ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August 22, 1984

ILLINOLS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

pEOTECTION AGENCY,

Complainant,

)

PCB 84~52

CITY OF HEREIN, a

)

municipal corporation,

)

Respondents

MR. JAMES L. MORGAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL,

APPEARED ON

BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT,

MR. PAUL S. MURPHY, CITY ATTORNEY, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF

THE RESPONDENT,

OPINION AND ORDER OF

THE BOARD (by W~

J. Nega):

This matter comes before the Board on the

April

26, 1984

Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency) which alleged that the City of Herrin caused

or

allowed

the construction of part or a.l of its proposed sewer extension

without the requisite construction permit from the Agency in

violation of 35 Iii, Adm, Code 309.202 and Section 12(c) of the

Illinois Environmental Protection Act (Act),

A hearing was held

on

July

30,

1984. The

parties

filed a

Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement on August

1,

1984.

The City of

Herrin,

which has a population

of about

10,000

people, owns and operates a wastewater treatment

plant

(WWTP) and

associated sanitary sewer system in Williamson County, Illinois

which provides service to a majority of the local

residents.

The

Respondent’s facility, which first became operational

in

1950,

currently requires labor~intensiveoperations and

maintenance

because it is an older WWTP, This ~1TP presently

includes two

primary clarifiers,

an

aerated grit chamber, two

final clarifiers,

a four~~~armtrickling filter, effluent chlorination, anaerobic

sludge digestion, and sludge drying beds, Renovation and expansion

of the Respondent’s wastewater treatment facilities has been an

on~goingprocess which has encountered many delays

and

difficulties

during recent years due to the unavailability of

grant funding,

changes in consulting engineers, and various other

problems~

59~431

---

~.espordentdischarges effluent from a point

source

~ 1 001) at its WWTP to at unrarned tributary

of the

BiJ

‘,

L~ver, a navigable Illinois water, pursuant

to

NPDES

Perr

~L002916~ On August 29, 1980, the

Agency placed the

rriu~sWWTP ~n restricted sta’~s due to

continuing

exc~.

rorn the applicable NPDES Pert

it

lImitations, This

~ t~atuson the City of Herrin s w stewater

treatment

ls~remained in effect since i~s imposition

on

A~.

1980. (Stip. 2

ity of Hcrrir~soperation of ~ ~a~tewater treatment

previously the su~e of a crto~cement action

be’o

e ~Oatd tn PCB 79~239. ee I_lirois_Environmental

J~~~4tofH~rrir POE 19~239, 44

PCB

217,

1~

:98$~ In the ~f~e ~ntInn~d e~fircementcase, tLs

Resoon t qas ordered to cease and desis from further violations,

to ~ ~ip~lated penalty of $1 200 ~ to follow a specified

comp~ ~ plan to upgrade its WWTP. The Agency has indicated

that J? h~spondent’scompliance with this December 17, 1981

Boar t~sr ‘had proceeded satisfactor~ly~.(SUp~

3)~

tioner has also previously hoer cianted two

varia o by the Board. On April 2~ 198~,the

Board granted

the

Ci~ty ~crrin a variance in PCB 82~148fron 35 Ill, Mm.

Code

41 to allow the Agency to issue construction

and

opera~’ na permits to authorize the connection of

nineteen

homes

to cL ~ itioner’s sewer system and wathewiter

treatment

plant,

On pac? three of the Board’s April 21, 1983 Opinion

in

~r~inv.Il I inoi sEnvironmental grotect~9~~enc,

Dcli

3

~.

52 PCB 71, the Board stateth

uch the Board is concerned th~tHerrin

has

installed a

~ ~r ex+ension and connections to fi’re of the homes prior

~.;

request for variance and ~n violation of

the

permit

~L,~ement,the Board also reeogr~es tie potential health

I ‘~td due to malfunctioning or autiquated

systems.

According

rrin, replacement of the private i~ystems

could cost

I resident $3 850.00. The Bard f~rAd~this

to be

an

~e son,ble hardship which warrants variance

relief.”

Ja~1y, on November 7, 1983, the city of Herrin filed a

u~

~

to variance in PCB 83~61 seeking relief

from

35 Ill.

Adm~

3~241 to request authorization :o construct

and operate a

~w~r ansion to serve twenty~sevenresi~eatta1

homes in the

~st Home Addition to replace existing, malfunctioning

s~pticsystems in order to avoid a public

health

threat.

