(a) General prohibitions. A non-domestic user shall not introduce into the POTW any pollutant or wastewater that causes pass-through or interference. The City shall investigate incidences of pass-through or interference and take appropriate enforcement action and inform the responsible non-domestic user of the impact thereof. The general application of this subsection and the specific prohibitions at subsection (b) hereof shall apply to each nondomestic user introducing pollutants into a POTW whether or not the non-domestic user is subject to any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements.
(b) Specific prohibitions. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged into any public sewer, directly or indirectly, sewage containing any of the following described substances or cause any of the following substances to be introduced into a POTW:
(1) Pollutants that create a fire or explosion hazard in the POTW, including, but not limited to, waste streams that have a closed-cup flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) using the test methods specified at 40 CFR Section 261.21.
(2) Pollutants that will cause corrosive structural damage to the POTW. Discharges that have a pH higher than 11 or lower than 6.0 or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to the sewerage system and its structures, equipment and personnel of the POTW shall not be discharged, including, without limitation, any acid, iron pickling waste or concentrated plating solution, unless neutralized or rendered amenable to the City’s treatment process and as approved by the Director.
(3) Solid or viscous substances in amounts that will cause obstruction to the flow in the POTW resulting in interference, including any fat, wax, grease or oil, whether emulsified or not, in excess of 100 milligrams per liter (mg/1) or any substance that could solidify or become discernibly viscous at temperatures between 32 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit (or 0 to 60 degrees Celsius).
(4) Any pollutant, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate or pollutant concentration that, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause interference with the POTW.
(5) Heat that will inhibit biological activity in the POTW resulting in interference and, in no case, heat that produces a temperature at the POTW of more than 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
(6) Petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oil, or products of mineral oil origin, in amounts that will cause interference or pass-through.
(7) Pollutants that result in the presence of toxic gases, vapors or fumes within the POTW in a quantity that may cause acute worker health or safety problems.
(8) Any trucked or hauled pollutants, except at discharge points designated by the POTW, but only when trucked or hauled in compliance with all state and federal hazardous waste and liquid industrial waste laws.
(9) Any wastewater or vapor introduced into the sanitary sewer collection system having a temperature higher than 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius);
(10) Any garbage or other solid material that has not been shredded to such a degree that all particles will be carried freely in suspension under normal flow conditions, or having particles greater than one-half inch in any dimension;
(11) Any phenols or odor-producing substances that constitute a nuisance or hazard to the public sewers or the treatment plant or its personnel, or which prevent sewage treatment adequate to meet the requirements of any government or public agency having authority to regulate the discharge into public waters as defined above at Section 1040.02(60);
(12) Any radioactive waste, except in compliance with applicable federal and state regulations, provided that such persons notify the Director of the discharge, receive written authorization from the Director for the discharge, and comply with all applicable rules and regulations of all other regulatory agencies;
(13) Any quantity of flow or concentration of a waste component constituting a slug;
(14) Wastewater imparting color that cannot be removed by the treatment process, such as, but not limited to, dye wastes and vegetable tanning solutions, which consequently imparts color to the treatment plant’s effluent, thereby violating the City’s NPDES permit;
(15) Any other metallic or organic compounds as determined by the Director to be sufficient to impair the operation of the sewage treatment process, or which may affect the capability of the City treatment works to comply with water quality standards or effluent limitations specified in a City NPDES permit. Where appropriate, if federal effluent limitations are more stringent, including, but not limited to, National Categorical Pretreatment Standards, they shall apply.
(16) Any wastewater containing BOD or TSS that exceeds normal domestic strength as defined in Section 1040.02(45) above, measured as a 24-hour average concentration, except as permitted under subsection (e) below.
(c) National Categorical Pretreatment Standards. Users in specific industrial subcategories must comply with the categorical Pretreatment Standards found at 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405—471.
(d) Local limits.
(1) The Director is authorized to establish local limits pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5(c).
