[Adopted 2-3-1981 by Ord. No. 1568]
A.
BOD (DENOTING "BIOCHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND")
CHEMICAL OXYGEN DEMAND (COD)
CHLORINE DEMAND
COMPATIBLE POLLUTANT
COOLING WATER
DEPARTMENT
DIRECTOR
DOMESTIC WASTES
FLOATABLE OIL
GARBAGE
GREASE OR FATS
HEAVY METALS
INCOMPATIBLE POLLUTANT
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
JOINT MEETING
JOINT SEWER
MAJOR INDUSTRY
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
NJDEP
NONSTATIONARY SOURCE
NPDES (NATIONAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM)
PERSON
PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS
PH
POLLUTANT
PRETREATMENT
SANITARY SEWER
SEWAGE
SEWAGE OR TREATMENT WORKS
SEWER
SLUG
STORMWATER
SUSPENDED SOLIDS
TOXIC POLLUTANT
UNPOLLUTED WATER
USEPA
USER
USER CLASSIFICATION
WASTEWATER
Unless the context otherwise requires, the meaning
of terms used herein shall be as follows:
The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation
of organic matter under standard laboratory procedure in five days
at 20° C., expressed in milligrams per liter.
The measure of the organic matter present in the sewage as
determined by the dichromatic reflux method and expressed in milligrams
per liter (parts per million).
The amount of chlorine, expressed in milligrams per liter
or parts per million by weight, which will complete the normal reactions
with all chemicals and materials in the sewage, leaving an excess
of 0.1 milligram per liter (0.1 parts per million by weight) after
30 minutes contact time at room temperature of approximately 70°
F.
BOD, suspended solids, pH and fecal coliform bacteria and
such additional pollutants as are now or may be in the future specified
and controlled in the Joint Meeting's NPDES permit for its wastewater
treatment facilities, where said facilities have been designed and
used to reduce or remove such pollutants.
Any water used for the purpose of carrying away excess heat
and which may contain biocides used to control biological growth.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The Director of the wastewater treatment system/water pollution
control/public works of the Joint Meeting or his/her duly appointed
deputy, agent or representative.
Liquid wastes from the noncommercial preparation, cooking
and handling of food consisting of human excrement and similar matter
from the sanitary conveniences of dwellings, commercial buildings,
industrial facilities and institutions.
Fat or grease in a physical state which will separate by
gravity from wastewater through treatment in an approved pretreatment
facility. A wastewater shall be considered free of "floatable oil"
if it is properly pretreated in such manner that the discharged wastewater
does not interfere with the wastewater facilities.
Solid wastes from the domestic and commercial preparation,
cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage and
sale of food.
Any material which is extractable from an acidified sample
of a waste by hexane or other designated solvent or other acceptable
means.
The electronegative metals with a density greater than five
grams per cubic centimeter.
Any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant as defined
in this subsection.
The wastes from industrial manufacturing processes, trade
or business, as distinct from domestic and/or commercial sanitary
sewage.
The municipalities of the City of East Orange, the Township
of Hillside, the Town of Irvington, the Township of Maplewood, the
Township of Millburn, the City of Newark, the Borough of Roselle Park,
the Township of South Orange Village, the City of Summit, the Township
of Union and the Town of West Orange organized in Joint Meeting pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 40:63-68 et seq., under the terms of a contract dated
June 1, 1926, as supplemented, in the matter of an outlet sewer and
treatment plant for said municipalities, and when the context requires,
shall mean the Executive Director or his authorized deputy, agent
or representative.
Includes the joint outlet or trunk sewer constructed by the
several municipalities under a contract dated March 15, 1901, and
the supplementary joint trunk sewer and sewage disposal plant constructed
under a contract between the member municipalities dated June 1, 1926,
and a contract dated March 9, 1931; or shall mean any trunk sewer
theretofore or thereafter constructed and maintained by the Joint
Meeting.
An industrial user of the municipal or Joint Meeting wastewater
facilities that:
Has a flow of 25,000 gallons or more per workday
of equivalent domestic or commercial waste;
Has in its waste toxic substances injurious
to the treatment process or sewer system;
Is found by USEPA, NJDEP, Joint Meeting or municipality
to have a significant impact, either singly or in combination with
other contributing industries, on municipal or Joint Meeting wastewater
facilities or upon the quality of effluent from these wastewater facilities
or upon the quantity of effluent from these wastewater facilities;
or
Has a detrimental effect upon human health or
welfare.
