ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June 27, 1985

CtTY OF, MOUNT OLIVE,

)

)

Petitioner,

(‘CS 85—24

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECT ION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

)

OPINION AND ORDER OF TEE BOARD (by 7. Theodore Meyer):

This matter comes before the Board on a February 25, 1985

variance petition filed by the City of Mount Olive (Mount

Olive). The petition was amended pursuant to Board Order (March

7, 1985) and filed on April 8, 1985. The City requests a

variance commencing on May 1, 1985 and terminating on October 24,

1995 from the requirements of 35 Ill. Ada. Code 304.120

(deoxygenating wastes), 302.203 (sludge), 302.206 (dissolved

oxygen) and 304.141 (NPDES effluent standards). The Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) filed its recommendation

on May 8, 1985 that the variance be granted subject to

conditions. Hearing was waived and none was held.

The City of Mount Olive is located in Macoupin County,

Illinois. It currently owns a wastewater treatment plant which

is the subject of this petition known as the North Plant. This

plant consists of a coarse bar screen, Spirahoff tank, trickling

filter, peripheral feed final settling tank and sludge irying

beds. Discharge, sequentially is to an unnamed tributary of

Sugar Creek, Sugar Creek and Cahokia Creek.

Mount Olive currently operates its treatment plant under an

NPDES permit issued on June 30, 1977. The permit expired on

March 31, 1982 but remains in effect by operation of law. The

permit was apparently issued by USEPA pursuant to an Enforcement

Compliance Schedule Letter (ECSL) which set interim effluent

li’uitatiops of 70 mg/l for biochemical oxygen demand (SOD) and 50

mg/i for total suspended solids (TSS).

The primary portion of the plant was built in 1922 and the

secon3ary in 1960. The design average flow is 0.27 million

gallons per day (MGD). The plant has been on Restricted Status

since 1967. However, Mount Olive i3 currently upgrading the

treatment facilities. Under the Village’s plan, a second plant

(the South Plant) will be abandons and the North Plant will be

upgraded and expanded. A new Imho!f tank, final clarifier and

excess flow facilities will be constructed. The trickling filter

64-483

---

—2-

will be gutted ocad

&

new distcz~u

OL IC.

i

za installed.

&ccording to

9s

ajency,

ic.

is thirit, ~

~,

!~~3~ improvements

to the tricklin~f ~.arttcn. ‘ttluan’

~.. - .

4tiona are expected

to degrade bcn’~ t’.’ azit w’a. ~e t~cr.

...

f earvice and no

backup or rap~sc.u’nt ‘flits a:~ n-cn’3Jae. PPte trickling

filter is e’qe’t~1t ‘e 0

t

of “ani,c f’s

•‘

noztsately 45 days

(Pet. at pat. 3) Th. City, ho~c.v.’, ~..4a

...J

,driance from May

1, 1985 to O,,c~aer24, 1985 a appt x~nte~3 iao’kths

(ti

Pet.

at par. 4).

section 304.120(c) requiras

~1r~

C,.

u.

vn”i

dil1at on

ratios of tr,ts

r’,~

tUe tc.

.. .‘j

-

the mg/i

BOD and 12 ‘tey/l .“3 enz. ..icj r

.~i

stations of

150 mg/l SOD and 3 ~w,/1Is-

‘a”

. .

atate3 tnat

the variance is only ‘n~eseiryfur

,-a’

nod that the

trickling filter is to as out

oL

ee’i.

•

~ ..stj is requesting

a variance for ap~roxi’aate1y6 mcntr ‘r ‘.‘~acepetition and

amended petition coitain little inf.v~,

‘

~.t

tha question of

hardship. The Agency states that coq

‘...

sc. wauld be technically

feasible by installing temporary facit.’..a thi~ang the period of

construction. Thus, the nature of tie Litf 3 :arjship claim is

apparently financial although no ~cr ‘tt

•

~ for such

facilities was provided. Although th~nnwy •nclines to discuss

economic hardship because financial infocaati,n is lacking, it

points out that to require installatin .~f teaporary facilities

might delay completion of the entire project. It is noted that

the City would waste time and money in an effort to maintain the

limits in its expired permit instead of rerhing a 10/12 BOD/TSS

limitation, as required for the completed plant, more quickly.

The Agency con~endsthat such a result makes little sense from a

practical standçoint.

The City also provides little infone~c concerning any

adverse environmental impact on the tt~ei

t

~ t~asm. It

contends that any impact should be ‘msnimtl c.ecause the

trickling filter is scheduled f~rremovas

aP~’q

~he warmer

periods of summer have passed, thereby r’tzri’t,g the possibility

of sudden oxygen depletion in the stream’. Tat Agen:y has

provided data demonstrating that C”ahok’..a rrsfl downstream of Mt.

