Chapter 105 Sewers

Editor’s Note: Former Subsection B, regarding permits for private sewage disposal systems, was repealed 2-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015.

(Reserved)[2]

§ 105-4 Building sewers and connections.

Editor’s Note: Former Subsection C, regarding inspections related to private sewage disposal systems, was repealed 2-18-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015.

The type, capacities, location and layout of a private sewage disposal system shall comply with all rules and regulations of the Town with respect thereto and with any other requirements of the Niagara County Health Department. No permit shall be issued for any private sewage disposal system to be constructed upon a lot having an area less than authorized by the Zoning Code of the Town of Wilson,[3] except as approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.

[3]

Editor's Note: See Ch. 127, Zoning.

No septic tank or cesspool shall be permitted to discharge to any natural outlet, whether by original construction or by reason of any act or circumstance occurring after construction, nor shall the disposal field of any private sewage disposal system be reduced in area by reason of any act or circumstance.

At such time as a public sewer becomes available to a property served by a private sewage disposal system as provided in § 105-2D, a direct connection shall be made to the public sewer in compliance with this article within 90 days, and the private sewer disposal system shall be cleaned of sludge and filled with clean bank-run gravel or dirt.

The owner shall operate and maintain the private sewage disposal facilities in a sanitary manner at all times and at no expense to the Town.

No unauthorized person shall uncover, make any connection with or opening into, use, alter or disturb any public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written permit from the Town.

Classes of sewer permits.

There shall be two classes of building sewer permits:

For residential and commercial service.

For service to establishments producing industrial waste.

In either case, the owner or his agent shall make application on a special form furnished by the Town. The permit application shall be supplemented by any plans, specifications or other information considered pertinent in the judgment of the Town.

All costs and expenses incident to the installation and connection of the building sewer shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall indemnify the Town from any loss or damage that may directly or indirectly be occasioned by the installation of the building sewer.

A separate and independent building sewer shall be provided for every building; except where one building stands at the rear of another on an interior lot and no private sewer is available or can be constructed to the rear building through an adjoining alley, court, yard, or driveway, the building sewer from the front building may be extended to the rear building and the whole considered as one building sewer.

Old building sewers may be used in connection with new buildings only when they are found, on examination and test by the Town, to meet all requirements of this article.

The size, slope, alignment, materials of construction of a building sewer and the methods to be used in excavating, placing of the pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling the trench shall all conform to the requirements of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code or other applicable rules and regulations of the Town, as follows:

Four-inch polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sewer pipe shall be utilized and shall conform to the most recent requirements of ASTM 3034 and shall have bell and spigot type joints or rubber joints and be at least Schedule 35 or glue joints with Schedule 40, ASTM 1784.

The property owner shall install a cleanout of not less than four inches in diameter if the distance between the building and the grinder pump is not within 50 feet.

The PVC pipe shall be laid on four inches of No. 1 stone or equal, shall not be blocked and shall be covered with four inches of No. 1 stone or equal.

Whenever possible, the building sewer shall be brought to the building at an elevation below the basement floor. In all buildings in which any building drain is too low to permit gravity flow to the public sewer, sanitary sewage carried by such building drain shall be lifted by an approved means and discharged to the building sewer.

The connection of the building sewer into the public sewer shall conform to the requirements of the Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code[1] or other applicable rules and regulations of the Town. All such connections shall be made gastight and watertight. Any deviation from the prescribed procedure and materials must be approved by the Town before installation.

Editor's Note: See Ch. 71, Fire Prevention and Building Code Administration and Enforcement.

The applicant for the building sewer permit shall notify the Town when the building sewer is ready for inspection and connection to the public sewer. The connection shall be made under the supervision of the Town or its representative.

All excavations for building sewer installation shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to protect the public from hazard. Streets, sidewalks, parkways and other public property disturbed in the course of the work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory to the Town.

All residences shall have a Town-owned grinder pump installed and maintained by the Town. The house connection to the grinder pump shall be made by and at the expense of the applicant.

All connections to grinder pump stations shall be made in accordance with the following specifications and those specifications for Contract X-1 as amended:

Sewer connections shall be laid solely on a true grade of not less than 1/4 inch per foot. They shall be laid in a straight line. Change in direction, if necessary, shall be made with proper fittings. All pipes shall be clear of dirt or other foreign materials as the work progresses.