The State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
or successor agency.
Any mobile vehicle, piece of equipment or appurtenance thereof
that is utilized in the discharge of waste or wastewater to any sewer
or natural outlet. The term includes but is not limited to tank trucks
and dump trucks, as well as associated equipment and appurtenances.
Fixed, permanent or semipermanent equipment is excluded from the category
of nonstationary source and is regulated elsewhere in this article.
The program for issuing, conditioning and denying permits
for the discharge of pollutants from point sources into the navigatable
waters, the contiguous zone and the oceans.
Any individual, firm, company, partnership, corporation,
association (public or private), group or society, and includes the
State of New Jersey and agencies, districts, commissions and political
subdivisions created by or pursuant to state law.
That portion of the total extractable grease or fats which
is not retained on an activated alumina absorption column after elutriating
with hexane.
The logarithm of the reciprocal of the weight of hydrogen
ions in grams per liter of solution.
Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage,
garbage, refuse, oil, grease, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes,
biological materials, radioactive substance, thermal waste, wrecked
or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal
or agricultural water or other residue discharged into the Joint Meeting
or municipal sewer system or waters of the state.
Treatment by application of physical, chemical and/or biological
processes to reduce the amount of pollutants in or to alter the nature
of pollutant properties in a wastewater other than residential prior
to its direct or indirect discharge to municipal or Joint Meeting
wastewater facilities and to remove illegal and/or undesirable waste
constituents or to reduce the strength of the waste prior to discharge
to the publicly owned wastewater facilities.
A sewer which carries sewage and to which storm-, surface
and ground waters are not intentionally admitted.
A combination of the water-carried wastes from residences,
business buildings, institutions and industrial establishments, together
with such ground-, surface and storm waters as may be present.
Any device or system, whether public or private, used in
the conveyance, storage, treatment, recycling or reclamation of municipal
or industrial waste of a liquid nature, including intercepting sewers,
outfall sewers, sewage collection systems, cooling towers and ponds,
pumping, power and other equipment and their appurtenances, extensions,
improvements, remodeling, additions and alterations thereof, elements
essential to provide a reliable recycled supply, such as standby treatment
units and clear well facilities, and any other works, including sites
for the treatment process or for the ultimate disposal of residues
resulting from such treatment. Additionally, "treatment works" means
any other method or system for preventing, abating, reducing, storing,
treating, separating or disposing of pollutants, including stormwater
runoff, or industrial waste in combined or separate stormwater and
sanitary sewer systems. The term "treatment works" shall not be construed
to include any facility subject to the requirements of the Solid Waste
Management Act, N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 et seq.
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 of flows during
normal operation.
Any flow occurring during or immediately following any form
of natural precipitation and resulting therefrom.
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.
Those pollutants or combinations of pollutants, including
disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion,
inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either directly or indirectly
by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information
available, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer,
genetic mutations or physiological malfunctions, including malfunctions
in reproduction or physical deformation in such an organism or its
offspring.
Water not containing any pollutants limited or prohibited
by the effluent standards in effect, and water whose discharge will
not cause any violation of receiving water quality standards.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency or successor
agency.
Any person who discharges, causes or permits the discharge
of wastewater into the wastewater treatment facilities of the Joint
Meeting.
A classification of user based on the 1972 (or subsequent)
edition of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Manual prepared
by the Office of Management and Budget.
The liquid and water-carried industrial or domestic wastes
from dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial facilities and institutions,
together with any groundwater, surface water and stormwater that may
be present, whether treated or untreated, which is discharged into
or permitted to enter the Joint Meeting treatment facilities.
B.
Terms not otherwise defined herein shall be as adopted
in the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water
and Wastewater, published by the American Public Health Association,
the American Water Works Association and the Water Pollution Control
Federation; the Federal Guidelines for State and Local Pretreatment
Programs, EPA-43019-76-0179, Volume 1, 1977, or the latest revision
thereof; P.L. 95-217; N.J.S.A. 58:10A-1; or N.J.A.C. 58:11-49, 1972.
