Village of Spring Valley, NY Article IV Discharge of Harmful Wastes

§ 205-23 Right of entry for inspection and testing.

A. Authorized. The inspector and other duly authorized employees of the village bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all properties for the purposes of inspection, observation, measurement, sampling and testing in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

B. Inquiry into processes. The inspector or his representatives shall have no authority to inquire into any processes, including metallurgical, chemical, oil, refining, ceramic, paper or other industries, beyond that point having a direct bearing on the kind and source of discharge to the sewers or waterways or facilities for waste treatment.

C. Observance of safety rules; waiver of liability. While performing the necessary work on private properties referred to in this section, the inspector or duly authorized employees of the village shall observe all safety rules applicable to the premises established by the company, and the company shall be held harmless for injury or death to the village employees, and the village shall indemnify the company against loss or damage to its property by village employees and against liability claims and demands for personal injury or property damage asserted against the company and growing out of the gauging and sampling operation, except as such may be caused by negligence or failure of the company to maintain safe conditions as required in this chapter.

D. Properties through which village holds easements. The inspector and other duly authorized employees of the village bearing proper credentials and identification shall be permitted to enter all private properties through which the village holds a duly negotiated easement for the purposes of, but not limited to, inspection, observation, measurement, sampling, repair and maintenance of any portion of the sewage works lying within said easement. All entry and subsequent work, if any, on said easement shall be done in full accordance with the terms of the duly negotiated easement pertaining to the private property involved.

§ 205-24 Prohibited discharges to sanitary sewer.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters to any sanitary sewer.

§ 205-25 Designation of sewers for stormwater and other unpolluted drainage.

Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged to such sewers as are specifically designated as combined sewers or storm sewers or to a natural outlet approved by the inspector. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged, on approval of the inspector, to a storm sewer, combined sewer or natural outlet.

§ 205-26 Prohibited discharges to public sewer.

No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewer:

A. Any gasoline, benzine, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid or gas.

B. Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, to constitute a hazard to humans or animals, to create a public nuisance or to create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, including but not limited to cyanides in excess of two (2) milligrams per liter as CN in the wastes as discharged to the public sewer.

C. Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than five point five (5.5) or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures, equipment and personnel of the sewage works.

D. Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers or other interference with the proper operation of the sewerage works, such as but not limited to ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, unground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure, hair and fleshings, entrails and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.

§ 205-27 Discharge of certain wastes restricted.

A. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes if it appears likely, in the opinion of the inspector, that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream or can otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. In forming his opinion as to the acceptability of these wastes, the inspector will give consideration to such factors as the quantities of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, the materials of construction of the sewers, the nature of the sewage treatment process, the capacity of the sewage treatment plant, the degree of treatability of wastes in the sewage treatment plant and other pertinent factors.

B. The substances prohibited are:

(1) Any liquid or vapor having a temperature higher than one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (150° F.) or sixty-five degrees centigrade (65° C.)

(2) Any water or waste containing fats, wax, grease or oils, whether emulsified or not, in excess of one hundred (100) milligrams per liter, containing substances which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between thirty-two degrees and one hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit (32° and 150° F.) or zero degrees and sixty-five degrees centigrade (0° and 65° C.).

(3) Any waters or wastes containing strong acid, iron pickling wastes or concentrated plating solutions, whether neutralized or not.

(4) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths (3/4) horsepower [seventy-six hundredths (0.76) horsepower metric] or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the inspector.

(5) Any 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 inspector for such materials.

(6) Any waters or wastes containing phenols or other taste- or odor-producing substances, in such concentrations exceeding limits which may be established by the inspector as necessary, after treatment of the composite sewage, to meet the requirements of the state, federal or other public agencies of jurisdiction for such discharge to the receiving waters.

(7) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life or concentration as may exceed limits established by the inspector in compliance with applicable state or federal regulations.

(8) Any waters or wastes having a pH in excess of nine point five (9.5).

(9) Materials which exert or cause:

(a) Unusual concentrations of inert suspended solids, such as but not limited to fuller's earth, lime slurries and lime residues, or of dissolved solids, such as but not limited to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.

(b) Excessive discoloration, such as but not limited to dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions.

(c) Unusual BOD, chemical oxygen demand or chlorine requirements in such quantities as to constitute a significant load on the sewage treatment works.

(d) Unusual volume of flow or concentration of wastes constituting slugs, as defined herein.

(10) Waters or wastes containing substances which are not amenable to treatment or reduction by the sewage treatment processes employed or are amenable to treatment only to such degree that the sewage treatment plant effluent cannot meet the requirements of other agencies having jurisdiction over discharge to the receiving waters.

§ 205-28 Action of inspector.

A. If any waters or wastes are discharged or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in § 205-27 of this Article and which, in the judgment of the inspector, may have a deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the inspector may:

(1) Reject the wastes.

(2) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers.

(3) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge.

B. If the inspector permits the pretreatment or equalization of waste flow, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the inspector and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes and laws.

§ 205-29 Interceptors.

A. When required. Grease, oil and sand and other interceptors shall be provided when, in the opinion of the inspector, they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients; except that such interceptors shall not be required for private one- or two-family living quarters.

B. Type, capacity and location. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the inspector and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection.

§ 205-30 Maintenance of preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities.

Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are provided for any waters or wastes, they shall be maintained continuously in satisfactory and effective operation by the owner at his expense.

§ 205-31 Control manhole.

A. Generally. When required by the inspector, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control manhole, together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes.

B. Location and construction. Such manhole, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the inspector.

C. Installation and maintenance. The manhole shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times.

§ 205-32 Measurements, tests and analyses.

A. Standards. All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in this chapter shall be determined in accordance with the latest edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater published by the American Public Health Association.

B. Where determined. Measurements, tests and analyses shall be determined at the central 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 public sewer to the point at which the building sewer is connected.

C. Sampling. Sampling shall be carried out by the customarily accepted methods to reflect the effect of constituents upon the sewerage works and to determine the existence of hazards to life, limb and property.[1]

[1] Editor's Note: Original Article V, Sewer Rents, as amended, which immediately followed this section, was deleted at time of adoption of Code; see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I.