ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August
15,
1985
CITY
OF
ARCOLA,
)
Petitioner,
v
)
PCB 85—116
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
R~pondent.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by W.J. Nega):
This provisional variance request comes before
the Board on
the August
13,
1385 Recommendation of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (Agency).
The Agency recommends that a 45—day
provisional variance
be granted retroactively from August
8,
1985
to
the City of Arcola (Arcola)
from 35 Iii.
Adm. Code 304.120(c)
and 304.141(a)
to allow necessary repairs
to be made to the
Petitioner’s wastewater treatment facility’s lagoon aeration
system.
(Rec.
1).
The City of Arcola owns and operates
a wastewater
treatment
facility
(WWTP) which has a design average flow
of 0.5 million
gallons per day
(MGD)
and consists of
a raw sewage pumping
station,
two aerated
lagoons,
a
stormwater retention lagoon,
phosphorus
removal,
clarifier,
intermittent sand filters, and
chlorination.
(Rec.
1).
The Petitioner’s WWTP discharges
its
effluent
to the Embarras River via the Scattering Forks Drainage
Ditch pursuant
to NPDES Permit #1L0027499.
(Rec.
1).
The Petitioner’s NPDCS Permit provides that the city’s
wastewater
treatment facilities must meet effluent limitations
of
10 milligrams per
liter
(mg/l)
for biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD)
and
12 mg/l for total suspended solids
(TSS)
as monthly
averages.
(Rec,
1).
During the past year,
the Petitioner’s discharge monitoring
reports
to the Agency pertaining
to BOD and TSS
in its effluent
have indicated the following concentrations:
Month
BOD
(nig/l)
TSS (mg/i)
July, 1985
25
16
June,
1985
15
2
r1~y, 1905
23
15
April,
1985
30
8
March,
1985
18
28
February, 1985
18
18
65-299
—2—
Month
BOD (m9La
TSS (mg/i)
January,
1985
28
13
December,
1984
30
23
November,
1984
28
23
October, 1984
35
2
September,
1984
19
2
August,
1984
29
——
Average
25
14
(Rec.
2)
The City of Arcola has detected
a break
in the air
header
near the
southwest corner of Lagoon #1 and
a break
in the air
header on the south side of
the stormwater
retention lagoon which
need
to be repaired.
(Rec.
2).
The maximum flow that can be put
through the WWTP’S intermittent sand filters
is approximately
300,000 gallons per day and Arcola has been generally operating
at this level.
However, Arcola has been unable
to lower the
water levels
in the lagoon
to make the requisite repairs
to the
air headers because the influent to the WWTP has been greater
than 300,000 gallons per day.
(Rec,
2).
In order
to lower
the
lagoon level
so that the necessary repairs can be made,
the City
of Arcola intends to bypass flow greater
than 300,000 gallons per
day around the
intermittent sand filters.
(Rec.
2).
It
is
estimated
that approximately nine to twelve million gallons of
water need
to be bypassed around the filters
to enable
the water
level of
the lagoon to be sufficiently lowered.
(Rec.
2)
The Petitioner believes that there
is no practical
alternative
to bypassing
the intermittent sand filters so that
the lagoon level can be lowered to allow vital repairs
to be
completed.
(Rec.
2).
The Agency agrees with
the Petitioner
that
“there
is no alternative
to routing flows
above 300,000 gallons
per day around
the intermittent sand filters
to lower
the lagoon
levels so the necessary repairs can be made”.
(Rec.
2).
Although the City of Arcola’s wastewater discharge
is about
thirty miles upstream of Lake Charleston (which is used as a
public water supply),
the Agency anticipates
a minimal
environmental impact on Lake Charleston because of the relatively
short duration of the provisional variance,
the distance
of the
discharge point from Lake Charleston,
and the proportionately low
volume of effluent discharged vis—~—visthe
total volume of water
of Lake Charleston.
(Rec.
3).
The Agency believes that the summertime is the optimal
season
for
the requisite repairs to be made since it
is
“conducive
to
a speedy and quality repair thus minimizing the
time of intermittent sand filter bypassing and the necessity of
further repairs
in the
future”.
(Rec.
3).
Additionally, the
Agency has determined that the repairs
in question are “necessary
to
return the
treatment facility to optimum operating
capability”.
(Rec.
3).
Furthermore, the environmental
impact on
65-300
—3—
the
receiving stream
is expected
to be minimal because
of “the
high water levels
in the receiving stream and
the dilution of the
effluent with farm ground drainage”
before reaching the receiving
st.ream.
(Rec.
3).
Accordingly,
the Agency has concluded that compliance on a
short—term basis with the requisite NPDES Permit standards would
impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship upon the City of
Arcola.
Therefore,
the Agency recommends that the Board grant
the Petitioner
a 45—day provisional variance from 35
Ill. Mm.
Code 304.120(c)
and 304,141(a)
retroactively from August
8,
1985,
subject
to various
specified conditions.
Pursuant
to Section 35(b)
of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act, the Board hereby grants
the provisional variance
as recommended.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions
of law
in this matter.
ORDER
The City of Arcola
is hereby granted a provisional variance
from 35 Ill. Adm,
Code 304,120(c)
and 35
Ill.
Adm. Code
304.141(a)
to allow repairs
to be made
to its wastewater
treatment plant’s lagoon aeration system, subject
to the
following conditions:
1.
This provisional variance shall commence on August
8,
1985 and shall continue until September
22,
1985,
or
until
the
repairs to
the aeration headers are completed,
whichever occurs
first,
2.
During
the period of this provisional variance, effluent
shall be limited
to
25 mg/l BOD and 35 mg/i TSS.
3.
The Petitioner
shall sample the effluent once per week
and perform laboratory analyses as required
in its NPDES
Permit #1L0027499,
The results of each sample collected
shall
be submitted
to the Agency along with the
Petitioner’s discharge monitoring
report,
4.
The Petitioner
shall notify Mr. John Applegate of the
Agency’s Champaign Regional Office via telephone at
217/333—8361 when routing of flows around the
intermittent sand filters
is begun and when repairs to
the air headers are
completed.
Each telephone
notification
shall
be
confirmed in writing within
5
days.
Such
written
notification
shall
be submitted
to:
65-301
—4—
Mr. John Applegate
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
2125 South First Street
Champaign, Illinois
61820
5.
During
the variance period,
the Petitioner
shall
continue to put at least 300,000 gallons per day through
the
intermittent sand filters,
This flow shall be
blended with
the flow which bypasses
the intermittent
sand filters at the chLorination facilities.
6.
The Pet±~ionershall operate and maintain
the wastewatec
treatment facility
so as
to produce the best ef~luent
practicable.
7.
Within
10 days of
the date of
the Board’s Order,
the
Petitioner
shall execute
a Certificate
of Acceptance
and
Agreement which shaLl
be sent to Mr. James Frost
of
the
Agency at
the
following address:
Mr.
James Frost
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Water Pollution Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
This certification shall have the following form:
I,
(We) __________________________
___
,
having read
the Order
of the Illinois Pollution Control Board
in PCB 85—116
dated August
15, 1985, understand
and accept said Order,
realizing
that such acceptance
renders all terms and conditions
thereto binding
and
enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
—5—
I,
Dorothy
N. Gunn, Clerk of
the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify
that
the above Opinion and Order was
adopted
on
the
/5~7 day of
_____
___,
1985 by
a
vote of
_________.
-I
y~____
___
___
Dorothy
N.
Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
65-303