Chapter 6.25 Septage Lagoon
Chapter 6.25
SEPTAGE LAGOON
Sections:
6.25.010 Definitions.
6.25.020 Establishment.
6.25.030 Organization.
6.25.040 Septage Disposal Fee Schedule.
6.25.050 Operation and Maintenance.
6.25.060 Disposal Restrictions.
6.25.070 Septage Disposal Permit.
6.25.080 Commercial Septage Pumper Disposal Permit.
6.25.090 Commercial Permit Non-Compliance.
6.25.100 Procedure for Checking Septage Pumper Records.
6.25.110 Private Party Septage Disposal Permit Requirements.
6.25.120 Penalties
6.25.130 Septage Lagoon Access Policy
6.25.140 Record Keeping
6.25.150 Forms
6.25.010 DEFINITIONS. The following definitions shall apply to this chapter.
a. ADEC - also DEC, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.
b. commercial permit - Commercial Pumper Septage Disposal Permit issued by the City of Anderson.
c. commercial pumper - A septage pumper with a business license and/or someone who evacuates or pumps septage for profit.
d. commercial septage - Septage or wastewater from businesses; i.e., restaurants, hotels, bed & breakfasts, gas stations, recreational vehicle stations, etc..
e. domestic septage - Septage or wastewater from homes or residences including apartments or condominiums.
f. hazardous waste - Defined in state and federal regulations 18 AAC 62 and 40 CFR 261. Characteristic hazardous waste include ignitable, corrosive, reactive or toxic characteristic (TC) wastes under 40 CFR 261 Subpart C. Additional listed hazardous wastes are defined in 40 CFR 261 Subpart D. Prior to disposing of wastewater/sewage sludge, it must be tested using the Toxicity Characteristic Leachate Procedure test (TCLP) to determine if the sludge is a toxic characteristic hazardous waste, specifically defined in 40 CFR 261.24. Wastewater sludge contaminated with fuels, pesticides, organic solvents, paints, metals, photographic chemicals or other hazardous wastes above regulatory TC levels would be considered a characteristic TC hazardous waste.
g. illegal discharge - The discharge of septage to the ground or surface water without a permit.
h. industrial waste - Solid waste generated by a manufacturing or industrial process that is not a hazardous waste, and can include such items as mine tailings, fish processing waste, dairy wastes, and drilling muds from oil and gas exploration.
i. lagoon freeze-thaw conditioned sludge - Sludge, which has undergone de-watering by freeze thaw conditioning, and is removed annually from one of the lagoon primary cell/freeze-thaw beds.
j. municipal solid waste - Refuse, trash, garbage, construction and demolition wastes, and other landfillable waste. Herein, sludge is not included as a solid waste, though sludge, strictly speaking, is a solid waste,
k. on-site disposal of lagoon sludge - The disposal of freeze thaw conditioned sludge within the on-site ultimate disposal cell.
l. private party pumper - Private individual who only pumps, conveys, and disposes his/her own domestic septage.
m. pumpable sludge - Sludge of sufficiently high liquid content that it may be conveyed as a liquid, by pumping.
n. pumper access - Passage to and from the septage lagoon by septage pumper; controlled by the City by issuance of lagoon gate lock key.
o. pumper client - Person or business whose septic tank (or other impound) is evacuated or pumped by the septage pumper.
p. septage - Sludge, scum, and wastewater found in septic tanks; that portion of sludge, scum, and wastewater evacuated from septic tanks in the course of "pumping" septic tanks. Herein, septage means septage, wastewater, liquid, or sludge not prohibited below.
q. septage disposal - The discharge of septage, from a pumper truck or other vehicle used to convey septage, into the septage lagoon or other appropriate facility for receiving septage. "Dispose" and "discharge" are used interchangeably throughout this document.
r. septage lagoon - A facility which receives septage, herein, the Anderson Septage Lagoon. The Anderson lagoon includes two primary cell/freeze-thaw beds, the old primary cell, the facultative cell, the percolation-discharge cell, and the sludge disposal cell.
s. septage pumper - A business or person that evacuates or "pumps" septage from septic tanks for disposal.
t. sludge disposal permit - The permit issued by DEC to the City of Anderson to dispose freeze-thaw conditioned sludge on-site.
u. solid waste - Landfillable or low liquid sludge or other refuse, which may be disposed in a landfill. See "Municipal solid waste".
v. TCLP - Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) is a laboratory analysis used to determine if a solid waste (including sludge) is a regulated Toxic Characteristic (TC) hazardous waste per 40 CFR 261.24. If the solid waste (including sludge) being tested leaches certain hazardous constituents above regulatory levels, the waste would be a regulated TC hazardous waste.
