Chapter 15.24
SEWAGE DISPOSAL – PRETREATMENT
Sections:
15.24.030 Private sewage disposal – Septic tank.
15.24.040 Regulations regarding the use of public sewers.
15.24.050 Protection from damage.
15.24.060 Abatement of violations of this chapter.
15.24.070 TRRWA discharge pretreatment regulations – Adopted by reference.
15.24.010 Purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to protect the public health by providing standards for the collection, treatment, and disposal of sewage within the city. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.020 General.
(1) Whenever, upon inspection, the building sewer, from building drain to property line, right-of-way line, or public sewer easement line, is found to be defective, a written notice shall be mailed to the owner of record and the owner shall be required within 60 days to make the necessary repairs to meet the city code.
(2) Whenever, upon inspection, any building or premises, or part thereof, is found unfit for human habitation by reason of defective plumbing, lack of sanitary plumbing or toilet facilities, building sewer or private sewage disposal system, the director of community and economic development shall require the vacation of such building, premises or part thereof within 10 days after the date of official notice to do so, and a written order shall be conspicuously posted on the building or premises and, where practicable, shall be served upon the owner, agent or occupant of such premises, and it is unlawful for any person to fail, neglect or refuse to comply with such order or fail to vacate such premises when so ordered. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.030 Private sewage disposal – Septic tank.
(1) It shall be unlawful to construct or maintain any privy, privy vault, septic tank, cesspool, or other facility intended or used for the disposal of sewage.
Except:
(a) Where a public sanitary sewer is not available, the building sewer shall be connected to a private sewage disposal system complying with the provisions of this section. Such private sewage disposal systems shall only be approved septic tanks and must receive written approval from the director and the Cowlitz County environmental health manager.
(b) Before starting any construction of a private sewage disposal system, the property owner shall first obtain a written permit from the department of community and economic development with concurrence of the director. The application for such permit shall be made on a form furnished by the city. The applicant shall also supply plans, specifications, and other information as may be deemed necessary by the city.
(c) No permit shall be issued for any private sewage disposal system employing subsurface soil absorption facilities where the area of the lot is less than 6,000 square feet. No septic tank or cesspool shall be permitted to discharge to any public sewer, natural outlet or to the ground surface.
(d) At such times as a public sanitary sewer becomes available to a property served by a private sewage disposal system, a direct connection shall be made to the public sanitary sewer in compliance with the terms of this article, and any septic tanks and similar private sewage disposal facilities shall be decommissioned in accordance with city and Cowlitz County environmental health regulations.
(e) The owner shall always operate and maintain private sewage disposal facilities in a sanitary manner in accordance with city and Cowlitz County environmental health regulations, at their own expense.
(f) No statement contained in this section shall be construed to interfere with any additional requirements that may be imposed by Cowlitz County environmental health or state of Washington Department of Health. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.040 Regulations regarding the use of public sewers.
(1) Sanitary Sewer – Restricted Use. No user shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, cooling water, or unpolluted industrial process waters into any sanitary sewer, except refrigeration water as permitted by other ordinances of the city.
(2) Stormwater. Stormwater and all other unpolluted drainage shall be discharged into such sewers as may be specifically designated as storm sewers, or to a natural outlet approved by the director. Industrial cooling water or unpolluted process waters may be discharged into a storm sewer or natural outlet with the approval of the director.
(3) General Discharge Prohibitions. In this text no user shall contribute or cause to be contributed directly or indirectly any pollutant or wastewater which will interfere with the operation or performance of the sewage treatment plant. These prohibitions apply to all users of the sewage treatment plant, whether the user is subject to “national categorical pretreatment standards” or any other national, state or local pretreatment standards or requirements. A user may not contribute any pollutant or wastewater to the sewage treatment plant that is prohibited by Section 2.1 of the “Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority Discharge Pretreatment Policy,” as adopted by LMC 15.24.070.
(4) Monitoring Facilities.
(a) The city may require to be provided and operated, at the property owner’s expense, monitoring facilities to allow inspection, sampling, and flow measurement of the building sewer and/or internal drainage systems. The monitoring facility shall nominally be located on the user’s premises, but the city may, when such a location would be impractical or cause undue hardship on the user, allow the facility to be constructed in the public street or sidewalk area and located so that it will not be obstructed by landscaping or parked vehicles.
(b) There shall be ample room in or near such sampling manhole or facility to allow accurate sampling and preparation of samples for analysis. The facility, sampling and measuring equipment shall be always maintained in a safe and proper operating condition at the expense of the property owner.
(c) Whether constructed on public or private property, the sampling and monitoring facilities shall be provided in accordance with the city’s requirements and all applicable local construction standards and specifications. Construction shall be completed within 90 days following written notification by the city.
(5) Inspection and Sampling. The city may inspect the facilities of any user to ascertain whether the purpose of this section is being met and all requirements are being complied with. Persons or occupants of premises where wastewater is created or discharged shall allow the city or its representative ready access at all reasonable times to all parts of the premises for the purposes of inspection, sampling, records examination or in the performance of any of their duties. Federal, state, and local authorities shall have the right to set up on the user’s property such devices as are necessary to conduct a sampling inspection, compliance monitoring and/or metering operations. Where a user has security measures in force which would require proper identification and clearance before entry into their premises, the user shall make necessary arrangements with their security guards so that upon presentation of suitable identification, federal, state and/or local agents will be permitted to enter without delay, for the purpose of performing their specific responsibilities.
