ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 24, 1979
CITY OF MARION,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 79-46
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF
THE
BOARD (by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on a Petition for
Variance filed on March 6, 1979, by the City of Marion
requesting relief from Rules 203(c) and 404(f) (ii) (A) of
Chapter 3: Water Pollution Regulations. On April 10,
1979, the Environmental Protection Agency submitted its
recommendation in favor of granting a variance from the
phosphorus requirements of Rules 203(c) and 402 and from
Rule 404 (f) (ii) (A) of Chapter 3 provided that the Petitioner
adhere to certain conditions. No hearing was held in this
matter; hearing was properly waived in its petition pursuant
to Procedural Rule 401(b).
The City of Marion owns and operates a new sewage treat-
ment plant with a design capacity of 2.5 million gallons per
day. The Marion Sewage Treatment Plant discharges its effluent
to the West End Creek which is tributary to the Crab Orchard
Creek and the Crab Orchard Lake. (Pet. 2, 3).
The new treatmerLt plant consists of one manually cleared
bar screen, a grit c1~amberand two primary settling tanks.
The City wastewater is then processed through ten 12-foot
diameter rotating biological discs (biodisc), two secondary
settling tanks, two sand filters and a disinfection detention
tank before it is discharged to the waters of Illinois. The
Marion Sewage Treatment Plant is currently operating under
NPDES Permit 1L0029751 which requires an effluent quality not
to exceed 4 mg/l BODç and 5 mg/l suspended solids based upon
a 30-day average. (Pet. 2, 3).
While the Marion Sewage Treatment Plant became operational
in April, 1978, problems were almost immediately experienced
with the biodisc shafts. On July 11, 1978, a fish kill occurred
downstream from the Marion plant. The Agency believes that the
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incident was the result of a malfunction at the Marion treatment
plant. On that date, downstream dissolved oxygen levels ranged
from 0.2 mg/i to 0.4 mg/l as compared to a 9.1 mg/l upstream
reading. Since this occurrence, the City has paid $486.78 to
the Department of Conservation to compensate for the fish kill
and has undertaken measures to correct the biodisc problem by
June, 1979. (Pet. 3: Exh. C; Rec. 2; Exh. #3).
Rules 203(c) and 402 (Phosphorus)
On March 7, 1972, the Pollution Control Board adopted a
general water quality standard of 0.05 mg/i for phosphorus as
P for Illinois reservoirs and lakes and in any stream at the
point where the waters enter the lake or reservoir. When coupled
with the Rule 402 effluent quality standard, any point source
discharger that contributed to a phosphorus water quality
standard was required to improve its effluent quality so as
to eliminate the phosphorus violation. As an alternative to
compliance, dischargers were granted relief from the phosphorus
requirement pursuant to Section 35 of the Environmental
Protection Act upon a showing that compliance would impose an
arbitrary or unreasonable hardship.
On April 26, 1979, the Board adopted revisions to the
phosphorus effluent and water quality standards in R76-1.
Rules 203(c) and 407 of Chapter 3 were amended to provide an
interim phosphorus effluent requirement for dischargers once
best practicable treatment technology was in place until a
coordinated effort is developed to control point and non-point
sources of phosphorus to the waters of Illinois. In its present
form, Rule 203(c) suspends the 0.05 mg/l phosphorus water
quality standard until December 31, 1983, to lakes and reservoirs
in excess of 20 acres or in any stream at the point where the
stream enters the la~e or reservoir. During this interim period,
point source discharcers to affected Illinois waters must meet
the applicable effluent requirement in Rule 407 to comply with
the revisions in Rule 203(c) and with Rule 402.
Since ~‘Iarch7, 1972, the City of Marion and numerous other
dischargers upstream from lakes and reservoirs have sought
relief from the phosphorus water quality standard. See City of
Marion, PCB 75-220, 18 PCB 561; City of Hoopeston, PCB 76-234,
24 PCB 441; Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, PCB
77-111, 25 PCB 775; Valley Water Company, Inc., PCB 77—146,
25 PCB 289. In these and other cases, the Board recognized
that it was economically impractical for the treatment facilities
to comply with the 0.05 mg/l standard in lakes and reservoirs
downstream from their discharge. However, the variance required
the Petitioner to provide adequate space and in the event grant
funds became available, to install best practicable treatment
technology for phosphorus removal.
33—596
—3—
After reviewing the record before us concerning phosphorus,
the Board will dismiss that part of the Petitioner’s request
for relief from Rule 203(c) and 402. The Board finds nothing
in the record to persuade us that Petitioner’s new treatment
plant when properly operating should not meet the applicable
phosphorus effluent limitation of 1.0 mg/l as required by
Rule 407(c) of Chapter 3.
