ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 31, 1973
GRANITE CITY STEEL COMPANY
)
#73-26
v.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
RANDALL
ROBERTSON OF LEUDERS, ROBERTSON & KONZEN AND LEAH HAMILTON
OF JENNER & BLOCK ON BEHALF OF GRANITE CITY STEEL COMPANY
THOMAS J. IMMEL, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, ON BEHALF OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (BY SAMUEL T. LAWTON, JR.):
On April 25, 1972, in Case #70-34, we entered our Order in
the above-captioned proceeding approving a Stipulation entered into
between the parties, which disposed of the complaint and provided
for installation of air pollution abatement equipment and the adoption
of operational procedures designed to control the emissions of
particulate matter emanating from the operation of Granite City
Steel Company’s integrated steel mill located in Granite City, Ill-
inois.
Our Opinion of May 3, 1972 supports the Order. The Stipulation
embodied in the April 25, 1972 Order provided for the ga~antingof
certain variances from the Air Pollution Regulations to enable the
additions and modifications to the plant to be made beyond the date
of the entry of the Order and in some instances, in contemplation of
periods of time extending more than the one—year period for which
variances may be granted.
Paragraph 9 of the Stipulation provided as follows:
“Variances shall be granted to Granite City Steel Company for
installation and operation of equipment as set forth in Exhibit A,
effective on the date of the Pollution Control Board Order approving
this Stipulation, as follows:
(a) Coke oven operation, including transporting coke to
quench tower, 12 months, except charging or any opera-
tion of which charging is considered a part for pur-
poses of regulation, subject to extension for an
additional period of twelve months;
(b) Quenching operation, six months;
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Cc) Blast Furnace, to and including December 31,
1971;
Cd) Sinter breaker process stack, 60 days from the
date of Order or date next operated after Order,
whichever is later.
Granite City Steel Company shall be granted variances for in-
stallation and operation of equipment specified in subparagraphs
(e) and (f) below, and outlined further in Exhibit A for a period
of one year from the date of the Pollution Control Board Order approv-
ing this Stipulation and so long as all provisions set forth in this
paragraph are complied with;
(e) Charging and any operation of which charging is con-
sidered a part for purposes of regulation, to be completed
within 30 months from the date of the Order approving
this Stipulation;
(f) Sinter process main windbox and pug mill, to be completed
within 19-1/2 months from the date of the Order approving
this Stipulation.
Granite City Steel Company shall make application to the Pollu-
tion Control Board for desired extensions of variances. If Granite
City Steel Company shows satisfactory progress to the Environmental
Protection Agency as herein defined, extension of the variances,
described in
(~)
and (f) immediately above, shall be recommended by
the Environmental Protection Agency to the Pollution Control Board
prior to consideration by thePollution Control Board. For purposes
of extending variances, “satisfactory progress” as used in the Environ-
mental Protection Act shall be substantial compliance with Exhibit A
with respect to the installation of equipment as set forth in Sections I
and IV B therein.”
An application for extension of variances was filed on January 25,
1973 and the new application for extension docketed as Case #73—26.
Two interim orders have been entered extending the variances to today,
pending resolution of the new proceeding.
We grant the variances as requested, subject to the conditions
as hereinafter set forth.
The petition for extension recites the provisions of paragraph 9
of the April 25, 1972 Order above set forth. The work contemplated
for the coke quenching station, blast furnace and sinter breaker process
stack has been finished. Extension of variance from April 25, 1973 to
April 25, 1974 is sought for coke oven operation except charging
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(paragraph 9(a)) and charging and any operation of which charging
is a part (paragraph 9(e)and from April 25, 1973 to September 15,
1973 for the sinter process main windbox and pug mill.
The foregoing proposals for extension of variance are consis-
tent with the time schedules as originally contemplated and embodied
in the basic stipulation and order of the Board of April 25, l972~,
It becomes incumbent upon the Board at this time to ascertain whether
“satisfactory progress” has been made towards substantial compliance
with a program of replacement and improvement undertaken by the Com-
pany. The recommendation of the Environmental Protection Agency
proposes allowance of the variances as requested, subject to certain
specified conditions which we will comment on later. The petition
of the Company, the Agency’s recommendation and the testimony brought
out at the hearing, all substantiate the facts that substantial
progress is being made in the installation and development of the
A.ISI Coke Oven Charging Air Quality Control System and the modifica-
tion of the batteries necessary to accommodate the new control system.
