ARTICLE III: RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF PUBLIC SEWERS
Generally. All persons discharging sewage into public sewers connected to the sewer system shall comply with applicable requirements of federal and state industrial pretreatment regulations and pretreatment regulations of the City of Gloucester.
Storm water and other unpolluted waters. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any stormwater, surface water, groundwater, roof runoff, subsurface drainage, uncontaminated cooling water or unpolluted industrial process waters into any sanitary sewer.
Hot or alkaline waters and wastes. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged heat, as liquid or vapor, in such quantity that the temperature of the discharge at the last accessible point in the building drain prior to exiting the building exceeds one hundred four degrees Fahrenheit (104º F) or forty degrees Centigrade (40º C), or any water having a pH in excess of 9.5 pH units.
Dangerous, destructive or improper discharges. No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged any of the following described waters or wastes to any public sewer:
a) Any gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil, or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, or gas, including but no limited to wastestreams with a closed cup flashpoint of less than one hundred forty (140) degrees Fahrenheit or sixty (60) degrees Centigrade using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21;
b) Any waters or wastes containing pollutants including oxygen demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.) or total suspended solids (TSS), toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create a public nuisance or create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant.
c) Any waters or wastes having a pH lower than 5.5, or having any other corrosive property capable of causing damage or hazard to structures equipment, and personnel of the sewage works.
d) Solid or viscous substances in quantities or of such size capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers, or other interference with the proper operation of the sewage works such as but not limited to, ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastics, wood, underground garbage, whole blood, paunch manure hair and fleshings, entrails and paper dishes, cups, milk containers, etc., either whole or ground by garbage grinders.
e) Batch cooking oils, fish scales, fish heads and viscera, fish carcasses and other solids from fish processing operations which have a mean particle size of greater than 40-mesh (0.017 inch), and stickwaters from fish meal production processes.
f) Any water or waste containing petroleum oil, non-biodegradable cutting oils or product of mineral oil or synthetic oil origin in concentrations greater than twenty-five (25) milligrams per liter or in such amounts as to cause pass through or interference.
g) Any water or waste from commercial or industrial plants or restaurants containing more than one hundred (100) milligrams per liter of oils, fat or grease.
h) Any waters or wastes containing strong acid iron pickling wastes, or concentrated plating solutions whether neutralized or not.
i) Any waters or wastes containing iron, chromium, copper, zinc and similar objectionable or toxic substances, or wastes exerting and excessive chlorine requirements, to such degree that any such material received in the composite sewage at the sewage treatment works exceeds the limits established by the director for such materials.
j) Any radioactive wastes or isotopes of such half-life concentration as may excess in limits established by state or federal regulations.
k) Any garbage that has not been properly shredded. The installation and operation of any garbage grinder equipped with a motor of three-fourths horsepower or greater shall be subject to the review and approval of the Board. Garbage grinders may not be used to reduce solids in fish process waste streams prior to discharge to the Town’s sanitary sewer.
l) Any wastewater containing pollutants, including oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which either singly, or in combination with other discharges, will cause pass through at the wastewater facilities.
Options of Board. If any waters or wastes are discharged, or are proposed to be discharged to the public sewers, which waters contain the substances or possess the characteristics enumerated in Article III, and which may have deleterious effect upon the sewage works, processes, equipment or receiving waters, or which otherwise create a hazard to life or constitute a public nuisance, the Board may:
a) Reject the wastes
b) Require pretreatment to an acceptable condition for discharge to the public sewers and approval of the City of Gloucester pretreatment program.
c) Require control over the quantities and rates of discharge.
d) Require payment to cover the added cost of handling and treating the wastes not covered by existing taxes or sewer charges. If the Board requires the pretreatment or equalization of waste flows, the design and installation of the plants and equipment shall be subject to the review and approval of the City of Gloucester pretreatment program, and subject to the requirements of all applicable codes, ordinances and laws.
These provisions notwithstanding, the Board of Public Works may take enforcement action against any sewer user discharging wastewater containing substances or possessing characteristics as listed in Article III above.
Grease, oil and sand interceptors. Grease, oil and sand interceptors shall be provided to serve all restaurants and food service facilities and when in the opinion of the Board they are necessary for the proper handling of liquid wastes containing grease in excessive amounts, or any flammable wastes, sand or other harmful ingredients except that such interceptors shall not be required for private living quarters or dwelling units. All interceptors shall be of a type and capacity approved by the Board, and shall be located as to be readily and easily accessible for cleaning and inspection. In the maintaining of these interceptors, the owners thereof shall be responsible for the proper removal and disposal by appropriate means of the captured materials and shall maintain records of the dates and means of disposal, which are
subject to review by the Board. Any removal and hauling of the collected materials not performed by such owners personnel must be performed by waste disposal firms possessing valid licenses issued by the board of health, and such firms must notify the owners of the means and site location of disposal of the collected materials. All interceptors shall be vacuum tested in accordance with the Town of Essex Board of Health On-site Systems Design Standards, Section 500.3.2 as if the interceptor were a sanitary holding tank.
Preliminary treatment. Where preliminary treatment or flow-equalizing facilities are required, the owner at his expense shall maintain such facilities continuously in satisfactory and effective operation.
Control structure. When required by the Board, the owner of any property serviced by a building sewer carrying industrial wastes shall install a suitable control structure, together with such necessary meters and other appurtenances in the building sewer to facilitate observation, sampling and measurement of the wastes. Such structure, when required, shall be accessibly and safely located, and shall be constructed in accordance with plans approved by the Board. The structure shall be installed by the owner at his expense and shall be maintained by him so as to be safe and accessible at all times on reasonable notice from the Board or its agents.
Measurements, Tests, Analyses. All measurements, tests and analyses of the characteristics of waters and wastes to which reference is made in these regulations shall be determined in accordance with the procedures described in 40 CFR Part 136. Sampling methods, locations, times, durations and frequencies are to be determined on an individual basis subject to approval of the City of Gloucester pre-treatment program.
Special Agreements. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the City and any user may reach agreement allowing the discharge of any water or wastes of a character otherwise regulated by this section to be accepted for treatment by the City in return for payment by the user for such treatment. In no case will a special agreement waive compliance with a federal pretreatment standard or requirement. However, EPA may adjust categorical standards, upon the request of industrial user, in accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR 403.15 or 40CFR 403.13.
Information may be required. The Board may require any user of sewer services to provide information needed to determine compliance with this article. These requirements may include:
a) Wastewater discharge peak rate and volume over a specified time period
b) Chemical analyses of wastewater
c) Information on raw materials, processes and products affecting wastewater volume and quality
d) Quantity and disposition of specific liquid, sludge, oil, solvent or other materials important to sewer use control
e) Plot plans of sewers and appurtenances located within the user’s property showing sewer and pretreatment facility location
f) Details of wastewater pretreatment facilities
g) Details of systems to prevent and control the losses of materials through spills or slug losses to the Town’s sanitary sewers.
Trucked/hauled waste. The Town prohibits discharge to the sewer of trucked or hauled wastes, except as noted in Section II-3.
State law reference-Municipal authority to regulate discharges into common sewers, M.G.L. c. 83, § 5, 10
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