A. 
No user within the Queensbury Sewer District shall contribute or cause to be contributed, directly or indirectly, any pollutant, wastewater or other material which will inhibit or interfere with the operation or performance of the Glens Falls sewer treatment facility, hereinafter called "POTW," or the use or disposal of the of the sludge generated by the POTW or passing through the POTW without adequate treatment in violation of any applicable federal, state or local environmental regulation into the receiving waters of the Hudson River or into the sludge by-product 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. 
A user shall not contribute, directly or indirectly, the following substances to the POTW:
(1) 
Any liquid, solid or gas which, by reason of its nature or quantity is sufficient, either alone or by interaction with other substances, to cause fire or explosion or be injurious in any way to the POTW or to the operation of the POTW. At no time shall two successive readings on an explosion-hazard meter at the point of discharge in the system or at any point in the system, be more than 5%, nor any single reading cover 10%, of the lower explosive limit (LEL) of the meter. Materials prohibited under this subsection include but are not limited to substance(s) which the Queensbury Town Board or its designee, hereinafter called "Board," the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) or the Environmental Protection agency (EPA) has notified a user poses a fire or explosion hazard to the POTW.
(2) 
Solid or viscous substances which may cause obstruction to the flow in a sewer or other interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment facilities, such as but not limited to grease, oil or fat in concentrations exceeding 100 parts per million by weight, 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 of fuel or lubricating oil, mud or glass grindings or polishing wastes.
(3) 
Any wastewater having a pH less than 5.0 or higher than 9.0 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structure, equipment or personnel of the POTW.
(4) 
Any wastewater containing toxic pollutants in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, so as to potentially inhibit or interfere with the operation or performance of the POTW, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a toxic effect in the receiving waters of the POTW or exceed a limitation set forth in a national categorical pretreatment standard. A toxic pollutant shall include but not be limited to any pollutant identified pursuant to Section 307(a) of the Clean Water Act, as amended, hereinafter called the "Act."
(5) 
Any wastes which, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, are sufficient to create a public nuisance or hazard to life or are sufficient to prevent entry into the sewer for maintenance and repair.
(6) 
Any substances which may cause the POTW's effluent or any other product of the POTW, such as residues, sludges or scums, to be unsuitable for reclamation and reuse or to interfere with the reclamation process. In no case shall a substance discharged to the POTW cause the POTW to be in noncompliance with the sludge use or disposal criteria, guidelines or regulations developed under Section 405 of the Act; any criteria, guidelines or regulations effecting sludge use or disposal developed pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Clean Air Act or the Toxic Substances Control Act, or state criteria applicable to the sludge management method being used.
(7) 
Any substance which may cause the POTW to violate its state pollution discharge elimination system permit or the receiving water quality standard.
(8) 
Any wastewater with objectionable color not removed in the treatment process, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(9) 
Any wastewater having a temperature which may inhibit biological activity in the POTW treatment plant resulting in interference, but in no case wastewater with a temperature at the introduction into the POTW which exceeds 40º C. (104º F.).
(10) 
Any pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released at a flow and/or pollutant concentration which will cause interference to the POTW. In no case shall a slug load have a flow rate or contain concentrations or qualities of pollutants that exceed, for any time period longer than 15 minutes, more than five times the average twenty-four-hour concentration quantities or flow during normal operation.
(11) 
Any wastewater containing any radioactive waste or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the Board in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations or limits set forth in any applicable federal or state regulation.
(12) 
Any waters or wastes containing suspended solids of such character and quantity that unusual attention or expense is required to handle such materials at the sewage treatment plant.
(13) 
Any substance which exceeds a national categorical pretreatment standard promulgated by the EPA or any other applicable federal, state or local pollutant discharge regulation.
C. 
Discharge of any of the following materials in excess of the concentration set forth below is prohibited:
[Amended 7-24-2023 by L.L. No. 9-2023]
Substance
Maximum Concentration of Discharge Allowed into POTW
(milligrams per liter)
Antimony
10
Ammonia
40
Oil and grease
50
Arsenic
0.25
Boron
5.0
Cadmium
0.25
Calcium
500
Chromium, total
1.0
Chromium, hexavalent
0.5
Copper
1.0
Iron
5.0
Lead
2.66
Manganese
5.0
Mercury
0.001
Nickel
2.34
Silver
0.2
Zinc
1.5
Cyanide, total
3.0
Cyanide, amenable
0.08
Phenols
5.0
Benzene
0.1
Chloroform
1.0
Ethylbenzene
0.1
Methylene chloride
1.0
Naphthalene
1.0
1,1,1-Trichloroethane
1.0
Toluene
0.1
Xylene
0.1
pH range
6.0 to 9.5 S.U.
D. 
The provisions of Subsection C in no way limit the general regulations contained in Subsections A and B of this section. The Board shall have the power to amend and/or modify the list set forth in Subsection C at such times as the Board deems such an action warranted as, for example, upon a finding that certain unlisted materials will interfere with the operation of the POTW or will pass through the POTW untreated in violation of any applicable federal, state or local standard or that some unlisted material will violate any of the terms of Subsection A or B of this section.
(1) 
If a majority of the Board determines, at a duly noticed meeting open to the public, that such exigencies exist which warrant the promulgation of additional or amended pollutant discharge limitations, it shall pass a resolution setting forth those limitations. Any resolution of the Board setting local discharge limit(s) in addition or amendment to those set forth in Subsection C of this section shall be set forth as an attachment to this Part 4.
