(a) The following described substances, material, waters or wastes shall be limited to discharge to the City's sewage system to concentrations or quantities which will not cause interference or harm to either the sewers, sewage treatment process or equipment; will not have an adverse effect after treatment on the receiving stream; will not cause violations of the NPDES permit, requirements or regulations; or will not endanger the public's lives or property or constitute a nuisance. The Director may set limitations more severe than the following if such limitations are necessary to meet the above objectives. These local limits may be found in the Fremont Local Limits Document, the most recent technologically based local limits evaluation as approved by the Ohio EPA. In setting these limitations to the acceptability, the Director will give consideration to such factors as the quantity of subject wastes in relation to flows and velocities in the sewers, materials or construction of sewers, the wastewater treatment processes employed, the capacity of the Water Pollution Control Center and its sludge recycling program, the degree of treatability of the wastes, and other pertinent factors, including cost effectiveness.
(1) When limits in a Pretreatment Standard are expressed only in terms in mass pollutant per limit of production, the Director may convert the limits to equivalent limitations expressed either as mass of pollutants discharged per day or effluent concentrations for purpose of calculating effluent limitations applicable to individual Industrial Users (IU).
(2) Any IU operating under a Wastewater Contribution Permit incorporating equivalent mass or concentration limits calculated from a production based standard shall notify the Director within two business days after the user has a reasonable basis to know that the production level will significantly change within the next calendar month. Failure to adequately notify the Director will require the IU to meet the mass or concentration limits in its Wastewater Contribution Permit that were based on the original estimate of the long term average production rate.
(b) The limitations included in this chapter or restrictions of materials or characteristics of waste or wastewater discharged to the sewage system which will not be violated without the approval of the Director are as follows:
(1) Industrial wastes containing floatable oil, fat or grease.
(2) Wastewater having a temperature higher than 104 degrees Fahrenheit.
(3) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded.
(4) Any wastewater which, by interaction with other water or wastes in sewage system releases obnoxious gases, forms suspended solids which interfere with the sewage system, or creates a condition injurious to structures and treatment processes. The Director shall require all discharges to conform to all NPDES permit requirements and any other applicable State or Federal requirements.
(5) Any waters or wastes that create a hazard to humans or animals or creates any hazard in the receiving waters of the Water Pollution Control Center, or directly causes the City of Fremont to violate its NPDES permit.
While direct limits for these wastes are usually included in a Wastewater Contribution Permit, those users that are not required to have a Wastewater Contribution Permit or that do not have a specific limit listed in the Wastewater Contribution Permit shall not exceed background concentrations of these wastes.
These concentrations may be changed as necessary pursuant to applicable promulgated limiting concentrations established by State or Federal agencies.
(6) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-lives or concentrations to exceed State or Federal regulations.
(7) Quantities of flow, concentrations or both which constitute "slug" as defined in Section 922.01(a)(30).
(c) 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 the limitations contained in the Federal Categorical Pretreatment Standards, or in any other pollutant-specific limitations developed by the City or State.
(d) Each user shall provide protection from accidental discharge of prohibited materials or other substances regulated by this chapter. Facilities to prevent accidental discharge of prohibited materials shall be provided and maintained at the owner or user's own cost and expense. Detailed plans showing facilities and operating procedures to provide this protection shall be submitted to the City for review, and shall be approved by the City before construction of the facility. All affected existing users shall complete such a plan within 180 days after the effective date of this chapter. Review and approval of such plans and procedures shall not relieve the industrial user from the responsibility to modify the user's facility as necessary to meet the requirements of this chapter. In the case of an accidental discharge, the user will be required to immediately notify the Director of the incident. The notification shall include location of discharge, type of waste, concentration, volume and correction.
(1) Within five days following an accidental discharge, the user shall submit to the Director a detailed written report describing the cause of the discharge and measures to be taken by the user to prevent similar future occurrences. Such notification shall not relieve the user of any expense, loss, damage, or other liability which may be incurred as a result of damage to the sewage system, fish kills, or any other damage to person or property. Such notification shall not relieve the user of any fines, civil penalties or other liability which may be imposed by its chapter or other applicable law.
