City of Oneida, NY Article XI Discharge Restrictions

§ 139-83 Pretreatment standards.

All users of the City of Oneida POTW will comply with all standards and requirements of the Act and standards and requirements promulgated pursuant to the Act, including but not limited to 40 CFR Parts 405 - 471.

§ 139-84 General prohibitions.

A. No user shall contribute or cause to be contributed, in any manner or fashion, directly or indirectly, any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the POTW. These general prohibitions apply to all such users of a POTW whether or not the user is subject to National Categorical Pretreatment Standards, or any other national, state, or local pretreatment standards or requirements.

B. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, a user may not contribute the following substances to the POTW:

(1) Any solids, liquids, or gases which, by reason of their nature or quantity, are or may be sufficient, either alone or by interaction with other substances, to cause a fire or an explosion or be injurious, in any way, to the POTW, or to the operation of the POTW. At no time shall both of two successive readings on a flame-type explosion hazard meter, at the point of discharge into the system (or at any other point in the system), be more than 25% nor any single reading be more than 40% of the lower explosive limit (LEL) of the meter. Unless explicitly allowable by a written permit, prohibited materials include, but are not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, carbides, hydrides, and sulfides, and any other substance which the City, the state, or the EPA has determined to be a fire hazard or hazard to the POTW.

(2) Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or otherwise interfere with the operation of the wastewater treatment facilities. Unless explicitly allowable by a written permit, such substances include, but are not limited to, grease, garbage with particles greater than 1/2 inch in any dimension, animal guts or tissues, paunch manure, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, whole blood, feathers, ashes, cinders, sand, spent lime, stone or marble dust, metal, glass, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, wastepaper, wood, plastics, gas, tar asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing fuel or lubricating oil, mud, or glass or stone grinding or polishing wastes.

(3) Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.5 or greater than 10.0, unless the POTW was specifically designed to manage such wastewater, or wastewater having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment, and/or POTW personnel. The City Engineer can authorize by special permit the discharge of wastewater having a pH outside this range.

(4) Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants (including heat), to injure or interfere with any wastewater treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the POTW, or to exceed the limitation set forth in a categorical pretreatment standard. A toxic pollutant shall include, but not be limited to, any pollutant identified pursuant to Section 307(A) of the Act.

(5) Any noxious or malodorous solids, liquids, or gases which either singly or by interaction with other wastes are sufficient to create a public nuisance or a hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewers for their maintenance or repair.

(6) Oils and grease. Any commercial, institutional, or industrial wastes containing fats, waxes, grease, or oils which become visible solids when the wastes are cooled to 10º C. (50º F.); any petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in excess of 100 mg/l or in amounts that will cause interference or pass-through. All analytical procedures utilized to determine quantities of, and/or determine the origin of, oil and grease in wastewater must conform to all NYSDOH ELAP requirements.

(7) Any wastewater which will cause interference or pass-through.

(8) Any wastewater with objectionable color which is not removed in the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes, and vegetable tanning solutions.

(9) Any solid, liquid, vapor, or gas having a temperature higher than 65º C. (150º F.); however, such materials shall not cause the POTW treatment plant influent temperature to be greater than 40º C. (104º F.). The City Engineer reserves the right, in certain instances, to prohibit or limit the discharge of wastes whose maximum temperatures are lower than 65º C.

(10) Unusual flow rate or concentration of wastes, constituting slugs, except by industrial wastewater permit.

(11) Any wastewater containing any radioactive wastes except as approved by the City Engineer, and in compliance with applicable state and federal regulations.

(12) Any wastewater which causes a hazard to human life or which creates a public nuisance, either by itself or in combination, in any way, with other wastes.

(13) Any wastewater with a closed cup flashpoint of less than 140º F. or 60º C. using the test methods specified in 40 CFR Part 261.21.

(14) Any pollutants which result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems.

§ 139-85 Concentration-based limitations.

A. No person shall discharge, directly or indirectly into the POTW, wastewater containing any of the following substances in concentrations exceeding those specified below on either a daily or an instantaneous basis, except by permit or as provided for in § 139-86. Concentration limits are applicable to wastewater effluents at the point just prior to discharge into the POTW (end-of-pipe concentrations).

	Parameter	Local Limits Effluent Concentration (mg/l)
	Arsenic	0.1
	Cadmium	0.2
	Chromium (hexavalent)	0.1
	Chromium (total)	2.0
	Copper	0.4
	Cyanide (complex)	0.8
	Cyanide (free)	0.2
	Lead	0.1
	Mercury	0.1
	Nickel	2.0
	Phenol	2.0
	Selenium	0.1
	Silver	0.1
	Zinc	0.6

(1) Except for chromium (hex), all concentrations listed for metallic substances shall be as total metal, which shall be defined as the value measured in a sample acidified to a pH value of two or less, without prior filtration.

