ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

March

25,

1976

THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 75—439

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION,

AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDE1~OF THE BOARD

(by Mr.

Goodman):

This matter comes before the Board upon Petition of The Quaker

Oats Company

(Quaker)

for review of certain contested conditions

included

in an operating permit issued by the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency

(Agency).

Hearing was held on February

2,

1976,

and a Stipulation Of Facts was filed I~4arch 1,

1976.

The permit in question concerns

a treatment facility serving

Quaker’s Pekin,

Illinois,

paperboard plant.

More specifically the

issue concerns the status of a ditch to which Quaker discharges

its

treated effluent from which,

in

turn,

the effluent

is discharged into

the Illinois River.

Quaker discharges approximately 1.25 million

gallons per day of treated waste water whose regulated pollutants

are basically DOD and total suspended solids

CTSS)

The Agency considers the ditch which conveys the effluent from

the treatment plant

to the Illinois River as a low flow stream

under the standard of Rule 404(f)

of Chapter

3 of the Illinois Pollu-

tion Control Board Rules and Regulations

(Regulations)

and thus im-

posed a standard of

4 mg/l of BUD and

5 mg/l of TSS on Quaker’s

effluent.

Quaker,

on the other hand,

considers the ditch to be

no

more than

a conduit or sewer and,

therefore,

under the limitations

for discharge directly to the Illinois River, i.e.,

20 mg/l of BOD

and 25 mg/l of TSS.

The issue in this case is, therefore,

simply whether Quaker

discharges

to an intermittent stream or to the Illinois River.

A

review of the record and the briefs

in this case reveals that the

20—385

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Agency has taken a rather technical view of the status of the ditch,

relying upon the following facts:

it traverses more than one piece

of private property;

it has a meandering type configuration; and

it

was originally a stream connecting the Illinois River with what was

known as Dead Lake.

According to the Stipulation Of Facts filed in

this case Dead Lake

is now developed and used as a parking facility

and manufacturing site.

The Stipulation of Facts also reveals that a prior permit

issued by the Illinois Sanitary Water Board considered the discharge

from Quaker’s Pekin facility to be directly to the Illinois River.

Approximately 1.25 million gallons per day of treated waste water

is discharged from the existing aerated lagoon to the ditch which

runs one—half mile before it joins

the Illinois River, traversing

private land owned by the American Distillery Company, the Standard

Brands Company and Quaker.

Except during periods when the Illinois

River is high and backs up the length of the ditch, there

is no

aquatic life supported by the ditch.

The ditch is not used for recre-

ation, domestic animal watering,

or irrigation,

and exists solely to

carry industrial discharges.

During periods

of dry weather 95

of

the flow in the ditch results from Quaker’s effluent.

The remainder

of the flow results solely from limited discharges by nearby indus-

trial facilities discharging approximately

50 and 100 yards from

Quaker.

During wet weather some incremental water in the ditch re-

presents storm runoff,

this runoff being an insignificant portion of

the total

flow.

The ditch is not fed by

a natural source of water

except when the Illinois River is high and water backs into the

ditch.

Upon review of the Stipulation Of Facts and the record

in this

case,

the Board finds that whatever designation

is placed upon the

ditch,

it

is most certainly not an intermittent stream.

When the

Illinois River is in flood,

the area becomes a back water of the

River and Quaker’s discharge pipe is actually under the surface of

the River.

At this time Quaker is discharging directly to the

Illinois River.

At other than flood levels,

the discharge

is into a

conduit which has no other use but to deliver the industrial effluent

from Quaker and its neighbors to the Illinois River.

The Water Pollution Regulations of Illinois

(Regulations),

Chapter

3, Rule 104 defines sewer as

“a pipe or conduit for carrying

either wastewater or land runoff or both”.

Rule 104 also expressly

excepts sewers from the definition of “waters”,

while adding the

proviso that natural or otherwise protected waters shall not be

considered sewers.

The Regulations thus make specific allowance for a conduit

20— 386

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that transports wastewater so long as that conduit is not also

a “natural water”.

Conduit

is defined in Webster’s Third New Inter-

national Dictionary

(unabridged) (1966),

as

“a natural or artificial

channel through which water or other fluid passes or is conveyed”.

The subject ditch is

a natural channel through which wastewater

is

conveyed directly to the Illinois River and which

is not a natural

accumulation of water.

The Board therefore finds the designation

“sewer”

is appropriate for the ditch which

is the subject of this

case.

The Board has previously determined that cases such as the

one presently before

us must be decided upon the facts of each

particular

case.

Allied Chemical Corporation

v.

EPA, PCB 73-382,

Alton Box Board Company

v. EPA, PCB 73-140, EPA v. Allied Chemical

Company,

PCB 72—109,

and EPA v. Koppers Company, PCB 70-49.

It

is

the opinion of the Board that in Quaker’s particular case the effluent

flow shall be considered

as being discharged directly to the Illinois

River.

However,

this determination

is based upon the facts and condi-

tions existing at the time of this Order.

The ditch and effluent

water

in question shall not be used for any recreational, domestic

animal watering,

or irrigation purposes and the land surrounding the

ditch shall remain closed to the general public.

Any change

in the

character or substance

of the ditch or

its effluent flow shall be

cause

for review of the Board’s determination as to the status of the

ditch.

This Opinion constitutes the finding of fact and conclusions of

law of the Board.

ORDER

It

is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:

The effluent discharge of Quaker Oats Company’s Pekin,

Illinois,

facility shall be subject to the limitations of Rule

404(b)

of Chapter

3 of the Illinois Pollution Control Boa~rd

Rules and Regulations and Quaker’s operating permit issued by

the Environmental Protection Agency

for this facility shall be

modified in a manner not inconsistent with the foregoing Opinion

and Order.

Mr. Young abstained.

20—387

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—4—

I,

Christan L.

Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boarçl,3hereby certify

he above Opinion and Order were adopted on the

“__day of

,

1976 by a vote of

.3-a

I

Christan L.

Noffett,

rk

Illinois Pollution C

ol Board