[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Hamptonburgh as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Water — See Ch. 142.
[Adopted 8-6-1979 as Ch. 72 of the 1979 Code]
No septic tank, leaching pit, pipe or other
means for the disposal or discharge of trade wastes, industrial wastes,
sewage, excreta, kitchen wastes, sink wastes or laundry wastes shall
be installed anywhere in the Town of Hamptonburgh, except as herein
provided. No privies shall be permitted, except as herein provided.
No installation of any septic tank, leaching pit, pipe or other means for the disposal or discharge of trade wastes, industrial wastes, sewage, excreta, kitchen wastes, sink wastes or laundry wastes shall be begun until a building permit has been obtained from the Town Building Inspector. Any application for a building permit under Chapter 59, Building Construction, or the New York Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code shall include the plans for the sewage disposal system, which plans must be approved by the Building Inspector before the issuance of the building permit.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 72-3, enforcement,
which immediately followed this section, was deleted 4-13-1999 by
L.L. No. 1-1999.
[Amended 4-13-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999]
All individual sewage disposal systems shall
be installed in accordance with the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention
and Building Code and the State Sanitary Code.
No person, firm or corporation, either as owner,
lessee or tenant of any property, dwelling, building or place, shall
construct or maintain any leaching pit, septic tank, sewage disposal
system, pipe or drain so as to expose or discharge the contents or
other liquid or matter therefrom to the atmosphere or on the surface
of the ground or so as to endanger any source of drinking water; nor
shall any such person, firm or corporation discharge into any watercourse,
storm drain or body of water any sewage or sewage effluent from a
leaching pit, septic tank, sewage disposal system, pipe or drain,
except as permitted under the provisions of the Public Health Law.
[Amended 4-13-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999]
Sewage shall be disposed of by piping it through
a system which conforms to all standards promulgated by the State
of New York and the County of Orange.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former §§ 72-7,
Subsurface tile field systems; 72-8, Leaching pits; 72-9, Artificial
subsurface sand filters; and 72-10, Non-water-carriage sewage disposal,
were all deleted 4-13-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999.
Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
to permit the installation or maintenance of disposal facilities which
are or may become a nuisance.
[Amended 4-13-1999 by L.L. No. 1-1999]
The Building Inspector may, at any time by inspection,
determine that existing sewage disposal facilities on a property are
inadequate or do not function properly or that there is not available
an adequate supply of water for use in connection therewith. In such
cases, the Building Inspector shall notify the owner of said premises,
in writing, of such fact, and a copy of such notice shall be sent
to the owner or County Health Department. Upon receipt of such notice,
it shall be the duty of the owner, within 10 days, to make application
to the Building Inspector for a permit for reconstruction or alteration
within 30 days after receipt of said notice. Unless such required
reconstruction or alteration shall have been completed within the
30 days, it shall be unlawful and improper to use said premises for
human occupancy until such required reconstruction or alteration shall
have been completed and approved. The fee for reconstruction or alteration
permit shall be the same as that for a new installation, and such
work shall be inspected and approved in the same manner as provided
for new installation.
Any violation of this article, either by the
occupancy of a structure without a duly authorized certificate of
approval or by the installation or use of a septic tank, leaching
pit, privy or discharge pipe without compliance with the terms and
provisions aforesaid, or any violation of any terms and provisions
of this article or failure to obtain any permit required hereunder,
is hereby declared to be an offense and shall render the owner of
the land whereon the same was installed and/or the tenant or the person
so installing the same, or any other person, guilty of a violation
thereof, liable to a fine not to exceed the sum of $250 or to imprisonment
for a period of not more than 15 days, or both. Each week's continued
violation after notice thereof shall constitute a separate, additional
violation and offense.
[Adopted 5-2-2005 by L.L. No. 3-2005]
The purposes of the rules, regulations and requirements
of this article are specifically stated as follows:
A.
