(a) Accidental Discharges, Operation Upsets and Slugloads.
(1) Protection. Each discharger shall provide protection from discharges of prohibited or regulated materials or substances in concentrations exceeding limits established by this chapter or a discharge permit or order issued under the provisions of this chapter. Where necessary, facilities to prevent such discharge of prohibited or regulated materials shall be provided and maintained at the discharger's cost and expense. Detailed plans showing facilities and operating procedures to provide this protection shall be submitted to the Superintendent for review, and shall be approved by the Superintendent before construction of the facility. The "permit to install" provisions of subsection (i) hereof shall also be followed. Review and approval of such plans and operating procedures by the Superintendent shall not relieve the discharger from the responsibility of modifying its facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter.
(2) Posting signs and instructing employees. Signs shall be permanently posted in conspicuous places on the discharger's premises advising employees whom to call in the event of an accidental discharge, operation upset or slugload. Employers shall instruct all employees who may cause or discover a discharge with respect to emergency notification procedure.
(3) Liability of discharger. Any discharger who has an accidental discharge, operation upset or slugload resulting in the discharge of prohibited materials shall be liable for any expense, loss or damage to the POTW or to any waterway, in addition to the amount of any fines imposed on the City on account thereof under State or Federal law.
(4) Slugload/accidental spill control plans. The City shall evaluate, at least once every two years, whether each significant industrial user needs a plan to control slugload/accidental spill discharges. If the City determines that a slugload/accidental spill control plan is needed, the significant industrial user will be required to submit such a plan to the City, containing, at a minimum, the following elements:
A. A description of discharge practices, including nonroutine batch discharges;
B. A description of stored chemicals;
C. Procedures for immediately notifying the POTW of slugload/accidental spill discharges, including any discharge that would violate a prohibition under Section 925.05, with procedures for follow-up written notifications within five days; and
D. If necessary, procedures to prevent adverse impact from slugloads/accidental spills, including flow equalization, neutralization, inspection and maintenance of storage areas, handling and transfer of materials, loading and unloading operations, control of plant site run-off, worker training, building of containment structures or equipment, measures for containing toxic organic pollutants (including solvents) and/or measures and equipment for emergency responses.
(b) Monitoring Facilities.
(1) Each person discharging industrial wastes into a public sewer shall construct and maintain monitoring facilities or access points to facilitate observation, measurement and sampling of his or her wastes, including domestic wastewater.
(2) Monitoring facilities or access facilities shall be located and built in a manner acceptable to the City. If measuring devices are to be permanently installed, they shall be of a type acceptable to the City.
(3) Monitoring facilities, access facilities and related equipment shall be installed by the person discharging the waste, at his or her expense, and shall be maintained by him or her in a safe condition, accessible and in proper operating condition at all times. Plans for the installation of the monitoring facility or access facilities and related equipment shall be approved by the City at the beginning of construction.
(4) All monitoring facilities shall be constructed and maintained in accordance with all applicable State and local construction standards and specifications.
(Ord. 5330. Passed 10-15-91.)
(c) Self Monitoring. The City may require dischargers to self-monitor their wastewater and analyze its characteristics, to properly define the concentration of various pollutants and to ascertain compliance with the limits defined in Section 925.05
and any discharge permit or order issued under the provisions of this chapter. Costs for all self-monitoring efforts shall be borne by the discharger. Related requirements include:
(1) Resampling requirement.
A. If sampling performed by the discharger indicates a violation, the discharger shall notify the City within twenty-four hours of becoming aware of the violation. The discharger shall also repeat the sampling and analysis, and submit the results of the repeat analysis to the City within thirty days after becoming aware of the violation.
B. If sampling performed by the City or a municipally-designated contractor acting in lieu of the industrial user pursuant to Section 925.06(f)(3) indicates a violation, the City Administrator must notify the discharger within twenty-four hours of the City becoming aware of the violation and:
1. Repeat the sampling and analysis; or
2. Direct the discharger to repeat the sampling and analysis and submit the results of the repeat analysis to the City within thirty days, or within such lesser period of time as the City Administrator may reasonably require;
C. The City Administrator may relieve the discharger of the obligation to resample otherwise imposed by paragraph A. or B. of this subsection if:
1. The City performs sampling at the site of the violation at a frequency of at least once per month; or
2. The City performs sampling at the site of the violation between the time when the initial sampling is conducted and the time when the discharger or City receives the results of this sampling.
(2) Additional self-monitoring. If the discharger monitors any pollutant more frequently than required using approved analytical methods, the results of such monitoring shall be reported to the City.
(d) Signatory and Certification Requirements.
