ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August 20, 1981

DUPAGE

COUNTY

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC

WORKS,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB

81—91

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

2~ND

ORDER

OF

THE BOARD

(by D. Anderson):

This matter comes before the Board upon a petition for variance

filed May 29,

1981 by the County of DuPage, Department of Public

Works

(DuPage).

The petition requests

a variance from Rules

1201,

1202 and 1203 of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution, as they apply to

operator certification requirements concerning sanitary wastewater

treatment plants operated by DuPage.

On July 20, 1981 the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

recommended that the vari-

ance from Rule 1201 be granted and the variances from Rules 1202

and

1203 be denied as unnecessary.

No

hearing has been held

and

the Board has received no public comment.

Two

treatment plants are involved.

Marionbrook wastewater

treatment plant

(Marionbrook)

is an activated sludge,

tertiary

treatment facility with a design average

flow of 5.0 MGD.

It dis-

charges to Sawmill Creek,

a tributary of the Des Plaines River.

Woodridge wastewater treatment plant

(Woodridge)

is also an

activated sludge,

tertiary treatment facility with a design average

flow of 4.0 MGD.

It discharges to an unnamed tributary to the East

Branch of the DuPage River.

This is tributary to the DuPage and

DesPlaines Rivers.

Rule 1202 provides that the Agency may classify treatment works

by type and size.

Rule 1203 provides for Agency certification of

operators keyed to treatment works classes.

Rule 1201 prohibits

operation of a treatment works except under the supervision of a

person certified for that class.

Marionbrook and Woodridge are both Group A facilities requiring

Class

1 operators.

Marionbrook is operated by Mr. Ernest Ebner and

Woodridge by Mr. William Bowles.

Both are Class

2

operators.

They

must fulfill additional educational requirements for Class

1 certi-

fication.

The Agency estimates that three years is the maximum

time necessary for the operators to gain Class

1 certification.

There

are

pending amendments to Agency certification procedures

which would allow quicker certification.

43—191

---

—2—

Marionbrook and Woodridge are both hydraulically overloaded

and on restricted status

(Rule 604 of Chapter 3).

The Agency

states that these problems are being worked on and improvements

made under the supervision of Mr. Ebner and Mr. Bowles.

The

Agency is

of the opinion that they are competent operators and

recommends that the variance be granted for up to three years

or until they become properly certified.

The Board finds that it would impose an arbitrary or unreason-

able

hardship

to

require

DuPage

County

to

immediately

employ

a

Class

1

operator

to

comply

with

Rule

1201.

The

variance

from

Rule 1201 will be

granted

with conditions similar to those recom-

mended by the Agency.

The variance from Rules

1202 and 1203 will

be denied as unnecessary in accordance with the recommendation.

These rules require actions by the Agency in classifying or cer

fying

a

facility

or

operator.

DuPage

does

not

need

a

variance

from

these

rules.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions

of

law

in

this

matter.

ORDER

1.

Petitioner,

County

of

DuPage, Department of Public Works,

is

granted

for

its Marionbrook wastewater treatment plant a variance

from

Rule 1201 of Chapter 3:

Water Pollution,

subject to the

following conditions:

a.

This variance will expire three years from the

date of this Order,

or as provided in condition b,

which-

ever occurs first.

b.

The portion of this variance applicable to the

Marionbrook

wastewater treatment plant shall expire upon

Class

1 certification of the present Class

2 operator or

three months after the termination of his employment,

whichever occurs

first.

c.

The present Class

2 operator shall actively

pursue Class

1 certification and shall take the Class

1

examination as soon as possible.

d.

Petitioner shall operate the Narionbrook

wastewater treatment plant utilizing the best practicable

operation and maintenance practices.

43—192

---

—3—

2.

Petitioner,

County

of

DuPage,

Department

of

Public

Works,

is

granted

for

its

Woodridge

wastewater

treatment

plant

a

variance

from Rule 1201 of Chapter 3:

Water Pollution, subject to the

following

conditions:

a.

This

variance

will

expire

three

years

from

the

date

of

this

Order,

or

as

provided

in

condition

b,

which-

ever occurs

first.

b.

The portion of this variance applicable to the

Woodridge wastewater treatment plant shall expire upon

Class

1 certification of the present Class

2 operator

or three months after the termination of his employment,

whichever occurs

first.

C.

The present Class

2 operator shall actively

pursue Class 1 certification and shall take the Class

1

examination as soon as possible.

d.

Petitioner shall operate the Woodridge waste-

water treatment plant utilizing the best practicable

operation and maintenance practices.

3.

The variances requested from Rules

1202 and 1203 are

denied.

4.

Within forty-five days of the date of this Order, Peti-

tioner shall execute and forward to the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency, Variance Section, 2200 Churchill Road, Spring-

field, Illinois

62706,

a Certificate of Acceptance and Agreement

to be bound to all terms and conditions of this variance.

This

forty-five day period shall be held in abeyance for any period

this matter is being appealed.

The form of the Certificate shall

be as follows:

CERTIFICATION

I,

(We),

,

having read

and

fully understanding the Order in PCB 81-91, hereby accept that

Order and agree to be bound by all of its terms and conditions.

SIGNED

-

TITLE

-

DATE

-

IT IS SO ORDERED.

43—193

---

—4—

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were

adopted on the

~

day of

~

,

1981 by a vote

of

‘~—c~

.

C

:‘y~

~4~J

Christan

Illinois Polluti~rL~’ControlBoard