To prohibit excessive volumes and/or inordinate rates
of flow of sewage and wastes into the Windsor Estate Sewer District
sewer system and all public and private sewers and lines tributary
thereto;
B.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes of a flammable nature, or which create in any
way a poisonous or hazardous environment for sewage maintenance and
operation personnel;
C.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes which may cause maintenance difficulties in
the interceptor sewers, trunk sewers, force mains, pumping stations,
sewage regulators and other structures and appurtenances of the District
sewer system and public and private sewers tributary thereto;
D.
To prohibit the contribution of sewage, industrial
wastes or other wastes which may create operating difficulties at
the District's wastewater treatment facility as it now exists or may
be constructed, modified or improved in the future;
E.
To require the treatment, before introduction into
the District sewer system and public and private sewers tributary
thereto, of such wastes as may impair the strength and/or durability
of the structure appurtenant to the system, by direct or indirect
chemical action, or interfere with the normal treatment process;
F.
To regulate all connections and discharges to and
usage of the Town sewage system for the purpose of providing maximum
efficiency in the maintenance and operation of the system and adhere
to all applicable federal, state and local requirements;
G.
To require the connection to and the use of the sanitary
sewer system;
H.
To protect the public health and to prevent nuisances.
Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise,
the following terms are defined for the purpose of this chapter as
hereinafter indicated:
The Town Board or its designee.
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C. (68° F.) expressed in parts per million (ppm) or
milligrams per liter (mg/l).
That part of the lowest horizontal piping of a building sanitary
drainage system which receives the discharge from waste and other
sanitary drainage pipes inside the walls of any building and conveys
such discharge to the building sewers, beginning four feet outside
the outer face of the building wall.
That part of the horizontal piping of a sanitary drainage
system which extends from the end of the building drain and which
receives the discharge of the building drain and conveys it to a public
sewer or other point of disposal.
The difference between the amounts of chlorine added to water,
sewage or industrial wastes and the amount of residual chlorine remaining
at the end of a twenty-minute contact period at a temperature of 68°F.
A sewer designed to receive and transport both surface runoff
and sewage.
The water discharge from any system of condensation, air
conditioning, cooling, refrigeration or other sources.
The Orange County Department of Health.
Solid wastes from the domestic or commercial preparation,
cooking and dispensing of food or from the handling, storage and sale
of produce.
The fluid wastes from industrial manufacturing processes,
trade or business, as distinct from sanitary sewage.
Garbage (shredded or unshredded), refuse, woods, coffee grounds,
sawdust, shavings, eggshells, bark, sand, lime, cinder, ashes and
all other discarded matter not normally present in sewage or industrial
wastes.
Any person who obtains a permit for sewer connection.
Any individual, firm, company, association, society, corporation
or group.
The intensity of the acid or alkaline reaction of a solution
in terms of hydrogen concentration (but is not a measure of the total
concentration of acid or alkali present). The pH is expressed as the
common logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen concentration in
moles per liter:
|
pH=log
|
1
|
|
(h+)
|
Any privy, septic tank, cesspool or other sewage disposal
facility owned and operated by a person other than a municipal sewage
system.
The wastes from the preparation, cooking and dispensing of
food that has been shredded to such a degree that all particles will
be carried freely under the flow conditions normally prevailing in
public sewers, with no particle having a dimension greater than 1/2
inch in any dimension.
A sewer controlled by public authority.
A natural watercourse or any other body of surface or groundwater
into which treated or untreated sewage is discharged.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm-, surface
and groundwaters are not intentionally admitted.
The conditioned human waste matter collected from privies,
septic tanks, cesspools and chemical toilets.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together
with such ground-, surface and stormwater as may be inadvertently
present. The admixture of sewage as above-defined with industrial
wastes or other wastes shall also be considered sewage within the
meaning of this definition.
The demand payment for the use of a public sewer and/or sewage
treatment plant for handling any sewage, industrial wastes or other
wastes accepted for admission thereto, in which the quantity or characteristics
thereof exceed the maximum values as defined herein.
All facilities within the Sewer District for collecting,
regulating, pumping and transporting sewage to the wastewater treatment
facility.
