a.  that residents of Florence rely primarily on groundwater for a safe drinking water supply, and

 b.  that certain land uses in Florence can contaminate groundwater, particularly in the North
Florence Dunal Aquifer area, and

 c.  that rapid infiltration rates into the sand cover combined with a shallow water table make the North Florence Dunal Aquifer area highly susceptible to contamination from surface activity.
 
The purpose of the Wellhead Protection Zone is to protect public health and safety by minimizing contamination of the aquifer which is the source of water for the City’s wells.  It is the intent to accomplish this, as much as possible, by public education and securing public cooperation.
 
The Wellhead Protection Area shall be delineated, at a minimum, as the ten-year  time-of-travel distance mapped around the public water supply well.   The City may designate more area within the Wellhead Protection Area,  depending upon the specific circumstances.   This zone shall be an “overlay”, and the conditions shall be in addition to any other zoning requirements or regulations determined by the City.

Section 1.0 - Definitions
 
1.   Aquifer.  A geological formation, group of formations or part of a formation capable of storing and yielding groundwater to wells and springs.
 
2.   Best Management Practices (BMPs). Measures, either managerial or structural, that are
determined to be the most effective, practical means of preventing or reducing pollution inputs
from point sources or nonpoint sources to water bodies.
 
3.   Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO).  The concentrated confined feeding or holding of animals or poultry, including but not limited to horse, cattle, sheep or swine feeding areas, dairy confinement areas, slaughterhouse or shipping terminal holding pens, poultry and egg production facilities and fur farms, in buildings or in pens or lots where the surface has been prepared with concrete, rock or fibrous material to support animals in we weather or which have waste water treatment works.
 
4.   Contamination. An impairment of water quality by chemicals, radio nuclides, biologic
organisms, or other extraneous matter whether or not it affects the potential or intended beneficial use of water.
 
5.   Development. The carrying out of any construction, reconstruction, alteration of surface or
 structure or change of land use or intensity of use.
 
6.   Facility. Something that is built, installed, or established for a particular purpose.
 
7.   Farm Practices. A mode of operation that is common to farms of a similar nature, reasonable and prudent for the operation of such farms to obtain a profit in money, is or may become a generally accepted method in conjunction with farm use, complies with applicable laws, and is done in a reasonable and prudent manner.
 
8.   Grey Water. All domestic wastewater except toilet discharge water.
 
9.   Hazardous Material. A material which is defined in one or more of the following categories:
 
A.  Ignitable: A gas, liquid or solid which may cause fires through friction, absorption of
moisture, or which has low flash points.  Examples: white phosphorous and gasoline.
 
B.  Carcinogenic: A gas, liquid or solid which is normally considered to be cancer causing or
mutagenic.  Examples: PCB’s in some waste oils.
 
C.  Explosive: A reactive gas, liquid or solid which will vigorously and energetically react
uncontrollably if exposed to heat, shock, pressure or combinations thereof.  Examples:
Dynamite, organic peroxides and ammonium nitrate.

D.  Highly Toxic: A gas, liquid, or solid so dangerous to humans as to afford an unusual hazard
to life.  Example: chlorine gas.
 
E.  Moderately Toxic: A gas, liquid or solid which through repeated exposure or in a single
large does can be hazardous to humans.
 
F.  Corrosive: Any material, whether acid or alkaline, which will cause severe damage to
human tissue, or in case of leakage might damage or destroy other containers of hazardous
materials and cause the release of their contents.  Examples: battery acid and phosphoric acid.
 
10.  Primary Containment Facility.  A tank, containment pit, container, pipe or vessel of first
containment of a liquid or chemical.
 
11.  Release.  Any unplanned or improper discharge, leak, or spill of a potential contaminant
 including a hazardous material.
 
12.  Secondary Containment Facility.  A second tank, catchment pit, pipe or vessel that limits and contains liquid or chemical leaking or leaching from a primary containment area; monitoring and recovery are required.
 
13.  Shallow/Surficial Aquifer.  An aquifer in which the permeable medial (sand and gravel) starts at the land surface or immediately below the soil profile.
 
14.  Spill Response Plans. Detailed plans for control, re-containment, recovery and clean up of hazardous material releases, such as during fires or equipment failures.
 
15.  Time-of-Travel Distance.  The distance that groundwater will travel in a specified time.  This distance is generally a function of the permeability and slope of the aquifer.
 
16.  Wellhead Protection Area.  The surface and subsurface area surrounding a water well, spring or wellfield, supplying a public water system, through which contaminants are reasonably likely to move toward and reach that water well, spring or wellfield.
 
Section 2 - Zones Within the Wellhead Protection Area
 
1.   Zone A - Drinking Water Critical Impact Zone.  Zone A is the area within the six-month time-of-travel distance mapped around the public water supply well.
 
A.  Encouraged Uses.  Provided they meet appropriate performance standards outlined in 2.c. below, and are designed so as to prevent any groundwater contamination.

(1)  Parks, green ways, or publicly-owned recreational areas not requiring fertilization or
chemical applications to provide vegetative maintenance.
 
(2)  Necessary public utilities/facilities.
 
B.  Special Exceptions. The following uses are permitted only under the terms of a special
exception and must conform to provisions of the underlying zoning district and meet the
performance standards outlined in 2.c. below.
 
(1)  Expansion of existing nonconforming uses to the extent allowed by the underlying zone.
The City shall not grant approval unless it finds such expansion does not pose greater
potential contamination of groundwater that the existing use.
 
