[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of
Thornbury as Ch. 26, Part 1, of the 1983 Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Board of Supervisors of Thornbury Township does hereby find that
the township and its residents are served almost exclusively by wells which
draw subsurface water; that these wells are dependent upon recharge of the
aquifers in the land; that unless there is aquifer recharge,
such wells will run dry causing health hazards to people and diminution and
destruction of property values; that there have been extensive periods of
drought in the area and that wells have run dry; that it is against the public
interest to depose or drain well water in such a manner that it will immediately
flow away from or out of the township by way of creeks or streams or will
flow on the surface of the ground out of the township and thus prevent or
minimize aquifer recharge.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
A system of tanks and drain or tile fields, cesspools, French drains
or seepage pits.
Any lot or parcel of land.
The domestic use of water whether for human consumption, washing,
sanitary sewage facilities, cooling or heating of houses, except that the
watering of lawns and gardens and the irrigation of agricultural lands and
care of large domestic animals shall be exempt from this chapter.
Any person, association, incorporated or unincorporated, partnership,
limited partnership or corporation using water or proposing to use water in
the township.
Any water drawn from an artesian well or other well on the site or
lot of the premises using such water, but not including water supplied through
a main by a public utility company.
It shall be unlawful for any user to take water, as defined herein,
for any purpose as defined herein and thereafter deposit such water or its
residue except in conformity with this chapter.
Water, as defined in this chapter, shall be disposed of as follows:
A.
In the case of water used exclusively for domestic purposes
such as washing, bathing, human consumption and the disposal of sanitary wastes,
in a septic tank and drainage field (or, in the case of such systems predating
the Pennsylvania Sewage Facilities Act[1]), in cesspools.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 750.1 et seq.
B.
In the case of water used for thermal heat and cooling
of structures in a French drain or seepage pit.
C.
Any user who proposes to use water for the purposes stated in Subsection B above shall make application for a permit therefor to the Township Secretary. Such application shall indicate the proposed use and the location and design of the proposed drainage system. In the case of proposed use or uses which require the approval of or permitting by the Delaware River Basin Commission, the user shall present satisfactory evidence to the township of such approval or permitting by the Delaware River Basin Commission. The Secretary shall forward the application to the Township Engineer, who shall have 20 days in which to grant or deny the permit. The basis for his decision shall be solely on engineering criteria and shall be concerned only with the necessity for aquifer recharge and the safety of the system. The township may, by resolution, require an appropriate fee for the permit.
Any person who violates or permits a violation of this chapter shall,
upon conviction in a summary proceeding brought before a District Justice
under the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, be guilty of a summary
offense and shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, plus costs
of prosecution. Each day or portion thereof that such violation continues
or is permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense, and each
section of this chapter that is violated shall also constitute a separate
offense.