Any arrangement of devices and structures used for treating
sewage at the District's wastewater treatment facility.
A pipe or conduit for carrying sewage.
Any discharge of water, sewage or industrial waste which
in concentration of any given constituent or in quantity of flow exceeds
for any period of duration longer than 15 minutes more than five times
the average twenty-four hour concentration or flow during normal operation.
A sewer which carries storm- and surface waters and drainage,
but excludes sewage and industrial wastes other than cooling waters
and other unpolluted waters.
Solids that either float on the surface of, or are in suspension
in, water, sewage or other liquids and which are removable by laboratory
filtering.
The Town of Hamptonburgh.
The interceptor sewers, trunk sewers, lateral sewers, force
mains, pumping stations, sewage regulators and other appurtenant structures
owned and operated by the Windsor Estate Sewer District.
Sanitary sewer district as created, altered or modified by
action of the Town Board of the Town of Hamptonburgh.
It shall be the duty of the Administrator of
the Windsor Estates Sewer District to enforce the provisions of this
Article and to formulate and issue such rules, regulations and specifications
which may be necessary for the administration, development or construction
of sewers of the Windsor Estates Sewer District as required to implement
this article. The Town Board shall act as Administrator of the Sewer
District, or, alternatively, shall appoint a District Administrator
by majority vote of the Board. Any Administrator so appointed shall
serve at the pleasure of the Town Board.
A.
Subject to the provisions of the federal and state
constitutions and other applicable laws, the Administrator or his
or her authorized representatives, such as the Administrator's deputy,
inspector or, after reasonable notice to the Administrator, authorized
employees of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
(NYSDEC) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA),
bearing proper credentials and identification, shall be permitted,
after reasonable notice to the owner, to enter upon all private properties
within the Windsor Estates Sewer District for the purposes of inspection,
observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with
the provisions of this article.
B.
If the Administrator determines that an emergency
exists, entry upon private property for the purpose of inspection,
observation, measurement, sampling and testing without previous notice
shall be authorized.
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge,
directly or indirectly, into public sewers of the Windsor Estates
Sewer District, except after the issuance of a permit therefor, properly
issued by the Administrator and upon terms and conditions as may be
established by the Administrator or by this article for the issuance
of such a permit.
It shall be unlawful to discharge into any receiving
waters within the Windsor Estates Sewer District, either directly
or indirectly, any scavenger wastes, industrial wastes or other polluted
waters.
Any person or persons owning any property situated
within the Windsor Estates Sewer District which abuts on any street
or right-of-way in which or adjacent to which there is located a public
sanitary sewer is hereby required, at their own cost and expense,
to connect the sanitary sewage discharge from their property directly
with the public sewer. A direct connection shall be made to the public
sewer in compliance with this article. Any person obtaining a permit
to connect to the public sewer shall be required, at their own cost
and expense, to abandon the existing septic tank or cesspool or other
private sewage disposal facilities as hereinafter prescribed, and
said facilities shall be cleaned of sludge and removed or filled with
suitable material, or as directed by the Administrator.
Connections from existing structures to the
District sewer shall be made within 90 days from the date of notice
given by the Administrator. The Town reserves the right to extend
said period an additional period of time. New buildings constructed
within the Sewer District shall be connected with the sewage system
before the use or occupancy thereof.
It shall be illegal for any property owner to
connect his building to the collection system without the prior approval
of the Administrator. If there is any unauthorized taking of sewer
service without the approval of the Administrator, then such individual
shall be subject to the penalties and fine as hereinafter provided.
No person shall uncover, make any connections
with or opening into, or use, alter, disturb or discharge into any
public sewer or appurtenance thereof without first obtaining a written
permit from the Administrator.
The permit application shall be accompanied
by plans, profiles, specifications or other information considered
pertinent by the Administrator.
The owner or his agent must receive the written
approval of the Administrator before a connection of all or any part
of the system can be made to the Windsor Estates Sewer System. The
Administrator reserves the right to perform such studies, measurements
and tests to ensure compliance with the requirements of this article.