6.25.020 ESTABLISHMENT.
There shall be a division within the (Public Works Department) Environmental called the Septage Lagoon Division. The purpose of the "Anderson Septage Lagoon Ordinance" is:
a. To balance the septage lagoon operating budget;
b. To comply with permit requirements;
c. To operate the lagoon most effectively.
6.25.030. ORGANIZATION.
The Anderson Septage Lagoon is a facility within the (Public Works Department) Environmental under the direction of the Public Works Director who reports to the City Council.
6.25.040 SEPTAGE DISPOSAL FEE SCHEDULE.
A. Fee Policy - A septage disposal fee schedule will be established such that revenue collected thereby at least pays for annual lagoon operating costs. The septage lagoon will be self supporting.
B. Establishing Fee Schedule - The septage disposal fee schedule will be established or modified by a motion of the City Council, from time to time as needed. The Public Works Director shall periodically review the costs of operation of the septage lagoon and this information will be provided to the City Council to establish the rates charged to users.
6.25.050 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.
A. Responsibility. The Public Works Director will oversee septage lagoon operation and maintenance.
B. Permit Compliance. The septage lagoon will be operated and maintained, and testing will be conducted, in accordance with requirements of the ADEC Wastewater Discharge and Sludge Disposal permits.
6.25.060 DISPOSAL RESTRICTIONS.
A. The following wastes, as sludge or liquid, will not be discharged into the Anderson Lagoon:
1. Hazardous waste;
2. Industrial waste;
3. Municipal solid waste.
B. Some commercial wastes, such as photo-processing wastes mixed with septage, may be refused disposal at the lagoon because they are potentially hazardous.
C. Wastes which are refused disposal at the lagoon, because they may be hazardous, may be disposed when it is shown they are not a hazardous waste.
D. No septage may be disposed at the lagoon which does not meet the standards which ADEC requires of the City of Anderson for on-site disposal of lagoon freeze-thaw conditioned sludge. Said standards, contained in the Anderson lagoon Sludge Disposal Permit issued by ADEC, refers to the TCLP or concentration of regulated contaminants and not the testing protocol.
6.25.070 SEPTAGE DISPOSAL PERMIT.
A. Disposal of septage or wastewater into the City of Anderson septage lagoon shall require a Septage Disposal Permit.
B. The City of Anderson approves application for and issues Septage Disposal Permits for disposal of septage in the Anderson septage lagoon.
6.25.080 COMMERCIAL SEPTAGE PUMPER DISPOSAL PERMIT.
A. Term. Commercial septage pumpers will be issued an annual permit.
B. Requirements. Commercial pumpers must meet the following requirements in order to receive a Commercial Septage Pumper Disposal Permit:
1. Commercial pumpers will provide a copy of the pumper business license to the City of Anderson.
2. Commercial pumpers will provide a description of the pumper vehicle, tanker, or whatever vehicle(s) is used to transport septage to the lagoon, including such information as size, weight, make, and license plate number.
3. The Commercial pumper will sign an agreement to:
a. Provide accurate septage disposal information, including date and volume of disposal, and pumper client(s) identification;
b. Not dispose hazardous waste, industrial waste, or Municipal solid waste in the Anderson septage lagoon.
c. Present records of septage pumper business transactions for inspection by the City when the City so requests. Records will include numbered receipts, date of transactions, client and client address. Requested records will go back no more than two calendar years from date of request.
The septage pumper will present records for inspection within two working days of the record spot check request. (The pumper need not be required to submit records within two days. But where cause, some allegation of improper reporting, has initiated the record inspection, the pumper is bound by the agreement to present records for inspection within two working days.)
d. Use septage lagoon facilities appropriately. This includes discharging into the currently designated receiving cell, not discharging on the open ground, discharging into the discharge culverts, locking the gate when leaving the lagoon site, and other use as directed or dictated by common sense.
e. Submit disposal report (septage load data sheet) and pay fees no later than 90 days after the date of disposal.
f. Comply with commercial pumpers' access rules, Section 6.25.130 (A) of this chapter.
6.25.090. COMMERCIAL PERMIT NON-COMPLIANCE.
A. Permit non-compliance consists of failure to abide by condition(s) of the signed permit agreement.
B. Permit Suspension. A commercial pumper permit may be suspended for alleged permit non-compliance for at most 30 days. The affect of suspension is to deny the pumper access to the Lagoon.
