ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August
11,
1994
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
PETITION OF THE RHONE-POULENC BASIN
)
AS 94-7
CHEMICAL
COMPANY, THORN CREEK
)
(Adjusted Standard)
BASIN
SANITARY
DISTRICT FOR AN
)
ADJUSTED
STANDARD
FROM 35 ILL. ADM.
)
CODE 302.201
AND
304.105
)
SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by R. C.
Fleinal):
This matter comes before the Board on a July 27,
1994 joint
motion for reconsideration filed by Rhône-Poulenc Basic Chemicals
Company (Rhône-Poulenc), Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District
(TCBSD), and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
(collectively, “the parties”).
The parties request the
Board reconsider its June 23,
1994 order in this matter,
particularly concerning the introductory paragraph of the order.
The Board today grants reconsideration and modifies its order as
discussed below.
In granting the adjusted standard, the Board provided relief
to Rhône-Poulenc and TCBSD only from Section 304.105 and not from
the water quality limits for TDS and sulfates set forth in 35
Ill.
Adin.
Code 302.208.
The parties are correct that the Board’s
stated purpose for structuring the relief in that manner was to
limit the relief to TCBSD and Rhône-Poulenc, that is, other
dischargers would be required to meet the generally applicable
TDS and sulfate standards.
The parties agree that this purpose
is appropriate, and do not believe that limiting the relief in
this manner should cause federal concerns in that the relief
is
more limited than it would have been had the requested relief
been granted as proposed.
(Motion at 1.)
The parties are also correct that the Board also stated
that it did not intend the relief granted to be more limiting
upon TCBSD and Rhône-Poulenc than the relief requested, and that
“TCBSD would have an exception to causing or contributing to
water quality violations up to the concentration limits
proposed.”
(opinion and order at 18-19.)
The parties explain
that the language of the order could be read in a manner that is
more limiting than what was stated by the Board in the above
quoted portion of the opinion.
The Board’s order states that
Section 304.105 “does not apply to discharges from TCBSD’s
wastewater treatment plant
*
*
*
for TDS or sulfate instreain
concentrations that are less than or equal to” certain specified
limits.
(opinion and order at 22.)
The parties propose that
read literally,
if a discharger other than TCBSD or Rhône-Poulenc
were to cause instreain concentrations of TDS or sulfates to
exceed the specified limits, the relief granted to TCBSD and
—2—
Rhône—Poulenc would cease, and TCBSD or Rhône—Poulenc could be
enforced against for causing or contributing to the violation of
the generally applicable water quality standards.
The parties
maintain that this inconsistency could be remedied, while
retaining the Board’s purpose in limiting the relief to TCBSD and
Rhône—Poulenc, by amending the second sentence of the Board’s
order as follows:
Pursuant to this grant,
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 304.105 does
not apply to discharges from TCBSD’s water treatment
plant located at mile 10.1 of Thorn Creek as regards
total dissolved solids
(TDS)
or sulfate provided that
TCBSD’s discharges do not cause or contribute to TDS or
sulfate instream concentrations which are greater than:
(the specified limits.
The Board agrees that the language suggested by the parties
would effectuate the intent of the June 23,
1994 opinion and
order and eliminate the problem concerning the scope of relief as
expressed by the parties.
Therefore,
the Board grants the
parties’ request and modifies the June 23,
1994 order as
recommended by the parties as follows:
ORDER
The Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District
(TCBSD) and Rhône-
Poulenc Basic Chemicals Company
(Rhône—Poulenc)
are hereby
granted a partial adjusted standard from 35
Ill.
Adm. Code
304.105.
Pursuant to this grant,
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 304.105 does
not apply to discharges from TCBSD’s wastewater treatment plant
located at mile 10.1 of Thorn Creek as regards total dissolved
solids
(TDS)
or sulfate provided that TCBSD’s discharges do not
cause or contribute to TDS or sulfate instream concentrations
that are greater than:
2,100 mg/L for TDS and 1,000 mg/L for sulfate
in Thorn Creek from the TCBSD wastewater
treatment plant discharge to the U.S.
