Illinois Pollution Control Board
June
27, 1972
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
)
v.
)
PCB 71—369
RUSSELL, BURDSALL
&
WARD
BOLT
AND
NUT COMPANY
S~tuartW. Thayer and
Sullivan
&Cromwell
for Russell, Burdsall
&
Ward
Bolt and Nut Compa1iy
Richard
W.
Cosby, Assistant Attorney General for the Environmental
Protection Agency
Opinion and Order of the Board
(by Mr. Aldrich):
The Environmental Protection Agency filed
a complaint against
Russell,
Burdsall, and Ward Bolt and Nut Company
(RB&W) on November
24,
1971.
The RB&W Co.
manufactures
steel fasteners such
as screws,
nuts,
and rivets from purchased hot rolled steel rods
at an industrial
facility on E.
Second Street in Rock Falls, Whiteside County,
Illinois.
The Agency alleged six violations:
1.
That beginning April
1,
1971, and continuing to the close of
the record,
Respondent operated its plant and facilities in
such a manner as
to be incapable of providing adequate waste—
water treatment or of preventing or minimizing
the escape,
spillage or leakage of contaminants including
iron,
oil,
zinc,
cyanide,
zinc-cyanide,
cyanogen
compounds and other water
contaminants into
the environment
in Illinois
so as to alter
the physical, chemical or biological properties of the Rock
River
in a way
as to cause or
is
likely to create
a nuisance
or to pollute the waters.
This violation is of Section 12(a)
of the Environmental Protection Act as defined in Section 3(d)
(n)
and
(o)
of such Act,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969
(Supp.
1970)
Ch.
111—1/2,
§~l012(a) and 1003(d),
(n)
and
(o).
2.
That during the period April
1,
1971
and continuing
to on or
about November
12, 1971 Respondent operated his plant
and
facilities
in such
a manner as
to deposit oil, cyanide,
zinc,
zinc—cyanide,
cyanogen compounds and other contaminants upon the
land
in the vicinity of the Rock River
so as to create
a water
4
—
701
and
(0)
0f
th~
Ofli\Et0
On.
~I,
~~d~j3~
$~tion 3(d)
(n)
Section 12(d)
of such Act,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969
(Supp.
1970),
Ch.
111—1/2,
§~l003(d), (n)
and
(o) and
1012(d).
3.
That on or about July
31,
1971 Respondent operated his plant
and
facilities in such
a manner as to discharge pollutants which
caused the death of 98,945 fish of sundry varieties over
a
ten—mile stretch of the Rock River below Respondent’s plant site,
this being
in violation of the provisions of Rule
1.05(d)
relative
to Toxic Substances in Aquatic Life Sectors of the Illinois
Sanitary Water Board Rules and Regulations SWB-ll, promulgated
pursuant to
Section 6(b)
and
(f)
of an
“Act to Establish
a
Sanitary Water Board,”
etc.,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969,
Ch.
19,
§145.6 and continued in effect by Section 49(c)
of the said
Environmental Protection Act,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969
(Supp.
1970),
Ch.
111—1/2,
§1049(c).
4.
That since April
1,
1971,
and continuing to on or about August 5,
1971 Respondent’s corporation engaged in manufacturing processes
involving cyanides or cyanogen compounds without suitable
structures
to assure that no
such compounds could escape from
the building and reach the sewer system or water course in
violation of Rule 1.01 of the Rules and Regulations SWB—5,
Article
I of the Illinois Sanitary Water Board effective since
January 2,
1965 pursuant to Ru1e.-2.~02 thereof, promulgated pursuant
to Section
6(b)
of an
“Act to Establish a Sanitary Water Board,”
etc.,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969,
Ch.
19,
~l45.6,
and continued in
effect by Section 49(c)
of tha s~rdEnvironmental Protection
Act,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969
(Supp.
1970), Ch.
111—1/2, §1049(c).
5.
That since April
1,
1971 and continuing each day to on or about
November
5,
1971 and thereafter on November 12, 1971 Respondent
operated his plant and facilities
in such
a manner as
to cause or
allow the discharge of pollutants including oil,
scum~nd.
iron
into.
the waters
of the state in violation of
the respective provisions,
(a),
(b),
(c)
and
(d), of Rule 1.03 MINIMUM CONDITIONS of the
Illinois Sanitary Water Board Rules
and
Regulations SWB—11,
promulgated pursuant to Section 6(b)
and
(f)
of an “Act to
Establish a Sanitary Water Board,” etc.,
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969,
Ch.
