GILL — To protect the public sewer system from blockages, the Sewer Commission has updated the town’s sewer use regulations to align with new Board of Health rules guiding residents and businesses on the proper disposal of fats, oil and grease.
Under the updated Board of Health regulations, a fats, oil and grease pretreatment system is required at new and existing food service establishments. The system must include an indoor automatic and passive grease trap, and an outdoor grease interceptor.
In July, the Sewer Commission discussed the fats, oil and grease regulations while considering feedback from Gill food service establishments and the Cooperative Public Health Service of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG). In the past, Gill has had issues with improper disposal of these materials into the sewer system, and the revised regulations aim to help address issues with buildup.
Originally, the proposed language required a professional drain cleaner be hired by each establishment. However, to avoid putting extra costs on businesses like The Wagon Wheel Restaurant on Route 2 that are properly disposing of fats, oils and grease without the help of an outside company, FRCOG Health District Program Manager and Regional Health Agent Randy Crochier recommended the language be changed to allow businesses to dispose of these materials properly on their own.
“I think it’s stronger than it needs to be in a small town,” Crochier said of the original language. “I think it adds a lot of cost to businesses in the town when we don’t know for sure that they are the cause of the problem. We could be asking businesses to spend upwards of $15,000 and still end up with a grease pit.”
With revisions approved by the Board of Health and the Sewer Commission, Gill’s sewer use regulations were updated to clean up existing language and add a sentence regarding fats, oils and grease to Article IV, Section 8. The new sentence reads simply, “Food service establishments shall comply with all applicable Board of Health regulations, including the regulations for fats, oils and grease management,” referring to the pretreatment system that must include an indoor automatic and passive grease trap, and an outdoor grease interceptor. These guidelines also align with state sewer and plumbing regulations.
With the sewer regulations changed, Town Administrator Ray Purington began drafting an enforcement letter this week to the Cielito Lindo food truck for non-compliance with the sewer regulations due to improper grease disposal. This order asks that “significant progress” be made toward compliance within three months, which could entail the installation of the grease trap.
“Significant progress can be ‘This is what we bought’ [or] ‘Here’s the engineer that we’re working with,'” Purington explained. “Just as long as you’re showing progress forward.”
