[Adopted 1-5-1998; amended 9-9-2015]
Whereas floor drains in industrial and commercial facilities are often tied to a system leading to a leaching structure (e.g., dry well, cesspool, leach field) or a septic system; and poor management practices and accidental and/or intentional discharges may lead petroleum and other toxic or hazardous materials into these drainage systems in facilities managing these products; and improper maintenance or inappropriate use of these systems may allow the passage of contaminants or pollutants entering the drain to discharge from the leaching structure or septic system to the ground; and discharges of hazardous wastes and other pollutants to floor drains leading to leaching structures and septic systems have repeatedly threatened surface water and groundwater quality throughout Massachusetts; and surface water and groundwater resources in the Town of Sharon contribute to the Town's drinking water supplies; the Town of Sharon adopts the following regulation, under its authority as specified in § 300-23.2, as a preventative measure for the purposes of:
The Town of Sharon Board of Health adopts the following regulation
pursuant to authorization granted by MGL c. 111, §§ 31
and 122. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable
facilities, existing and new, within the boundaries of the Town of
Sharon.
For the purposes of this regulation, the following words and
phrases shall have the following meanings:
A public or private establishment where the principal use
is the supply, sale, and/or manufacture of services, products, or
information, including, but not limited to: manufacturing, processing,
or other industrial operations; service or retail establishments;
printing or publishing establishments; research and development facilities;
small- or large-quantity generators of hazardous waste; laboratories;
hospitals.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
The accidental or intentional disposal, deposit, injection,
dumping, spilling, leaking, incineration, or placing of toxic or hazardous
material or waste upon or into any land or water so that such hazardous
waste or any constituent thereof may enter the land or waters of the
commonwealth. Discharge includes, without limitation, leakage of such
materials from failed or discarded containers or storage systems and
disposal of such materials into any on-site leaching structure or
sewage disposal system.
An intended drainage point of a floor drain constructed to
be otherwise impervious, which serves as the point of entry into any
subsurface drainage, treatment, disposal, containment, or other plumbing
system.
Any subsurface structure through which a fluid that is introduced
will pass and enter the environment, including, but not limited to,
dry wells, leaching catch basins, cesspools, leach fields, and oil/water
separators that are not watertight.
A device designed and installed so as to separate and retain
petroleum-based oil or grease, flammable wastes as well as sand and
particles from normal wastes while permitting normal sewage or liquid
wastes to discharge into the drainage system by gravity. Other common
names for such systems include MDC traps, gasoline and sand traps,
grit and oil separators, grease traps and interceptors.
Any substance or mixture of physical, chemical, or infectious
characteristics posing a significant, actual, or potential hazard
to water supplies or other hazards to human health if such substance
or mixture were discharged to land or water of the Town of Sharon.
Toxic or hazardous materials include, without limitation, synthetic
organic chemicals, petroleum products, heavy metals, radioactive or
infectious wastes, acids and alkalis, and all substances defined as
toxic or hazardous under MGL Chapters 21C and 21E or Massachusetts
Hazardous Waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000), and also include such
products as solvents, thinners, and pesticides in quantities greater
than normal household use.
The handling, generation, treatment, storage, or management
of toxic or hazardous materials.
With the exception of discharges that have received (or have
applied and will receive) a Department-issued permit prior to the
effective date of this regulation, no floor drains(s) shall be allowed
to discharge, with or without pretreatment (such as an oil/water separator),
to the ground, a leaching structure, or septic system in any industrial
or commercial facility if such floor drain is located in either:
A.Â
An industrial or commercial process area;
B.Â
A petroleum, toxic or hazardous materials and/or waste storage area;
or
C.Â
A leased facility without either Subsection A or B of this section, but in which the potential for a change of use of the property to a use which does have either Subsection A or B is, in the opinion of the Board of Health or its agent, sufficient to warrant the elimination of the ground discharge at the present.
A.Â
The owner of a facility in operation prior to the effective date of this regulation with a prohibited (as defined under § 300-23.4) floor drain system shall:
(1)Â
Disconnect and plug all applicable inlets to and outlets from
(where possible) applicable leaching structures, oil/water separators,
and/or septic systems;
(2)Â
Remove all existing sludge in oil/water separators, septic systems,
and, where accessible, leaching structures. Any sludge determined
to be a hazardous waste shall be disposed of in accordance with state
hazardous waste regulations (310 CMR 30.000). Remedial activity involving
any excavation and/or soil or groundwater sampling must be performed
in accordance with appropriate Department policies;
(3)Â
Alter the floor drain system so that the floor drain shall be
either:
(a)Â
Connected to a holding tank that meets all applicable requirements
of Department policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted
to the Sharon Board of Health at the time of hauling;
(b)Â
Connected to a municipal sanitary sewer line, if available,
with all applicable Department and local permits; or
(c)Â
Permanently sealed. (Any facility sealing a drain shall be required
to submit for approval to the Board of Health a hazardous waste management
plan detailing the means of collecting, storing and disposing of any
hazardous waste generated by the facility, including any spill or
other discharge of hazardous materials or wastes.)
B.Â
Any oil/water separator remaining in use shall be monitored weekly,
cleaned not less than every 90 days, and restored to proper conditions
after cleaning so as to ensure proper functioning. Records of the
hauling of the removed contents of the separator shall be submitted
to the Board of Health at the time of hauling.
C.Â
Compliance with all provisions of this regulation must be accomplished
in a manner consistent with Massachusetts Plumbing, Building, and
Fire Code requirements.
The effective date of this regulation is the date posted on
the front page of the regulation, January 5, 1998.
A.Â
Existing facilities.
(1)Â
Owners/Operators of a facility affected by this regulation shall
comply with all of its provisions within 120 days of the effective
date, or within 30 days of discovery of a noncompliant floor drain.
(2)Â
All applicable discharges to the leaching structures and septic
systems shall be discontinued immediately through temporary isolation
or sealing of the floor drain.
B.Â
New facilities.
(1)Â
As of the effective date of the regulation, all new construction
and/or applicable change of use within the Town of Sharon shall comply
with the provisions of this regulation.
(2)Â
Certification of conformance with the provisions of this regulation
by the Board of Health shall be required prior to issuance of construction
and occupancy permits.
[Amended 7-20-2016]
Failure to comply with provisions of this regulation will result
in the levy of fines of $500 for the first violation; $750 for the
second violation; and $1,000 for each violation thereafter. Each day's
failure to comply with the provisions of this regulation shall constitute
a separate violation.
Each provision of this regulation shall be construed as separate
to the end that if any provision, or sentence, clause or phrase thereof
shall be held invalid for any reasons, the remainder of that section
and all other sections shall continue in full force and effect.
