Industrial Waste

State law authorizes Metropolitan Council Environmental Services to enforce its waste discharge rules and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pretreatment regulations in the Twin Cities metro region.

The following spill reporting requirements apply to spills that have entered any sanitary sewer serviced by the Metropolitan Disposal System.

Industries holding a Met Council Industrial Discharge Permit are required to post a notice similar to the ones linked below in prominent areas, visible to employees.

Spill posters 

• English
• Hmong
• Somali
• Spanish

Any person responsible for a spill or release to the public sanitary sewers must take immediate action as soon as is reasonably possible to stop the discharge. The responsible person must perform any control and cleanup actions necessary to prevent additional accidental or prohibited discharge into the public sanitary sewers.

When and what to report

A written report that describes the spill must be submitted to the Met Council by the responsible person within five calendar days after occurrence of the discharge. The report must include the following information:

1. Time, duration, and location of the discharge
2. Description and quantity of the material or waste discharged including constituents and concentrations
3. Cause of the accidental or prohibited slug discharge
4. Actions taken to abate and clean up the accidental or prohibited slug discharge
5. A schedule of corrective measures to prevent further occurrences

Spill Report Form (Word document)

Additional resources

• Met Council Waste Discharge Rules - see section 411.00 Accidental or Slug Discharges (PDF)
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Emergency Response Facts