C. Permit Suspension Procedure. A permit suspension may only be affected for an allegation of permit non-compliance. The Mayor (or acting Mayor) and the Public Works Director (or acting Director) must agree to effect a permit suspension. The Mayor (or acting Mayor) and the Public Works Director (or acting Director) will confer and weigh both the affect (damage) and the evidence, of the non-compliance allegation, before deciding to suspend a commercial pumper disposal permit.
D. Any commercial pumper permit suspension and/or allegation of permit non-compliance will be reported at a Council meeting within 30 days.
E. Council Action Required. The Council may or may not act on the permit non-compliance allegation and/or permit suspension.
1. The Council may move to support a finding of permit non-compliance by the commercial pumper (permittee). In this case, the permittee is subject to permit non-compliance penalties.
2. The Council may move to dismiss the permit non-compliance allegation, and, in case of a permit suspension, move to lift the suspension.
3. The Council may do nothing. In this case, the suspension will be voided after it runs out (no more than 30 days from when the suspension was issued) and lagoon access will be restored to the commercial pumper.
4. In the case of an allegation without suspension, the Council may suspend a pumper permit for 30 days.
6.25.100. PROCEDURE FOR CHECKING SEPTAGE PUMPER RECORDS.
A. A request to inspect a septage pumper permittee's records, after Section 6.25.080 (B)(3)(c) of this chapter, will be approved by a quorum of the City Council.
B. A Septage pumper permittee's records may be inspected for cause (for instance, as a result of an allegation of insufficient reporting) or as a routine measure.
C. The records requested by the City will include numbered receipts, and log book or other record pertaining to pumping activity. The records must be adequate to determine time, date, volume of septage pumped, and septage pumper client.
D. The record check will not include records more than two years old from date of request.
E. The records check notification will specify a time period for which records are to be supplied.
F. The records check notification will specify a date by which records are to be submitted (date shall not be sooner than two business days from the notification date).
G. The City bookkeeper and a Council Member (or two persons authorized by a quorum of the Council) will cross check the City file records and commercial pumper's records for verity.
H. The septage pumper record inspection will include examination of all or part of the requested records.
I. A report of the records' check will be made at a City Council meeting:
1. The completeness or adequacy of the pumper's records will be reported. Incomplete records will support a finding of permit non-compliance.
2. Truthfulness of the records will be reported. Errors in reporting septage disposal information will support a finding of permit non-compliance.
3. Failure to provide records in response to a Section 6.25.080 (B)(3)(c) request within two working days, or some longer time as approved by the City, is sufficient cause to suspend a disposal permit. Failure to provide records will be treated like any other commercial permit non-compliance allegation according to Section 6.25.090 of this chapter.
6.25.110. PRIVATE PARTY SEPTAGE DISPOSAL PERMIT REQUIREMENTS
A. Private party septage pumper criteria are: (1) the pumper does not collect fees for pumping septage (the private party is not pumping septage tanks or wastewater for profit), and (2) the volume of septage does not exceed the size of a private individual's septic tank.
B. Private party septage disposal permits are issued on a per discharge basis and are date specific. Septage disposal information will be provided to the City before the City issues a Private Party Septage Disposal Permit.
C. The private party septage pumper will sign an agreement to:
1. Provide accurate septage disposal information, including date and volume of discharge, and source of septage.
2. Not knowingly dispose hazardous waste, industrial waste, and Municipal solid waste.
3. Use septage lagoon facilities appropriately. This includes discharging into the currently designated receiving cell, not discharging on the open ground, discharging into the discharge culverts, locking the gate when leaving the lagoon site, and other use as directed or dictated by common sense.
4. Comply with private party pumper access rules, Section 6.25.13 (B) of this chapter.
6.25.120. PENALTIES.
A. A penalty may be imposed after the Council finds a pumper to be in permit non-compliance, after Section 6.25.090 (E)(1) of this chapter.
B. The penalty for commercial disposal permit non-compliance may be permanent or temporary permit revocation, loss of key deposit, and/or restitution for any damage.
C. A quorum of the City Council will approve any permit non-compliance penalty.
D. The penalty for Private Party Disposal Permit non-compliance may be loss of lagoon disposal privileges and/or cost of damages.