A.
Connections or building sewers shall, wherever possible,
be made to local sewers and not to Joint Meeting main lines or trunk
sewers. No municipality or person shall make any direct connection
with the joint sewer or alter or repair any connection with the joint
sewer without having first obtained a written permit from the Joint
Meeting and from the appropriate municipality.
B.
Each permit to connect with the joint sewer, if and
when issued, will require that the applicant for such permit agrees
that it or he will carefully make the connection with the joint sewer
in the manner prescribed by the rules and regulations of the Joint
Meeting; that it or he will indemnify and save harmless the Joint
Meeting from all accidents and damages caused by any negligence in
protecting his work or any imperfect or inadequate work done by virtue
of such permit; that it or he will faithfully comply with the ordinances
of the municipality; and that it or he will replace and restore the
sidewalk, pavement or street surface over any opening it or he may
have made, the work to be subject to the inspection and approval of
the Joint Meeting and the municipality.
C.
Connections with the joint sewer shall be made only
by a plumber licensed in the municipality where the connection is
to be made or by some other person duly authorized by the Joint Meeting.
Connections shall be made with suitable materials approved by the
Joint Meeting. All work included in the construction of connections
with the joint sewer, or relating thereto, shall be done to the satisfaction
of the Joint Meeting, and the person or persons doing said work shall
accept as final all decisions of the Joint Meeting as to the fitness
of all materials furnished or work done and shall immediately replace
all work rejected.
D.
Connections shall be such as to provide flexibility
and watertight joints. A manhole shall be provided if required. Connections
shall include a cast-iron hub set and sealed in the main sewer. No
connections shall be covered until inspected by the Joint Meeting.
No top connections will be permitted.
[Amended 10-18-1994 by Ord. No. 1954]
A.
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged
any stormwater, surface water, groundwater (except as set forth below),
roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or
unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.
B.
Direct or indirect discharges of groundwater to the
Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities shall only be permitted
under the following circumstances:
(1)
The proposed discharger or applicant has filed an
application for and has been issued a nondomestic wastewater discharge
permit ("permit") by the Joint Meeting.
(2)
For long-term, continuous discharges, the municipality
where the site remediation project of the applicant is located or,
at the election of the municipality, the proposed discharger or applicant
("municipality/applicant") will be required to identify and eliminate
two gallons of infiltration/inflow to the Joint Meeting wastewater
treatment facilities for each gallon of groundwater to be delivered
into the Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities on a daily
average over the life of the remediation project discharge (two to
one offset).
(a)
The location(s) of the remedial work to be performed
by the municipality/applicant shall be identified by the municipality
and agreed to by the Joint Meeting through the use of the Phase III
Sewer System Evaluation Report, prepared by Hazen and Sawyer, dated
August 1983, and as supplemented, which was previously distributed
by Joint Meeting to each member municipality in the Joint Meeting
service area, or such other report as may be available in the case
of nonmember municipalities.
(b)
The remedial work to be performed by the municipality/applicant
shall be completed within a time period that shall not exceed 1/2
of the time frame of the remediation project discharge estimated by
the proposed discharger or applicant and approved by the municipality
and the Joint Meeting. In the event that extraordinary, unforeseen
circumstances occur that will affect the ability of the municipality/applicant
to meet the time period previously agreed upon by the parties for
completion of the infiltration/inflow remedial work, the municipality/applicant
may seek an extension of the time period through the filing of a written
request not less than 60 days before a previously defined and agreed
upon milestone, fully describing the extraordinary and the unforeseen
circumstances and specifying the additional time necessary to complete
the remedial work as a result thereof. Such requests for extensions
will be considered by the Joint Meeting on a case-by-case basis, and
an extension of time shall not be unreasonably withheld.
(c)
An applicant may not discharge groundwater to
the Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities until it has obtained
a permit and an agreement is reached between the Joint Meeting and
the municipality and/or the applicant upon the terms of the remediation
work to be performed to satisfy the two to one offset policy set forth
in this regulation.
