As the Town of Nederland attempts to secure water rights and plans to expand its water storage with a new reservoir, it also begins to enforce the protection of its assets through the drafting of new ordinances.

Just as the creation of a Watershed Protection Ordinance aims to regulate specific operations on and around the watershed to protect it, a new Wastewater Pretreatment Ordinance aims to regulate how, to protect the Town’s wastewater facilities, businesses such as restaurants and breweries operate.

On April 18, 2023, the Board of Trustees voted to approve Town Attorney Jennifer Madsen drafting changes to Nederland Municipal Code (NMC) Chapter 13, Article II. The Town’s contracted engineering firm, JVA, and the Operator in Responsible Charge, Direct Discharge LLC, were to consult in the drafting of the code changes.

According to the information provided by JVA and Town staff, the code changes were intended to bring the Town into compliance with its wastewater effluent discharge permit, administered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and in adherence with the Clean Water Act.

Protection of the wastewater treatment facility by removing harmful waste prior to reaching it was stated as a goal of drafting the new regulations, and that compliance with the regulations will help to delay an expansion of the facility.

It was stated during the April 2023 meeting that JVA and Direct Discharge LLC were expecting to begin public outreach that summer, engaging in one-on-one meetings with business owners to discuss how the proposed code changes would affect their businesses.

“We definitely want to make sure that we don’t run businesses out of town,” Dave Lewis of Direct Discharge LLC said. “We want to make sure that revenue is still there and just be good stewards of our wastewater treatment process.

“I think a lot of that goes into training; going out to these breweries, making contact and making sure they understand who we are and what we’re trying to do.”

He added, “This is something new for the whole town and we certainly don’t want to come out of the gates looking like the bad guys.”

Lewis did mention that Direct Discharge assisted the Town of Lyons in the drafting of a similar ordinance, which, because of Lyons’ developing situation with their wastewater facility approaching capacity, was written with rather strict regulations.

Lewis stated that some businesses did leave Lyons as a result, but that he did not think Nederland’s situation with its wastewater infrastructure was as dire.

Trustee Tania Corvalan asked directly if many of Nederland’s businesses would be greatly affected by these new regulations and how much it could cost them to be compliant.

“In terms of what I know of Nederland, this is not going to cost businesses a lot of money. If we play this right nobody goes out of town,” Lewis answered, noting that transparency and outreach were essential and how he has had success meeting with business owners in person and explaining the ordinance.

The BOT did not discuss the ordinance again until over a year later, on June 18, 2024. Utilities Manager Andrew Bliss introduced Ordinance 864 for Trustees to discuss; the Agenda Information Memorandum (AIM) prepared by Bliss mentioned that JVA had drafted the changes to NMC and stated that outreach to businesses, through an email chain, would begin before the ordinance goes to final vote on July 16, 2024.

There was no mention in the AIM or discussion between Bliss and the BOT about the in-person outreach with local impacted businesses that was planned for last summer.

Bliss was asked if the regulations stipulated within the ordinance were common for other municipalities, to which he replied that such protections for wastewater facilities are being administered in most municipalities for better compliance with regulatory standards, and that Nederland’s ordinance was much more moderate than others that he has researched.

In addition to providing the latest draft of Ordinance 864 for Trustees to analyze, the only change to the ordinance addressed since the April 2023 discussion was the scheduled effective date of the ordinance being changed from January 2025 to June 2025.

Ordinance 864 includes the repeal and replacing of several sections of NMC, starting with Section 13-30, which lists wastes that are prohibited from being discharged by a business into the Town’s sewer infrastructure.

Such wastes include any poisonous waste that may be harmful to humans or animals, any waste laden with concentrated chemicals, and any noxious pollutants that may create public nuisance or employee health concerns.

Gasoline, benzene, naphtha, fuel oil or other flammable or explosive liquid, solid, gas, oil or grease, and distilled alcohol are all prohibited from being dumped down the drain, as are “ashes, cinders, sand, mud, straw, shavings, metal, glass, rags, feathers, tar, plastic, wood, paunch manure, or any other solid or viscous substance capable of causing obstruction to the flow in sewers.”

Other prohibited wastes include any liquid with a pH level lower than 5.0 or higher than 9.0; any garbage not shredded to less than one-half inch; any water with more than 100 mg/L of animal or vegetable fat, oil, or grease; and any liquid with a temperature above 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Many business owners, once having received their informational email from the Town of Nederland, reacted on social media with strong feedback to such regulations within the ordinance. Concerns were raised about the discarding of liquids with pH levels lower than 5.0, as this regulation could pertain to some liquors, beers, wines, sodas, and coffee blends.

As for the regulation against discharging any liquid above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, some restaurant owners questioned whether that was in compliance with food handling regulations. National regulations dictate that dishwashers run at 150 to 160 degrees, with a final rinse of 165 up to 180 degrees for the proper sanitation of the dishes and silverware used by customers.

Section 13-32 has been repealed and replaced to implement Best Management Practices, which are guidelines for businesses to follow in order to comply with the new regulations stated in Section 13-30.

These practices include placing screens over drains for the collection of unsafe waste, disconnecting garbage disposals and instead throwing waste material into the trash or compost, and collecting oil and grease into a separate receptacle when cleaning.

It is also regulated that restaurants should use “dry methods” of cleaning oil, grease, and other food waste, and specifies that paper towels be used for such work, as well as for cleaning plates and utensils before being washed, and for cleaning surfaces and any spills.

The ordinance clarifies that paper towels should be discarded in the trash and never into the garbage disposal, and that restaurants promote proper grease-cleaning methods by hanging “Protect the Environment” signs in the kitchen.

Section 13-33 has been repealed and replaced to include requirements for restaurants and other related facilities to install grease interceptors. The impacted facilities are “every commercial food service establishment, all food courts, all other generators discharging grease, and any other facility deemed by the Utilities Manager to require a grease interceptor.”

Whether a business will be required to install an above- or below-ground grease interceptor depends on the flow rate of water produced by the facility.

The ordinance dictates “the volume of a grease interceptor shall be determined by multiplying the total rate of flow in gallons per minute (GPM) from each fixture required to be connected to the interceptor times a minimum retention time of not less than 15 minutes, the resulting volume expressed in gallons.”

A building with over 100 GPM of flow from all fixtures will be required to install a below-ground interceptor, to be located outside of the facility but away from any drive-through lanes or main entryways to the building.

Ordinance 864 also requires parking garages, repair garages, and warehouses to install oil and sand interceptors, with the volume of the interceptor dictated by the 2018 International Plumbing Code. The ordinance also includes many Best Management Practices pertaining to the maintenance of the grease and oil and sand interceptors.

These changes to NMC include how businesses will be expected to keep three years’ worth of records of their Best Management Practices, and that these records and other data pertaining to wastewater pretreatment shall be available at the Town’s request.

The Town may also require from businesses their wastewater discharge peak rate and volume over a specific time period, a chemical analysis of their wastewater, and a plan or blueprint indicating the business’s sewer and pretreatment facility locations. Monitoring equipment for a business’s wastewater pretreatment may also be required at the Utilities Manager’s discretion.

The 20-page ordinance will be brought to the BOT’s agenda on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, as an action item, meaning the Board intends to either approve or deny Ordinance 864. Please continue to follow The Mountain-Ear for further updates.