ILLINOIS POLI~UTIONCONTROL BOARD
October
4,
1979
CITY OF WINDSOR,
Petitioner,
V.
)
PCB 79—130
)
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Dr.
Satchell):
This matter comes before the Board upon a motion filed
September 20, 1979 by the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency).
The motion seeks reconsideration of the Board’s Order of August 23,
1979 in which the City of Windsor was granted a conditional
variance
from
the
water
quality
standards
for
dissolved
oxygen
contained
in
Rules
203(d)
and
402
of
Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution.
That Order was entered on
a petition and Agency recommendation
after the Petitioner waived a hearing.
The recommendation was to
grant the variance subject to conditions.
One of these conditions
was that Petitioner sample the water quality of the receiving
stream at two points downstream.
The variance of August 23, 1979
was not conditioned upon this sampling program.
Petitioner discharges treated municipal wastewater into an
intermittent stream which is tributary to Sandy Creek three to
four and one half miles upstream of Lake Shelbyville.
In its
Step I, Facilities Plan,
Petitioner has advanced three alternative
control plans.
One of these would involve pumping 13,000 feet
into an alternative basin to avoid discharging into Lake Shelby-
ville.
The Agency’s recommendation asked that the variance be
conditioned on Petitioner taking samples from the stream where
Sandy Creek joins the lake and midway between that point and the
discharge.
The Agency asked
for sampling of ammonia nitrogen, BOD
and pH and measurement of velocity and flow rate in Sandy Creek
and feeder streams daily for two seven day periods each summer.
Dissolved oxygen was to be sampled each hour or every other hour
from 8:00 a.m.
to 8:00 p.m. during these periods.
Monitoring of discharges can be an essential part of sewage
treatment and the cost is properly born by the users.
The Board
has ordered similar monitoring programs for larger facilities
(City of Marion
v. EPA,
33 PCB 595).
However,
the City of Windsor
~S—475
—2—
with
a population of 1126 probably does not have the resources
to conduct the monitoring program requested by the Agency.
It
is likely that windsor would be forced to employ an outside
consultant.
Windsor’s average discharge of 150,000 GPD at the
10 mg/i BOD set by the variance should not have any effect three
miles downstream.
If the Agency doubts
this, it has the personnel
and facilities to undertake the monitoring itself.
The Board will
not require a small community to undertake
an extensive monitoring
program of partially treated waste where there is only a remote
chance of environmental harm.
The motion to reconsider is denied.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Noffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control B,oard, hereby cer
f
the above Order was adodpted
on the
i.j’N
day of
____________,
1979 by a vote of
______
QkanL.ó40
Illinois Pollution
ontrol Board
35—476