An Environmental Services Newsletter Public Works Department Environmental Services new location

Spring/Summer 2009
Volume 18, Issue 1
An Environmental Services Newsletter
Public Works Department
Environmental Services new location
Environmental Services has moved from its former location, 1758 22nd Street SE, to the Public Works Operations
Building 2, 1410 20th Street SE, Salem OR 97302-1209. The phone and fax numbers for Environmental Services
staff remain the same. Please direct all mailings to the new address.
City of Salem contact changes
As of January 2009, your contact to City of Salem Environmental Services has changed. Please note which
inspector is now your new contact. All inspectors can be contacted at 503-588-6063.
Ron Bernt, Inspector
Capital Chrome and Precision Grinding
Cruisin’ Classics
Garmin AT Inc.
ISA Corporation
Zinc Plating and Galvanizing
Bill Fear, Inspector
Boise Packaging and Newsprint LLC
Kerr Concentrates Inc.
Meduri Farms Inc.
Salem Health Regional Laboratory
SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel LLC
A-Affordable Septic Services
AAA American Eagle Services LLC
Ace Septic Tank Service
Best Pots Inc.
Honey Bucket
REsys Inc.
Chris Collins, Inspector
Oregon Fruit Products
Oregon State Penitentiary
ProPowder
RainSweet East Plant
RainSweet West Plant
Yamasa Corporation
Jim VanHouten, Inspector
Kettle Foods Inc
Norpac Foods
Oregon Cherry Growers
Salem Hospital
Ventura Foods LLC
James K. Gengler, Inspector
Roto Rooter Sewer Service
Sanyo Solar of Oregon
Truitt Brothers
Truitt Brothers Special Products
United Site Services Inc.
Spring/Summer 2009
City of Salem Issues Stage Two Water Alert
Recently a stage two water alert was issued due to greater water demand with recent hot weather combined with
limited water production. Citizens were asked to voluntarily use curtailment measures.
A stage two alert includes these voluntary measures:
•
No watering or irrigating of lawns, grass, or turf unless it is:
o New lawn, grass, or turf planted after March 1, 2009
o Golf course tees and greens
•
No home car washing.
•
No parks irrigation except for sensitive areas.
•
No decorative fountains—due to our current hot weather, the City’s splash pads will remain open from 10 a.m.
until 8 p.m.
•
No hydrant flushing.
•
No athletic field watering.
If the City finds it necessary to elevate an alert to stage three, the following measures would be taken:
•
All nonessential water use prohibited. Violators may be cited and water service may be interrupted for repeat
violations.
•
No watering or irrigating of lawns, grass, or turf shall occur unless it is:
o New lawn, grass, or turf that has been seeded or sodded after March 1 of the calendar year in which the
restrictions are imposed, and in such cases it may be watered as necessary until established.
o Athletic fields frequently used for organized play.
o Golf course tees and greens.
o Park and recreation areas of a particular significance and value to the community as approved by the City
Manager.
•
No use of City-supplied water shall be allowed to clean, fill, or maintain levels in decorative fountains.
•
No use of City-supplied water shall be allowed to fill swimming pools or other pools with a capacity in excess
of 100 gallons; provided, however, that water may be added to swimming pools to replace volume lost due to
evaporation and normal loss due to usage.
•
No use of City-supplied water shall be allowed to wash sidewalks, walkways, streets, driveways, parking lots, or
other hard-surfaced areas except where necessary for public health or safety.
•
No use of City-supplied water shall be allowed to wash vehicles.
For Salem industries that are high volume water uses, you may consider developing a water shortage contingency
plan that will correspond with each stage of the curtailment. For more information on the City of Salem’s water
curtailment plan, contact the Water Services Section or go online to the City of Salem’s website.
Spring/Summer 2009
Tip of the Day
One of the most critical and yet easily overlooked components of complying with the conditions of your wastewater
permit is the sampling area and apparatus.
Some of the most common problems found in the sampling area are:
•
Plugged sample intake line—either at the source end, or from build-up throughout the line.
•
Sample quantity calibration, too much or too little sample collected. Salem Revised Code (SRC) 74.140(c)
requires a minimum sample volume of 2 liters per day, and the container capacity must be large enough to store
two full days’ worth of sample.
•
Leaving the sampler off or not restarted. This often occurs after maintenance work on the sampler.
•
Refrigeration temperature—the sample must be maintained between 33°F and 45°F.
Regular sampler maintenance guarantees the best quality and the greatest accuracy in the samples collected,
resulting in fair and accurate billing.
Senate Bill 737—Priority Persistent Pollutants—Affects Cities and Industries
SB 737 was passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature and requires the State Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) to develop a list of priority persistent pollutants, also referred to as P3. P3s are chemicals that, when
discharged to the sewer, are not removed by conventional wastewater treatment processes and remain in the
treated wastewater that is returned to state waterways. P3 chemicals build up in the environment and cause harm
to aquatic life, the environment, or people and other organisms who use or contact the water.
P3 chemicals are found in products used for personal bathing and cleaning, for industrial and agricultural
applications, and in prescription drugs.
From the thousands of chemicals used every day, DEQ has identified 140 toxic pollutants found in our state
waterways that have documented effects on human health, wildlife, and aquatic life. In October 2009, after
determining which of the 140 chemicals meet all of the P3 criteria, DEQ will publish a final P3 list.
Once the P3 list is finalized, the 52 largest wastewater facilities in the state are required to test to determine if
any P3 chemicals are discharged through their treatment plant. If chemicals are found in concentrations greater
than the State-determined trigger point or limit, the treatment facility will have to develop a plan to reduce the
chemical below the limit. Testing will be done in fall 2010.
Testing methods still need to be standardized for many of the chemicals and many require detection at extremely
low levels. Each treatment facility will provide samples and send them to DEQ for analysis. Costs for sampling and
analysis will be several thousand dollars and be paid by each treatment plant. Community and private treatment
plants will all be affected.
Public treatment plants receiving wastes generated by all the community served, will be tasked to work with their
users to address P3 chemicals identified and start a process to reduce them to required levels. By July 1, 2011,
the 52 treatment facilities have to submit Toxic Reduction Plans to DEQ for pollutants exceeding the trigger
level limits and include methods identified to reduce them. Entire communities will likely be involved to varying
degrees to reduce high discharges of P3 chemicals. Stay tuned as this bill is implemented.
Spring/Summer 2009
City of Salem
Public Works Department
Environmental Services
1410 20th Street SE
Salem OR 97302-1209
Important Information
Visit Our Web Site
If you are required to calibrate your wastewater flow
meter, this must be done twice per calendar year by a
certified contractor!
We have available on our web site,
many of our forms and documents
as well as useful information and
links regarding pretreatment and
stormwater management.
Remember
Biannual Compliance Reports Are Due
June 1 and December 1 of Each Year
Biannual Compliance Reports must be signed by an authorized representative
of the company and shall contain the certification statement found in the
Wastewater Discharge Permit Part II (F). Failure to submit the Biannual
Compliance Report may subject the company to enforcement action and
public notification of the violation.
Some of our forms and required
reports are available in Adobe
Acrobat format as “print and fill
in” forms and can be filled in using
Adobe Reader.
Please visit us at:
www.cityofsalem.net/publicworks
LEK/TJP:\\PubWks\PWFiles\Group\clerical\dtp specialists\InDesign Pubs\env_services\newsletter\2009spr-sum\2009_esnews_spr-sum.indd
Contact
Us
Environmental Services Technical Assistance
Environmental Services 24-hour Emergency
Environmental Services Fax
503-588-6063
503-588-6333
503-588-6394