ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July

25,

1974

ACME BARREL COMPANY,

INC.,

Petitioner,

)

vs.

)

PCB 74-138

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

~espondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Seaman):

On April

17,

1974, Acme Barrel

Company,

Inc.

filed

its Petition For Variance,

seeking therein

a variance from the Board Order

in PCB 72-404..

Petitioner operates

a drum reclamation and reconditioning facility located

at 2300 West 13th Street, Chicago,

Illinois.

The equipment which

is used in

the reclamation and reconditioning of drums

includes burners

to pre-heat barrels, incinerators,

pits

in front of two

incinerators,

steel shot blasting units,

barrel

washing and drying facilities

and paint spray units and curing ovens.

Petitioner receives 4000 barrels each day which contain residues

of under-

coating,

tar,

oils,

animal

fats, varnish, paint,

glue,

printing ink,

chemicals,

etc..

Both open-head and tight-head barrels are reconditioned~.

Petitioner is

equipped with two drum incinerators, one cover incinerator, eight paint spray booths,

four

curing ovens

and five steel shot blasting units, each of which

is equippped

with

a baghouse.

Petitioner is seeking

a Variance from the Board Order in PCB

72-404.

In that

action the Agency filed

a complaint against Petitioner on October 13,

1972.

(PCB 72-404).

The complaint alleged that during the period beginning on

or before

January 26,

1972,

and continuing at least to the date of the filing

of the complaint~

Petitioner operated its salamanders,

its barrel

preheating process and the

collection of waste materials

from the preheated barrels

in such

a manner as

to

violate Section 9(a)

of the Environmental Protection Act

Ill,

Rev,

Stat.,

ch.

111 1/2, Section 1009(a),

1971

.

The complaint further alleged that during the

same period Petitioner caused or allowed the burning of refuse in pits located

in front of its incinerators in such a manner as

to cause open burning

of refuse

in

violation of Section 9(c) of the~EnvironmentalProtection Act.

Finally the complaint

alleged that on

or subsequent to July 1,

1970, Acme Barrel

installed pollution

control equipment without first having obtained

a permit from the Agency

in

violation of Section 9(b) of the Act.

13

—

207

---

‘~

earing ~~asheld

on

March

17

‘973

This

earing was then continoed

to

n

ater dste witi the ~inderstanding

Lhat the Darties ~au1dattoniot to

agree on

a st~pulat~on

of facts.

a

secoid hearlig was heid on October 24

973

and ~hejoint stio

lation of both part~eswas

i

troauced into eidence

t. at stioulat

o

Pet~tioneragreed to

ita

e

t .e

est by es

of

he

nc nerators and reinstall

cover pla~son

and conveyor ir an effort

th

e

inna e

a y open Dirning.

S nce ~p~i 23

°ettioner has remo ad

the

ruober

gaskets

~rorr the

~asbefc ~eolacing

n

the

incine

ato

00

itioner

a

so

converted

the

sa

aca

ders

~.

gas

thred

heaters

and

agreed

to ordertake a projram to

e iminate the oossib l4ty of any smoke enanat

ig

fr0m

~e irea

‘

~rcntof the thc4~e’~ators °etit’o~e~’

also agreed L

the coliow

ng additional work and installation of eqiipnient.

to estabiish

a

program for eliminating the possibility of any smoke eiianating from the area ~n

front of the incinerators;

to

investigate the possibility of disposing of the

gathered material from this process by means of an

n~plantspecial

cinerator

at some future date; the installation

of a new water spray booth for the exterrã

paint

line;

and

a program of proper maintenance of both filters

on the existing

spray booth and on the existing baghouse

Schedules were submitted in detai

‘~or

the program for drum cleaning and disposal of drum drainage.

Petitioner ~eqe’~ts

an extension of six months from the May 1, 1974 deadline set out in oaragraph

1.

of the Board Order

so that it can refabricate its drum drainage system itself and

insta1l

it with its

own forces.

A grant of the Petition for Variance woulu ext~id

the deadline until

November

1,

1974.

Petitioner

has already purchased conveyor, gearbox, chain and pumps,

etc.,

for the drum drain

system.

The, purchase receipts have been submitted to the Agency.

Petitioner informed the Agency~srepresentative that Petitioner did not rece ye

quotations

for the fabrication and instaliation system because of the unavailability

of

steel and previous commitments

of the construction companies.

The Agency

‘nvestigator verified this claim with the construction companies by phone on May 8, 197

Petithoner now intends

to fabricate and instal

the drum drain system with

its own ~orces.Petitioner has obtained the required steel.

Petit’oner has torn

down part of the old building ard

installed a chain conveyor on a temporary basis

so that dur~ngthe irstal1ätion of the drum drain sys em, drum recondition rg can

be

in progress without affecting production.

°etitoner requests six months to complete

installation of the drum drain

system.

the Agency finds

that this

is sufficient time to complete the system.

Petitioner

has

submitted

monthly

progress

reports

to

the

Agency

as

required

by Paragraph

5

of

the Board Order.

Petitioner has paid its fine and complied

with

the

other sections of the

Board

Order.

—

208

---

Petitioner

is

installing

a

new

baghouse

and

steel

shot

blasting

units,

According

to

the

purchase

order

submitted

to

the’

Agency,

the

baghouse

and

blasting

units

cost

approximately

$2OO~OOO,

We

are

satisfied

that

Petitioner~sfailure

to

comply

with

our

Order

resulted

from

factors

beyond

its

control.

The

Variance

will

be

granted,

subject

to

certain

conditions.

This

Opinion

constitutes

the

findings

of

fact

and

conclusions

of

law

of

the

Board.

IT

IS

THE

ORDER

of

the

Pollution

Control

Board

that

Petitioner

be

granted

a

Variance

from

Paragraph

I

of

the

Pollution

Control

Board

Order

in

PCB

72~4O4until

November

1,

1974,

subject

to

the

following

conditions:

a.

Petitioner

shall

continue

to

pursue

vigorously

its~investigation

and

implementation

of

alternatives

regarding

disposal

of

drum

drainings.

b.

Petitioner

shall

apply

for

all

necessary

permits

from

the

Environmental

Protection

Agency.

c.

Petitioner

shall

submit

monthly

reports

to:

Environmental

Protection

Agency

Division

of

Air

Pollution

Control

Control

Program

Coordinator

2200

Churchill

Road

Springfield,

Illinois

62706

The

monthly

reports

shall

include

the

progress. of

the

installation

of

the

drum

drain

system.

I,

Christan

L.

Moffett,

Clerk’of

the

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board,

certify

that

the

above

Opinion

and

Order

was

adopted

on

this

~

day of’

,

1974

by

a

vote

of

~

13

—

209