The purpose of this article is to establish
procedures for the use and maintenance of holding tanks designed to
receive and retain sewage, whether from residential or commercial
uses, and it is hereby declared that the enactment of this article
is necessary for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health,
safety and welfare of the inhabitants of this Township.
Unless the context specifically and clearly
indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this article shall
be as follows:
AUTHORITY
Any municipal authority that services sewage in the Township
of Ridley.
HOLDING TANK
A watertight receptacle which receives and retains sewage
and is designed and constructed to facilitate ultimate disposal of
the sewage at another site. "Holding tanks" include but are not limited
to the following:
A. CHEMICAL TOILET — A toilet using
chemicals that discharge to a holding tank.
B. RETENTION TANK — A holding tank where
sewage is conveyed to it by a water-carrying system.
C. VAULT PIT PRIVY — A holding tank designed
to receive sewage where water under pressure is not available.
IMPROVED PROPERTY
Any property within the Township upon which there is erected
a structure intended for continuous or periodic habitation, occupancy
or use by human beings or animals and from which structure sewage
shall or may be discharged.
OWNER
Any person vested with ownership, legal or equitable, sole
or partial, of any property located in the Township.
PERSON
Any individual, partnership, company, association, corporation
or other group or entity.
SEWAGE
Any substance that contains any of the waste products or
excrement or other discharge from the bodies of human beings or animals,
and any noxious or deleterious substance harmful or inimical to the
public health or to animal or aquatic life or to the use of water
for domestic water supply or for recreation.
TOWNSHIP
The Township of Ridley, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
The Authority is hereby authorized and empowered
to undertake within the Township the control and methods of holding
tank sewage disposal and the collection and transportation thereof.
The Authority shall have the right and power
to fix, alter, charge and collect rates, assessments and other charges
in the area served by its facilities, at reasonable and uniform rates
as authorized by applicable law.
The collection and transportation of all sewage
from any improved property utilizing a holding tank shall be done
solely by or under the direction and control of the Authority, and
the disposal thereof shall be made only at such site or sites as may
be approved by the Department of Environmental Protection of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
The owner of an improved property that utilizes
a holding tank shall:
A. Maintain the holding tank in accordance with this
article or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law and the rules and regulations of the Authority and any administrative
agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
B. Permit only the Authority or anyone acting under the
direction of the Authority to collect, transport and dispose of the
contents therein.
C. Be required, in the event that there is available
a sanitary sewer to any improved property that uses a holding tank
and there is no sewer ban relating to the use of such sewer, within
90 days of the date of the removal of such sewer ban, to connect to
the said sanitary sewer and, within such ninety-day period, fill in
such holding tank with concrete, sand or other material approved by
the Building Inspector.
In addition to any other remedies provided, any violation of §
237-11 shall constitute a nuisance and may be abated by the municipality or the Authority by seeking either appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent jurisdiction.