923.11 ENFORCEMENT.

   (a)   Emergency Suspension of Service. The City may for good cause shown, suspend the wastewater treatment service and/or the industrial discharge permit of a discharger when it appears to the City that an actual or threatened discharge presents or threatens an imminent or substantial danger to the health or welfare of persons, substantial danger to the environment or interferes with the operation of the POTW, or violates any pretreatment limits imposed by this chapter or any industrial discharge permit issued pursuant to this chapter. Any discharger notified of the suspension of the City's wastewater treatment service and/or its industrial discharge permit, shall within a reasonable period of time, as determined by the City, cease all discharges. In the event of failure of the discharger to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the City shall commence judicial proceedings immediately thereafter to compel the discharger's compliance with such order. The City shall reinstate the industrial discharge permit and/or the wastewater treatment service and terminate the aforementioned judicial proceedings pending proof by the discharger of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge or conditions creating the threat of imminent or substantial danger as set forth above. The City reserves the right to reject, or surcharge, or require pretreatment of, or contract for, the treatment and disposal of waste.

   (b)   Revocation of Treatment Services. The City may seek to terminate the wastewater treatment services and/or revoke the industrial discharge permit of any discharger who:

      (1)    Fails to pay sewer service or sewer industrial rates;

      (2)    Fails to provide accurate information in any application, record, report, plan or other document filed or required to be maintained pursuant to this chapter or any industrial discharge permit;

      (3)   Fails to report significant changes in wastewater constituents or characteristics;

      (4)    Refuses reasonable access to the discharger's premises by representatives of the City for the purpose of inspection or monitoring;

      (5)    Falsifies, tampers with or knowingly renders inaccurate any monitoring device or method required under this chapter;

      (6)    Violates the conditions of its industrial discharge permit or this chapter, or any final judicial order entered with respect thereto.

   (c)   Notification of Violation; Administrative Adjustment. Whenever the City finds that any discharger has engaged in conduct which justifies termination of wastewater treatment services or revocation of its industrial discharge permit, pursuant to subsection (b) hereof, the City shall serve or cause to be served upon such discharger, a written notice either personally or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, stating the nature of the alleged violation. Within fourteen days of the date of receipt of the notice, the discharger shall respond personally or in writing to the City, advising of its position with respect to the allegations. Thereafter, the parties shall meet to ascertain the veracity of the allegations and where necessary, establish a plan for the satisfactory correction thereof.

   (d)   Show Cause Hearing. Where the violation of subsection (b) hereof is not corrected by timely compliance by means of administrative adjustment, the City may order any discharger which causes or allows conduct prohibited by subsection (b) hereof, to show cause before the City or its duly authorized representative, why the proposed service termination or permit revocation action should not be taken. A written notice shall be served on the discharger by personal service, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested specifying the time and place of a hearing to be held by the City or its designee regarding the violation, the reasons why the enforcement action is to be taken, the proposed enforcement action, and directing the discharger to show cause before the City or its designee why the proposed enforcement action should not be taken. The notice of the hearing shall be served no less than ten days before the hearing. Service may be made on any agent, officer or authorized representative of a discharger. The proceedings at the hearing shall be considered by the City which shall then enter appropriate orders with respect to the alleged improper activities of the discharger. Appeal of such orders may be taken by the discharger in accordance with Ohio R. C. Chapter 2506.

   (e)   Judicial Proceedings. Following the entry of any order by the City with respect to the conduct of a discharger contrary to the provisions of subsection (b) hereof, the Director of Administration for the City may, following the authorization of such action by the City, commence an action for appropriate legal and/or equitable relief in the Court of Common Pleas.

(Ord. 1991-8. Passed 3-18-91.)

   (f)   Enforcement Actions; Annual Publication. At least annually, the Director shall provide meaningful public notification in a newspaper of general circulation within the jurisdiction served by the POTW of all industrial users which during the previous twelve months were in significant noncompliance with applicable pretreatment standards or other pretreatment requirements. For the purposes of this provision, an industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its violations meet one or more of the following criteria:

      (1)   Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent (66%) or more of all of the measurements taken during a six-month period by an 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 (33%) 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 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 of human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW'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 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;

      (8)    Any other violation or group of violations, which may include violation of a BMP, which the Director determines may adversely affected the operation or implementation of the City's pretreatment program.

         (Ord. 2009-11. Passed 5-4-09.)

   (g)   Right of Appeal. Any discharger or any interested party shall have the right to request in writing an interpretation or ruling by the City on any matter covered by this chapter and shall be entitled to a prompt written reply. In the event that such inquiry is by a discharger and deals with matters of performance or compliance with this chapter or deals with an industrial discharge permit issued pursuant hereto for which enforcement activity relating to an alleged violation is the subject, receipt of a discharger's request shall stay all enforcement proceedings pending receipt of the aforesaid written reply. Appeal to any final judicial order issued pursuant to this chapter may be taken in accordance with Ohio R. C. Chapter 2506.

   (h)   Recovery of Costs Incurred by the City. Any discharger violating any of the provisions of this chapter or who discharges or causes a discharge producing a deposit or obstruction or causes damage to or impairs the City's wastewater system, shall be liable to the City for any expense, loss or damage caused by such violation or discharge. The City shall bill the discharger for the costs incurred by the City for any cleaning, repair or replacement work caused by the violation or discharge. Refusal to pay the assessed costs shall constitute a violation of this chapter enforceable under the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. 1985-21. Passed 7-10-85.)

   (i)   Administrative Penalties. The City may assess penalties ranging in the amount of one hundred dollars ($100.00) to three hundred dollars ($300.00) per day upon sewer users who fail to comply with numerical values or industrial discharge permits issued by the City or other regulatory agencies. Such administrative penalties shall be determined by the Utilities Superintendent of the City based on the severity of the violation and the enforcement category assigned to the violator.
(Ord. 2009-11. Passed 5-4-09.)

   (j)   Administrative Compliance Schedules. The City may issue administrative compliance schedules to dischargers who fail to achieve compliance with industrial discharge permits issued by the City, or numerical limitations of the City or other regulatory agencies.

   (k)   Litigation. Whoever violates an order of the City or fails to comply with any provisions of this chapter shall be penalized in the manner set forth in Section 923.99(a). Discharges which interfere with the proper operation of or cause damage to the Municipal wastewater system may be liable under State and/or federal law which provides for penalties up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per day and six years in jail for a repeat knowing criminal violation. (Ord. 1989-21. Passed 4-17-89.)