(a) Whenever the Service Director finds that any industrial user has violated, or is violating provisions of this chapter, or has or is engaged in conduct which justifies revocation of an industrial waste permit or suspension of service, the Service Director shall serve upon such industry a written notice, either personally, by certified mail or by electronic mail, stating the nature of the violation. Within ten days of receipt of such notice, the industry shall respond personally or in writing to the Service Director advising him or her of its position with respect to the allegations. Thereafter, and if deemed necessary by the Service Director, the parties shall meet to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and, if necessary, to establish a plan for the correction thereof. (Ord. 16-21. Passed 4-27-21.)
(b) The Authority may revoke the industrial waste permit and/or disconnect the service of any discharger which:
(1) Fails to factually report the constituents and characteristics of its discharge in any required report;
(2) Fails to report significant changes in discharge constituents or characteristics;
(3) Refuses reasonable access to its premises by representatives of the Service Director for inspection or monitoring; or
(4) Violates the conditions of these regulations, its industrial waste permit or any final judicial order entered with respect thereto.
Reissuance of an industrial waste permit shall be at the discretion of the Service Director and may be subject to such conditions as deemed appropriate.
(c) When deemed necessary by the Authority that additional pretreatment and/or operation and maintenance will be required to comply with this chapter, the user shall provide the shortest compliance schedule by which the user will provide such additional pretreatment. The compliance schedule shall be as described in Section 921.12(a)(9).
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions described in subsection (c) hereof, the Service Director may, for good cause, immediately suspend the treatment services of an industrial user when it appears that an actual or threatened discharge presents an imminent danger to the public health and welfare, substantial danger to the environment and/or interference with the operation of the wastewater treatment plant, or violates any pretreatment limits proposed by these regulations or any industrial waste permit issued pursuant to these regulations. Any industrial user notified of a suspension of service shall, within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Service Director, cease all discharges. If the industrial user fails to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the Service Director shall disconnect service lines from the sewer system and commence judicial proceedings to compel the industrial user's compliance. The Service Director shall reinstate the industrial user's service and terminate judicial proceedings upon proof of the elimination of the non-complying discharge creating the threat of imminent or substantial danger, as set forth above.
(e) If the violation is not corrected by timely compliance, the Service Director may order an industrial user who causes a violation or allows an unauthorized discharge to show cause before the Service Director why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the offending party specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by the Service Director regarding the violation and directing the industrial user to show cause, before the Service Director, why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of hearing shall be served personally or by registered or certified mail (return receipt requested) at least fifteen days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent, officer or authorized representative of the industrial user. The Service Director shall conduct the hearing and take the evidence. At any public hearing, testimony must be under oath and recorded stenographically. The transcript, so recorded, will be made available to any member of the public or any party to the hearing upon payment of the usual charges therefore. After the Service Director has reviewed the evidence, an order may be issued by the Village to the industrial user responsible for the violation directing that, following a specified time period, the sewer service be discontinued unless adequate treatment facilities, devices or other related appurtenances shall have been installed or existing treatment facilities, devices or other related appurtenances are properly operated, and such further orders and directions as are necessary and appropriate may also be issued. All costs of the hearing to show cause and all costs incurred by the Village must be paid in full by the industrial user. The industrial user must agree to any additional reporting requirements that the Service Director deems necessary to protect the POTW from further misuse. An industrial user who fails to appear at a show-cause hearing shall be deemed to have agreed to whatever action is taken by the Service Director as a result of such hearing.
(f) At least annually, the Service Director shall provide meaningful public notification in a newspaper of general circulation within the jurisdiction served by the POTW all industrial users which, during the previous twelve months, were in significant noncompliance (SNC) with applicable pretreatment standards or other pretreatment requirements. For purposes of this provision, an industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its violations meet one of the following criteria:
(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period by a significant industrial user (SIU) at its permitted monitoring point exceed (by any magnitude) the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement (including instantaneous limits) for the same pollutant parameter;
(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent or more of all of the measurements for each pollutant parameter taken during a six-month period by an SIU at its permitted monitoring point equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement (including instantaneous limits) times the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease, and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);
(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment effluent limit (instantaneous, daily maximum or longer term average, or narrative standards) that the Service Director determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or passthrough (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);
(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health or welfare, or to the environment, or that has resulted in the Village's exercise of emergency authority to halt or prevent such a discharge;
(5) Violation by 90 days or more after the scheduled date of a compliance schedule milestone contained in a permit or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;
(6) Failure to provide required reports, such as baseline monitoring reports (BMRs), 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules, within 45 days of the due date;
(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance; or
(8) Any other violation or group of violations which may include violation of best management practices (BMP) which the Service Director determines may adversely affect the operation or implementation of the Village's pretreatment program.
(g) The Village may recover civil damages for any expense, loss or damage, including attorneys' fees, court costs, court reporters' fees, and any other expenses of litigation, occasioned by a user's violation of these regulations or any orders and rules issued hereunder. Any costs assessed by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and/or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a result of the wastewater treatment plant's inability to treat and effectively reduce the pollutant involved shall also be included. Refusal to pay the assessed costs by the industrial user shall constitute a violation of these regulations and shall be enforceable under the provisions of subsection (b) hereof.
(Ord. 6-14. Passed 2-25-14.)