ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September
3,
1992
AMOCO
OIL
COMPANY,
)
(Creve
Coeur
Terminal),
Petitioner,
)
)
v.
)
PCB
91—10
)
(Variance)
ILLINOIS
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
JAMES
D. PICKETT APPEARED ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER;
CHARLES M.
FEINEN APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by R.C. Flemal):
This matter comes before the Board on the January 18,
1991
filing by petitioner, Amoco Oil Company (“Amoco”),
of a petition
for variance (“Pet.”).
Amoco seeks variance from the dissolved
iron standard of
35
111.
Adm. Code 302.208(e)
and from the water
quality standard contained in 35
Ill.
Adm. Code 302.203
concerning unnatural color or turbidity caused by iron
coloration.
From early 1991 into 1992 Amoco and the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”) held consultations
regarding the manner in which the subject matter of this variance
request might be best handled.
Pursuant thereto, on June 10,
1992,
the Agency filed a variance recommendation
(“Rec.”)
recommending that variance be granted subject to the condition
that Amoco follow a compliance schedule as submitted with the
Agency’s recommendation.
Hearing was held July 29,
1992 in Pekin,
Illinois.
Amoco
noted its acceptance of the conditions recommended by the Agency
(Tr.
at 5); no testimonywas given and no members of the public
attended the hearing.
As presented below, the Board finds that Amoco has met its
burden of demonstrating that denial of variance would impose an
arbitrary or unreasonable hardship.
Accordingly, the variance
request is granted.
BACKGROUND
Amoco
owns
and
operates
a
terminal
for
the
storage
and
distribution of petroleum products in Creve Coeur,
Illinois.
The
terminal
is located on approximately 15.2 acres in an industrial
OI35-O~87
—2—
area approximately one—quarter mile east of the Illinois River.
Lux Creek,
a small,
1.35 square mile tributary of the Illinois
River, flows through and adjacent to the terminal;
it is an
intermittent stream.
(Pet.
at 3.)
Since approximately 1989, Amoco has been involved in the
construction of a series of groundwater monitoring wells and a
groundwater recovery system, the purpose of which is to clean up
subsurface contamination caused by petroleum products.
(Pet. at
3.)
The recovered groundwater is treated to remove the petroleum
constituents, and the treated groundwater is discharged to Lux
Creek through two permitted outfalls.
The treated groundwater contains iron.
The regulations of
the Board at 35
Ill. Adm. Code 302.208(e)
provide, in pertinent
part, that except for waters within which mixing is allowed,
in-
stream concentrations of dissolved iron may not exceed 1.0 mg/l1.
Mixing
is not allowed in Lux Creek,
because it is an intermittent
stream.
(See 35 Iii.
Adm. Code 302.102.)
Additionally, the regulations of the Board at
35 Ill.
Adm.
Code 302.203 provide,
in pertinent part,
that Waters
of. the State
must be free of color and turbidity of other than natural origin.
Presently,
visible color has been noted by Agency personnel in
downstream Lux Creek.
(Rec.
at
¶
2.)
The Agency speculates,
reasonably,
that the color
is due to post—discharge oxidation of
dissolved iron contained in the treated groundwater.
Amoco and the Agency agree that this matter be addressed by
relocating the discharges to the Illinois River.
The Illinois
River is not subject to the same mixing limitation as
is Lux
Creek.
However, the Agency notes that whether visible color will
result in the Illinois is speculative
(Rec.
at
¶
2), and that
determination whether there would be any violation resulting from
the discharge into the Illinois River is premature
(Rec. at
¶
3).
The requested variance
is for the time required to construct
the Illinois River outfall.
The Agency and Amoco have agreed
upon a compliance schedule that would have the project completed
by October
1,
1992.
(Rec. at
¶
8.)
HARDSHIP
The Agency asserts that there will be minimal environmental
impact or no impact at all to Lux Creek during the period of the
variance.
(Rec.
at
¶
20.)
The Agency observes that actual
1
Concentration of dissolved iron in the two permitted
effluents is variable, as reported: 0.02
mg/i to 4.0 mg/i in one
of the discharges
(Rec.
at Exh.
B)
and 0.04 mg/i to 1.6 mg/i in
the second
(Rec. at Exh.
C).
O135-O~488
—3—
exceedences of the 10 mg/i dissolved iron standard in Lux Creek
have been few, and that during the short term of the variance
there
is a chance that the discharges will not even exceed the
1.0 mg/i standard.
(Rec.
at
¶
17.)
Moreover, the Agency asserts
that the time required to install iron removal equipment would be
longer than that required to relocate the outfalls, thus allowing
for greater potential harm to be done to Lux Creek.
(Rec. at
¶
20.
For these reasons the Agency contends that denial of the
requested variance would constitute an arbitrary or unreasonable
hardship.
CONCLUSION
Based upon the record before
it, the Board finds that
immediate compliance with the regulations at issue would impose
an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on Amoco.
The requested
variance accordingly wiii be granted, subject to the conditions
recommended by the Agency and acceded to by Amoco.
This opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
Petitioner,
Amoco Oil Company,
is hereby granted variance
from 35
Iii. Adm. Code 302.203 and 302.208(e),
as these pertain
to dissolved iron, color,
and turbidity,
for the discharges at
its Creve Coeur terminal to Lux Creek pursuant to NPDES Permit
No. 1L0004880 and No.
IL0067563,
subject to the following
conditions:
(1)
This variance shall terminate on October
1,
1992.
(2)
During the term of this variance the concentration of
total iron from either of the two discharges shall not
exceed 10 mg/l daily maximum and 7 mg/l monthly average.
(3)
Petitioner shall follow the agreed—upon compliance
schedule ac attaohcd to the Agency Recommendation of Juno
10,
1992 and incorporated by reference a~through fully oct
forth hercin, and complete the project by October
1,
1992.
(4)
Petitioner shall apply for and receive any applicable
permits from the Agency~prior to beginning construction.
(5)
Petitioner shall report to the Peoria Regional Office
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency by phone
when the various stages of the compliance schedule are
started and completed.
A written confirmation of
t~
0135-OL&89
—4—
notification shah
be sent to the foliowing address within
five
(5) days thereafter:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Water Pollution Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200 Churchill Road
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield
IL
62794—9276
Attn:
Roger Cailaway
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, Petitioner shah
execute and forward to Charles Feinen, Division of Legal Counsel,
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill Road,
Post Office Box 19276,
Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276,
a
Certification of Acceptance and Agreement to be bound to all
terms and conditions of this variance.
The 45-day period shall
be held in abeyance during any period that this matter is being
appealed.
Failure to execute and forward the Certificate within
45 days renders this variance void and of no force and effect as
a shield against enforcement of rules from which variance was
granted.
The form of said Certification shall be as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I
(We),
hereby accept and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions
of the order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 91-10,
September 3,
1992.
Petitioner
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
Section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act,
Ill. Rev.
Stat.
1991,
ch.
111½, par.
1041,
provides for appeal of final
orders of the Board within 35 days.
The Rules of the Supreme
Court of Illinois establish filing requirements.
(But see also
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 101.246, Motions for Reconsideration,
and
Castenada
V.
Illinois Human
Ricihts Commission
(1989),
132 111.2
304, 547 N.E.2d 437.)
IT IS SO ORDERED.
•QI35~O~9O
—5—
I, Dorothy M.
Gunn, Clerk of the lilinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above opinion and order was
adopted on the
3-L~
day of
___________________,
1992,
by
avoteof
_________.
.
Ill
Control Board
Ut
3b-OL~91