(2) 
In addition to the notice set forth above, the Board shall send written notification to all persons and groups that have notified the Board of their desire to be notified of any hearings regarding the promulgation of local discharge limitations. Any persons attending said Board meeting shall be afforded the opportunity to express their views on the proposed local standards prior to the Board's voting on the promulgation of such standards.
(3) 
Any pollutant discharge limitation set forth in such a resolution shall he deemed a local pretreatment standard and shall be subject to all relevant requirements pertaining to such standards as set forth in this Part 4.
Except where expressly authorized by an applicable pretreatment standard, no user shall ever increase the use of processed water or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or a complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with the federal, state or local limitations contained in this Part 4. If dilution is allowed, the industrial wastewater discharge permit may contain mass limitations regarding materials for which dilution is allowed.
A. 
Each user shall provide protection from accidental discharge of substances regulated by this Part 4. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited substances shall be provided by and maintained at the owner's or the user's cost and expense. Detailed plans acceptable to the Board, showing facilities and operating procedures to provide this protection, shall be submitted to the Board for review and shall be approved by the Board before construction of the facility. No user who commences contribution to the POTW after the effective date of this Part 4 shall be permitted to introduce pollutants into the system until accidental discharge procedures have been approved by the Board. Review and approval of such plans and operating procedures shall not relieve the industrial user from responsibility to modify the user's facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this Part 4 or from any of the sanctions set forth in this Part 4 in the event of a violation thereof.
B. 
In the case of an accidental discharge, it is the responsibility of the user to immediately notify the POTW of the incident. The notification shall include the location of the discharge, type of waste, concentration and volume and corrective actions taken and to be taken. Within five days following an accidental discharge, the user shall submit to the Board a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and the measures to be taken by the user to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification shall not relieve the user from any of the sanctions set forth in this Part 4 for the violation of its term(s).
C. 
A notice satisfactory of the Board shall be permanently posted on the user's bulletin board or other prominent place advising employees whom to call in the event of a dangerous discharge. Employers shall ensure that all employees who may cause or suffer such a dangerous discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedure.
A. 
Prior to the discharge of effluent to the POTW, all significant industrial users shall provide wastewater treatment of their effluents so that the discharge into the POTW will not inhibit or interfere with the operation with the POTW, so that the effluent will not pass through the POTW and into the environment either totally or partially untreated in violation of any applicable federal, state or local standard and so that there will be total compliance with the terms of this Part 4. All significant industrial users shall achieve compliance with applicable national categorical pretreatment standards within the time limitation specified in each of said pretreatment standards. If no time limit is set forth in the applicable pretreatment standard, the significant industrial user shall achieve compliance within three years or such shorter time as specified in the permit.
B. 
Any facilities required to pretreat discharge to the POTW as specified in Subsection A of this section shall be constructed, operated and maintained in good working order satisfactory to the Board at the industrial user's own cost and expense.
C. 
Any existing significant industrial user which is subject to an applicable federal, state or local pretreatment standard on the effective date of this Part 4 or which later becomes subject to such a pretreatment standard(s) and any proposed new source contributed to the POTW which would be subject to such a pretreatment standard(s) shall submit detailed plans of its existing or planned, as the case may be, pretreatment facilities and operating procedures to the Board, who shall review such submittals and direct modifications thereof as it deems necessary to comply with the terms and policies of this Part 4. Said pretreatment facilities shall be constructed or altered, as the case may be, to comply with the plans or modified plans, as the case may be, which were accepted by the Board. Said pretreatment facilities shall be operated in accordance with the operating procedures or modified operating procedures, as the case may be, as accepted by the Board.
D. 
Plans and operating procedures for pretreatment facilities shall be submitted to the Board and approved and/or modified by it, and said facility shall be constructed and accepted by the Board as being in accordance with the approved plans thereof prior to the connection of the significant industrial user's wastewater discharge facilities to the POTW in the case of new sources or the discharge or continued discharge of wastewater to the POTW by the significant industrial user in the case of existing industrial users unless the Board determines, in its discretion, to allow an extension of time for the completion of such facilities. In no event shall the extension granted be longer than the compliance date set forth in the relevant pretreatment standard or three years of no time limit is set forth therein.
E. 
Noncompliance of a significant industrial user with the accepted construction plans or operating procedures shall be a violation of this Part 4 and shall subject the significant industrial user to any of the sanctions set forth herein.
F. 
The review of such plans and operating procedures will in no way relieve said user from the responsibility to modify or construct and to operate the facility as necessary to comply with the terms of this Part 4 and any applicable federal and state regulations. Approval of such plans, procedure or facilities by the Board shall not relieve an industrial user from liability as set forth in this Part 4.
G. 
Any changes in the physical facility or in the operating procedures shall be reported to the Board and approved by it prior to effecting said changes.
A. 
Any information submitted to the POTW pursuant to this Part 4 may be claimed as confidential by the submitter. Any such claim must be asserted at the time of the submission in the matter prescribed on the application form or instructions or, in the case of submittals without such a prescription, by stamping the words "CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION" on each page containing such information. If no claim is made at the time of the submission, the POTW may make the information available to the public without further notice. Any such request for confidential treatment of information and for access to such information shall be acted upon by the Board in accordance with the procedures set forth in 40 CFR 2. Any information not so marked shall be available to the public at least to the extent provided in 40 CFR 2.302.
B. 
Notwithstanding the aforegoing, information and data which is effluent data, such as identifying the nature and frequency of discharges to the POTW, shall be available to the public without restriction.