1. Public hearings shall be conducted by the commissioner, or his duly designated representative or representatives prior to issuance of an order directing any person to discontinue discharge of sewage, industrial waste or other wastes which contravene the standards established for any waters of the state or standards, criteria, limitations, rules or regulations promulgated or applied pursuant to title 8 hereof.

2. The hearings herein provided may be conducted by the commissioner, or by the duly designated hearing officer or officers, at any time and place.

3. A record, or summary thereof, of the proceedings of said hearings shall be made and filed with the department. If requested to do so by any party concerned with said hearing, the full stenographic notes of the testimony presented at said hearing shall be taken and filed. The stenographer shall, upon the payment of his fees allowed by law therefor, furnish a certified transcript of the whole or any part of his notes to any party to the action requiring the same.

4. In any such hearing, the hearing officer or any member of the hearing panel, may administer oaths, examine witnesses, and issue, in the name of the department, notices of hearings and subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of evidence relevant to any matter involved in any such hearing. A designation of a person or persons by the commissioner to perform the functions herein authorized shall be in writing and filed in the department.

5. In case of contumacy or refusal to obey a notice of hearing or subpoena issued under this section, the supreme court shall have jurisdiction, upon application of the commissioner or his duly designated representative, to issue an order requiring such person to appear and testify or produce evidence, as the case may require, and any failure to obey such order of the court may be punished by said court as a contempt thereof.