ILLINOIS
POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February
14, 1972
DECATUR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
V.
)
#
71—359
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Opinion of the Board
(by Mr.
Currie):
Decatur Memorial Hospital
seeks
a variance
to permit operation
of
a coal—fired boiler
~which has emitted smoke
in excess of
Ringelmann
#2” until April
15,
1972, when the boiler will be con-
verted to oil
and gas.
Continued operation during the conversion
is alleged to
be necessary
“to insure
a reserve boiler during the
cold season
to April
15, and to allow operation of
a coal boiler
as
the primary boiler during actual conversion.”
A reserve
is
required by
the Hospital Licensing Act.
The Agency recommends
the petition be granted on certain conditions with which we agree,
except that
the time remaining
is so short as to make
the posting
of bond hardly worth the trouble.
The Agency also
“notes with
displeasure”
that neither
a letter of intent nor
an emission control
program was submitted under the 1967 regulations, butwe
do not
have enough information to determine whether or not there was
a
particulate violation such that filing was required.
We cannot
therefore
impose
a penalty as
a condition of the variance as we
have done
in cases
of unjustified failure to file.
E.g., Molex
Corp.
v.
EPA,
#71—200
(Jan.
6,
1972).
We agree with the Agency that
there is an evident need
for operation
of the boiler during the
interim to avoid possible interruption of hospital service,
and
that the apparent harm from continued operation during that time
is not so great as to justify
a shutdown.
We note that we do not
expressly or impliedly sanction the use of any coal-fired boilers
for reserve
or other purposes after April
15,
1972.
Once again we observe that
the Agency’s recommendation was
received on the
90th day after the petition was
filed,
the very
day on which we are expccted
to make
a decision.
We do not
believe this practice
of late filing permits
is ample time to make
intelligent decisions, much
less to seek additional information if
the recommendation indicates the need.
Moreover,
the 90-day rule
prescribes the outside limit for decision; we should in fairness
to the parties do what we
can to decide cases
in less
time whenever
possible.
Simple cases
like this
one should not require
90 days
to decide.
3
—
633
ORDER
Decatur Memorial Hospital,
Inc.,
is hereby granted
a variance to
permit smoke emissions
in excess of regulation limits from a coal
fired Lasker boiler until April
15,
1972, provided the following
conditions
are met:
1.
The Hospital shall obtain
an installation permit from
the Agency as required by
the regulations;
and
2.
No later than May
1,
1972,
the Hospital
shall submit to
the Agency and to the Board
a report indicating
the date
of completion and
the number of hours
the boiler was
operated from receipt
of this order until
the project
is
completed.
I, Christan Moffett, Clerk of
the Pollution Control Board, certify
that the Board adopted the above Opinion of the Board this
14th
day of February,
1972 by
a vote of
5-0.
3
—
634