6.25.1225 Civil Action Authorized
A. The City may institute a civil action against a pumper to recover lagoon fees, which the pumper failed to transmit to the City, together with the penalties, interest, and administrative costs imposed in section 6.25.12. In any such action, a lagoon report or estimated report under section 6.25.12.5 shall constitute prima facie evidence of the amount of lagoon fees which was, or should have been collected.
B. The City may institute a civil action against a pumper who fails timely to file a return to recover the penalties and administrative costs of collection imposed by section 6.25.12.
C. Pursuant to AS 29.25.070, the City may institute a civil action against any person who violates a provision of this ordinance. In addition to injunctive and compensatory relief, the City may recover its administrative costs of collection and a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars (1,000) for each violation. The City may bring an action to enjoin a violation or to recover a civil penalty notwithstanding the availability of any other remedy. Each day that a violation of this ordinance continues constitutes a separate violation.
6.25.130. SEPTAGE LAGOON ACCESS POLICY
A. Commercial Septage Pumper Access. Commercial Pumpers will be issued a septage lagoon gate key annually, based on the following conditions:
1. The commercial pumper meets the permit conditions in Section 6.25.080 (B) of this chapter;
2. The commercial pumper makes a key deposit according to the Key Deposit Schedule in Section 6.25.130 (C) (1) of this chapter.
B. Private Party Septage Pumper Access. Private party disposal will be issued a key on a per disposal or per day basis. A private party seeking lagoon access for the purpose of septage or wastewater disposal must meet the following conditions:
1. Obtain a Private Party disposal permit;
2. Meet the key deposit schedule in Section 6.25.130 (D) (1) of this chapter.
C. Commercial Pumper Key Deposit
1. The commercial pumper key deposit is $1000 per year.
2. The key deposit is transferable from one year to the next at permit renewal.
3. The key deposit ensures the depositor (permittee) has access to the lagoon. When the lock is changed, the depositor will be mailed a matching key and informed of the key change date. In case the gate lock is changed suddenly, the depositor will be directed to the City office or some other place where a key may be picked up.
4. The key deposit also serves the City as a surety against permit non-compliance.
5. The key deposit will be returned when a commercial disposal permit has expired for two years. It is in the City's interest to hold the key deposit as a surety a party will respond to a request for records as long as two years. Sludge may be tested for up to two years after it is first discharged into the lagoon. (Ord. 04-01, November 2003)
D. Private Party Pumper Key Deposit
1. Private Party key deposit is $100.
2. The key deposit will be returned when the key is returned within the time proscribed by the permit.
6.25.140. RECORD KEEPING
A. Records will be kept of the pumpers, septage discharge volume and date, pumper clients, and finances.
B. A separate hanging file will be created for each numbered category listed below. "Remarks" describes folders and other filing information about each hanging file.
PUMPER FILES
1. "Septage Pumpers"
Remarks,
a. Each septage pumper gets a folder.
b. Folder will include: signed copy of pumper agreement, current business license, pumper truck description, other pumper specific information.
_
SEPTAGE LOAD DATA FILES
2. "New Load DataSheets"
Remarks,
a. New load data sheets, information not yet transcribed to load summary sheets, are temporarily filed here.
b. New load data sheets are filed chronologically.
3. "Old Load DataSheets"
Remarks,
a. After load data sheets information is copied to load data summary sheet, old load data sheets are filed by pumper.
b. Each commercial pumper gets a folder, within the "old data sheets" hanging file.
4. "Load Data Summary Sheets"
Remarks,
a. Load data summary sheets are filed chronologically here.
b. Create a new folder each year.
GENERAL FILES
5. "General"
Remarks,
a. Correspondence, miscellany goes in the general file. Copies of lagoon correspondence sent as well as received goes here.
b. Create new folder annually.
PERMIT FILE
6. "Lagoon Permits"
Remarks,
a. Originals of the Lagoon Wastewater Discharge and Sludge Disposal permits will go here.
FINANCIAL FILE
7. "Lagoon Invoices"
Remarks,
a. Lagoon expenditures invoices are filed here.
8. "Financial Records"
Remarks,
a. Any financial record keeping method which is effective may be used.
b. A financial record form is attached.
(Ord 93-02, 14 Sept 1993)
Forms included at the end of Chapter 6.25 are:
COMMERCIAL SEPTAGE PUMPER AGREEMENT
PRIVATE PARTE SEPTAGE DISPOSAL AGREEMENT
SEPTAGE LOAD DATA SHEET
SEPTAGE DATA SUMMARY SHEET
FEE PAYMENT RECORD