Section 10.023 - Specific ProhibitionsNo Person shall discharge, or cause or allow to be discharged, directly or indirectly, into the Authority Sewerage System, any of the following:
(1) Groundwater, storm water, surface water, roof or surface runoff, tidewater, or subsurface drainage, except Construction Site Dewatering in a combined sewer area when permitted by the Authority and municipality.(2) Non-contact Cooling Water, non-contact industrial process water, uncontaminated Contact Cooling Water, and uncontaminated industrial process water, except: (a) as permitted by the Authority when the discharger has taken all reasonable efforts to eliminate and minimize the flow, there is not reasonable access to a storm sewer, surface water, or another disposal alternative, and the amount to be discharged will not have an actual or potential adverse impact on the sewer system, the treatment plant, the quality of the receiving water, or the Authority's ability to meet its obligations under any law, regulation, permit, or order; and(b) cooling tower blowdown.(3) Fuel oil, crude oil, lubricating oil, or any other oil or grease of hydrocarbon or petroleum origin except: (a) in compliance with the limit for fats, wax, oil and grease in 360 CMR 10.023(10);(b) in compliance with the prohibitions and limits in 360 CMR 10.024;(c) when discharged: 1. incidental to an industrial process in Industrial Waste authorized to be discharged by a permit issued by the Authority;2. incidental to the appropriate use of a gas/oil separator that is in compliance with 360 CMR 10.016 when a permit is not required by 360 CMR 10.000; or3. in de minimis amounts, and not from the disposal of waste, used, excess, or unwanted oil or grease, when neither a permit nor a gas/oil separator is required by 360 CMR 10.000; and(d) otherwise in compliance with 360 CMR 10.000.(4) Any liquid, solid, or gas including, but not limited to, gasoline, kerosene, naphtha, benzene, toluene, xylene, ethers, alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, peroxides and methyl ethyl ketone, which by reason of its nature or quantity is or may be sufficient, either alone or by interaction with other substances, to create a fire or explosion hazard or to be otherwise injurious to a Municipal Sewerage System, the Authority Sewerage System, Treatment System, or to Receiving Waters, including: (a) Wastewater with a closed cup flash point of less than 140°F (60 °C) using the test methods specified in 40 CFR 261.21, and measured at the point of indirect discharge to the Authority Sewerage System, or at such other place as the Authority determines; or(b) any Pollutant which causes an exceedance of 10% of the lower explosive limit as measured by an explosimeter at the point of discharge to the sewer or at any point within the Sewer.(5) Any noxious or malodorous liquid, gas, or solid or any other pollutant which either singly or by interaction with any other Waste causes or contributes to the creation of a public nuisance, makes it dangerous for personnel or equipment to enter the Sewer for purposes of maintenance, repair, inspection, sampling, or any other similar activity, or which results in the presence of toxic gases, vapors, or fumes within the Authority Sewerage System or Municipal Sewer in a quantity that may cause acute worker health and safety problems.(6) Any water or Wastewater with a pH lower than 5.5 or higher than 12.0 or with any corrosive or injurious property which may cause damage or be hazardous to the Sewer, the Sewerage System, the Treatment System, or any person. If a Person continuously measures the pH of its wastewater by a properly located, installed, calibrated, maintained, and operated pH measurement system, the pH of the wastewater shall be maintained as required by the Authority, except excursions below a pH of 5.5 are permitted subject to the following limitations:
(a) The total time during which the pH values are below 5.5 shall not exceed seven hours in any calendar month;(b) No individual excursion from the range of required pH values shall exceed 60 minutes; and(c) The excursion may not be below a pH of 5.0. For purposes of 360 CMR 10.023(6), an excursion is an unintentional and temporary incident in which the pH value of discharged wastewater is below the range required by the Authority. The Authority may, by permit or order, reduce the permissible excursion times or eliminate the right to an excursion, as it deems appropriate, based on the treatment system, flow, sewer system needs, and discharge history of the Person.
