Township of North Versailles, PA Article II Dumping on Private Property

[Adopted 6-25-1956 by Ord. No. 364 (Ch. 10, Part 2A, of the 1987 Code of Ordinances)]

§ 222-4 Definitions and word usage.

A. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

ACCUMULATE

To gather, amass, pile, heap and collect garbage and/or rubbish in Township and to fail to lawfully dispose of same.

DISPOSAL AREA or DUMP

A place where garbage and/or rubbish is regularly dumped, deposited or placed by the owner of the property or with his consent by collectors of garbage and/or rubbish and/or individuals.

DUMP or DEPOSIT

The placing, throwing, dropping, abandoning, casting, sweeping, unloading, putting, letting fall or leaving of garbage and/or rubbish.

GARBAGE

All offal, table refuse, food scraps, bones, dead animals, and all other animal and vegetable waste matter.

OWNER

A person who is the registered owner of property situate within the Township.

PERSON

An individual, or individuals, a partnership or a corporation owning and/or occupying property.

PROPERTY

Land, buildings, and structures within the Township.

RUBBISH

All refuse, junk, trash, dross, scrap, litter, papers, pasteboard, rags, mattresses, worn out furniture, old clothing, old shoes, old rubbers, leather, carpets, broken glass, crockery, bottles, straw, excelsior, floor sweepings, old metal packing boxes and barrels and broken parts thereof, tin cans, Christmas trees, tree cuttings, leaves, grass cuttings, cut or pulled weeds and brush, household refuse, solid industrial waste, and all other similar waste matters and materials not defined herein as garbage.

B. In this article, the singular shall include the plural and the masculine shall include the feminine and the neuter.

§ 222-5 License fees.

[Amended 7-2-1958 by Ord. No. 402; 3-23-1959 by Ord. No. 428]

It shall be unlawful for the owner of property to use or allow same to be used for the disposal of garbage and/or rubbish as a disposal area or dump without first having obtained a license for same from the Board of Commissioners of the Township. The application for such permission must be in writing, stating types of refuse to be collected and location of proposed dump and defining method of disposal of garbage and/or rubbish. The fee for said license shall be $700 per annum, payable by January 15 of each calendar year, and an additional fee of 6% of gross dumping charges, to cover expenses of supervision of said operation, which latter fee is to be payable quarterly by the 15th day of January, April, July and October. All licenses shall be issued for the calendar year, or such portion thereof, as shall remain after the beginning of any calendar year.

§ 222-6 Burning of garbage. [1]

From and after the passage of this article burning of garbage and/or rubbish by persons maintaining garbage and/or rubbish disposal areas or dumps on private property within the Township shall be unlawful.

[1] Editor's Note: See also Ch. 100, Burning, Open.

§ 222-7 Prohibited acts.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to use private property within the Township for the disposal of garbage and/or rubbish in such manner so as to constitute a public nuisance, damage the health, welfare, comfort and peace of the residents of said Township and cause a depreciation in the real estate situate therein, and from and after the passage of this article all garbage and/or rubbish disposed of within the Township must be deposited only on land licensed under the provisions hereof to be designated as sanitary landfills. The material deposited must be compacted to at least 1/3 of its original volume by means of heavy equipment of 10 tons in weight, such as a roller or bulldozer, and covered with a layer of earth at the end of each day's operation. When the depth of the compacted garbage, rubbish, industrial waste, etc., reaches six feet, or when the finished elevation is reached, the material deposited shall be covered with at least two feet of earth or slag containing not more than 50% clay. The sanitary landfill site must be provided with adequate surface drainage to prevent ponding and/or erosion by rain water. The sanitary landfill operation must be conducted in such a manner as to prevent insect and rodent infestation. In addition, a fence must be constructed to capture all paper and other wind-borne material and prevent it from blowing away from the site of operation. Firefighting provisions approved by the Township Fire Marshal must be provided at the site of the sanitary landfill.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I).

B. It shall be unlawful for an owner or occupant of property within the Township to accumulate or cause to accumulate garbage and/or rubbish thereon and it shall be unlawful for any person to accumulate, store, or scatter any garbage and/or rubbish on any public property.

C. It shall be unlawful for any person to dump or deposit any garbage and/or rubbish on any public property, on any sidewalk or in or at the side of any public street or highway in the Township unless the same is placed there temporarily for collection and disposal by either the Township or its agent or a contractor or for collection by a private contractor engaged to collect such material by the owner or occupant of the premises in front of which said material is placed, and unless same be contained in sturdy containers and separated as may be required for collection.[2]

[2] Editor's Note: See Ch. 250, Solid Waste.

D. It shall be unlawful for any person to dump or deposit garbage and/or rubbish on any private property in the Township with or without the express permission of the owner of such property; provided, however, that the dumping of clean earth, ashes free from offensive or obnoxious debris or any similar material free from any obnoxious or offensive debris, and satisfactory for fill purposes, will be permitted; provided, however, that such fill shall be kept level to a reasonable grade and in a manner to avoid the accumulation of stagnant water, weeds or other obnoxious or offensive material likely to constitute a public nuisance or damage the health, welfare, comfort and peace of the residents of said Township.

§ 222-8 Violations and penalties.

[Amended 11-16-1987 by Ord. No. 857; 8-15-1988 by Ord. No. 867]

Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or to imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days. Every day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.