ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 22, 1975
KITCHENS OF SARA LEE,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 75-40
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Dunielle):
Petitioner, Kitchens of Sara Lee
(hereinafter “Sara Lee”)
filed
a petition for variance on January 27, 1975.
On February
6,
1975,
we held the petition to be inadequate and ordered sara Lee
to amend the petition and provide additional information ~
~.thin
45 days.
On March 25,
1975,
the Environmental Protection
Agency filed a Motion to Dismiss the
petition because Sara
Lee had failed to comply with the Board order.
On the
following day, March 26,
1975,
the amended petition was
filed with the Board.
In an answer to the Agency’s Motion
to Dismiss,
filed on April
2,
1975,
Sara Lee explained that
notification of the Board Order for additional information
was not received until February 24,
1975.
The additional
information was submitted to the Board
28 days after receiving
notification.
The Agency filed its recommendation to grant
the requested variance on April
16,
1975.
We conclude that
such
a recommendation indicates an intent to waive the
motion to dismiss.
In light of this and the delay in notification
of Sara Lee of the Board Order seeking additional information,
we accept the petition as adequate and consider it on its
merits.
Sara Lee owns and operates a manufacturing facility in
Deerfield,
Lake County,
Illinois, engaged in the production
of frozen bakery goods.
The plant employs approximately
1,400 employees.
Variance is sought to allow the connection
of
a wastewater source to the sanitary sewer system of the
Village of Deerfield.
We interpret the petition as requesting
a variance from Rule 962 of Chapter
3: Water Pollution
Regulations of Illinois.
In the alternative,
Sara Lee
requests a variance from the applicable effluent and water
quality standards of Chapter 3 to allow the continued discharge
of wastewater to
a storm sewer system which discharges into
the west fork of the north branch of the Chicago River.
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The plant utilizes four Zeolite water softners in order
to remove certain objectional mineral constituents from
certain process waters.
Approximately 2,500 pounds of salt
is used daily to recondition the zeolite filters.
The
backwash and rinse waters and spent brine, amounting to
approximately 24,000 gallons per day, are presently discharged
to a pit in the floor of the room in which the softeners
are located.
The floor pit discharges into
a drainage
system which collects stormwater from the plant’s yard and
roof drains.
The drainage from the pit and the stormwater
then enters
a detention basin which empties into a 36—inch
storm sewer which flows in a westerly direction and eventually
empties
into the west fork of the north branch of the Chicago
River.
Sara Lee seeks this variance because it was denied
an Agency permit to connect wastwater source to the Deerfield
sanitary sewer system.
The Deerfield sewage treatment plant has a design
average
flow of
2.5 mgd.
Effluent is discharged
to the west
fork of the north branch of the Chicago River, having a 7-
day one—in-ten—year low—flow of zero.
The average flow at
the plant from October, 1973 to November,
1974 was 2.56 mgd.
This flow does not reflect the bypass flowing discharging at
two points in the sewage system.
An influent bypass system
discharges untreated sewage into the west fork of the north
branch of the Chicago River.
Untreated sewage is also
bypassed into the middle fork of the north branch of the
Chicago River.
The Agency estimates that each bypass occurs
on an average of six times per month.
Opei~atingreport
submitted by Sara Lee to the Agency indicate the following
average contaminant concentrations:
BOD
SS
February,
1975
19
9
January,
1975
32
16
December,
1974
18
13
November,
1974
16
(no samples)
October,
1974
19
September,
1974
26
July,
1974
26
June,
1974
15
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134
—3—
On March 17,
1975,
the Agency issued a consti~~ion
permit to Deerfield which contemplated an 18 month,
$6
million expansion program to provide treatment for 3 mg~
plus additional excess flow treatment.
The Agency expe~
to certify Deerfield’s Step
3 grant request by no later
June
1,
1975.
Thus,
the expansion program
is expected
tc
be completed by December of 1976.
Although Sara Lee does not provide any data as to tb
cost or feasibility or installing its own treatment system,
the Agency admits that the construction of an extremely
small single—purpose treatment plant in the service area of
a sewage treatment system is not cost effective and contrary
to the overall Agency support for regional wastewater treatment.
The Agency thus maintains the connection to the Deerfield
sanitary sewer system is the only viable alternative,
as
opposed to continued discharge into the storm system.
Although we do not normally allow additional connections to
overloaded treatment systems, we agree with the Agency that
the presently requested connection will result in overall
environmental enhancement.
It
is likely that the water
softener wastes will have a lesser impact on the receiving
stream if mixed with the municipal wastewater rather than
periodically discharged directly to the stream.
The wastes
would represent little or no additional biological load on
the plant, and would result in only a little more than one
percent increase in the hydraulic load.
In light of these
factors we consider that it would be an arbitrary and unreasonabl
hardship on the petitioner to deny this variance.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and conclusions of law.
ORDER
Variance from Rule 962 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Regulations of Illinois is hereby granted to allow petitioner,
Kitchens of Sara Lee,
to connect its Zeolite water softener
backwash to the Village of Deerfield sanitary sewer system.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, her~3ycertify the above Opinion and Order were
adopted on the~)A?__dayof May,
1975 by a vote of
O
C~tan~o’f~’fl,
thW
Illinois Pollution C
rol Board
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135