(2) As determined on a composite sample taken from the user's daily discharge over a typical operational and/or production day.

(3) As determined on a grab sample taken from the user's discharge at any time during the daily operation and/or production period.

B. Other substances which may be limited are:

(1) Alkanes, alkenes and alkynes;

(2) Aliphatic and aromatic alcohols and acids;

(3) Aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes and ketones;

(4) Aliphatic and aromatic esters;

(5) Aliphatic and aromatic halogenated compounds;

(6) Aliphatic and aromatic nitro, cyano and amino compounds;

(7) Antibiotics;

(8) Benzene derivatives;

(9) Chemical compounds which, upon acidification, alkalinization, oxidation or reduction, in the discharge or after admixture with wastewater and its components in the POTW, produce toxic, flammable, or explosive compounds;

(10) Pesticides, including algicides, fungicides, herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, phthalates;

(11) Polyaromatic and polynuclear hydrocarbons;

(12) Total toxic organics, TTO as defined in 40 CFR 433.11;

(13) Toxic organic compounds, regulated by federal pretreatment standards;

(14) Unsaturated aliphatics, including those with an aldehyde, ketone or nitrile functional group; and/or

(15) Viable pathogenic organisms from industrial processes or hospital procedures.

§ 139-86 Mass-discharge-based limitations.

A. At no time shall the influent to the POTW contain quantities in excess of those specified below:

(1) Allowable POTW influent loading. The City Engineer shall determine the total allowable influent load of each substance from significant industrial users. In determining the total load of each substance that significant industrial users shall be allowed to discharge, the superintendent shall consider:

(a) The quantities of each substance that are uncontrollable because they occur naturally in wastewater;

(b) The quantities of each substance that are anthropogenic but are nonetheless uncontrollable;

(c) Historical discharge trends;

(d) Past pollution control efforts of each significant industrial user as compared to other significant industrial dischargers of the same substance;

(e) Potential for growth in the POTW service area;

(f) Potential for more restrictive regulatory requirements to be placed on the POTW discharge or sludge disposal or sludge reuse method; and

(g) Treatability of the substance.

(2) The Superintendent shall apply a minimum 16% safety factor to be protective of the POTW.

B. To assure that the total loads so calculated, for each substance, are not violated, the City Engineer shall issue permits to significant industrial users limiting discharge loads.

C. Permits issued in accordance with this section may allow for discharges in excess of limitations set forth under § 139-85.

§ 139-87 Modification of limitations.

A. Limitations on wastewater strength or mass discharge contained in this Part 3 may be supplemented with more stringent limitations when, in the opinion of the City Engineer:

(1) The limitations in this Part 3 are not sufficient to protect the POTW;

(2) The limitations in this Part 3 are not sufficient to enable the POTW treatment plant to comply with applicable water quality standards or the effluent limitations specified in the POTW's SPDES permit;

(3) The POTW sludge will be rendered unacceptable for disposal or reuse as the City desires, as a result of discharge of wastewaters at the above prescribed concentration limitations;

(4) Municipal employees or the public will be endangered; or

(5) Air pollution and/or groundwater pollution will be caused.

B. The limitations on wastewater strength or mass discharge shall be recalculated not less frequently than once every five years. The results of these calculations shall be reported to the Common Council. This Part 3 shall then be amended appropriately. Any issued industrial wastewater discharge permits, which have limitations, based directly on any limitations, which are changed, shall be revised and amended, as appropriate.

§ 139-88 Access to user's records.

The City Engineer shall have the authority to copy any record related to wastewater discharges to the POTW.

§ 139-89 Dilution.

A. Except where expressly authorized to do so by an applicable pretreatment standard, no user shall ever increase the use of process water or, in any other way, attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a treatment standard.

B. Dilution flow shall be considered to be inflow.

§ 139-90 Grease, oil, and sand interceptors.

Grease, oil, and sand interceptors shall be provided, when, in the opinion of the City Engineer, they are necessary for the proper handling of wastewater containing excessive amounts of grease, flammable substances, sand, or other harmful substances, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or living units. All interceptors shall be of type and capacity approved by the City Engineer and shall be so located to be easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. Such interceptors shall be inspected, cleaned, and repaired regularly, as needed, by the owner, at his expense.

§ 139-91 Solid waste grinders.

Solid waste grinders at or serving commercial establishments, institutions or industries shall not discharge into the City if there is a combined sewer overflow (CSO) on the sewer lines conveying the waste to the POTW treatment plant.

§ 139-92 Rejection of wastewater.

The City Common Council may reject a user's wastewater, on recommendation of the City Engineer, when it has been determined that the wastewater contains substances or possesses characteristics which have a deleterious effect on the POTW and its processes, or on the receiving water, or which constitute a public nuisance or hazard. See § 139-119.