Ordinance posted
today July 29, 2005 to voted on August 15, 2005 in Commissioners Court
( I just scanned it in)
AN ORDINANCE
PROHIBITING SOLID
WASTE DISPOSAL
IN
AND PROVIDING CIVIL
AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES
Be it ORDAINED,
ORDERED, and ADOPTED by the
SECTION
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND
FINDINGS
WHEREAS, the Red
River County Commissioners Court has both the responsibility and the authority
to protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Red River County,
Texas and their property interest; and
WHEREAS, solid waste
disposal, especially the disposal of solid waste in landfills, is an activity
that has high potential to negatively impact the health, safety and welfare of
any community; and
WHEREAS, this Court
believes and hereby finds that further development or establishment of
landfills in certain areas of the county would constitute an unacceptable risk
and threat to the public health, safety and welfare for the reasons and
findings stated below, among many others, to wit:
The Court finds that
the presence of solid waste disposal facilities in general may negatively
influence property values; and
The Court finds that
under the circumstances existing in Red River County that solid waste
facilities in the affected area would constitute a public or private nuisance;
and
The Court finds that
the transportation of solid waste into and through the affected area presents a
threat of discharge of harmful materials into the environment; and
The Court finds the
use of all present technology and science with regard to the location,
installation, operation and maintenance of municipal, industrial and hazardous
solid waste disposal sites, cannot ensure that such sites will not contaminate,
spoil and pollute areas surrounding and distant to said disposal sites.
This Court further
finds that if the substance contained within a landfill, especially in a
hazardous or industrial landfill, escape into the air or waterways, including
subsurface waterways, significant threats to the public health, safety and
welfare will exist; and
This Court finds that
the soils of Red River County consist primarily of montmorillionite
clay underlain by intermittent lens of sandy layers and that clay soils are
subject to expansion and contraction (with open cracking deep into the vertical
columns).
This Court further
finds that subsurface groundwater movement in Red River County is generally
from its landmass toward the Sulphur River and the
Red River; and
This Court further
finds that the Sulphur and Red Rivers border Red
River County and are extremely valuable locally and nationally and are
vulnerable to pollution such as could result from solid waste disposal; and
This Court further
finds that many citizens of Red River County obtain their drinking water from
private wells drilled in the local aquifers, underground streams, and
groundwater; and
This Court further
finds that Red River County is very susceptible to flooding and severe wind
damage from frequent rainstorms; and
This Court further
finds that solid waste disposal activities in the affected area could hamper
economic development in the affected area; and
This Court further
finds that solid waste disposal facilities in the County pose a possible threat
to the public health, safety and welfare, and that solid waste disposal
facilities will pose a greater and unacceptable risk and threat to the public
health, safety and welfare because of the increased and unacceptable risk from
the contamination of the publics drinking water due to the counts soil
characteristics and ground nature; because of the increased and unacceptable
risk from contamination of the surface due to heavy rains the increased and
unacceptable risk and threat from contamination to the county’s abundant and
valuable natural resources, and the increased and unacceptable risk and threat
to the county’s property values; and
The Court finds that
the prohibition of solid waste disposal as provided in this ordinance is
necessary to prevent a grave and immediate threat to life and property; and
The Court finally
finds that such a prohibition is a necessary response to a real and substantial
threat to public health and safety, that such a prohibition will significantly
advance the health and safety of the public and that the prohibition does not
impose a greater burden than necessary to protect the public health and safety
under the circumstances.
SECTION
2. SUBSTAN11VE PROVISIONS AND
DEFINITIONS
For the above
reasons, and pursuant to the provisions of Section 364.012 of the Texas Health
and Safety Code, the Red River County Commissioners Court hereby ORDAINS,
RESOLVES, ORDERS AND ESTABLISHES THE FOLLOWING ORDINANCE:
IT IS ORDAINED AND
ORDERED that the disposal of solid waste within
Within
one mile from any residence.
Within
one mile from any water well.
Within one mile from
any stream or river; and
Within
five miles of any public school.
DEFINITIONS IN THIS
ORDINANCE:
‘Solid Waste’ means,
subject to the limitations of 42 U.S.C. 6903(27) and 40 C.F.R. 261.4(a),
garbage, medical waste, rubbish, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant,
water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, and other
discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous
material resulting from industrial, municipal, commercial, mining, and
agricultural operations and from community and institutional activities. The term:
(A) does not include
(i)
solid or dissolved material in domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved material
in irrigation return flows, or industrial discharges subject to regulation by
permit issued under Chapter 26, Water Code;
(ii) soil, dirt,
rock, sand, and other natural or man-made inert solid materials used to fill
land if the object of the fill is to make the land suitable for the
construction of surface improvements; or
(iii) waste materials
that result from activities associated with the exploration, development, or
production of oil or gas or geothermal resources and other substance or
material regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101,
Natural Resources Code, unless the waste, substance, or material results from
activities associated with gasoline plants, natural gas liquids, processing
plants, pressure maintenance plants, or repressurizing
plants and is hazardous waste as defined by the administrator of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency under the Federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as
amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.
Section 6901 et seq.); and
(B) does include hazardous substances and medical waste.
‘Hazardous
-Substance’ means a solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, which because
of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical, or infectious
characteristics may (1) cause, or significantly contribute to, an increase in
mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible
serious, illness or (2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human
health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported, or
disposed of, or otherwise managed.
‘Municipal Solid
Waste’ means solid waste resulting from or incidental to municipal, community,
commercial, institutional, or recreational activities, and includes garbage,
rubbish, ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, abandoned automobiles and other
solid waste other than industrial solid waste.
industrial Solid Waste’ means solid waste resulting
from or incidental to a process of industry or manufacturing, or mining or
agricultural operations.
‘Medical Waste’ is
any solid waste that is generated in the diagnosis, treatment, or immunization
of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the
production or testing of biologicals, including but
not limited to: blood-soaked bandages; culture dishes and other glassware;
discarded surgical gloves—after surgery; discarded surgical
instruments—scalpels; needles—used to give shots or draw blood; cultures,
stocks, swabs used to inoculate cultures; removed body organs—tonsils,
appendices, limbs, etc.; lancets—the little blades the doctor pricks your
finger with to get a drop of blood.
‘Solid
Waste Facility? means all
contiguous land, including structures, appurtenances, and other improvements on
the land, used for processing, storing, or disposing of solid waste. The term
includes a publicly or privately owned solid waste facility consisting of
processing, storage, or disposal operation units such as one or more landfills,
surface impoundments, or a combination of units.
‘Affected Area’
refers to the area of the County in which solid waste disposal is prohibited.
SECTION
3. CIVIL REMEDIES AND
PENALTIES
Any violation of this
ordinance is subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation, such
penalty to be forfeited to
The
SECTION
4. CRIMINAL PENALTY
Disposal of solid
waste in violation of this ordinance constitutes a Class C misdemeanor
punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.00.
Each day that a
violation continues constitutes a separate offense under this ordinance.
SECTION
5. SEVERABILITY
If any portion of
this ordinance is deemed to be in violation of the statutes or the constitution
of this state or the United States by a court of competent jurisdiction, said
portion shall be severed, and the remaining portions of the ordinance shall
remain in full force and effect.
SECTION
7. EFFECTIVE DATE
This ordinance shall
become effective immediately upon adoption.
Read and adopted this
day of , 2005, by a vote of
Ayes
and ______ Nays.
Powell W. Peek,
ATTEST:
Lone Moose,