(1) All reports required by the City shall be signed by an authorized representative of the industrial user. An authorized representative shall be:
A. A responsible corporate officer if the discharger is a corporation. This includes the president, secretary, treasurer or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of principal business functions.
B. A general partner or proprietor if the discharger is a partnership or sole proprietorship.
C. A principal executive officer or director having responsibility for the overall operation of the discharging facility if the discharger is a Federal, State or local governmental entity.
D. A duly authorized representative of an individual designated in paragraphs (d)(1)A., B. and C. of this section if such representative is responsible for the overall operation of the facilities from which the industrial discharge originates or has ultimate responsibility for discharger’s environmental compliance, and if satisfactory evidence of the individual’s authority is submitted to the Superintendent in writing. The duly authorized employee must be an individual holding a position that is vested with responsibility for the overall operation of the discharging facility or the Pretreatment Program. The written statement attesting to the representative’s position and authority to act on behalf of the discharger with respect to Pretreatment Program compliance must be signed by the principal executive officer or ranking elected official and submitted to the Approval Authority prior to or together with the report being submitted. If an authorization is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility or responsibility for environmental compliance matters, a new authorization satisfying the above requirements must be submitted to the Superintendent before any reports to be signed by an authorized representative can be submitted. (Ord. 7515. Passed 7-9-13.)
(e) Duty to Comply. All dischargers shall comply with all State and Federal pretreatment regulations.
(f) Duty to Mitigate; Prevention of Adverse Impact. All dischargers shall take all reasonable steps to minimize or prevent any discharge in violation of this chapter which has a reasonable likelihood of adversely affecting human health, the POTW, the water receiving the POTW's discharge, or the environment.
(g) Disposal of Sludges and Chemicals. Solids, sludges, filter backwash or other pollutants removed in the course of the treatment or control of wastewaters shall be disposed of in such a manner as to prevent any pollutants from such materials from entering the sewer system. Moreover, the disposal of sludges and chemicals shall be in accordance with all applicable local, State, and Federal regulations.
(h) Hazardous Waste Handling and Disposal. All dischargers are responsible for assuring their compliance with any Federal, State and local requirements regarding the generation, treatment, storage and/or disposal of hazardous wastes.
(i) Permit to Install. Any discharger wishing to install an industrial wastewater generating or treatment facility shall have the plans approved and a Permit To Install (PTI) issued by the OEPA before installation. As a condition for approval, and prior to the issuance of the PTI by the OEPA, the plans must be approved by the City. Applications for a PTI are to be made on forms provided by the City.
(j) Facilities Operation. Dischargers shall, at all times, maintain in good working order and operate as efficiently as possible all control facilities or systems installed or used by the discharger to achieve compliance with the terms and conditions provided for and in accordance with the requirements set forth in this chapter or in a discharge permit or order issued under the provisions of this chapter.
(k) Industrial Pretreatment Bypasses.
(1) Allowable industrial pretreatment bypasses. Any industrial pretreatment bypass which does not cause a violation of this chapter, or of a discharge permit or order issued under the provisions of this chapter, shall be allowed, but only if such bypass is to allow for essential maintenance to assure efficient operation.
(2) Prohibited industrial pretreatment bypasses.
A. Any industrial pretreatment bypass which does not meet the conditions specified in paragraph (k)(1) hereof is prohibited, unless all of the following conditions are met:
1. Such bypass would be unavoidable to prevent loss of life, personal injury or severe property damage. As used herein, "severe property damage" means substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes such facilities to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which loss can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of such a bypass. As used here, "severe property damage" does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.
2. There would be no feasible alternative to the bypass, such as the use of auxiliary treatment facilities, retention of untreated wastes, or maintenance during normal periods of equipment downtime. This condition is not satisfied if adequate back-up equipment should have been installed in the exercise of reasonable engineering judgment to prevent such a bypass from occurring during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventative maintenance.
3. The industrial user complied with notification requirements as specified in Section 925.07(d)(1) and (2).
B. The City may consider approving an anticipated bypass, after considering its adverse effects, if all of the conditions specified in paragraph (k)(2)A. hereof are met.
(l) Duty to Provide Information. The discharger shall furnish, to the Superintendent of Water Pollution Control or his or her designee, within a reasonable time to be determined by the Superintendent or his or her designee, any information which the Superintendent, his or her designee, or the State or Federal government may request to determine whether cause exists for issuing, modifying, revoking and reissuing or terminating a discharge permit, or to determine compliance with this chapter and/or a discharge permit and/or order issued under the provisions of this chapter. The discharger shall also furnish, upon request, copies of records which the City required the discharger to keep. (Ord. 5330. Passed 10-15-91.)