Geological
(USGS)
Survey Gaging Station
05536275.
1,900 xng/L for TDS and 850 mg/L for sulfate
in Thorn Creek from the USGS Gauging Station
05536275 to Thorn Creek’s confluence with the
Little Calumet River.
1,700 mg/L for TDS and 750 xng/L for sulfate
in the Little Calumet River from Thorn Creek
to the Cal—sag Channel.
This grant of adjusted standard is contingent upon each of the
following conditions being met:
—3—
1.
The adjusted standard
is effective upon the
commencement of operation of the silica production
facility proposed by Rhône-Poulenc.
Rhône-Poulenc
shall provide the Agency notice of its decision to
construct the silica production facility, and shall
provide an expected timetable for completing
construction of the silica facility to the Agency, as
soon as this information is available to Rhône—Poulenc.
Further, Rhône-Poulenc shall provide the Agency with
notice of any production process changes or similar
changes that eliminate the need for continued relief as
soon as this information is available to Rhône—Poulenc.
2.
The adjusted standard terminates in the event that
production process changes or other similar changes
occur that eliminate the need for continued adjusted
standard relief.
Relief will terminate upon filing of
any such notice with the Board.
3.
Until the monthly load limits described in condition 4,
below,
become effective,
TDS discharges and sulfate
discharges from Rhône-Poulenc’s production facility may
not exceed,
on a monthly average basis,
91,800 pounds
per day (lbs/day)
and 62,100 lbs/day, respectively.
4.
Rhône—Poulenc shall monitor its TDS and sulfate
discharges to TCBSD seven days a week the first three
years of operation of its silica production facility,
and shall submit this information to the Agency at the
end of the first three years of discharge from its
silica production facility.
At the discretion of the
Agency, the recording of conductivity may satisfy this
requirement two
(2)
days per week,
if Rhône—Poulenc can
document the relationship between TDS and conductivity
and sulfate and conductivity.
The Agency shall
determine daily maximum lOad limits and adjust monthly
average load limits
for TDS and sulfate using the
method described in the Agency’s response to the
adjusted standard petition of Rhône-Poulenc and TCBSD
filed in AS 94-7.
The Agency shall notify Rhône-
Poulenc and TCBSD of these limits in writing.
In
addition to the load limits described in paragraph
3 of
this adjusted standard, Rhône—Poulenc shall not exceed
these daily maximum and monthly average load limits for
TDS and sulfate once determined by the Agency.
5.
Rhône—Poulenc and TCBSD shall perform
a
Macroinvertebrate Biotic Index
(MEl)
survey of Thorn
Creek prior to RhOne-Poulenc discharging from its
silica production facility to TCBSD.
A second MEl
survey shall be conducted twelve to twenty—four months
after Rhône-Poulenc begins to discharge from its
expanded facility.
The second survey shall
be
—4—
performed during the same month of the year as the
first survey and use the same sampling locations as in
the first survey so that a before—discharge and after-
discharge comparison can be made of Thorn Creek.
The
results of these surveys must be submitted to the
Agency within sixty (60) days of their completion.
6.
Rhône-Poulenc shall obtain all required permits from
the Agency prior to the start of operation of its
silica production facility,
including an Agency permit
for the sewer connection of the silica production
facility to TCBSD.
The Agency shall revise TCBSD’s
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
(NPDES)
permit consistent with this adjusted standard,
including such load limits and monitoring requirements
as are required by this adjusted standard.
Rhóne-
Poulenc and TCBSD shall perform all monitoring
requirements for the discharge of TDS and sulfate, and
monitoring of the water quality in Thorn Creek and the
Little Calumet River,
as may be required pursuant to
TCBSD’s NPDES permit.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act
(415 ILCS
5/41
(1992) provides for the appeal of final Board orders within
35 days of the date of service of this order.
The Rules of the
Supreme Court of Illinois establish filing requirements.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above supplemej~talopinion and
order was adopted on the
//~
day of
_____________________
1994,
by a vote of
~.
—C
.
A~~____
Dorothy M. ~4in, Clerk
Illinois PoilYution Control Board