ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August

18, 1983

OLIN CORPORATION,

)

~3oliet

Plant

)

)

Petitioner,

V0

)

PCB 83~46

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

)

Respondent~,

INTERIM ORDER OF THE

BOARD

(by J.D0

Dumelle):

On March 31, 1983,

Olin Corporation

(Olin)

filed a Petition

seeking an exemption and site—specific emission limitation pursuant

to Rule 204(g),

That petition requested the emission limitation

for Olin~sJoliet plant boilers be raised from 1,8 to 6,0 pounds

of sulfur dioxide per million British Thermal Units of heat input

(lbs S02/mBtu),

to allow Olin to burn Illinois coal,

The require~

ments

for these proceedings are contained in 35

Ill. Adm0 Code

Part 106,

Subpart

C,

For such proceedings,

35 Ili~Mm.

Code 1060302(g)

requires

the petition to include the “calculated maximum ground level

concentrations”

of SO20

Section 1060302(h) requires the petition

to contain information estimating the frequency,

characteristics,

probable time of occurrence and duration of the meteorological

conditions associated with such maxima0

Specific numerical

information

on

the

calculated

worst~case

scenario

is a matter of

significant interest to the Board

in

these

proceedings0

Neither

the maximum calculated concentrations (annual,

24—hour,

3—hour)

nor locations of such maxima were included in the Olin petition~

In the absence of

a plausible explanation of why these numbers

could not be provided,

a bare assertion that the higher emission

limit would not violate applicable ambient air standards

is

inadequate0

Today~sOrder directs Olin to provide additional

information

on these

maxima and the frequency of meteorological

conditions under which they might occur,

On June

2,

1983,

Dr,

Herman Sievering wrote a letter to the

hearing officer in this proceeding~.

That letter states:

“Thus,

despite remaining below ~he national air quality 24-hour average

so., standard of 365 ug/m

our risk assessment indicates

—

with

hit~hprobability

-

that at least one premature death per year

will result in the Joliet area

as a result of variance approval0~

Dr. Sievering requested that his letter and an associated report

be included in the record of the variance proceeding

(PCB 83-44)

which Olin filed as

a companion to this case,

53-237

---

In establishing the procedural and substantive rules for

exemptions the Board intended that the level of public partici~

pation be equivalent to that provided

in regular Beard rulemaking

(cf, R75~5Opinion at page

18, February 15, 1979,

and R80—22

Opinion at page

13,

February 24,

1983).

Moreover,

in a June 16:

1983,

Order the Board commanded general rulemaking public partici~

pation in this proceeding.

In a general rulemaking proceeding a

document and letter addressing the health impacts of a site

specific action requested of the Board, which was submitted to

the hearing officer before the close of the record, would be

accepted as a public comment even if improperly captioned.

In

this instance, although Dr. Sievering addressed his comments to

the variance proceeding, his comments spoke to the propriety of

a

long~term6.0 lbs S02/mBtu emission limitation

for Olin.

Therefore

the Board is accepting his comments in this case as a public

comment.

Today’s Order requires

an additional hearing in this

proceeding at which Dr. Sievering shall be allowed to testify and

submit evidence or public comments0

Although neither Olin nor the Agency have sug9ested that the

prevention of significant deterioration

(PSD) provisions apply to

the requested SO., emission increase,

the Board today requests

information on wifat the PSD impact would be at 6.0 lbs SO2/mBtu,

for informational purposes only.

ORDER

1.

An additional hearing is to be held in this matter to

address the information listed below, at which Dr.

Herman Sievering

shall be allowed to testify.

2.

Olin shall provide additional information on 35

Ill,

Adm, Code 106,302(g)

and

(h).

3.

Olin shall provide additional information on the

prevention of significant deterioration increment impacts of

a

6.0 lbs/mBtu emission limitation for the Joliet Plant.

I,

Christan

L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certify that the above Interim Order was

adopted on the

Jj~~

_day

of

~

1983 by a vote of

~

/~

Christan L,

Moffett,

9~

~rk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

53-238