PORT ANGELES — The city is stepping up monitoring of the discharge of industrial waste into its sewers.
The move will hit the pocketbooks of some businesses.
Because of limited funding, city officials said, the city’s monitoring has fallen short of the state Department of Ecology’s expectations.
Under pressure from Ecology over the last few years, it chose to step up its supervision of discharge by enacting a new industrial wastewater pretreatment ordinance that charges $2,160 for a five-year discharge permit.
The permit — which applies to manufacturing plants and similar facilities considered “minor industrial users” — is a significant increase from the previous five-year fee of $105.
Hire staff member
But unlike the previous charge, the new fee, outlined in the ordinance approved by the City Council on April 20, will allow the city to hire a staff person whose job is solely dedicated to monitoring what the businesses pump into the sewer system, said Jeff Young, Port Angeles’ Wastewater Division superintendent.
The new fee will be phased in over three years.
Discharge into the city’s sewer system from “significant industrial users,” such as Peninsula Plywood, is monitored by Ecology.
The state agency also regulates discharges from Nippon Paper Industries’ Port Angeles mill, which has its own outfall.
Which businesses fall under the “minor industrial users” — or MIU — category as defined by the new ordinance is still being worked out, but generally the city is looking at manufacturers, automotive repair shops and car washes.
Olympic Medical Center, Peninsula College and Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles also could fall under that category, Young said.
Under the original ordinance written in 1984, 10 businesses were considered MIUs. Reflecting changes in federal and state regulations, the definition of that category has become more broad under the new ordinance, Young said.
The city sent letters to 15 potential MIUs, including the Peninsula Daily News, on Tuesday notifying them of the new ordinance, he said.
The city set the new fee based on what cities of a similar size were charging, he added.
Two to three months
Young said the new permits will be in place in about two to three months.
The new fee will allow inspections of discharge from each MIU to occur at least once a year and more detailed reports to be made to Ecology.
Grease traps from restaurants also will be inspected on a more regular basis, he said.
The fee doesn’t apply to restaurants.
Young said inspections have been sporadic because of a lack of funding and a dedicated staff person.
The previous fee rate was too low to cover the new position, he said, adding: “We just didn’t have the man hours.”
The same problem led the city to allow the discharge permits for MIUs to expire beginning about five years ago, Young said. Some monitoring still occurred but not on an annual basis, he said.
The absence of new permits and inconsistent monitoring was of concern to Ecology, said Greg Zentner, a supervising engineer with the state agency.
But since the city worked with Ecology to update and fund the program, he added that it will not be penalized.
“The city has heard that message and is moving in the right direction,” Zentner said.
Young said the city has noticed a few discharges come through the treatment plant that probably weren’t permissible in the last few years but added that no major problems with the sewer system have occurred because of a lack of monitoring.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