All costs and expenses in installing and connecting
a District sewage system shall be borne by the owner. The owner shall
indemnify the Windsor Estates Sewer District for any loss or damage
that might be occasioned by the installation and connection of such
public sewage system or building sewer.
The size, slope, alignment, materials or construction
of a building sewer, appurtenances and the methods to be used in excavating,
placing of the building sewer pipe, jointing, testing and backfilling
the trench shall conform to the requirements of the specification
for the installation of building sewers as adopted by the Town Board
and all applicable provisions of any other rules and regulations of
the Town of Hamptonburgh or of the County of Orange and the State
of New York, whichever requirement is more strict. In the absence
of any requirements or in the amplification thereof, the materials
and procedures set forth in appropriate specifications of the American
Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) and Water Pollution Control
Federation (WPCF), Manual of Practice No. 9 shall apply. All connections
of building sewers to a public sewage system shall be gastight and
watertight. Any deviations from the prescribed materials and construction
procedures must be approved by the Administrator prior to installation.
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 sewer system, sewage carried by such building
drain shall be lifted by a method approved by the Administrator and
discharged to a gravity flow building sewer.
No person shall make a connection of roof downspouts,
exterior foundation drains, garage floor drains, areaway drains or
other sources of surface runoff or groundwater to a building sewer
or building drain, which in turn is connected to a sewer.
The applicant for the connection of any building
sewer to the sewage system owned or maintained by the Windsor Estates
Sewer District shall notify the Administrator when the building sewer
is ready for inspection and connection to the sewer system. In no
case shall any underground portions of the building sewer be covered
or connection to the sewer system made without the approval and/or
supervision of the Administrator or his representative. Permission
to activate the building sewer will be given only after satisfactory
final inspection has been made and approval given by the Administrator.
All excavations for building sewer excavations
shall comply with all federal, state and local safety regulations
and shall be adequately guarded with barricades and lights so as to
protect the public from hazard. Streets and other public property
disturbed in the course of work shall be restored in a manner satisfactory
to the Administrator and appropriate Town authorities.
Building sewers shall be maintained, serviced
and repaired by the owner of the property served from the building
drain to a point within one foot of street curbline. In the event
that a property is unable to discharge sewage into the public sewer,
it will be presumed that the fault is in the private building sewer
unless contrary facts are in evidence. Evidence of willful damage
to a building sewer being served by a public sewer shall be considered
a violation of the article. Repair and maintenance work within roadways/easements
shall be performed by the Windsor Estates Sewer District.
Before any building whose building sewer is
connected to a public sewer is demolished, the owner thereof shall
conform to the requirements established by the Administrator. The
cutoff or plugging of the building sewer shall be done with the permission
and under the supervision of the Administrator.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, or subsurface
drainage to the District sewer system.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any of the following described waters or wastes to the District sewer
system:
A.
Gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable
or explosive liquid, solid or gas.
B.
Waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids,
liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction
with other wastes, which injure or interfere with any sewage 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. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, no person shall discharge or cause to
be discharged waters or wastes to any public sewer which contain substances
having concentration limits in excess of those set forth by the EPA.
C.
Waters or wastes having a pH lower than 6.5, or having
any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to
structures, equipment and personnel of sewage works.
D.
Solid or viscous substance in a quantity or of such
size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other
interference with the proper operation of the sewage works, such as,
but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, metal, glass,
rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, whole blood, paunch manure, hair
fleshings, entrails, paper dishes, cups and milk containers, either
whole or ground by garbage grinders.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes to
the sewer system:
A.
Liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than 150°
F/65° C; or in such quantities that the temperature at influent
to the treatment works exceeds 40° C or 104° F.
B.
Water or wastes 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° and 150° F (0° and 65° C).
C.
Garbage that has not been properly shredded.
D.
Waters or wastes containing strong acids, iron-pickling
wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.
E.