(2) The following local limits are established to protect against pass through and interference. No person shall discharge wastewater containing in excess of the following as a 24-hour average concentration:
Toxicants
|
mg/l
|
Toxicants
|
mg/l
|
Ammonium Nitrogen | 25.0 |
Arsenic | 0.2 |
Barium | 2.0 |
Benzene | 0.1 |
Cadmium | 0.1 |
Chromium, total | 1.5 |
Copper | 1.0 |
Cyanides, total | 0.011 |
Ethylbenzene | 0.1 |
Fats, Oil and Grease | 100.0 |
Lead | 0.2 |
Mercury | ND at less than 0.0002 |
Molybdenum | 0.2 |
Nickel | 1.36 |
PCB’s | ND at less than 0.1ug/l |
Phenol | 2.0 |
Phosphorus (T) | 26.0 |
Selenium | 0.002 |
Silver | 0.002 |
Toluene | 0.1 |
Xylenes | 0.1 |
Zinc | 2.5 |
(3) The Director may develop BMPs by ordinance or in individual wastewater discharge permits or general permits, to implement local limits and the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) above.
(e) In place of using the domestic-strength concentrations for BOD and TSS provided in Section 1040.02(45), the Director may allocate, as follows, specified portions of the available total load to individual users as provided within individual control permits.
(1) The following total loads are available for the following pollutant parameters:
Parameter | Maximum Allowable Industrial Load (Subtracting Non-Permitted Sources) (total avg. lbs./day) |
BOD | 89,354 |
TSS | 54,687 |
(2) The Director may allocate portions of the available total load for one or more of the parameters listed above to one or more individual users. The amounts of the load(s) allocated to each user shall be specified in the user’s permit, along with any conditions as determined necessary by the Director. Any discharge by a user in excess of the loading allocated to the user in the user permit shall constitute a violation of the user permit and this chapter.
(3) Before allocating any amount of the available total load as provided by this section, the Director must determine that the proposed allocation will not cause the average composite loading of all users discharging to the POTW to exceed the available total loading for any pollutant as provided by subsection (e)(1); will not interfere with the POTW’s ability to accept and treat wastewater as required by the City’s NPDES permit and other applicable laws and regulations; and that the allocation is otherwise reasonable and appropriate under all of the circumstances.
(4) The allocation of a portion of available total load for a pollutant to an individual user shall not affect the applicability of surcharges to the user’s discharge of that pollutant. Notwithstanding such allocations, any discharge of BOD or TSS in excess of normal domestic strength shall be subject to an extra-strength surcharge (per pound in excess of normal domestic strength), which shall be calculated using the rates applicable at the time of the surcharge as set forth in the City of Battle Creek’s Schedule of Water and Sewer Rates.
(f) The above limits in subsections (b)(16) and (d)(2) apply at the point where the wastewater is discharged to the POTW. All concentrations for metallic substances are for total metal unless indicated otherwise. The Director may impose mass limitations in addition to the concentration-based limitations above.
(g) A non-domestic user shall have an affirmative defense in any action brought against it alleging violation of the general prohibition at subsection (a) and the specific prohibitions at subsections (b)(3), (4), (5) and (6) if the user can demonstrate both of the following:
(1) It did not know or have reason to know that its discharge, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, would cause pass-through or interference; and
(2) During the pass-through or interference the user was in compliance before and during the pass-through or interference, for each pollutant in the user’s discharge that caused the pass-through or interference, with any local limit designed to prevent pass-through or interference; or, if no local limit has been developed to prevent pass-through or interference, the user’s discharge directly before and during the pass-through or interference did not change substantially in nature or constituents from the user’s prior discharge activity when the POTW was regularly in compliance with its NPDES permit requirements and, in the case of interference, applicable requirements for sewage sludge use or disposal.
(h) No user shall ever increase the use of process water, or in any way attempt to dilute a discharge as a partial or complete substitute for adequate treatment to achieve compliance with a discharge limitation unless expressly authorized by an applicable pretreatment standard or requirement. The Director may impose mass limitations on users who are using dilution to meet applicable pretreatment standards or requirements, or in other cases when the imposition of mass limitations is appropriate.
(i) A person who violates any of the provisions of this section shall be subject to the penalty provided in Section 1040.99(a).
(Ord. 14-01. Passed 10-16-01; Ord. 20-05. Passed 9-6-05; Ord. 02-08. Passed 3-4-08; Ord. 03-2010. Passed 4-13-10; Ord. 01-2015. Passed 3-17-15.)