ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July 11,

1985

CITY OF SYCAMORE,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 83—172

ILLU~OISENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTtON AGENCY

Respondent.

~SSEMT1NG

OPINION (by Messrs J.D. Dumelle and Walter Nega):

Our dissent

is based upon the belief that it would have bne~

better

to have put the City of Sycamore under

a variance with

tight conditions

and a performance bond

than to deny

the v~rianc~-~

as the majority has done.

Sycamore spent large sums of money

for sewer

improvements.

Lvidently these improvements have not worked

and litigation

is

ongoing.

it

is somewhat understandable

that there have been some

delays

in curing

the basement flooding problem.

A construction

defect might exist

that

is easily rectified, such

as

a blockage.

The crux

9f

the problem is determining how to qu.ickl~j

prevent flooded basements with their attendant hazards of

electrocution, drowning, waterborne disease, and property damage.

We would have done

the following;

a)

Granted variance for

the sewer bypass until August

1,

1986.

b)

Required that manhole

covers subject to surface

flooding

(as

determined by IEPA)

be replaced with watertight

covers by October

1, 1985.

Note that the record speaks

of live fish in the streets which

is proof of overbank

stream flooding

(R 124—5).

C)

Infiltration and

inflow studies on private property shall

be done by October

1985.

Smoke testing

to determine roo~E

downspouts connected

to the sanitary sewer system c.~nbe

quickly done using

readily available summer

help.

d)

All roof downspouts

found connected

to the sanitary

sewer

system shall

be disconnected by December

1,

1985.

This

involves simple sheet metal work and installation of

an

elbow and

a splash block.

65-19

---

e)

A performance bond of $10,000 shall

be required

to

guarantee completion of items

“b”,

“C”,

and

“d”

above

by the

dates

shown.

Sycamore would have had the opportunity to accept or reject

these variance conditions above.

If

it rejected them then the

citizens would know that these simple,

inexpensive,

and positive

steps were not being taken and they could demand action.

aco6i5

Dumelle,

P

.

E.

~

~

Chairman

Board Member

I, Dorothy M.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify that the above Dissenting Opinion was filed

on the /~L day of

~

,

1985.

/1

11

/7

~

~

____

Dorothy M/ Gunn, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

65-20