(d)
At intervals to be mutually agreed upon by the municipality/applicant, as well as the Joint Meeting, the municipality/applicant shall be required to demonstrate, in written progress reports, to the satisfaction of the Joint Meeting that the municipality/applicant is making definable progress in performing the remedial work so as to be able to complete the work within the time frame established in accordance with Subsection B(2)(b) above.
(e)
The Engineer of the municipality where the remedial
work has been performed will be required to submit to the Joint Meeting
a certification stating that the remedial work has been completed,
and such certification must be submitted within one week of the date
of the completion of the work.
(f)
After the time that the location(s) of the remedial
work is identified by the municipality and agreed to by the Joint
Meeting, but prior to the initiation of the remedial work, the municipality/applicant
will be required to submit proof to the Joint Meeting that a performance
bond in the amount of 100% of the value of the remedial work and naming
the Joint Meeting as a co-obligee has been issued to ensure that such
work is completely performed.
(3)
Short-term batch discharge.
(a)
For short-term batch discharge, the municipality/applicant
will be required to identify and eliminate two gallons of infiltration/inflow
into the Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities for each gallon
of groundwater to be delivered to the Joint Meeting treatment works
on a daily average over the life of the remediation project discharge
(two to one offset); or
(b)
The material to be discharged from the site
of the remediation project may be delivered in tanker vehicles to
the Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities in Elizabeth, New
Jersey for direct discharge at a rate of $0.03 per gallon; for example,
$150 per five-thousand-gallon trailer, to compensate the Joint Meeting
for the costs to sample, monitor and process the discharge. The use
of this option will be at the reasonable discretion of the Joint Meeting
in order to avoid the arrival of a number of trailers that will adversely
impact the performance of treatment operations by the Joint Meeting.
(4)
In the event the two to one offset option is selected
with respect to short-term batch discharges, then the following procedures
shall apply:
(a)
The location(s) of the remedial work to be performed
by the municipality/applicant shall be identified by the municipality
and agreed to by the Joint Meeting through the use of the Phase III
Sewer System Evaluation Report, prepared by Hazen and Sawyer, dated
August 1983, and as supplemented, which was previously distributed
by Joint Meeting to each member municipality in the Joint Meeting
service area, or such other report as may be available in the case
of nonmember municipalities.
(b)
The remedial work to be performed by the municipality/applicant
shall be completed within a time period that shall not exceed 1/2
of the time frame of the remediation project discharge estimated by
the proposed discharger or applicant and approved by the municipality
and the Joint Meeting. In the event that extraordinary and/or unforeseen
circumstances occur that will affect the time period previously agreed
upon by the parties for completion of the infiltration/inflow remedial
work, the municipality/applicant may seek an extension of the time
period through the filing of a written request not less than 60 days
before a previously defined and agreed upon milestone, fully describing
the extraordinary and/or unforeseen circumstances and specifying the
additional time necessary to complete the remedial work as a result
thereof. Such requests for extensions will be considered by the Joint
Meeting on a case-by-case basis, and an extension of time shall not
be unreasonably withheld.
(c)
An applicant may not discharge groundwater to
the Joint Meeting wastewater treatment facilities until it has obtained
a permit and an agreement is reached between the Joint Meeting and
the municipality and/or the applicant upon the terms of the remediation
work to be performed to satisfy the two to one offset policy set forth
in this regulation should this option be selected with respect to
a short-term batch discharge.
(d)
At intervals to be mutually agreed upon by the municipality/applicant and the Joint Meeting, the municipality/applicant shall be required to demonstrate, in written progress reports, to the satisfaction of the Joint Meeting that the municipality/applicant is making definable progress in performing the remedial work so as to be able to complete the work within the time frame established in accordance with Subsection B(4)(b) above.
(e)
The Engineer of the municipality where the remedial
work has been performed will be required to submit to the Joint Meeting
a certification stating that the remedial work has been completed,
and such certification must be submitted within one week of the date
of the completion of the work.
(f)
After the time that the location(s) of the remedial
work is identified by the municipality and agreed to by the Joint
Meeting, but prior to the initiation of the remedial work, the municipality/applicant
will be required to submit proof to the Joint Meeting that a performance
bond in the amount of 100% of the value of the remedial work and naming
the Joint Meeting as a co-obligee has been issued to ensure that such
work is completely performed.