(6) Pretreatment. Users shall provide necessary wastewater treatment as required to comply with this section and LMC 15.24.070. Any facilities required to pretreat wastewater to a level acceptable to the city shall be provided, operated, and maintained at the user’s expense. Detailed plans showing the pretreatment facilities and operating procedures shall be submitted to the city for review and shall be acceptable to the city before construction of the facility. The review of such plans and operating procedures will in no way relieve the user from the responsibility of modifying the facility as necessary to produce an effluent acceptable to the city under the provisions of this section and LMC 15.24.070. Any subsequent changes in the pretreatment facilities or method of operation shall be reported to and be acceptable to the city prior to the user’s initiation of the changes.
(7) Fats, Oil, and Grease (FOG) Controls.
(a) All food processing, sales and service establishments generating FOG shall install, use, and maintain appropriate grease interceptors as set forth in this subsection.
(b) Establishments requiring grease interceptors are:
(i) All hospitals, all restaurants, or places where food is processed for consumption, garages, gasoline stations, car washes, repair shops and all areas where automobiles, trucks, buses and other vehicles are washed or otherwise cleaned, generating FOG.
(ii) Development applications, including tenant improvements that change the use classification to a food establishment, or a new mixed-use development with the potential to generate fats, oil, and grease; and
(iii) Existing facilities that cause a build-up of FOG in any public wastewater facility resulting in a wastewater overflow or are otherwise causing a prohibited discharge.
(c) Grease interceptors shall:
(i) Meet the sizing criteria set forth in the Uniform Plumbing Code, as adopted in Chapter 16.02 LMC;
(ii) Be located so that the interceptor is accessible for sampling, cleaning, and inspection; and
(iii) Be maintained in good and efficient working order and serviced by a grease waste hauler on a regular maintenance schedule.
(d) Decanting or discharging of removed waste back into the interceptor from which the waste was removed is prohibited.
(e) Discharge of FOG more than 100 milligrams per liter (mg/L) concentrations is not allowed downstream of the grease interceptor.
(f) All violations of the FOG control requirements or defects in equipment shall be corrected immediately by the property owner or tenant. Repeat failures of the FOG control requirements or failure to correct defects in equipment may result in a violation of this chapter as provided in LMC 15.32.010.
(8) Harmful Contributions.
(a) The city may suspend the wastewater service when such suspension is necessary, in the opinion of the director, in order to stop an actual or threatened discharge which presents or may present an imminent or substantial endangerment to the health or welfare of persons or to the environment, causes interference to the sewage treatment plant, or causes the city to violate any condition of its NPDES permit or the NPDES permit of the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority.
(b) Any person notified of a suspension of the wastewater treatment service shall immediately stop or eliminate the contribution. In the event of a failure of the person to comply voluntarily with the suspension order, the city shall take such steps as are deemed necessary, including immediate severance of the sewer connection, to prevent or minimize damage to the sewage treatment plant or endangerment to any individuals. The city shall reinstate the wastewater treatment service upon proof of the elimination of the noncomplying discharge. A detailed written statement submitted by the user describing the causes of the harmful contribution and the measures taken to prevent any future occurrence shall be submitted to the city within 15 days of the date of occurrence.
(9) Special Agreements. No provision of this section shall be construed as preventing any special agreement or arrangement between the city and any commercial or industrial concern or business whereby a sanitary sewer discharge of unusual strength or character may be accepted by the city for treatment, subject to payment therefor by the commercial or industrial concern or business. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.050 Protection from damage.
(1) In the event any person shall, through accident or neglect, break, destroy or in any way damage any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the city’s sanitary wastewater system, such person shall pay the cost of repairing or replacing such damaged or destroyed property. It shall be duty of the director to determine the extent of the damage and to have the damaged property either replaced or repaired according to the city’s specifications and at the sole cost and expense of the person causing such damage.
(2) No person shall maliciously or willfully break, damage, destroy, uncover, deface, or tamper with any structure, appurtenance, or equipment which is a part of the city’s sanitary wastewater system. Any person violating this provision shall be liable for damages to such facility or portion thereof in addition to penalties as provided in LMC 1.26.010. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.060 Abatement of violations of this chapter.
The imposition of the penalties herein prescribed shall not preclude the city’s attorney from instituting an appropriate action to restrain, correct or abate any violation of the terms of this chapter. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).
15.24.070 TRRWA discharge pretreatment regulations – Adopted by reference.
That certain document titled “Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority Discharge Pretreatment Policy” adopted on May 9, 2012, the effective date of which is June 27, 2012, is hereby adopted as official rules and regulations of the city of Longview setting forth industrial pretreatment requirements and regulations for discharges into the city’s wastewater system. For purposes of this adoption, “member entity,” as used in that policy, shall mean the city of Longview. Further, subsequent editions of the policy shall become official rules and regulations of the city of Longview as the same are adopted by the Three Rivers Regional Wastewater Authority; provided, however, the subsequent editions shall only become effective upon the new edition being filed with the city clerk. (Ord. 3533 § 1, 2024).