The fill over and around the pipe up to a depth of one foot over the top of the pipe must be carefully selected material free from clay, large stones or debris. It shall be carefully compacted.

Adequate cleanouts shall be installed not over 50 feet apart so that at all times the route of flow can be rodded or cleaned mechanically between the building and the grinder pump unit.

All work must be inspected by the Town. No work shall be inspected or approved unless the trench is open for its entire length and all pipe and joints visible. Any trench backfilled before such inspection is made and the work approved shall be reopened for its entire length by the party performing the work. The party performing the work shall notify the Town, giving at least 24 hours' notice in advance of the time when the connection will be laid and ready for inspection.

(5)

No connection will be permitted for draining stormwater, roof water, surface water from roads, driveways, lawns, groundwater runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water, cellar drains, including sump pumps or other ponded water. Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated by the Town.

(6)

Electrical.

The Town shall be responsible for the cost of supply, delivery, and installation of all electrical parts, materials, labor and equipment required for complete and proper operation for the grinder pump station.

All electrical work, equipment and apparatus provided and installed shall conform to the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Codes or the National Electric Code.

The Town shall be responsible for the cost of installing and connecting the following electrical equipment for each grinder pump unit installation as follows:

Load center: 120/230 volts, one phase, four-pole load center in NEMA 1 surface-mounted enclosure with 20 amperes, two-pole breaker for simplex grinder pump units; 30 amperes, two-pole breaker for duplex grinder pump units; and 15 amperes, one-pole breaker for alarm systems. Load center shall be installed near the existing house panel.

Portable generator connection: Twist lock 30A, three-pole grounding cable plug and receptacle. The connection shall contain a plug and receptacle, fully wired, and to allow removal for disconnection and connection to a portable generator unit. The receptacle shall be installed on the side of the control panel and the transfer switch mounted on the control panel inner door.

[3]

Alarm panel:

[a]

The control panel shall be a NEMA 1 enclosure with screw-retained cover. It shall be complete with control relay, alarm transformer and buzzer.

[b]

The alarm buzzer shall be similar to General Electric Catalog No. GE2226-0, except with volume control. The transformer shall be sized for the buzzer and be energy-limited NEC Class 2.

[c]

The control panel, buzzer, transformer and control relay shall be furnished at the cost of the Town. The mount buzzer shall be mounted on the face of the alarm panel.

[d]

For simplex grinder pump units installed inside, the Town will be responsible for the cost of providing female twist lock receptacles for pump power, seal failure and over temperature. These shall be mounted on the side of alarm panel and wired up complete.

[e]

For duplex grinder pump units, the Town shall be responsible for the cost of installing the complete alarm/control panel.

§ 105-5 Restrictions on use of public sewers.

Wire. The Town shall be responsible for the cost of all wire and installation. Interior wiring shall be rated 600 volts and may be multiconducter (Romex) or single-conductor THWN rated for wet locations. Wiring shall be VRD-type multiconductor. Alternate exterior: As an alternate, the applicant may install PVC conduit and wire for exterior work. PVC shall be thick-wall approved for use, and wire shall be THWN or THHN approved for use.

(7)

Power source. The property owner shall be responsible for ensuring adequate electrical service for the grinder pump and control panel.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer, except in compliance with the federal standards of promulgated pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972.

Subject to all United States Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations, stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the Town. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged, on approval of the Town, to a storm sewer or natural outlet.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewers:

Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including, but not limited to, cyanides in excess of two milligrams per liter of cyanide in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.

Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.

Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter or containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32° F. and 150° F. (0° C. and 65° C.).

(5)

Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of 3/4 horsepower (0.76 horsepower metric) or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Town.

(6)

Any waters or wastes containing strong-acid ironpickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(7)

Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances or wastes exerting an excessive chlorine requirement, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage is at the limits established by the Town for such materials.

(8)

Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the Town as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies or jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters.

(9)

Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Town in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.

(10)

Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.5.

(11)

Materials which exert or cause:

Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids (such as, but not limited to, fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues) or of dissolved solids (such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate).

Excessive discoloration (such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions).

Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.

Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs as defined herein.

(12)

Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment process employed, or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

(13)

Any liquid, solid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150° F. (65° C.); however, such liquid, solid or vapor shall not cause the temperature of the influent to the sewage treatment plant to be greater than 104° F. (40° C.). The Town reserves the right to prohibit wastes at temperatures above 60° F. (18° C.).