(5)
The groundwater to be discharged to the Joint Meeting
wastewater treatment facilities pursuant to a permit will be, at all
times, subject to analyses by the Joint Meeting, at the sole cost
of the applicant, to ensure that the proposed discharge shall meet
the quality limits as set forth in these sewer use rules and regulations.
At any time during the period of the discharge of groundwater to the
Joint Meeting, a failure by the applicant to meet such quality limits
shall be the basis for a revocation of the permit and a discontinuation
of the discharge and/or such enforcement measures as are authorized
by law to be taken by the Joint Meeting.
(6)
The proposed discharger or applicant shall be obligated
to institute pretreatment measures prior to the direct or indirect
discharge of groundwater to the Joint Meeting in the event the groundwater
fails to meet the parameters for acceptance of the discharge set forth
in the sewer use rules and regulations.
(7)
Credits for future discharges of groundwater through
the removal of infiltration/inflow pursuant to the above provisions
may be accumulated or banked; however, such credits may only be transferred
in accordance with ownership of the site identified as the source
of groundwater at the time of the performance of the remediation work.
As a precondition for the right to discharge
waste in any form into the sewers and wastewater facilities of the
municipality or the Joint Meeting, all industrial users shall provide
immediate access to their facilities at any time during which there
is a discharge to the wastewater facilities. Access shall also be
provided for the purpose of checking the quality of the discharge,
taking samples and making tests of the discharge or for the purpose
of permitting the enforcement of this article, and shall be made available
to the municipality, Joint Meeting, NJDEP and USEPA. All users shall
provide access to property and premises for inspection to determine
if there are any violations of the terms or provisions of this article.
As a precondition for the right to discharge
waste in any form into the sewers and wastewater facilities of the
municipality or the Joint Meeting, all persons subject to this article
shall be required to provide information to the municipality, Joint
Meeting, NJDEP or USEPA as needed to determine compliance with this
article. This information may be included:
A.
Wastewater discharge rate and volume over a specified
time period.
B.
Chemical analysis of wastewater.
C.
Information on raw materials, processes and products
affecting wastewater volume and quality.
D.
Quality and disposition of specified liquid, sludge,
oil, solvent or other materials important to sewer use control.
E.
A plot plan of sewers on the user's property showing
sewer pretreatment facility location.
F.
Details of wastewater pretreatment facilities.
G.
Details of systems designed to prevent and/or control
the loss of spilled materials to the sanitary sewer (i.e., spill prevention
plan).
H.
Any other information required by the municipality
or Joint Meeting.
A.
All industrial users who discharge wastewater to the
treatment works shall maintain such records of production and related
factors, effluent flows and pollutant amounts of concentrations as
are necessary to demonstrate compliance with the requirements of this
article and any applicable State or Federal Pretreatment Standards
or requirements.
B.
Such records shall be made available upon request
to the Executive Director. All such records relating to compliance
with pretreatment standards shall be made available to officials of
the NJDEP and the United States Environmental Protection Agency upon
demand. A summary of such data indicating the industrial user's compliance
with this article shall be prepared (quarterly) and submitted to the
Director.
C.
The owner or operator of any premises or facility
discharging industrial wastes into the system shall install at his/her
own cost and expense suitable monitoring equipment to facilitate the
accurate observation, sampling and measurement of wastes. Such equipment
shall be maintained in proper working order and kept safe and accessible
at all times.
D.
Each major industrial discharger shall maintain separate
monitoring equipment as required under § 223-33E.
E.
Whether constructed on public or private property,
the monitoring facilities shall be constructed in accordance with
the local municipal requirements and all applicable construction standards
and specifications. Plans and specifications for all such work will
be submitted to the Joint Meeting for approval prior to construction.
All measurements, tests and analyses of the
characteristics of wastewater, to which reference is made in this
article, shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition
of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, published
jointly by the American Public Health Association, the American Water
Works Association and the Water Pollution Control Federation, or other
methods or procedures that may be acceptable to the governmental authority
requiring the measurements, tests or analyses. Sampling method, location,
time, duration and frequency shall be determined on an individual
basis by the governmental authority requiring the sampling.