19,
§145.6,
and continued in effect by Section 49(c) of
the
“Environmental Protection Act,”
Ill.
Rev.
Stat. 1969
(Supp.
1970),
Ch.
111—1/2,
§1049(c).
6.
That during the period beginning April
1,
1971 and contin~uingeach
day to on or about November 5,1971 Respondent operated his plant
without the best practicable treatment or control prior to
dischar~ge into the Rock River
in that until November
5,
1971
Respondent did not provide for substantially complete removal of
settleable solids,
removal of all floating debris,
oil, grease or
scum or sludge solids, removal of color, odor,
or turbidity tà
below obvious levels,
and removal of heavy metals or of toxic
4
—
702
or odor producing substances in accordance with the levels of
constituents and properties determined by the Board, and that
to the close of the record, Respondent did not provide
adequate storage facilities for hazardous materials and oils
which are capable of causing water pollution if accidentally
discharged, this being in violation of Provisions
b.
and c.
of Rule 1.08 IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT PLAN, Paragraph 10
Sanitary Water Board Rules and Regulations SWB-ll, promulgated
pursuant to Section 6(b)
and
(f)
of an “Act
to Establish a
Sanitary Water Board,” etc.,
Ill. Rev.
Stat. l~69,Ch.
19,
§145.6,
and continued in effect by Section 49(c) of the said
Environmental Protection
Act-i
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1969
(Supp.
1970),
Ch.
111—1/2, §1049(c).
Russell, Burdsall and Ward Nut and Belt Company performs four
general manufacturing operations which may contribute to water
pollution:
Pickling which involves the removal of scale by hot
sulfuric acid; ~fl!n
to remove dirt and lubricants; ~
an electrical process producing a thin zinc coating; and a!zi~_
involving dipping in mol~tenzinc to produce a relatively thick protective
coating.
In order to reduce pollution from these processes RB&W
instituted and has had
-
in operation a number of waste treatment
projects dating from 1963:
Cyanide destruction by the Lancy system installed on the Stevens
plater and North plating line
in 1963.
The purpose of this
system is to detoxify the cyanides by first converting them to
ovanogen- chloride followed by hydrolysis
to produce. cyanate.
Cyanates are subsequently oxidized to carbon dioxide and
nitrogen gas.
Precipitation of heavy metals through a chemical treatment
system installed in 1963.
Acids and alkalis are blended to
attain an alkaline mixture.
After mixing and completion of
chemical reactions the slurry is pumped to sludge beds for
clarification.
The sludge is removed by an outside scavenger
for off-side disposal.
Sulphuric acid reclamation by a KSF system installed in 1969
to reclaim the spent pickle liquor.
In the process, ferrous
sulphate crystals are precipitated and.ultimately disposed of
by an outside scavenger.
The salvaged acid is recovered for
reuse.
A Pfaudler system for. cyanide recoverI was installed on the
Ionic plater in 1970’.
Oil and sediments removal by a gravity separator installed
in 1971.
The wastes are removed by outside scavengers.
4—703
At
a meeting in the Attorney General’s office,
a schedule was developed
for eight specific projects to reduce pollution and the threat of
pollution by
RB&W.
All targeted completion dates were met, the final
one beirjg February 28, 1972.
RB&W began on February 1, 1972 to shift to low cyanide solutions in
its North line, Stevens and Ionic platers thus reducing the cyanide
content of its effluent from 8 to
10
oz. per gallon down to
2 to
3 oz.
This was, however, accompanied by an increase in off—quality product.
Nevertheless,
RB&W
proceeded to test the feasibility of no-cyanide
solutions converting the Stevens plater March
14 and the lonics plater
April
7 and North line prior to April
26.
Still higher rejection
rates and continuing operating difficulties cast doubt that the
company could continue to use non—cyanide solutions.
Unfortunately the sewage treatment process reduces but does not elim-
inate cyanides as shown by these data for January 1-12,
1972:
Total Cyanide~
“Free” Cyanides
mg/i
mg/i
Influent
0.957
0.164
Effluent
0.43L
0.008
During the period April
10 to 17 when two platers were shifted to
low cyanide solution,
the cyanide content of the company discharge to
the municipal sewer system was 0.11 mg/l as compared to 1.08 prior
to any conversion in January
1 to
12,
1972.
The sewage treatment process
reduced the cyanides from 0.11 in the influent to 0.05 in the effluent
but this
is still double the standard.
Since that date, the North
line has also been converted to no-cyanide solution and the Agency
is
satisfied RB&W is in compliance with the Act.
The report of the engineering consulting fir&~Hazen and Sawyer,
contains the statement that after conferring with manufacturers
and both state and federal regulatory officials they are still
unable to recommend a treatment technology effective in oxidizing
complexed cyanides of the type present at the Rock Falls plant of
RB&W Company.
They suggest further experimental studies at the
RB&W plant.
The response of RB&W at the time of the fish kill incident was highly
commendable.
Since there were no dead fish at that time
in the
immediate vicinity of the plant, it had not been established that
the company was responsible for the fish kill.
The record mentions no
tests by the Agency of water in the zone of fish kill to establish the
cause of death.
Nevertheless Respondent began an immediate and thorough
investigation of possible sources of cyanide which could have caused
fish poisoning.
The company thus initiated the search and reported
the loss of cyanide solution to the Agency and furthermore established
the pathway by which cyanide could have reached the Rock River.
4—
704
The response of the company at the time of
the fish kill incident was
as follows:
The plant manager was alerted
to a reported fish kill
late Saturday, July
31.
He initiated
a detailed in-plant investigation
to determine whether RB&W was in fact the cause of the kill.
After
two and one—half days of careful review within the plant, it was
determined that a malfunction had occurred within its plating depart-
ment in connection with an automatic plating machine.
The Ionics
plater had previously been shut down
for maintenance work.
Prior
to
the episode,
the plating
tank was refilled from a hplding tank.
Following
this initial refill operation,
it was observed that
the plating
8olution level repeatedly fell within the tank,
thus requiring repeated
additions of sodium cyanide, caustic
soda and water.
Over
a two hour
period, three additions were required in order
to maintain the normal
operating level
in the plating tank.
The operator informed his
supervisor that solution was being lost from the
tank sump.
Inspection
revealed no obvious improper operation of the system so refilling from
a reserve
tank was continued.
On the morning of July
31,
a production
scheduler,
upon arriving at work noted discharge of solution from
a vent pipe on an outside storage tank.
The escaping solution ran
down the
side of the tan)~and seeped into the soil.
Roto-Rooter of
Rockford was called
to remove solution from
a reserve tank in order
to reestablish adequate reserve storage capacity.
The company continued
to try to determine the cause of the loss of
solution from the plating tank and also to determine the amount of
solution that may have seeped into the soil,
It determined that
a pipe
used to fill
the plating tank from the reserve tank was acting as
a
siphon when
the transfer pumping action was discontinued.
Conse-
quently,
the solution was siphoned back to the reserve tank by the
fill pipe.
At
the same time,
a liquid—level
sensor in
the plating
tank sump, detecting
a low solution
level,
actuated a water
fill
line which caused intermittent water additions
to
the system.
As
a
consequence of this series of operations an estimated
4,200 ounces
of sodium cyanide overflowed onto the soil.
In order to determine whether the spillage on the ground actually reached
the river via the sewer,
the company poured
a dye solution on the
ground in the area of the overflow.
One hundred gallons of dye
water applied in fifteen minutes resulted in small traces of dye
sporadically appearing
in the sewer.
The test was repeated and again
the dye was observed in a néar~y manhole thus confirming that cyanide
from the RB&W plant could have reached the Rock River.
Since there
was no direct connection between the point of overflow and any pipe
leading to the river,
it is not possible
to estimate the quantity
of cyanide that actually reached the Rock River.
The company has
initiated several steps to avoid
a repeat of the incident.
First,
the overflow pipe is being diverted into
a holding tank.
This will be
completed by Augt~st10,
1972.
Second,
the transfer piping has been
altered to eliminate
the possibility of siphoning.
Third,
a program
of
regular sampling for zinc cyanide,
pH and
oil has been instituted
at the wet well.
Fourth,
supervisors
and operating personnel have been
re-instructed as
to solution transfer procedures.
4
—
705
It is unfortunate that fish kills
or similar incidents frequently happen
before thorough abatement procedures are initiated.
As has already
been indicated RB&W installed a series of pollution reduction
programs from 1963 to November,
1971.
Nevertheless,
it is highly
probable that pollution resulting from direct discharges of incompletely
treated wastes from the plant to
the Rock River occurred until the
company made extensive adjustments and introduced
its discharge into
the city sewage system in November,
1971.
We now turn
to the evaluation of the conditions of the stipulation and
proposed settlement.
First,
the Rock River will be protected from p01-
lution by RB&W Company by the condition of the stipulation which.
says that Respondent agrees not
to violate the Environmental Protection
Act or any applicable regulation adopted thereunder.
The stipulation
includes
the condition that RB&W will
not discontinue the use of no-
cyanide plating solutions without
30
days prior notice
to the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Attorney General.
We assume that the conditions under which the agency would approve such
a move will protect the biological integrity of the Rock River.
The penalty of $13,449.96 suggested for the fish kill
is based upon
the formula of the Division of Fisheries,
Illinois Department of
Conservation.
The penalty of $40,000 we assume
is for failure
to
take
all necessary
steps in order
to avoid pollution or the threat
of pollution of waters of the State and for the fish kill episode it-
self above
and beyond the assigned value of the
fish.
We have
previously
said
that the response of
the company
to the episode was
exemplary.
We believe
the proposed penalties are fair and reasonable.
This Board
is
on record as favoring a reduction in time and expense
of litigation whenever
it
is possible to arrive at an equitable
settlement which serves the purpose
of the Environmental Protection
Act without
a hearing.
(see EPA
v.
Charles
R.
Rhodes,
PCB 71-53,
September
16,
1971: EPA
v.
Custom Farm Services,
Inc. PCB
71-312,
September
21,
1971;
and EPA v.
Solid Waste Disposal Company,
PCB
71—236, February
3,
1972).
We
are, however, concerned that the proposed settlement in this case
provides no opportunity
for the public
to express
its views on the
conditions of the settlement.
The effect
of this violation of the
Environmental Protection Act was neither unknown nor obscure.
An
estimated 98,945 fish were killed including substantial numbers of
game fish of which some were of harvestable size.
To guide parties
in the future with respect to stipulations
and proposed settlements
we shall suggest changes
in the Procedural
Rules of the Pollution
Contol Board that will provide an opportunity
for public knowledge
of and response to proposed settlements.
In the absence of
a hearing record, we are not asked
to decide whether
the specific violations alleged in the original notice by the Agency
were proven.
4
—
706
ORDER
1.
Russell,
Burdsall
&
Ward
Bolt and
Nut
Company
shall
cease
and
desist
viola-
tions
of
the Envirorui~ntalProtection Act and
applicable
Regulations
adopted
thereunder.
2.
Russell,
Burdsall
&
Ward
Bolt
and
Nut
Company shall not, without
30
days
prior
written
notice
to
the
E~ivironnental Protection
Agency
and
the
Illinois
Attorney
General,
discontinue
use
of
no-cyanide
plating
solution
in
any
of
its
three
plating
lines
and will
for
a
period
of
one
year
from
the
entry
of
this
order
furnish
the
Agency
and
the
Attorney
General
rronthly
progress
re-
ports
on
the
problems
encountered
with
the
no-cyanide
plating
solutions.
:3.
Russell,
Burdsall
&
Ward
Bolt
and
Nut
Company will
for
a
period
of
tw~years
from
the
date
of
this
order
unnitor
the
effluent
from
its
plant
to
the
City
of
Rock Falls
sewage
treatnent
plant
by
taking
daily
composite
samples
of
its
discharge
to
the
city
sewer
system
and
analyzing
such
samples
for
zinc,
iron
and
pH,
Respondent
will
also
nonitor
such
samples
for
cyanide
in
the
event
he
resunes
plating
solutions
containing
cyanide
after
giving
notice
required
un-er
No.
2
above.
The
results
of
the
tests
shall
be
sulmitted
to the
Agency
and
the
Attorney
General
~n a
nonthly
basis.
4.
Russell,
Burdsall
-
&
Ward
Bolt
and
Nut
Company
shall
within
ten
days
of
the
entry
of
this
order,
pay
to
the
State
of
Illinois
for
deposit
in
the
Fish
and
Gaire
Fund in
the
State
Treasury,
the
sum of
$13,449.96
representing
the
reasonable
value
of
the
estinated
fish
kill
on
July
31,
1971.
5.
Russell,
Burdsall
&
Ward
Bolt
and
Nut
Company
shall
pay,
within
ten
days
of
the
entry
of
this
order,
$40,000
to
the
State
of
Illinois.
Penalty
paynent
by
certified
check
or
noney
order
payable
to
the
State
of
Illinois
shall
be
rrade
to
the
Fiscal
Services
Division,
Illinois
Environrrental
Protection
Agency,
2200
Churchill
Road,
Springfield,
Illinois
62706.
I,
Christan
L.
Noffett,
Clerk
of
the
Pollution
Control
P~ard, certify
that
the
Board
adopted
the
above
Opinion
and
Order
this
.~
7
~‘
day
of
June,
1972,
byavoteof
~
to
p
4
—
707