If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in Subsection C above and which, in the judgment of the Town, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisances, the Town may:

Reject the wastes;

Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers;

Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge; and/or

§ 105-6 Interference with sewage works prohibited.

Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges under the provisions of this § 105-5. If the Town permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.

Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the Town, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients, except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and point at which the building sewer is connected. Sampling shall be carried out by customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewage works and to determine whether a twenty-four-hour composite of all outfalls of a premises is appropriate or whether a grab sample or samples should be taken. Normally, but not always, BOD and suspended solids analyses are obtained from twenty-four-hour composites of all outfalls, whereas pH's are determined from period grab samples.

No statement contained in this section shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the Town and any industrial concern whereby an industrial waste of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the Town for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the industrial concern.

In addition to the requirements of this article, every major contributory industry shall comply with all federal pretreatment standards and all other applicable requirements promulgated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (FWPCAA) of 1972.

No unauthorized person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure, appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the sewage works.

§ 105-7 Powers and duties of inspectors.

Any authorized employee of the Town, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted to enter all property for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this article.

While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in Subsection A above, the duly authorized employee of the Town shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company and the company be held harmless for injury or death to the Town employees, the Town shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by Town employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in § 105-5.

Any duly authorized employee of the Town bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the Town holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewage works lying within said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.

The Town may require that any person discharging or proposing to discharge wastewater into a public sewer file a periodic discharge report. The discharge report may include, but need not be limited to, the nature of process, volume, rates of flow, mass emission rate, production qualities, hours of operation, number and classification of employees or other information which relates to the generation of waste, including wastewater constituents and characteristics in the wastewater discharge. Such reports may also include the chemical constituents and quantity of liquid or gaseous materials stored on the site, even though they may not normally be discharged. In addition to discharge reports, the Town may require information in the form of wastewater discharge permit applications and self-monitoring reports.

Wastewater discharge permits.

All major contributory industries proposing to connect to or to discharge into a public sewer must obtain a wastewater discharge permit before connecting to or discharging into a public sewer. All existing major contributory industries connected to or discharging into a public sewer must obtain a wastewater discharge permit within 90 days after the effective date of this article.

Required information.

Users seeking a wastewater discharge permit shall complete and file with the Town an application in the form prescribed by the Town and accompanied by the applicable fees. The applicant may be required to submit, in units and terms appropriate for evaluation, the following information:

The name, address and SIC number of applicant.

The volume of wastewater to be discharged.

[3]

Wastewater constituents and characteristics, including but not limited to those mentioned in Section 307 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (FWPCAA) of 1972.

[4]

The time and duration of discharge.

[5]

Average and thirty-minute peak wastewater flow rates, including daily, monthly and seasonal variation, if any.

[6]

Site plans, floor plans, mechanical plans and plumbing plans and details to show all sewers and appurtenances by size, location and elevation.

[7]

A description of activities, facilities and plant processes on the premises, including all materials, processes and types of materials which are or could be discharged.

[8]

Each product produced by type, amount and rate of production.

[9]

The number and type of employees and hours worked.

[10]

Any other information as may be deemed by the Town to be necessary to evaluate the permit application.

The Town will evaluate the data furnished by the user and may require additional information. After evaluation and acceptance of the data furnished, the Town may issue a wastewater discharge permit subject to terms and conditions as provided herein.

Wastewater discharge permits shall be expressly subject to all provisions of this Subsection E and all other regulations, user charges and fees established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The conditions of wastewater discharge permits shall be uniformly enforced by the Town in accordance with this Subsection E and applicable state and federal regulations. Permits may contain the following:

The unit charge or schedule of user charges and fees for the wastewater to be discharged into a public sewer.

The average and maximum wastewater constituents and characteristics.

Limits on rate and time of discharge or requirements for flow regulations and equalization.

Requirements for installation of inspection and sampling facilities.

(e)

Pretreatment requirements.

(f)

Specifications for monitoring programs, which may include sampling locations, frequency and method of sampling, number, types and standards for tests and reporting schedule.

(g)

Requirements for submission of technical reports or discharge reports.

(h)

Requirements for maintaining records relating to wastewater discharge as specified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and affording the United States Environmental Protection Agency access thereto.

(i)

Mean and maximum mass emission rates.

(j)

Other conditions as deemed appropriate by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to ensure compliance with this article.