(e) In the event that an industrial user experiences an "upset" that causes a discharge of prohibited or limited materials regulated by this chapter, the user shall notify the Director, the police, and the Fremont WPCC immediately. The notification shall include the location of the discharge, type of wastes, concentration, volume and corrective action. Within five days following the "upset" discharge the user shall submit to the Director a detailed written report, including the following facts:
(1) An upset occurred and the IU can identify the cause(s) of the upset;
(2) The facility was at the time being operated in a prudent and workmanlike manner and in compliance with applicable operation and maintenance procedures;
(3) The IU has submitted the following information to the Fremont WPCC within twenty-four hours of becoming aware of the upset;
A. A description of the indirect discharge and cause of non-compliance.
B. The period of non-compliance including exact dates and times or, if not corrected, the anticipated time the non-compliance is expected to continue.
C. Steps being taken and/or planned to reduce, eliminate, and prevent recurrence of the noncompliance.
(f) The Industrial User seeking to establish the affirmative defense of an "upset" shall have the burden of proof.
(g) The Industrial User shall control production of all discharges to the extent necessary to maintain compliance with Pretreatment Standards upon reduction, loss, or failure of its treatment facility until the facility is restored or an alternative method of treatment is provided. This requirement applies in the situation where, among other things, the primary source of power of treatment facility is reduced, lost or fails.
(h) No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described water or wastes into the sewage system:
(1) Any gasoline benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosives liquids, solids or gas or pollutants which create fire or explosion hazard in the sewer system including but not limited to, wastestreams with a closed cup flash point of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit or 60 degrees Centigrade using the test method specified in 40 CFR 261.21.
(2) Any water 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 waste treatment processes, result in toxic gases, vapors, or fumes, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a hazard in the receiving water's of the Water Pollution Control Center.
(3) Any water or wastes having a pH lower than 6.0 or higher than 10.0 or as otherwise required. For Industrial User (IU's) utilizing continuous pH monitoring, the total time during which the pH values are outside the required range of pH values shall not exceed one hour maximum on any day, and the total time during which the pH values are outside the required range of pH values shall not exeed 7 hours and 26 minutes in any calendar month.
(4) Solid viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction of flow in sewers or other interferences with the process operation of the sewage system.
(5) No person shall access the sewer system or the Water Pollution Control Center for any activity including discharge of hauled septic or industrial waste except at locations and at times as designated by the Director with the Director's approval. Any removal of manhole lids, or other access to the sewer system for the purpose of discharging wastes at times and/or location other than those designated by the Director, or without the expressed permission of the Director, shall be considered a violation and shall be subject to the remedies specified in Section 922.04 and/or Section 922.99.
(6) Any petroleum oil, nonbiodegradable cutting oil or products of mineral oil origin in amounts that cause pass through or interference or of concentrations of 50 mg/l, whichever is less, to be determined by approved solvent extraction methods as prescribed in the most recent revision of 40 CFR 136.
(i) No person shall maliciously, willfully or negligently break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface or tamper with any structure or equipment which is part of the sewage system.
(j) (1) Bypass is prohibited and the Director may initiate enforcement activities against an IU for a bypass unless:
A. Bypass was unavoidable to prevent loss of life; personal injury or severe property damage or;
B. There were no feasible alternatives 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 judgement to prevent a bypass which occurred during normal periods of equipment downtime or preventative maintenance and;
C. The IU submitted notices as required.
(2) An industrial user may allow bypass to occur which does not cause Pretreatment Standards or requirements to be violated but only if it also is for essential maintenance to assure efficient operation.
A. If an Industrial User knows in advance of the need for a bypass, it shall submit prior notice to the Director, if possible, at least ten days before the date of the bypass.
B. An Industrial User shall submit oral notice of an unanticipated bypass that exceeds applicable Pretreatment Standards to the Director and Fremont WPCC within twenty-four hours from the time the IU becomes aware of the bypass. A written submission must be provided within five days from the time the IU becomes aware of the bypass. The written submission shall contain a description of the bypass, its cause, its duration, including exact times and dates, and if the bypass has not been corrected, the anticipated time it is expected to continue; and steps taken or planned to reduce, eliminate and prevent recurrence of the bypass. The Director may waive the written report on a case-by-case basis if the oral report is received within twenty-four hours.
(3) The Director may approve an anticipated bypass, after considering its adverse effects, if the Director determines that it will meet the conditions listed in 922.03(j)(2).
(k) A notice shall be permanently posted on the user's bulletin board or other prominent place advising employees whom to call in the event of a dangerous discharge. Employers shall insure that all employees who may cause or suffer such a dangerous discharge to occur are advised of the emergency notification procedure.
(Ord. 09-3485. Passed 2-19-09.)