerment shall submit a detailed written statement, describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence prior to recommencement of discharge.
The remedies provided for in this part are not exclusive. The Township may take any, all or any combination of these actions against a noncompliant user. However, the Township may take other action, including civil and criminal prosecution, against any user when the circumstances warrant.