Wastewater discharge permits shall be issued for a specific time period, not to exceed five years. A permit may be issued for a period less than a year or may be stated to expire on a specific date. If the user is not notified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or the Town 30 days prior to the expiration date of the permit, the permit shall be extended one additional year. The terms and conditions of the permit may be subject to modification and change by the Town during the life of the permit as limitations or requirements are modified and changed. The user shall be informed of any proposed changes in his permit at least 30 days prior to the effective date of change. Any changes or new conditions in the permit shall include a reasonable time schedule for compliance.

(5)

Wastewater discharge permits are issued to a specific user for a specific operation. A wastewater discharge permit shall not be reassigned or transferred or sold to a new owner, new user, different premises or a new or changed operation.

(6)

Any user who violates the following conditions of the permit or of this article or applicable state and federal regulations is subject to having his permit revoked:

Failure of a user to factually report the wastewater constituents and characteristics of his discharge.

Failure of the user to report significant changes in operations or wastewater constituents and characteristics.

Refusal of reasonable access to the user's premises for the purpose of inspection or monitoring.

§ 105-8 Penalties for offenses; enforcement.

Violation of conditions of the permit.

(7)

Special agreements and arrangements between the Town and any person or agency may be established when, in the opinion of the Town, unusual or extraordinary circumstances compel special terms and conditions.

(8)

A user shall notify the Town immediately upon accidentally discharging wastes in violation of this article to enable countermeasures to be taken by the Town to minimize damage to the public sewer, treatment facility, treatment processes and the receiving water. This notification shall be followed, within 15 days of the date of the occurrence, by a detailed written statement describing the causes of the accidental discharge and the measures being taken to prevent future occurrence. Such notification will not relieve users of liability for any expense, loss or damage to the sewer system, treatment plant or treatment process or for any fines imposed pursuant to this article.

(9)

Whenever a discharge of wastes causes an obstruction, damage or any other impairment to Town facilities, the Town may assess a charge against the user for the work required to clean or repair the facility and add such charge to the user's charges and fees.

(10)

Any person who violates any provision of this Subsection E or a permit condition or who discharges wastewater which causes pollution or who violates any order, prohibition, effluent limitation, national standard of performance or pretreatment or toxicity standard shall be liable civilly to a penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each day in which such violation occurs.

Except as otherwise provided in § 105-7E(10), any person found to be violating any provision of this article shall be served by the Town with written notice stating the nature of the violation and providing a reasonable time limit for the satisfactory correction thereof. The offender shall, within the period of time stated in such notice, permanently cease all violations.

Any person who shall continue any violation beyond the time limit provided for in Subsection A above shall be guilty of a misdemeanor offense against this article and, on conviction thereof, shall pay a penalty in an amount not exceeding $1,000 for each violation or imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or both. Each day in which any such violation shall continue shall be deemed a separate offense.

[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]

Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall become liable to the Town for any expense, loss or damage occasioned by the Town by reason of such violation, to include attorneys fees and court costs.

Article II Sunset Island Sewer District

[Adopted 5-17-2004 by L.L. No. 1-2004]

§ 105-9 Title.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Sunset Island Sewer District Rent Local Law of the Town of Wilson."

§ 105-10 Purpose and intent.

The Town Board of the Town of Wilson hereby finds and determines that the most equitable manner of collecting funds to defray the costs and fees of the Sunset Island Sewer District, hereinafter called the "District," and the costs and fees associated with the treatment of the effluent pumped to the sewage treatment plant owned and operated by the Village of Wilson shall be collected from those benefited parcels within the Town of Wilson served by the District in accordance with § 105-12 herein.

§ 105-11 Definitions.

For the purposes of this article, the definitions set forth in § 451 of the General Municipal Law shall be controlling.

§ 105-12 Sewer rents.

Pursuant to Subdivision 1 of § 198 of the Town Law and pursuant to Article 14-F of the General Municipal Law, the Town Board hereby establishes and imposes sewer rents for the costs and fees of the District and the costs and fees for the treatment of the effluent pumped to the sewage treatment plant owned and operated by the Village of Wilson in accordance with Schedule A[1] which is attached hereto and made a part hereof, and as such schedule is hereinafter amended from time to time by resolution of the Town Board after public hearing.[2] Said public hearing shall be part of the annual Town budget hearing. Said rents shall be charged to and assessed against each land parcel which directly benefits from the sewer with a sewer hookup.

Editor's Note: Schedule A is included as an attachment to this chapter.