C.  Prohibited Uses.  The following uses are prohibited within Zone A, the six-month time-of-
travel zone.
 

• Automobile body/repair shop
• Gas station
• Fleet/trucking/bus terminal
• Dry cleaner
• Electrical/electronic manufacturing facility
• Machine shop
• Metal plating/finishing/fabricatingfacility
• Chemical processing/storage facility
• Wood preserving/treating facility
• Junk/scrap/salvage yard
• Mines/gravel pit
• Irrigated nursery/greenhouse stock
• Confined animal feeding operations
• Development served by on-site septic system(s)
• Equipment maintenance/fueling areas
• Injection wells/dry wells/sumps
• Underground storage tanks
• All other facilities involving the collection, handling, manufacture, sue, storage, transfer or disposal of any solid or liquid material or waste having potentially harmful impact on groundwater quality
• All uses not permitted or not permitted as special exceptions

2.   Zone B.   Zone B is established as the remainder of the Wellhead Protection Area not included in Zone A.

A.  Permitted Uses: All uses permitted in the underlying zone, provided that they can meet the
Performance Standards as outlined for Wellhead Protection Area Zone.

B.  Special Exceptions. All special exceptions allowed in the underlying zone may be approved by the City provided they can meet performance standards as outlined in the Wellhead Protection Area Zone.

C.  Performance Standards.  The following standards shall apply to uses in Zones A and B
of the Wellhead Protection Area Zone:

(1)  Any facility involving the collection, handling, manufacture, use, storage or transfer or
disposal of any solid or liquid material or wastes, and to the extent prohibited existing land use laws, in excess of 1,000 pounds and/or 100 gallons which has the potential to contaminate groundwater must have a secondary containment system which is easily inspected and whose purpose is to intercept any leak or release from the primary containment vessel or structure.  Underground tanks or buried pipes carrying such materials must have double walls and inspectable sumps.

(2)  Open liquid waste ponds containing materials referred to in item (1) above will not be permitted without a secondary containment system.

(3)  Storage of petroleum products in quantities exceeding fifty-five (55) gallons at one location in one tank or series of tanks must be in elevated tanks; such tanks must have a secondary containment system noted in item (1) above.

(4)  All permitted facilities must adhere to appropriate federal and state standards for       storage, handling and disposal of any hazardous waste materials.

(5)  An acceptable contingency plan or all permitted facilities must be prepared for preventing hazardous materials from contaminating the aquifer should floods, fire, or other natural catastrophes, equipment failure, or releases occur:

(a) For flood control, all underground facilities shall include but not be limited to a monitoring system and secondary standpipe above the 100 year flood control level, for monitoring and recovery.  For above ground facilities, an impervious dike, above the 100 year flood level and capable of containing 100 percent of the largest volume of storage, will be provided with an overflow recovery catchment area (sump).

(b) For fire control, plans shall include but not be limited to a safe fire fighting procedure, a fire retarding system, effective containment of any liquid runoff, and provide for dealing safely with any other health and technical hazards that may be encountered by disaster control personnel in combating fire.  Hazards to be considered are pipes, liquids, chemicals, or open flames in the immediate vicinity.

(c) For equipment failures, plans shall include but not be limited to:

1) Below ground level, removal and replacement of leaking parts, a leak detection system with monitoring, and an overfill protection system.

2) Above ground level, liquid and leaching monitoring of primary containment systems, their replacement or repair and cleanup and/or repair of the impervious surface.

(d) For any other release occurring, the owner and/or operator shall report all incidents involving liquid or chemical material to the designated wellhead protection spill coordinator at the City offices.

(6)  Since it is known that improperly abandoned wells can become a direct conduit for      contamination of groundwater by surface water, all abandoned wells shall be plugged       according to Oregon Water Resources Department regulations.

Section 3.0 - City Liability

Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to imply that the City of Florence has accepted any of an owner/developer’s liability if a permitted facility or use contaminates groundwater in any aquifer.

Section 4.0 - Enforcement

1.   Civil Enforcement

A.  Any person may submit to the City  a verbal or written complaint alleging a violation of this
ordinance.

B.  Upon receipt of a complaint, the City shall conduct a brief investigation of the substances
of the complaint, including a meeting with the landowner involved.

C.  Based upon the determination that there is a violation of this ordinance, the City shall
conduct an informal reconciliation with the violator.  As part of such informal reconciliation,
the City shall:

(1)  Notify the violator by mail of the violation of this ordinance and a desire of the City to
correct the violation through informal reconciliation.  The statement shall also indicate
that should the violator refuse to allow the recommended corrective actions within the
time set forth by the City, action may be taken to correct the violation and the violator
will be billed for the cost of taking the corrective action.

(2)  Make a good faith effort to meet the violator and resolve and/or correct the violation.

D.  If, after taking the steps above and after a period of ninety (90) days following the mailing
of the notice of the violation, the City in good faith determines that the violator is unwilling
to participate in informal reconciliation and take the corrective actions prescribed, the City
shall notify the violator by mail of the termination of the informal reconciliation.

E.  The City may take the corrective action prescribed above following thirty days after
notifying violator by mail of the notice of termination of the informal reconciliation, and bill
the violator for the reasonable cost of such action.

2.   Criminal Enforcement.

1. In lieu of proceeding under Section 4.0, a person who is alleged to have violated this ordinance may be prosecuted for the commission of a crime.  Violation of this ordinance is a misdemeanor and may be punished by imprisonment of not more than ninety (90) days or imposition of a fine of not more than $500.00, or both.

Section 5.0 - Saving Clause

1.   Should any section or provision of this ordinance be declared invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole or any other part thereof.

Approved by:

Date: