ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    December
    5,
    1972
    EMMANUEL LEE HANNA,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 72—422
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr. Parker):
    Petitioner
    seeks a variance from the Board’s Order in
    League of Women Voters v. North Shore Sanitary District,
    1 PCB 369,
    in order to obtain a sewer connection to the District’s
    North Chicago plant for a single family dwelling to be used as
    a residence for Petitioner and his family.
    The dwelling is to
    be built
    (construction has not started yet) on land adjacent to
    Petitioner’s present residence in North Chicago, which land was
    purchased by Petitioner 3-1/2 years ago.
    Petitioner asserts that he and his family presently reside
    in an upstairs one bedroom apartment.
    The husband and wife sleep
    in the living room with their six year old daughter, and two teen
    age sons share the bedroom.
    In addition, Petitioner has a back
    handicap, which makes it difficult for him to climb stairs.
    The Agency’s Recommendation,
    dated November 18,
    1972,
    notes
    that Petitioner’s proposed dwelling would connect
    to an existing
    sanitary sewer that is not overloaded.
    The Agency, however,
    opposes the variance because the North Chicago sewage treatment
    plant
    “bypasses essentially untreated sewage to Lake Michigan
    during high flow periods”
    (Recommendation, p.
    1)
    ,
    and because
    Petitioner has not shown why “moving to another housing facility
    could not solve this problem”
    (Recommendation,
    p.
    2).
    Since the date of the Agency’s Recommendation,
    the Board has
    taken cognizance of certain sewage treatment improvements that
    the District has put into effect this fall at its North Chicago
    plant,
    i.e. addition of alum and other chemicals to reduce the
    BOD and suspended solids levels
    to thereby provide more treatment
    capacity while still permitting effluent standards to be met
    (see
    Board Order dated November 28, 1972 in Mid-City Developers v.
    EPA,
    PCB72-274,
    Board Opinion to follow)
    .
    In that case
    the Board
    granted a variance to permit connection to the sewer, and treatment
    by the plant,
    of
    a waste load of
    910 population equivalents.
    6
    —
    407
    In view of the expanded treatment capacity at the North
    Chicago plant, which is more than adequate to accomodate the
    waste load which Petitioner proposes to add,
    and because of
    the hardship to Petitioner
    (crowded living conditions and
    health problem)
    ,
    we conclude that the variance should be
    granted.
    The nature of the hardships in this case outweigh
    the small increase,
    if any,
    in the burden that the new dwelling
    might place on Lake Michigan during storm overflow periods.
    This opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclu-
    sions of law of the Board.
    ORDER
    Petitioner
    is granted a variance to connect
    a single family
    dwelling to be located in North Chicago,
    Illinois,
    to the North
    Chicago plant of the North Shore Sanitary District.
    I, Christan L, Moffett,
    Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
    Control Board, certify that the above Opinion and Order was
    adopted on
    the
    -~‘~‘
    day of
    ~
    i~
    •~
    ,
    1972,
    by
    a
    vote of
    to
    ~
    -
    -
    6
    —
    408

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