[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Health of the Town of Easton 7-15-1996. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Hazardous materials — See Ch. 150.
A.
Findings.
(1)
Floor drains in industrial and commercial facilities are often tied
to a system leading to a leaching structure (e.g., dry well, cesspool
or leach field) or a septic system.
(2)
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.
(3)
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.
(4)
Discharges of hazardous wastes and other pollutants to floor drains
leading to leaching structures and septic systems have repeatedly
threatened surface and groundwater quality throughout Massachusetts.
(5)
Surface water and groundwater resources in the Town of Easton contribute
to the town's drinking water supplies.
The Town of Easton Board of Health adopts the following regulations
pursuant to authorization granted by MGL c. 111, §§ 31
and 112. The regulation shall apply, as specified herein, to all applicable
facilities, existing and new, within the Town of Easton.
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
waste upon or onto 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 on a floor 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
drywells, 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 Easton.
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 c. 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 for and will receive) a Department issued permit prior to
the effective date of this regulation, no floor drain(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.
An industrial or commercial process area;
B.
A petroleum, toxic or hazardous materials and/or waste storage area;
or
C.
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.
The owner of a facility in operation prior to the effective date of this regulation with a prohibited (as defined under § 316-4) floor drain system shall:
(1)
Disconnect and plug all applicable inlets to and outlets from (where
possible) applicable leaching structures, oil/water separators and/or
septic systems.
(2)
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 the
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)
Alter the floor drain system so that the floor drain shall be either:
(a)
Connected to a holding tank that meets all applicable requirements
of Department policies and regulations, with hauling records submitted
to the Easton Board of Health at the time of hauling;
(b)
Connected to a municipal sanitary sewer line, if available,
with all applicable Department and local permits; or;
(c)
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 any
hazardous waste generated by the facility, including any spill or
other discharge of hazardous materials or wastes.)
B.
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.
Compliance with all revisions of this regulation must be accomplished
in a manner consistent with Massachusetts Plumbing, Building and Fire
Code requirements.
D.
Upon complying with one of the options listed under Subsection A(3), the owner/operator of the facility shall notify the Department of closure of said system by filing the Department's UIC Notification Form (which may be obtained by calling 617-292-5770) with the Department and sending a copy to the Town of Easton Board of Health.
The effective date of this regulation is August 8, 1996, which
shall be identical to the date of adoption of the regulation.
A.
Existing facilities.
(1)
Owner/operators of a facility affected by this regulation shall comply
with all of its provisions within 120 days of the effective date.
(2)
All applicable discharges to the leaching structures and septic system
shall be discontinued immediately through temporary isolation or sealing
of the floor drain.
B.
New facilities.
(1)
As of the effective date of the regulation, all new construction
and/or applicable change of use within the Town of Easton shall comply
with the provisions of this regulation.
(2)
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.
Failure to comply with provisions of this regulation will result
in the levy of fines of not less than $200 but no more than $1,000.
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 reason, the remainder of that section
and all other sections shall continue in full force and effect.