The engineering and development for the AIST control system have
been completed and the necessary permits obtained. The larry car
has been fabricated and delivered to the plant site. The necessary
bonds relating to the installation have been filed. Battery modifica-
tion including replacement of stand pipes, realignment of the connect-
ing main and charging hole castings and installation or replacement
of battery appurtenances, including new control mechanism and charging
hole lids are all in progress, but will require an additional year
in
order to assure completion.
A water fogging system has been
Lnstalled on the coke quench car.
Work rules for this operation have been prepared and put into
effect.
A door
repair station,
spare doors, seals and refractories
have been provided pursuant to the terms of the basic order.
With res-
pect to the sinter
plant main windbox, construction has been initiated
pursuant to permits and it is contemplated that this work will be
completed by
September 15,
1973, the outside date pursuant to the
original 19-1/2
month contemplated completion program. Bond for this
operation has likewise been submitted.
Two principal
areas of contention
seem to have developed since
the
rendition of the original order.
The first relates to the pre-
sent quality of the air in Granite City and the second relates to
whether the Company has diligently complied with the requirement to
submit work rules respecting the coking operation. Various witnesses
testified at the hearing with respect to the air quality at Granite
City at the present time. To the extent that the quality of the air
is a consequence of emissions from those portions of the plant for
which variances have been granted, we must recognize that the var-
iances were granted with the view that compliance would not be
achieved until the proposed installations were completed. Accordingly,
testimony that the emissions from the coke plant do not meet regulatory
standards comes as no surprise. The modification and improvement
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program is designed to achieve compliance within the dates prescribed.
To the extent that the air quality has been deteriorated
as a result
of emissions from facilities not covered by
any variance, our order
furnishes no protection and the Company is vulnerable to such enforce-
ment action as may be appropriate.
With respect to the work rules governing the operation of the
coke ovens, the record indicates that rules approved by the Agency
were not submitted until April 4, 1973. While the record does
not
indicate wherein the parties differed,it is disappointing that this
much time elapsed before work rules agreeable to the Agency were
submitted. It is not beyond the realm of likelihood that had the
work rules been in effect earlier and properly implemented, much of
the complaint about the present air quality would be minimized. How-
ever, we must act on what is presently before us and it is manifest
that the Company has made satisfactory progress toward the completion
of its abatement programs to justify an extension of the variances
as sought.
Lastly, we note that the Company has sobjected to the conditions
proposed by the Agency to which any variance extensions would be
subjected. The first is that all applicable conditions contained
in the stipulation adopted by the Board shall remain in force and
effect. This clearly would be an appropriate condition. The second
requires the filing of a report with the Agency within 60 days of the
time that overhaul work on A and B batteries is completed, describing
the work that was done. We see no reason for the submission of such
a report and will not direct it. The third condition directs the
Company to provide the Agency with the nameS of the personnel whom
the Agency may contact during working hours to secure information
relative to coking time. We do not believe this to be an unreasonable
request and counsel has indicated that these names have already been
furnished.
We will include this as a condition with the variance
extensions. Motion of the Company to strike the conditions set forth
in the Agency’s recommendation is denied.
This opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board.
IT IS THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board:
1. That variances from the particulate emission regulations
of the air pollution regulations of the Pollution
Control Board granted on April 25, 1973 and order entered
in Case #73-26 be extended with respect to the following
facilities for the periods of time indicated:
(a) coke oven operation, including transporting coke
to quench tower, 12 months, that is, until April 25,
1974, except charging or any operation of which charging
is considered a part for purposes of regulation;
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(b) Charging and any operation. of which charging is
considered a part for purposes of regulation, 12 addi-
tional months, that is, until April 25, 1974, and so long
as all provisions set forth in paragraph 9 of the Order
of April 25, 1972 are complied with;
(c) Sinter process main windbox and pug mill, 7-1/2
months, that is, until September 15, 1973.
2. All applicable provisions and conditions set forth in
stipulation incorporated in the April 25, 1972 order
of the Board, remain in full force and effect.
3. The Company shall provide the Agency with the names
of Company’s personnel whom the Agency may contact
during working hours to secure information relative
to coking time.
I, Christan Moffett, Clerk of the Pollution Control Board, certify
that the above Opinion and Order was adopted on the j1’~dayof May,
1973, by a vote of ~j to ~
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