Restaurants and food trucks face rewritten grease rules as the council weighs an overhaul of the city's sewer protection code

Sherman is preparing to rewrite the rules that keep cooking grease and grit out of its sewer pipes, a change that touches every restaurant, food truck and car wash that drains into the city system.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on Ordinance No. 6979 at its Monday, Nov. 16 meeting, which starts at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 220 W. Mulberry St. The ordinance amends the city's Fats, Oil, Grease and Sediment Control Program and carries a maximum fine of $2,000.

What staff wants changed

A staff memo from the wastewater division says the update brings the code in line with current grease interceptor technology and gives the city more flexibility in running the program. It lists the main changes:

• New facilities could install hydromechanical grease interceptors, compact engineered units rated by flow and grease capacity, in place of a traditional gravity tank. The draft sets a 100-gallon minimum liquid capacity and requires solids straining.
• Car washes would face requirements for hydrodynamic separators, devices that spin out sand, grit and oil from wash-bay water before it reaches the sewer.
• Food truck rules would be updated to match new state law.
• Procedures for waste manifests, sampling and enforcement would be revised.

Staff wrote that the changes protect the collection system and help cut blockages and sewer overflows. The memo lists no financial impact for the city and recommends approval.

Pumping and food trucks

The draft says grease interceptors must be pumped, cleaned or inspected at least every 90 days, and more often when a gravity tank is a quarter full of grease and solids, when a hydromechanical unit reaches its rated capacity or when a business exceeds the 200 milligrams per liter oil and grease screening limit.

Food trucks that want to empty waste tanks into the sewer must do it through an approved grease interceptor at a restaurant or other food business and apply to the city first. Under the draft, a restaurant that lets a truck use its interceptor takes sole responsibility for what goes in.

The city could cite violators in municipal court, with each day counted as a separate violation, and may set fees to recover program costs.

Sources

shermantx.api.civicclerk.com

shermantx.api.civicclerk.com