Of ti ~ ‘~n~yseven hones involved, twenty one

residences would

haie ie connected via the new sewer extension to

the City of

H~rr~

~i

bi~’tewatertreatment plant whthh is under restricted

---

3—

stae

page three of its Recommendation, the

Agency has

noted

~aher

16, 1983 an Agency field rnspector

conducted an

-

thom of the site of tne proposed sewer

extension.

his inspection he observed that construction of the

,e ~d sewer extension in

POE

83—i61 was currently under—

~dhad been underway for some tire prior

to his inspection.

u-):k in progress encompassed approximately

two blocks

proposed construction but io h ires had

been

connected

i:~~e,

This construct’on was halted by

the City

iys after the November I~tI in~pection.” (Rec. 3;

• ~ ~984, the Beard granted t~~c~ of Herrin a

05

83—161 from 35 Ill. Adrn Code 309.241

for

the

purpose or constructing and operating a sewer extension to

scr~~io ~ty~one residences in the Duncan T~irst Home Addition

in tin ~ -)t Uerrin. As

an

additional restriction

upon

the

Pet~t~

~i

activities, the Board Order in PCB 83—161 mandated

thai:

~

:o

permitting

any actual

tap—ons the City

of

Herrin

shali i~ a city

ordinance

which requires that flow restricters

in ~a

-ec

ads

and

toilet

darns be

installed in residences

as a

prere~therteto

new sewer tap—on

permits being

issued by the

City. (S~e.

(~~Herrinv~

Illinois_Environmental

Pr~gc~~onAenc,

PCB 83—161, May

18, 1984).

The Complaint in

the

present enforcement action in

PCB

84—52

states that the City of

Herrin~s

variance petition requesting

authorization for the construction of the proposed sewer extension

sorrrncj he homes in the

Duncan

First Home Addition

had not

been

approved by November 16,

1983

(i.e., the date of the Agency’s

inspection wherein the inspector found construction already in

progresci nor had it been approved by April 26, 1984 (i.e., the

iirrg date of the Complaint in PCB 84—52). (See: Paragraph 10

cn page 3 of the Complaint in PCB 84—52).

On page four

of

the Stipulation and Proposal for

Settlement

~n the present case (PCB 84—52), the Agency has

stated that “the

v~riancepetition by the City for the sewer extension involved in

~ei~

anforcement action had not been disposed as of

the date

of

uciiission of this Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement, The

Igeney has filed a Recommendation approving issuance

of the

var~a1Lce.~* (Stip. 4).

*

She earliest signature date

on

page five of the Stipulation

rs May 22, 1984

and the Agency was

apparently unaware of the

hoard~s i4ay

18, 1984 action in PCB 83—161.

---

Thc. ~roposed settlement agreement pxo’ridcs that

the City of

Herrir

admits the violations as charged in the Complaint

in that

it

did beg~nconstruction of the sewer ext :nslon for the

Duncan

First

Home

Addition without first receiving a

variance authorizing

that couscructiori in violation of 35 IlL Adw. Code

309.202 and

Secticn I2(c~ of the Act, The Respondent agrees to:

(1) cease

and

desith from turther violations with respect to

sewer extensions;

(2) r~cowmence construction of this sewer extension

only after

recei’iiq

~.

variance from the Board authorizing such

construction,

and ~)

pa2 a stipulated penalty of $50C 00

(Stip. 4—5),

r

eval lating this enforcement actior and proposed settlement

agreeec~ the Board has taken into conrlderation

all the

facts

and circumstances in light of the specific criteria delineated in

Section th(~, of the Act and finds the cethlerrent agreement

acceptacle under 35 Ill. Mm. Code 103.180.

h’ccrdingly, the Board finds that the Respondent, the City

of Herrin, has

violated 35

Ill. Adm. Code 309.202 and Section 12(c)

of the Illinois

Environmental Protection

Act. The

City of Herrin

will be ordered to cease and desist from further violations and

to pa~

the stipulated penalty of $500.00.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and

conel’

sions of

law in this matter.

It is the Order of the Illinois Pol utror Control Board

~.

The Respondent, the City of Herriir,

has violated

35

Ill. Adm. Code 309.202

and Section

12(c) of the

Illinois Environmental Protection Act,

2.

The Respondent shall cease and desist

violations,

3

Within 45 days of the date of this Order,

the

Respondent shall, by certified check

or money order

payable to

the State of

Illinois, pay

the

stipulated

penalty of

$500.00 which

is to be sent

to:

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Fiscal Services Division

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield,

Illinois 627u6

4.

Tie Respondent shall comply with all the

terms

and

conditions of the Stipulation ar~5 Proposal

for

59~434

---

—5—

Settlement filed on August 1, 1984, which is incor-

porated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

IT IS

SO ORDERED,

J.

Theodore Meyer dissented.

I, Dorothy

M.

Gunn,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board hereby~prtify that the above Opinion and Order was adopted

on the

~ day of

~

1984

by a

vote of ~j.

—

,

Dorothy M unn, Clerk