ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

November

11,

1971

MT.

CARMEL PUBLIC UTILITY

v.

)

PCB 71—15R

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Messrs.

Albert A.

Scriber, Albert A.

~arnhard,

and Leonard M.

Koger,

Jr.,

appearing

for

Mt.

Carmel

Public

Utility

Mr. Larry

Ft. Eaton,

Special Assistant Attorney General!

and

Mr. Delbert D. Haschemeyer,

Attorney, appearing for

the

Environmental Protection Agency

Opinion of

the Board

(by Mr.

Kissel):

Mt.

Carmel Public Utility Company

(the

“Utility’)

,

a privately

owned utility which distributes natural gas and electricity to

a

service area in and around

Mt.

Carmel,

Illinois,

filed

a

“Motion

for

Re—Hearing on Petition for Varianceu

with

the Board on July

16,

1971.

The Utility sought

a re-hearing of

a previous case in which the

Board denied the Utility’s Petition for variance,

Mt. Carmel Public

Utility Company

v.

Environmental Protection

:~oency, P03

71-15,

dated April

14,

1971.

The Utility sought permission-in

that case

to use coal—fired boilers over

a period of the next ten years, when

they will

be

phased out.

The Board denied the request generally

on the basis that Board policy is such that one who discharges

in

excess of the regulations,

as

was the

case with

the Utility’s emis-

sions

from the coal-fired boilers,

that person must have

a program

for the installation

of control equipment, where such equipment

is

technically feasible, before

the Board will grant

any variances.

Apparently,

as

a result of that decision,

the Utility has

now come

up

with

a program to halt the emissions from

the coal fired boilers.

A hearing was held on

the Motion for Re-Hearing on September

17,

1971

in Mt. Carmel,

Illinois before Medard Narko, Hearing Officer.

The

Utility

has

three

coal—fired

boilers

which

are

in

omera-

tion

~-

Units

1,

4

and

5.

In

its

new

plan

the

Utility

proposes

to

convert

Boiler

#5

to

an

oil-fired

unit

by

June

30,

.1973,

and

to

burn

#2

oil

in

that

converted

unit.

Boilers

#1

and

#4

will

continue

to

be

used

until

June

of

1974

when

an

additional

transmission

line

will

be

installed

between

the

Mt.

Carmel

facility

and

a

generating

station of Central Illinois Public Service Company

(CIPCo).

After

3

—

25

---

that Boilers

#1 and

#4 will,

according

to the company plan,

be kept

on cold standby and will

only be used if there is

a failure in the

Utility’s ability to supply power to its customers.

The Agency’s

recommendation given at the hearing was that the Utility be required

to begin installation of

the conversion of Boiler #5 on October

1,

1972,

rather

than January

1,

l97~, as suggested by the Utility,

and that the preliminary work,

like piping and installation

of

a

tank,

be started immediately.

Since the last hearing,

a number of events have occurred, but

certainly the

one with

the most impact on the Utility’s operations

is

the signed contract with the Ayrshire Coal Company which

is con-

structing

a coal mine near Keensburg,

Illinois.

This contract

provides

that the Utility shall provide the mine with electric

power for

the next ten years

(at least),

the present length of

the agreement.

The mine will be completely constructed by December

of

1972 and its

need

for electrical power will reach 10,000 kilo-

watts within

18 months after the completion of construction.

Dur-

ing

the construction period the mine will

use about 1500 kilowatts,

which will be supplied by the Utility.

In order

to be able to get

the anticipated demand to the mine,

the Utility

is planning to con-

struct

a

69

NV line between the Mt. Carmel station and

the Village

of Keensburg.

This

line when completed will

be able

to deliver

the estimated peak demand of the mine which,

as stated,

is antici-

pated

to be 10,000 kilowatts by

the middle of

1974.

The Utility

already has

a 12.4

NV line between the

Mt.

Carmel station and

Keensburq

which

will

be

able

to

deliver

the

needed

electric

power

to

the mine during the construction period.

The

69

NV line to

Keen~burg will be completed

by January,

1973 and will

cost $240,000.

In addition to

the

69 NV line

to Keensburg,

the Utility is

also planning to construct

a 138

NV line from Keensburg to Albion

where CIUCo has

a generating station.

