When a business can defend against a wastewater discharge violation

A user shall have an affirmative defense to an enforcement action brought against it for noncompliance with the general prohibitions in section 14.21A.015.A or the specific prohibitions in section 14.21A.015.B if it can prove that it did not know, or have reason to know, that its discharge, alone or in conjunction with discharge from other sources, would cause pass through or interference and that either: A. A local limit exists for each pollutant discharged, and the user was in compliance with each limit directly prior to, and during, the pass through. B. No local limit exists, but the discharge did not change substantially in nature or constituents from the user's prior discharge when the County was regularly in compliance with its NPDES permit, and in the case or interference, was in compliance with applicable sludge use or disposal requirements. (Ord. 2760 § 4 (part), 1999)