Chapter 14.01 GENERAL PROVISIONS

Chapter 14.01
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sections:

14.01.010 Purpose.

This title covers regulations concerning the Oak Harbor sewer system. Its purpose is to assure that the system is operated in compliance with state and federal regulations concerning the disposal of sewage and the maintenance of clean water and a healthy, safe environment. It is not intended to create a special obligation running to the benefit of any particular person or persons, groups or class of people but is an exercise of police power for the general good.

Specifically, the following considerations have been identified as important:

(1) Where sewers are available, hookup shall be mandatory.

(2) Requirements and rates should be made as uniform as is reasonably practical so that each customer bears its proportionate share of the costs of operation.

(3) It is necessary to prevent introduction of pollutants and materials into the Oak Harbor sewer system which will interfere with operation of the sewage treatment plants or inhibit or prevent flow of sewage along sewer lines or through pump stations.

(4) It is necessary to prevent introduction of pollutants into the Oak Harbor sewer system which will pass through the waste water treatment plants, inadequately treated, into receiving water or otherwise be incompatible with the Oak Harbor sewer system.

(5) It is necessary to assure compliance with all applicable statutes and regulations with regard to biosolid disposal.

(6) It is necessary to assure the general public is protected from dangerous materials being disposed of in the sewage collection and treatment process.

(7) It is necessary to provide a safe environment for personnel working in the Oak Harbor sewer system.

(8) To lower costs of operation, it is desirable to assure that waste products be recycled.

(9) Those properties being added to the OHSS should pay a proportionate share of costs of OHSS facilities to serve the property. (Ord. 1323 § 2, 2002; Ord. 1004, 1995).

14.01.020 Application.

Unless otherwise specified, this title has general application to all who might seek to use the Oak Harbor sewer system without reservation as to whether they are a permitted user of the Oak Harbor sewer system or an illegal disposer and whether or not they are a commercial or industrial user or a domestic customer. (Ord. 1323 § 3, 2002; Ord. 1004, 1995).

14.01.030 Administration.

Unless otherwise provided, the person assigned by the mayor shall administer, implement and enforce provisions of this title. Any duties or powers granted to that person may be delegated by that person to other city of Oak Harbor personnel under his or her direction and control. The mayor can from time to time assign additional personnel to work on tasks for the supervisor of the OHSS. (Ord. 1323 § 4, 2002; Ord. 1004, 1995).

14.01.040 Definitions.

Unless a provision explicitly states otherwise, the following terms and phrases, as used in this title, shall have the meanings hereinafter designated:

(1) “Apartment” means a multifamily dwelling consisting of a building or a portion thereof used or designed as a residence for two, three or more families living independently of each other. The term does not include hotels, motels or other similar transient housing.

(2) “Associate facilities.” References to associate facilities in Chapters 14.01, 14.03 and 14.05 OHMC refer to such items as oil and grease interceptors, manhole, sampling facilities, cleanouts, traps, wet wells, pump stations, alarm equipment, power sources, motors and generators. This list is by way of illustration and not limitation.

(3) “Best management practices (BMPs)” means schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to prevent or reduce the pollution of waters of the United States. BMPs also include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw material storage.

(4) “Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) or (BOD5)” means the quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter under standard laboratory procedures for five days at 20 degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (milligrams per liter (mg/l)).

(5) “Building drain” means that part of the lowest horizontal piping of a drainage system which receives the discharge from soil, waste, and other drainage pipes inside the walls of the building and conveys it to the private sewer, beginning two feet outside the inner face of the building wall.

(6) “Chemical oxygen demand (COD)” means a measure of the oxygen-consuming capacity of inorganic and organic matter present in waste water. COD is expressed as the amount of oxygen consumed from a chemical oxidant in mg/l during a specific test.

(7) “Commercial waste” means waste from a commercial use as defined in the Oak Harbor zoning code and not specifically hereafter defined as “industrial waste.”

(8) “City engineer” shall refer to the duly appointed city engineer or his or her designee.

(9) “Cooling water/noncontact cooling water” means water used for cooling which does not come into direct contact with any raw material, intermediate product, waste product, or finished product. Cooling water may be generated from any use, such as air conditioning, heat exchangers, cooling or refrigeration to which the only pollutant added is heat.

(10) “Color” means the optical density at the visual wave length of maximum absorption, relative to distilled water. One hundred percent transmittance is equivalent to zero optical density.

(11) “Composite sample” means the sample resulting from the combination of individual waste water samples taken at selected intervals based on an increment of either flow or time.

(12) “Domestic sewage” means the liquid and waterborne wastes derived from ordinary living processes, free from industrial wastes, and of such character to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the OHSS.

(13) “Domestic user (residential user)” means any person who contributes, causes, or allows the contribution of waste water into the OHSS that is of a similar volume and/or chemical make-up as that of a residential dwelling unit. Discharges from a residential dwelling unit typically include up to 100 gallons per capita per day at 250 mg/l of BOD and TSS.

(14) “Fats, oils and grease” means those components of waste water amenable to measurement by the methods described in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water, 19th Edition, 1992; Section 5520. “Fats, oils and grease” includes polar and nonpolar fats, oils and grease.

(15) “Garbage” means solid wastes and residue from preparation, cooking and dispensing of food and from the handling, storage, processing and sale of food products and produce.

(16) “Grab sample” means a sample which is taken from a waste stream on a one-time basis without regard to the flow in the waste stream and without consideration of time.

(17) “Grease trap” means device designed to retain grease from one to a maximum of four fixtures usually located inside a building (minimum 40-pound capacity). See “Interceptor.”

(18) “High strength waste” means any waters or waste water having a concentration of BOD or total suspended solids in excess of 250 mg/l, or having a concentration of fats, oil and grease in excess of 100 mg/l.

(19) “Hotel” means any establishment consisting of one or more buildings in which individual rooms with or without bath and with or without cooking facilities are offered for rent for dwelling purposes. This term includes the terms “motel,” “boarding house,” “inn,” “bed and breakfast lodge.”

(20) “Housing unit” means a living area used by or available to a person or persons forming a household.

(21) “Industrial waste” means any and all liquid or waterborne waste from industrial or commercial processes, except domestic sewage.

(22) “Inflow” means the water discharged into a sewer system, including service connections from such sources as, but not limited to, roof leaders, cellar, yard, and area drains, foundation drains, cooling water discharges, drains from springs and swampy areas, manhole covers, cross connections from storm sewers and combined sewers, catch basins, storm water, surface runoff, street wash-waters, or drainage.

(23) “Interceptor” means a device designed and installed so as to separate and retain deleterious or undesirable matter from normal wastes and permit normal liquid wastes to discharge by gravity. In Chapter 14.09 OHMC, “FOG interceptor” refers to a larger device (minimum of 750-gallon capacity) installed outside of a building with sampling facility. A grease trap refers to the smaller devices of the same sort which are typically installed inside the building.

(24) “Interference” means a discharge which alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources either:

(a) Inhibits or disrupts the OHSS, its treatment processes or operations;

(b) Inhibits or disrupts its biosolids (sludge) processes, use or disposal; or

(c) Is a cause of a violation of the city’s NPDES permit or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with any of the following statutory/regulatory provisions or permits issued thereunder: Section 405 of the Clean Water Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), including Title II commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); any state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to Subtitle D of the SWDA; the Clean Air Act; the Toxic Substances Control Act; and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.

(25) “Lateral sewer” means a private sewer main and associate facilities conveying sewage flow from two or more private sewers to a public sewer main.

(26) “Liquid waste” means the discharge from any fixture, appliance or appurtenance in connection with a plumbing system which does not receive fecal matter.

(27) “Lot” means any tract, parcel or division of land. It shall not include a condominium lot enclosed within a building.

(28) “Maximum allowable discharge limit” means the maximum concentration (or loading) of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time.

(29) “Medical wastes” means isolation wastes, infectious agents, human blood and blood products, pathological wastes, sharps, body parts, contaminated bedding, surgical wastes, potentially contaminated laboratory wastes, and dialysis wastes.

(30) “New source” means:

(a) Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is (or may be) a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under Section 307(c) of the Clean Water Act which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section; provided, that:

(i) The building, structure, facility, or installation is constructed at a site at which no other source is located; or

(ii) The building, structure, facility, or installation totally replaces the process or production equipment that causes the discharge of pollutants at an existing source; or

(iii) The production or waste water generating processes of the building, structure, facility, or installation are substantially independent of an existing source at the same site. In determining whether these are substantially independent factors such as the extent to which the new facility is integrated with the existing plant, and the extent to which the new facility is engaged in the same general type of activity as the existing source should be considered.

(b) Construction on a site at which an existing source is located results in a modification rather than a new source, if the construction does not create a new building, structure, facility, or installation meeting the criteria of subsection (a)(i) or (iii) above but otherwise alters, replaces, or adds to existing process or production equipment.

(i) Begun, or caused to begin as part of a continuous on-site construction program;

(A) Any placement, assembly, or installation of facilities or equipment, or

(B) Significant site preparation work including clearing, excavation, or removal of existing buildings, structures, or facilities which is necessary for the placement, assembly, or installation of new source facilities or equipment; or

(ii) Entered into a binding contractual obligation for the purchase of facilities or equipment which are intended to be used in its operation within a reasonable time. Options to purchase or contracts which can be terminated or modified without substantial loss, and contracts for feasibility, engineering, and design studies do not constitute a contractual obligation under this paragraph.

(31) A “new user” is not a “new source” and is defined as a user that applies to the city for a new building permit or any person who occupies an existing building and plans to discharge waste water to the city’s collection system after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this title. Any person who buys an existing facility that is discharging nondomestic waste water will be considered an “existing user” if no significant changes are made in the operation.

(32) “Normal domestic sewage” means sewage in which the average concentration of suspended materials does not exceed 250 mg/l and in which the five-day BOD does not exceed 250 mg/l, or FOG does not exceed 50 mg/l.

(33) “Oak Harbor sewer system (OHSS)” includes all publicly owned devices, facilities, or systems used in the collection, storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature and any conveyances which convey waste water to a treatment plant.

(34) “Pass-through” means a discharge which exits the OHSS into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, along or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the city’s NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

(35) “Person” means any individual, partnership, copartnership, firm, company, corporation, association, joint stock company, trust, estate, governmental entity, or any other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. This definition includes all federal, state, or local governmental entities.

(36) “pH” means a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance, expressed in standard units.

(37) “Pollutant” means any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, medical wastes, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt, agricultural and industrial wastes, FOG, and the characteristics of the waste water (i.e., pH, temperature, TSS, turbidity, color, BOD, chemical oxygen demand (COD), toxicity, or odor).

(38) “Pretreatment” means the reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in waste water prior to (or in lieu of) introducing such pollutants into the OHSS. This reduction or alteration can be obtained by physical, chemical, or biological processes; by process changes; or by other means (except by diluting the concentration of the pollutants unless allowed by an applicable pretreatment standard).

(39) “Private sewer” means a sewer and associated facilities connecting a “building drain” to a public main. A private sewer is primarily located on private property but also includes those portions of the line located in the public right-of-way. Private sewer begins at the connection to the building drain and ends at the connection to the public main. It is the responsibility of the property owner to maintain and keep repaired the private sewer whether on public easements, right-of-way or private property.

(40) “Properly shredded garbage” means wastes from preparation and cooking and disposing of food, exclusive of eggshells and bones, which waste has been shredded so that the particles are no greater than one-quarter inch in any dimension, and the particles can be carried freely through the normal conditions in public sanitary sewers.

(41) “Sanitary flow” means sewage.

(42) “Septic tank waste” means any domestic and/or residential sewage from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, and septic tanks.

(43) “Sewage” means human excrement and gray water (household showers, dish washing operations, food preparation, etc.).

(44) “Sewer main” means a publicly owned sewer.

(45) “Sewer” means any pipe, conduit ditch, or other device, together with associate facilities, used to collect and transport sewage from the generating source, together with associated facilities.

(46) Shall, May. “Shall” is mandatory; “may” is permissive.

(47) “Single-family residence” means a detached building designed for and occupied exclusively by one family and the household employees of that family.

(48) “Slug load” means any discharge at a flow rate or concentration which could cause a violation of the discharge standards in Chapter 14.07 OHMC or any discharge of a nonroutine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a noncustomary batch discharge, or any discharge greater than or equal to five times the amount or concentration allowed by permit or this chapter.

(49) “Storm water” means any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation.

(50) “Street” means a public thoroughfare which affords the principal means of access to abutting properties.

(51) “Supervisor” means the person appointed by the mayor to direct the functions of the OHSS or his or her duly authorized representative.

(52) “Total suspended solids (TSS)” means the total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, waste water, or other liquid, and which is removable by laboratory filtering.

(53) “Toxic pollutant” means one of the pollutants, or combination of those pollutants, listed as toxic in regulations promulgated by EPA under Section 307 (33 U.S.C. 1317) of the Act, or other pollutants as may be promulgated.

(54) “User” or “industrial user” means a source of indirect discharge. The source shall not include “domestic user” as defined herein.

(55) “Waste water” means liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the OHSS.

(56) “Waste water treatment plant” or “treatment plant” or “pollution control facility” means that portion of the OHSS which is designed to provide treatment of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

The use of the singular shall be construed to include the plural. The plural shall include the singular as indicated by the context of its use. (Ord. 1323 § 5, 2002; Ord. 1004, 1995).