Olive is very high in TSS but attribut°ethis “wtncipally to non—

point sources. Elevated aionia levels in th- creek ‘may also be

due to agricultural runoff’ according to tha ~iency (Rec. at par.

13). The Agency also states that ac’cordinj

c’

~nformation

current in 1979, Cahokia Creek downstream fc’m 3ugar Creek is

used as source water by two public water sapV~as. Thus, to

mitigate the effect of removing the tn xli* tiltet, the Agency

recommends that all units, including ch’’..t;.cicn, be on line

prior to removal of the filter from servsc~ The Agency feels

that by assuming reasonable removal rate3 t

-

JOD and TSS without

the trickling filter, an effluent with lSi) a;,l BOD and 70 mg/l

TSS can be achieved by the City. The Agc.h~y“3ncludes that the

short time period, as well as the dats J’tai’-’te that ary adverse

environmental imptct would be minima.

64-484

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—3—

The Boar I concurs with the Agency that Mt Olive’s efforts

to come into compliance with the regulitioni should be encouraged

and expedited and finds that to prolong ultsnat3 compliance would

impose an arbitrary or unreaaonable tariship. However, because

the City has provided little or no informatisn concerning

economic hardship or environmental irpa~tthe Board will not

grant variance fot the requested tam. The b3ard will grant

variance for the 6-8 weeks that the tn-tim) filter is out of

service given that 150/70 BOD/TSS is to t~acn.eved. The Board

finds that any environmental impact ~,ilLht minimal for this

short period at these levels. Accordin”

i

v zar~e is

“

eby

granted from Srtions 304.120, 304.. 4a

.

.e)3

and

206,

subject to conditions.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fa and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

The City of Mt. Olive is hereby granted variance from 35

Ill. Adm. Code 304.120, 304.141(a), 302.203 rd 302.206, subject

to the following conditions:

1. variance shall commence when flows are diverted

from the trickling filter prior to its renovation.

2. Variance shall terminate on October 24, 1985, or

two weeks after the trickling filter is returned to

service, whichever occurs first.

3. Petitioner shall meet effluent limits of 150 mg/i

BOD and 70 mg/i TSS based U? n a mu thly average.

4. Petitioner shall monitc’r its effluent by taking

composite samples once each weak during tne period of

the variance. The samples shall be analyzed for the

parameters listed in Petitioner’s NPDES permit (flow,

BOD, TSS, fecal coliform, pH). The influent shall also

be monitored at the same frequency as t’te effluent.

5. Petitioner shall collect grab aamples from Sugar

Creek at the Rt. 138 bridge every two (2) weeks and

analyze them for Dissolved Oxjgen.

6. Pettioner shall notifi thc Agan’~jJhet the

trickling filter has been removed from service and when

it has been returned to service. Telephone

notification of these actions shall be made within one

(1) hour of their occurrence to Sandy Sr1t of the

Agency’s Field Operations Section (2 ,736—6892).

Within five (5) days written notificatin shall be sent

to the Agency.

64485

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—4—

7. Any changes in the construction schedule shall be

made by written notification to the Agency within five

(5) days of Petitioner or its agents becoming aware of

them. These notifications shall include the nature of

the change, the reasons for it, and whether such change

will or may cause the trickling filter start—up to be

delayed beyond October 11, 1985.

8. All sample results required by this variance shall

be submitted

to the

Agency within ten

(1) days after

the end

of each month.

9. All written notifications, including sample

results, shall be sent to:

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Divsion of Water Pollution Control

Compliance Assurance Section

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield, Illinois 62706

Attention: Jim Frost

10. Prior to the trickling filter being removed from

service all other units, including but not limited to

the new Imhoff tank, new secondary clarifier,

chlorination system, excess flow pumps and excess flow

facilities, shall be on—line and operational.

11. Petitioner shall submit, within 45 days of the

date of this Order, the certification and acceptance

form contained below to the address listed in paragraph

9 above. This 45 day period shall be held in abeyance

during any time during which this Order is under

appeal.

CERTI flCATION

I, (We)

hereby accept and agree to be bound by all terms and

conditions of the Order of the Pollution Control Board in

PCB 85—24, June 27, 1985.

Petitioner

Authorized Agent

Title

Date

64486

---

IT IS SO ORDERED~

I, Dorothy M~Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board,

hereby certify that the above Qpinion and Order was

adopted on

the

~

day of

_________________,

1985, by a

vote of

/1

D~rothyM~C~rn, Clerk

Illinois Poliution Control Board

64-487