Morgan Hill Municipal Code Art. VIII Unauthorized Discharges

A. As soon as any person in charge of a storage facility or responsible for emergency response for a facility has knowledge of any confirmed or unconfirmed unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which is liquid or solid at STP, such person shall take all necessary steps to ensure the discovery and containment and clean up of such discharge and shall notify the city of the occurrence as required by this subsection. Should groundwater or vadose zone monitoring wells be installed to assist in the discovery, containment or cleanup of an unauthorized discharge, it shall be the responsibility of the property owner to ensure they are maintained while in use and to have their contents sampled and analyzed in a manner and frequency to the satisfaction of the city. Upon cessation of use or sampling, such wells shall be closed or removed in a manner approved by the city.

B. Should an unauthorized discharge come into contact with the secondary containment of a hazardous material, it shall thereafter be verified to the satisfaction of the fire chief by physical inspection that there has been no significant impairment of said secondary containment.

(Ord. 1005 N.S. § 5, 1990; Ord. 849 N.S. § 9, 1987: Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

Any recordable unauthorized discharge shall be contained and safely disposed of in an appropriate manner by the permittee and such occurrence and the response thereto shall be recorded in the permittee's monitoring records. A recordable unauthorized discharge is any unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which meets all of the following criteria:

A. The discharge is from a primary containment to a secondary containment or to a rigid aboveground surface covering capable of containing the discharge until cleanup of the hazardous material is completed; and

B. The permittee is able to adequately cleanup the discharge before it escapes from such secondary containment or such aboveground surface, but if the cleanup requires more than eight hours, it becomes a reportable discharge in accordance with Section 8.40.800 of this article; and

C. There is no increase in the hazard of fire or explosion, nor is there any production of a flammable or poisonous gas, nor is there any deterioration of such secondary containment or such rigid aboveground surface;

D. An otherwise recordable unauthorized discharge does not need to be recorded if the discharge is not the result of the deterioration or failure of the primary container and the quantity discharged is less than one ounce by weight, and can be cleaned up within fifteen minutes.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

Any unauthorized discharge which is not determined to be recordable under Section 8.40.790 of this article, must be reported to the city immediately. The reporting party shall provide information to the city relating to the ability of the permittee to contain and dispose of the hazardous material, the estimated time it will take to complete containment and disposal, and the degree of hazard created. The city may verify that the hazardous material is being contained and appropriately disposed. The city, at any time upon a determination that the permittee is not adequately containing and disposing of such hazardous material, shall have the power and authority to undertake and direct an emergency response in order to protect the public health and/or safety.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

Whenever a material balance or other inventory record, employed as a monitoring technique under the HMMP, indicates a loss of hazardous material, and no unauthorized discharge has been confirmed by other means, the permittee shall have five working days to determine whether or not there has been an unauthorized discharge. If before the end of such period, it is determined that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an entry explaining the occurrence shall be made in the permittee's monitoring records. Where the permittee has not been able, within such period, to determine that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an unauthorized discharge is deemed confirmed and the permittee shall proceed in accordance with Section 8.40.800 of this article.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

Whenever any test results suggest a possible unauthorized discharge, and no unauthorized discharge has been confirmed by other means, the permittee shall have five working days to retest. If second test results obtained within that period establish that there has been no unauthorized discharge, the results of both tests shall be recorded in the permittee's monitoring records. If it has not been established within such period that there has been no unauthorized discharge, an unauthorized discharge is deemed confirmed and the permittee shall proceed in accordance with Section 8.40.800 of this chapter.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

A. Provisions shall be made, to the satisfaction of the city, for the prevention, monitoring, control and mitigation of unauthorized discharges of all hazardous materials which are a gas at STP and the possible effects of such discharges.

B. Any person in charge of a storage facility or responsible for emergency response for a storage facility, who has knowledge of any unauthorized discharge of a hazardous material which is a gas at STP, must immediately report such a discharge to the city if such discharge presents a threat of imminent danger to public health and safety.

(Ord. 947 N.S. § 6, 1989: Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

The city shall submit a written report to the office of emergency services within ten working days from the date that the city is notified of an unauthorized discharge from an underground storage tank.

(Ord. 655 N.S. (part), 1983: Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

Any person, firm or corporation responsible for storing the hazardous material shall institute and complete all actions necessary to remedy the effects of any unauthorized discharge, whether sudden or gradual. The city shall undertake actions to remedy the effects of such unauthorized discharge itself, only if it determines that it is reasonably necessary under the circumstances for the city to do so. The responsible party shall be liable to reimburse the city for all costs incurred by the city in remedying the effects of such unauthorized discharge, including the costs of fighting fires to the extent allowed by law. This responsibility is not conditioned upon evidence of wilfulness or negligence of the party storing the hazardous material(s) in causing or allowing such discharge. Any responsible party who undertakes action to remedy the effects of unauthorized discharge(s) shall not be barred by the provisions of this chapter from seeking to recover appropriate costs and expenditures from other responsible parties except as provided in Section 8.40.860 of this article.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)

The permittee shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend the city against any claim, cause of action, disability, loss, liability, damage, cost or expense, howsoever arising, which occurs by reason of an unauthorized discharge in connection with the permittee's operations under this permit, except as arises from the city's sole wilful act or sole active negligence.

(Ord. 636 N.S. (part), 1983)