By

the addition of this

line,

which will be completed by June,

1974,

the Utility will be able to

buy power from CIPC0

for all of

its customers,

including

the mine.

The Utility has not yet acquired the

right--of-way

for

this line,

but it e:~pectscompletion

by 1974 at

a total cost

of $260,000.

Also,

when

this line

is

completed,

the Utility says Boilers

*1

ai~d #4 will

no longer be needed except on

an emergency basis

(“cold standby”)

-

Presently,

the Utility buys

power

from CIPC0

and this

is

trans—

mitted over

a 69

NV between

Mt.

Carmel and Lawrenceville.

This line,

plus Boilers

#1

and

#4,

is

sufficient

to supply the power necessary

for the customers

(including the mine)

of the Utility during the time

when Boiler #5

is

down

for

the

conversion.

---

Now, we must look

at the program suggested by

the Utility.

First,

the Utility plans to shut Boiler

#5 down

in January,

1973,

for

the

conversion

of

that

unit from

a coal-fired furnace to

a

boiler

which

is

capable

of

burninc~ oil

and

gas.

The

cost

of

this

conversion will be $180,000 and will be commieted by

the

Utility’s

contractor,

Babcock and wilcox,

by June

30,

1973.

There seems

to

be

no quarrel with

the amount of time necessary for the conversion,

that

is,

six months from the

time when Boiler

#5

is shut down,

but the Agency did make

the

point,

and recommendation,

that perhaps

Boiler

#5 could be shut down

in

October,

1972,

rather

than

January,

1973.

The Utility admitted

that it could buy sufficient power

from CIPC0 to replace the amount generated by Boiler

#5, but at an

increased cost

if the power

is purchased in October,

rather than

January.

We think

the slight cost of buying

this power earlier

and thereby starting

the conversion earlier is worth

it.

The

Utility

has,

as

the previous record points out

(and this record

does too), been financially

successful.

Total income

for the year

ending June

30,

1971, was almost $180,000.

True,there has been

a

reducing income for t~e last few veers, but

the record

is also

clear

that there has been no increase

in rates

for some time.

The

Utility can afford the slight cost for buying

the additional mower

earlier

so that the peopl2

of Mt.

Carmel

will have three less

months

of excessive particulates

in

the air

as

a result of

the coal—

fired

unit.

We will, therefore,

rec~uirethat the Utility shut down

Boiler

#5

on October

1,

1972 and complete the conversion by March

30,

1973,

rather than June

30,

1973.

The second phase of the proJram is the completion of the

69

NV

line between Mt. Carmel

and

Keensburg.

The schedule

for completion

is January

1973,

and this

seems

from

the testimony the best that the

Utility can do.

The third phase of the program

is

the construction

of the

138

K’! line between Keensburg

and Albion,

connecting the CIPCo plant

to the mine and

the Mt.

CarmeJ

plant.

The

line

is

to be completed

by the middle of

1974, which seems

a

long way

off.

Since

the

Utility

is committed

~

the construction

of this

line,

it would

seem that

they should proceed “post haste” and complete

it.

We recog-

nize that

the

right-of-ne:

oust

be

established

and that the Utility

must

work

closely

‘b

ti:

Cc

in

having

the

line

constructed.

But

we

think

that

it can do built

faster

and

therefore

will

require

that

the Utility exercise

every

effort

to complete the line before June

of 1974.

We wi1

require

reports

from the Utility to both the

Board

and

the

Agency

to

advise

both

groups

of

the

progress

being

made

to

speed

up

construction

Of

this

line.

---

The

fourth

phase

of

the

Utility’s

program

revolves

around

Boilers

#1

and

#4.

The

Utility

does

not

plan

to

put any control

equipment

on these two remaining boilers.

The plan is to keep

them

in

full

operation

until

the

138

NV line

is

installed and

operating

which,

the

Utility

has

said,

will

not

be

until

June,

1974,

but

which

this

Board

has

required

the Utility to make every

effort

to

complete

earlier.

Thus,

if

the

138

NV

line

is completed

earlier,

Boilers

#1

and

#4

will

be

taken

off

the

line

earlier.

We

agree

that

from

the

testimony

Boilers

#1 and

#4

are necessary to

operate

until

the

138

Ky

line

is

completed,

which

at

the

latest

will

be

June,

1974.