Rule 404 (f) (ii) (A)
,
BOD~/Total Suspended Solids
In this petition, the City of Marion also requests a
variance from Rule 404(f) (ii) (A) as a prerequisite to “Pfeffer
Exemption” eligibility and relief from the 4/5 BOD5/TSS effluent
limitations of Rule 404(f). According to the Petitioner, the
new sewage treatment plant would not cause or contribute to
a downstream dissolved oxygen violation or to any other
applicable water quality violation if permitted to discharge
an effluent quality of 10 mg/i BOD5, 12 mg/i total suspended
solids and 1.5 mg/l ammonia nitrogen. (Pet. 6).
However, the Agency does not affirm the Petitioner’s
capability to attain compliance with the downstream dissolved
oxygen water quality standard. In the alternative, the Agency
has recommended that the Petitioner be granted the appropriate
relief provided that it conduct a monitoring program of down-
stream dissolved oxygen conditions. In addition, the Agency
will survey the water quality in Crab Orchard Lake and its
tributaries from May through November, 1979.
In R77-l2, Docket C, the Agency has proposed that the 4/5
BOD5/TSS requirements of Rule 404(f) be deleted and that a
maximum limit of 10/12 BOD5/TSS be established for dischargers
to low—flow streams. Under these circumstances, the discharger
would be required to demonstrate pursuant to Rule 402 that it
is in compliance with all applicable water quality standards
to retain the 10/12 BOD5/TSS allowance for its discharge. In
this matter, the Petitioner claims and the Agency agrees that
the Marion STP could not demonstrate compliance with the
dissolved oxygen sLctndard without a complex, time consuming
and expensive field study and analysis of a dissolved oxygen
profile downstream from the Marion outfall. (Pet. 6; Rec. 3,
4)
In view of the difficulty and the expense which would be
involved for the Petitioner to conduct a dissolved oxygen study,
the Board will grant the Petitioner relief from Rule 404(f) (ii)
(A) of Chapter 3 in order that Petitioner may become eligible
for a Pfeffer exemption. The Petitioner rightfully recognizes
that relief from Rule 404(f) (ii) (A) does not affect the
dissolved oxygen water quality requirement downstream from
the Marion plant. (Pet. 6).
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—4—
The Board will direct the Agency to modify Petitioner’s
NPDES Permit IL0029751 consistent with this order pursuant
to Rule 914 of Chapter 3 and to include interim effluent
limitations as may be reasonably achieved through application
of best practicable operation and maintenance practices in
the existing facilities.
This opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1. The City of Marion is granted a variance from Rule
404(f) (ii) (A) of Chapter 3: Water Pollution Regulations for
the Marion Sewage Treatment Plant until May 24, 1980, or until
the Board has adopted an applicable regulation in R77-12,
Docket C, whichever occurs first, subject to the conditions
in paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 set forth below.
2. The City of Marion shall meet all requirements of
Rule 404(f) (ii) of Chapter 3, except those exempted by this
order,
3. The City of Marion shall initiate within 35 days
from the date of this order a monitoring program acceptable
to the Environmental Protection Agency to determine the impact
of a 10 mg/i BOD5 and 12 mg/i total suspended solids effluent
discharge on waters downstream from the Marion Sewage Treat-
ment Plant.
4. In the event that the monitoring program required in
paragraph 3 indicates that the 10 mg/l BOD5 and the 12 mg/l
total suspended solids allowance is causing or contributing
to violations of any applicable water quality standard, the
City of Marion shall submit a plan acceptable to the Environ-
mental Protection Agency for complying with the water quality
standards within 60 ~Iays of the date of the violation.
5. The request for a variance by the City of Marion from
Rules 203(c) and 402 of Chapter 3: Water Pollution Regulations
is hereby denied.
6. Petitioner, within 30 days of the date of this order,
shall request Agency modification of NPDES Permit IL002975l
to incorporate all conditions of the variance set forth herein.
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7. The Agency, pursuant to Rule 914 of Chapter 3, shall
modify NPDES Permit IL002975l consistent with the conditions
set forth in this order including such interim effluent
limitations as may reasonably be achieved through the application
of best practicable operation and maintenance practices in the
existing facilities.
8. Within forty—five (45) days of the date of this order,
the Petitioner shall submit to the Manager, Variance Section,
Division of Water Pollution Control, Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency, 2200 Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois,
62706, an executed Certification of Acceptance and Agreement
to be bound to all terms and conditions of the variance. The
forty-five day period herein shall be suspended during judicial
review of this variance pursuant to Section 41 of the Environ-
mental Protection Act, The form of said certification shall
be as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I, (We),
—
having read the
Order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 79-46, understand
and accept said order, realizing that such acceptance renders
all terms and conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order
were adopte~on the ~?‘.jI~ day of
1)7
,
1979, by
a vote of
~
Illinois Pollution o trol Board
3 3—599