All users of the wastewater facilities shall
comply with the requirements of the written rules and regulations
of the municipality and Joint Meeting, which regulations shall become
effective upon the filing of certified copies in the office of the
Municipal Clerk of the respective municipality after the effective
date of this article.
It shall be unlawful to discharge any wastewater
or other polluting material into any natural outlet within the municipality,
except where suitable treatment has been provided and where an NPDES
permit has been obtained from the appropriate governmental authority
where required.
No person shall maliciously, intentionally or
negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with
any structure, appurtenance or equipment that is part of the wastewater
facilities of the municipality or Joint Meeting.
If, for any reason, a facility does not comply
with or will be unable to comply with any prohibition or limitations
in this article, the facility responsible for such discharge shall
take immediate corrective action to prevent continued harm to the
treatment works and shall immediately notify the Director so that
additional corrective action may be taken to protect the treatment
works. In addition, a written report addressed to the Director detailing
the date, time and cause of the accidental discharge, the quantity
and characteristics of this discharge and the action taken to prevent
future discharges shall be filed by the responsible person within
five days of the occurrence of the noncomplying discharge.
A.
Whenever the Joint Meeting finds that any person has
violated or is violating this article or any prohibition, limitation
or requirement contained herein, the Joint Meeting may serve upon
such person a written notice stating the nature of the violation and
providing a reasonable time, not to exceed 30 days, for the satisfactory
correction thereof. If the violation is not corrected by timely compliance,
the Joint Meeting may order any person who causes or allows an unauthorized
discharge to show cause before the Joint Meeting and the local municipality
why service should not be terminated. A notice shall be served on
the offending party, specifying the time and place of a hearing to
be held by the Joint Meeting and the local municipality regarding
the violation and directing the offending party to show cause before
the Joint Meeting and the local municipality why an order should not
be made directing the termination of service. The notice of the hearing
shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail, return
receipt requested, at least 10 days before the hearing. Service may
be made on any agent or officer of a corporation.
B.
The Joint Meeting and the local municipality may themselves
conduct the hearing and take the evidence or may designate any of
their members or any officer or employee to:
(1)
Issue in the name of the Joint Meeting and the local
municipality notices of hearings requesting the attendance and testimony
of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter
involved in any such hearings.
(2)
Take the evidence.
(3)
Transmit a report of the evidence and hearing, including
transcripts/records and other evidence, together with recommendations,
to the Joint Meeting and the local municipality for action thereon.
C.
At any public hearing, testimony taken before the
Joint Meeting and the local municipality or any person designated
by it must be under oath and recorded either by the hearing officer
in a summary manner or stenographically. In the latter case, the transcript,
so recorded, will be made available to any member of the public of
any part to the hearing upon payment of the usual charges therefor.
After the Joint Meeting and the local municipality have reviewed the
evidence, they may issue an order to the party responsible for the
discharge directing that, following a specified time period, the sewer
service be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices
or other related appurtenances are properly operated, and such further
orders and directives as are necessary and appropriate.
D.
Any discharge in violation of the substantive provisions
of this article or an order of the Joint Meeting and the local municipality
shall be considered grounds for legal action. If any person discharges
sewage, industrial wastes or other wastes into the treatment facilities
contrary to the substantive provisions of this article or any order
of the Joint Meeting and the local municipality, the Executive Director
shall commence an action for injunctive relief and appropriate legal
damages in the Superior Court of the respective county.
Any person who is found to have violated an
order of the Joint Meeting and the local municipality or who willfully
or negligently failed to comply with any provision of this article
and the orders, rules and regulations issued hereunder shall be subject
to a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment not to exceed six
months, or both, for each offense. Each day on which a violation shall
occur or continue shall be deemed a separate and distinct offense.
In addition to the penalties provided herein, the Joint Meeting and
the local municipality may recover reasonable attorneys' fees, court
costs, court reporters' fees and other expenses of litigation by appropriate
suit at law against the person(s) found to have violated this article
or the orders, rules and regulations issued hereunder. In addition,
also, to the penalties previously provided herein, the Joint Meeting
and the tributary municipalities may recover reasonable costs expended
to rectify damages to its treatment facilities and tributary sewers,
as well as to rectify treatment process problems caused as a result
of violations of this article.