(7) Any water or Wastewater, not otherwise governed by 360 CMR 10.000, containing pollutants at levels which may adversely affect the Authority's ability to process and/or dispose of its Wastewater Residuals in an environmentally sound and economic manner in accordance with applicable state and federal requirements.(8) Any solid or viscous substance in an amount or size which obstructs or may obstruct the flow in any Sewer, or which causes or may cause an Interference including, but not limited to, sand, mud, metal, glass, wood, plastics, Improperly Shredded Garbage, rubber, latex, lime or other slurries, grease, animal guts or tissues, bones, hair, hides or fleshings, entrails, feathers, ashes, cinders, stone or marble dust, straw, shavings, grass clippings, rags, spent grains, spent hops, tar, asphalt residues, residues from refining or processing fuel or lubrication oil, or glass grinding or polishing Wastes.(9) Any liquid or vapor with a temperature higher than 180°F (82 °C), unless the Authority approves an alternative temperature limit; however, in no case may any Person discharge heat in such quantity that it causes or may cause the temperature at the Authority's Sewage Treatment Facility to exceed 104°F (40°C).(10) Any water or Waste containing fats, wax, oil, and grease, in excess of 300 mg/1 (based on the materials recovered in the applicable EPA approved procedure, unless otherwise authorized or required by the Authority and EPA), or containing any substance which may solidify or become viscous at temperatures between 32°F (0°C) and 180°F (82°C). Waters or Wastes containing such substances, excluding normal household Waste, shall exclude all visible floating oils, fats and greases. The use of chemical, biological, or physical means to bypass or to release fats, wax, oil, and grease into the sewer is prohibited. If a Person is unable to comply with the 300 mg/1 requirement after reasonable pretreatment measures, the Authority may increase the limit on a case by case basis if the Authority and appropriate Municipality are satisfied that such increase will not contribute to nuisance conditions or an adverse impact on the Sewerage System, Receiving Waters, or the Authority's Wastewater Residuals program. In no circumstance will the Authority increase the limit to allow a discharge of more than 300 mg/1 of oil or grease of hydrocarbon or petroleum origin, including fuel oil, crude oil, and lubricating oil. The Authority may apply a monetary charge to any increase in the 300 mg/1 limit to recover the costs it reasonably expects to incur as a result of the increase.(11) Waste or Wastewater discharged through a Bypass, unless such discharge through the Bypass was approved in advance by the Authority, or the discharge through the Bypass is allowed by 40 CFR 403.17 and the Person using the Bypass provided to the Authority the notices required by 40 CFR 403.17.(12) Any radioactive Waste or isotope with a half-life or concentration in excess of any limit established by federal or state law.(13) Any Sludge, except from: (a) a water treatment plant owned and operated by a municipality, or by a water district created by a special or general act of the Massachusetts Legislature, and when specifically permitted by the Authority pursuant to 360 CMR 10.057; or(b) a Reclaimed Water System, provided the Reclaimed Water System:1. treats only Wastewater that does not require an active permit as described in 360 CMR 10.007(1)(a), (e), (f), (g), (h), or (i) for discharge into the Authority's Sewerage System;2. has a Discharge into a Municipal Sewer within the Authority Sewerage District;3. has been issued a permit pursuant to 314 CMR 20.00: Reclaimed Water Permit Program and Standards; and4. has been specifically permitted by the Authority and the Municipality into which it discharges pursuant to 360 CMR 10.051 through 10.056.(14) Any substance, including dye water or any vegetable tanning solution, which causes turbidity or discoloration such that the color of the wastewater at the Authority Sewage Treatment Facility changes noticeably.(16) Any Hazardous Waste, or any Wastewater which results from the treatment of Hazardous Waste, and is discharged to the Authority Sewerage System by dedicated pipe, truck, rail, or by other method.(17) Septage containing Hazardous Waste, Septage from haulers other than those permitted under 360 CMR 10.000, or Septage discharged at a location not designated as a Septage discharge location in the Municipal Permit issued by the Authority to the Municipality where the discharge took place.(18) Any substance containing pathogenic organisms in such quantities as determined by local, state and/or federal law as hazardous to the public health or the environment including, but not limited to, any "Infectious or Physically Dangerous Medical or Biological Waste" as defined and identified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in 105 CMR 480.010: Storage and Disposal of Infectious or Physically Dangerous Medical or Biological Waste, State Sanitary Code Chapter VIII, and whose disposal via the municipal Sewerage System or via a septic system is prohibited by 105 CMR 480.200: Disposal.(19) Any filter backwash not specifically authorized to be discharged by a permit issued to the discharger by the Authority; any filter backwash that is not treated to meet the limits and prohibitions of 360 CMR 10.000; or any filter backwash which causes or contributes to a violation of 360 CMR 10.021 through 10.025.(20) Any trucked or hauled pollutants except at discharge points designated by the Authority in a permit issued by the Authority for the discharge.(21) Wastes or Wastewater from outside the Authority Sewerage District, unless the Wastes or Wastewater is discharged with the Authority's approval and pursuant to the Authority policy for sewer connections serving property partially located in a non-Authority community or for requests for sewer service to locations outside MWRA's sewer service area including, where necessary, a general or special law authorizing the discharge from a location outside the MWRA sewer service area.(22) Oxygen-demanding pollutants (BOD, etc.), released in a discharge at a flow rate and/or pollutant concentration which, either singly or by interaction with other pollutants, will cause Interference with the POTW.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1399, eff. 9/6/2019.Amended by Mass Register Issue 1526, eff. 7/19/2024.