ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
6,
1983
CITY OF FARMINGTON,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 83—63
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by J. Anderson):
This matter comes before the Board on the petition for
variance of the City of Farrnington
(City),
filed May 5,
1983 as
amended May 24 and July 18,
1983.
The City seeks variance from
the prohibition against sanitary sewer overflows of 35 Ill.
Adm.
Code 306.103(b),
in order to construct temporary bypasses in
its sewer system
to facilitate measurement of wet weather flows.
On August 12,
1983 the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
filed its Recommendation that variance be granted until
July 1,
1984,
subject to conditions.
Hearing was waived and
none has been held.
The City of Farmington,
Fulton County, has
a population of
about 3000 and operates
a sanitary sewer system serving about
1,100 users.
The sewer system is tributary to the Farmington
Sanitary District’s sewage treatment plant
(STP).
The sewer system suffers from severe overloading during wet
weather, apparently due to excess infiltration and/or inflow.
If
the groundwater table
is high, as in the spring,
a
1
3/4 inch
rainfall in 12 hours will result in back—ups in about 100 base-
ments, and sewer overflows at about
10 manholes.
Rainfalls of
this intensity occur on an average of once a year.
The City and Farmington Sanitary District has recently (late
1970s)
completed STP construction and sewer system rehabilitation
and construction under a State grant.
STP construction consisted
of a two cell
lagoon system followed by intermittent sand filters
and chlorination and terminal
lift station and forcemain
(a per—
mitted bypass exists upstream of the lift station).
Sewer system
54-159
2
rehabilitation and construction consisted of plugging three sewer
cleanouts, disconnecting three storm sewer
inlets, constructing
400 feet of 8—inch sewer to replace
a 4—inch sewer, replacing
seventy-two open-type manhole lids with watertight manhole frames,
and grouting the interior of seventeen brick manholes.
In addi-
tion, approximately 1,671
feet of 8—inch replacement sewers were
installed that were not grant eligible.
Even with this sewer
system rehabilitation and construction, excessive flows still
exist.
On February
9,
1982, the Agency awarded Petitioner a Step
1
State grant
in the amount of $52,500 for,
in part,
the preparation
of
an SSES
(no SSES was prepared under the previous grant
discussed above).
The purpose of this grant is to address the
problems
of basement backups
and
manhole overflows.
(This project
presently does not have priority to receive Step
2 and
3 funds
and future funding is “questionable”, according to the Agency).
As part of the SSES, the City plans
to conduct a flow
monitoring study.
However,
it feels that accurate flow data
cannot be obtained as long as unmeasurable amounts back up into
basements and overflow manholes.
In order to obtain a means to
measure this flow,
the City proposes to install three bypasses to
eliminate basement backups and manhole overflows.
Bypass
1 will discharge to a tributary of Kickapoo Creek,
a
tributary to the Illinois River, while Bypass
2 and Bypass
3 will
discharge
to a tributary of Littlers Creek,
a tributary to the
Spoon River, and thence to the Illinois River.
Both Kickapoo and
Littlers Creek,
in the vicinity of Farmington,
are considered to
have
a 7—day,
10—year low flow of zero.
These creeks could be
adversely affected by the discharges
of deoxygenating wastes and
sewage related solids.
However, these effects will he somewhat
minimized by the fact that discharging will only occur during wet
weather.
The City asserts that there is no practical alternative to
the bypass method proposed if
it
is to gather the accurate data
needed for its SSES.
The use of pumps
or other mechanical methods
at manhole discharge points
is believed not feasible due to their
cost and inaccuracy,
and would not address the problem of
measuring basement backups.
The Agency notes that the bypasses the City proposes are
actually not new.
Petitioner presently has an unpermitted 24-
inch high level overflow pipe at Bypass
1.
(However, the Agency
believes some adjustment to the elevation of the pipe might be
necessary
in order to provide relief from basement backups and
manhole overflows.)
Furthermore, during wet weather, the City
pumps from various manholes to relieve basement backups, which
the Agency thinks probably involves Bypass
2 and Bypass
3.
54-160
Notwithstanding these infractions of the bypassing
prohibition, the Agency recommends that variance be granted until
July
1,
1984,
the flow monitoring completion date contained in
the petition.
The Agency suggests that denial
of variance could
affect the SSES and eventual sewer system rehabilitation which
could have
long term effects through the continuation of basement
backups and manhole overflows if not properly planned at the
beginning.
On the other hand grant of variance should have only
a
short term impact on the receiving stream and should actually
solve the basement backup problem during the period of the flow
monitoring study.
Conditions suggested include a study to determine the proper
elevation of bypasses, and a requirement
that bypasses he pluqged
once the study is completed.
The Board
finds that denial
of variance would
impose an
arbitrary or unreasonable hardship,
as the variance relief
suggested does appear
to be the only mechanism for collection of
data necessary to solve a severe environmental problem.
Variance
I~rom35
Ill. Mm.
Code 306.103(b) will be granted until July 1,
1984, with conditions similar to those recommended by
the
Agency.*
The Board notes, however,
that there has been considerable
slippage
in the timetable suggested by the City in May.
Should
the variance term need extension for data collection purposes,
the City is invited to bring this matter
to
the Board’s attention
during the 35 day period for reconsideration of this Opinion and
Order.
—
*The Board agrees with
the
Agency’s comment that,
should the
City wish
at a later time to extend the variance beyond the data
collection period to allow
for continued relief from the basement
back-up and manhole overflow problems, a compliance plan
discussing private, non—grant funding for sewer improvements would
he
necessary if grant funding remains “questionable”.
0RDEP~
1.
Petitioner, the City of Farmington is hereby granted
variance from 35
Ill. Mm. Code 306.103(b),
subject to the
following conditions:
a)
This variance authorizes only installation and
use of the
3 bypasses described
in Exhibit
A to the May
5,
1983 variance petition.
54-161
4
b)
This variance shall expire on July
1,
1984 or upon
completion of the flow monitoring
study, whichever occurs
first.
The three bypasses will then either he removed or
permanently sealed,
if no further variance has been applied
for by the City and granted by the Board.
C)
Petitioner shall determine the elevation of
sewage at each of the three bypasses when basement backups
of manhole overflow occur and shall develop plans to install
the bypass no more than
6 inches below this elevation.
The
plan and any necessary
permit
applications shall
be submitted
to the Agency for its approval.
d)
Petitioner shall monitor and
report
to the Agency
monthly the date(s) of each bypass event, quantity of waste-
water bypassed, and weather conditions that caused the bypass.
2.
Within thirty
(30)
days of the date of this Order,
Petitioner shall execute and forward to Steven
M.
Spiegel,
Attorney Advisor, Enforcement Programs, the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield, Illinois
62706,
a Certificate of Acceptance and Agreement to be hound to
all terms and conditions of this variance.
This thirty
(30) day
period shall
be held in abeyance for any period this matter
is
being appealed.
The form of the certificate
shall he as follows~
CERTIFICATE
I,
(We),
___
,
having read
the
Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board in PCB 83—63
dated
____________—~____
,
understand and accept the
said Order,
realizing that such acceptance renders all terms and
conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Board Chairman J.D. Dumelie
concurred.
54-162
5
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk
of
the
Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby Lcertify
that
the above Opinion and Order
was adopted pn the
(~
day o~
~
1983 by
a vote of
~/-Q
‘I
____________-
/
_____
Christan
L. Mo~t~t,Clerk
Illinois Poilutioii Control Board
c4~~1
~:~q