The

concern,

however,

of

the

Board

is

the

Utility’s

use

of

the

boilers

after

the

138

K’!

line

is

completed.

The Utility plans to keep

the boilers on “cold standby”

for

an

indefinite

period

of

time.

This

means

that

the

boilers

will

be

used

in

case

the

Utility

does

not

have

adequate

power,

either

produced or purchasable,

to supply the demands of its customers.

It is possible,

then, under

the Utility’s program that the boilers

will be

used after June of 1974 without any emission controls.

The Utility did state that in

1974 it

“may decide” to install

control equipment

on the boilers.

However,

this Board

feels that

if the boilers are to be operated after June

30,

1974,

or when

the

138

NV

line is completed, whichever occurs first,

for

reason,

including

“cold

standby”,

the

boilers

should

be

operated

so

as not to violate the regulations

governing

the

control

of

air

pollution.

Based upon previous testimony,

this means that control

equipment must be installed and operating at that time to reduce

the

particulate

emissions.

Thus,

we

do

not

prohibit

.the omeration

of the boilers after the aforementioned dates, but we do prohibit

the

illegal operation of those boilers at that

time,

The Utility

has adequate time between now and

1974 to plan

for the installa-

tion of control equipment

if

the Utility feels

that operation of

the boilers, even as reserves,

is

necessary

after

1974.

Thus,

the Utility will be granted

a variance subject to the

conditions

detailed

above.

One

other

point

must

be

dealt

with.

The

Utility

has

con-

sistently taken the position that

its

boilers

do

not

violate

the

existing particulate emission standard.

We

heard this

in the first

variance case

and said

that the Utility did,

in fact,

violate the

regulations.

Again

in

this

proceeding,

the Utility attempted to

prove

that

it

was

not

violating

the

particulate

emission

standard.

The hearing officer denied

the Utility the right

to produce such

evidence and we agree with the hearing officer’s ruling.

The

Utility had already had its opportunity

to raise

the question before,

3

—

28

---

and we disagreed with

it at that

time.

It was not a proper sub-

ject of this hearing.

The Utility sought

a variance

so that it

could violate the

law.

If

it truly believed that it was not

violating

the regulations,

no variance would be necessary.

Ap-

parently,

the Utility doesn’t want to take

a chance.

This opinion constitutes

the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions of law.

ORDER

Based upon the testimony and exhibits in the record,

the

Board hereby orders that

the variance requested by

the Utility be

and

is hereby granted from the particulate emission standards and

Section

9(a)

of

the Environmental Protection Act,

subject to the

following terms

and conditions:

1.

This variance shall continue

for

a period of one year

from this date.

If the Utility wants

a continuance

of this variance

it shall file

a petition for renewal

of the variance within ninety

(90)

days prior

to the

date

the variance expires.

The Board may authorize

a

hearing on that supplemental petition and shall make

such further order as it deems necessary at that time.

2.

The Utility shall proceed with

the following program:

(a)

The Utility shall complete the conversion

of Boiler #5 from

a coal-fired boiler to

a

boiler fired by oil

and natural gas by

March

30,

1973;

(b)

The Utility shall complete the

69

K’! line

from Mt.

Carmel to Keensburg by January,

1973;

(c)

The Utility shall exert every effort to com-

plete

the 138

K’! line

from Keensburg to

Albion before June,

1974.

In that respect

the Utility shall

file quarterly reports

with

the Board and

the Agency, beginning on

December

1,

1971, which reports shall detail

the efforts made by

the Utility to expedite

the completion of the 138

K’! line herein des-

cribed;

and

3—29

---

(d)

The Utility shall not operate Boilers

#1

and

#4

in

violation

of

the

particulate

regulations after the installation of the

138

K’! line referred to

in paragraph

4,

or June

30, 1974, whichever occurs

first.

3.

The

Utility

shall

post

a

bond

in

a form approved by

the

Agency

to

guarantee

performance

of

the

conditions

of the granting of this variance.

Said bond shall be

in the amount of $500,000.

4.

Failure

to

comply

with

any

of

the

conditions

of

this

variance shall result in the revocation of the grant

of this variance.

I,

Christan Moffett, Acting Clerk of

the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, certify that

the Board adopted the above Opinion

and Order on

this

~/

day

of November,

1971.

~

~,

Christan Moffett,

Acting

Clerk