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 at the sewage treatment works exceeds
the limits established by the Sewer District for such materials.
F.
Waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste-
or odor-producing substances in such concentration exceeding limits
which may be established by the requirements of the state, federal
or public agencies having jurisdiction for the discharge to the receiving
waters.
G.
Any radioactive wastes or isotopes.
H.
Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of 9.0.
I.
Materials which exert or cause:
(1)
Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids,
such as, but not limited to, fuller's earth, lime residues, or dissolved
solids, such as, but not limited to, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.
(2)
Excessive coloration, such as, but not limited to,
dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.
(4)
Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes
constituting slugs, as defined herein.
J.
Waters or wastes containing substances which are not
amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment process
employed by the Windsor Estates Sewer District or are amenable to
treatment only to such a degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent
cannot meet the requirements of agencies having jurisdiction over
discharge to the receiving waters.
All measurements, tests and analyses of the
characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in
the article shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition
of the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater,
published by the American Public Health Association, and shall be
determined at the control manhole provided or upon suitable samples
taken at said control manhole. In the event that no special manhole
has been required, the control manhole shall be considered to be the
nearest downstream manhole in the sewer system to the 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 the existence of hazards to
life, limb and property. The particular analyses involved will 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 periodic grab samples.
Any person who willfully or negligently breaks,
damages, destroys, uncovers, defaces or tampers with any structure,
appurtenance or equipment which is a part of the Windsor Estates Sewer
District sewage system will be in violation of the article and subject
to the penalties provided herein.
Any user who accidentally discharges wastes
in violation of this article shall immediately notify the Administrator
of the Sewer District. Notification shall be followed within 15 days
by a detailed, written statement describing the causes of the accidental
discharge and the measures taken to prevent future occurrences. Such
notification will not serve to relieve the user of liability for any
expense, loss or damage to the Windsor Estates Sewer District's system
or for any fines imposed by applicable state and federal regulations.
The Administrator of the Windsor Estates Sewer District shall have the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of the article. Where a violation of said provisions is found, the Administrator shall notify the alleged offender by certified mail of the nature of the violation and prescribe a period of time, not to exceed 30 days, within which the specified violation must be corrected. Such period of time may be extended by the Town Board. If the violation is not corrected with the period specified in said notice, the administrator may take such action as provided in § 101-37.
A.
A violation of the provision of the article is an
offense, and each such violation may be punished by a fine not exceeding
$250 or by imprisonment not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine
and imprisonment. In lieu of, or in addition to, such fine or imprisonment,
each such violation shall be subject to a civil penalty, not exceeding
$250 for any one case, to be recovered in an action or proceeding
brought by the Town Attorney in the name of the Windsor Estates Sewer
District in a court of competent jurisdiction. Each day a violation
continues shall be subject to a separate fine, imprisonment or civil
penalty.
B.
The Town Attorney may maintain an action or proceeding
in the name of the Windsor Estates Sewer District in the court of
competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or restrain by injunction
any violation of this article, notwithstanding the provisions hereof
for a penalty or other punishment.
C.
Where any violation of the article causes an additional
expense to the Windsor Estates Sewer District, the Windsor Estates
Sewer District shall have a cause of action against the violator to
recover such additional cost. The cause of action may be asserted
at the discretion of the Administrator and shall be in addition to
the fine, imprisonment, penalty and injunction hereinabove provided
and shall be brought by the Town Attorney in the name of the Windsor
Estates Sewer District in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The basis of charge for the sewer use of the
Windsor Estates Sewer District annual bill shall be determined from
the annual budget divided by the total number of the approved lots.
Each lot, whether vacant or developed with a housing unit, shall pay
an equal amount.
[Added 10-5-2010 by L.L. No. 1-2010]
No construction, excavation, or earth moving of any nature shall be allowed, nor shall any structure, temporary or permanent be permitted, within 15 feet of any sewer pipe associated with the Windsor Estates Sewer District. Violations of this section shall be prosecuted in accordance with § 101-36 of this chapter.
