ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
February
3,
1977
ENVIRONMENTAL
PRDTECTION
AGENCY,
Complainant,
v,
)
PCB 76—202
CITY
OF
ATHENS,
)
Respondent.
THE
HONORABLE
WILLIAM
J.
SCOTT,
Attorney
General,
by
MR.
STEVEN
P.
WATTS,
appeared
on
behalf
of
Complainant;
MR.
SAMUEL
P.
BLANE,
apenared
on
behalf
of
Respondent.
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
Mr.
Goodman)
On
July
29,
1976,
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(Agency)
filed
a
Complaint
against
the City
of
Athens
(City)
Menard
County,
Illinois,
charginq
the
City
with
violation of Section
501
of
An
Act
to
Regulate
the
Operating
of
a
Public
Water
Supply
System
(Public
Water
Supply
Act),
Sections
17
and
18
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Act
(Act),
Rule
302 of
the
Board’s
Public
Water
Supply
Regulations
(Chapter
6)
,
and
the
Technical
Policy
Statement.
A hearing was held
in
this matter on
November
4,
1976,
at the Athens City Hall.
Tiu~ C
I
t.
y
,
wli
i
cii
i~es
a
popuId LLon
ol
approx
I
md
LU
1y
1. 120
,
owns
and
opera tea
LI
pub
I
Ic
Wd
te r
a apply
cyst: cm
which
i ne I
udes
two
dr ii
led
we
1
is
a
reaction
basin,
a
60,000
gallon
elevated
storage
tank,
and
a
distri-
bution system.
Water from the wells
is aerated, chlorinated,
filtered
and fluoridated before being discharged into the distribution system.
The Agency alleged
in
its Complaint that the City had,
since
at
least
March
22,
1976,
failed to employ
a certified water supply
operator,
as
required
by
the Public Water Supply
Act
and the Board’s
Public
Water
Supply
Regulations.
The Agency further alleged that
the
City
had
failed
to
maintain
its facilities such that
the
water
would
be
assuredly
safe in L~uality, clean,
adequate
in quantity,
and
24
—
687
—2
of
satisfactor~
w
‘r&
‘r..
‘
r
s~’
~
‘in
~
come
~.
jn~r’-.’t
on,
as
required
by
Se’~ior
Y’
~
t
;,
fj
.~l1
-
A
~.
~
tail..d
s
qerc
5—
~‘r
‘-‘-
..t
‘s
‘ivsttiri
r’uv’
~
~
on
are violations oz
tie
~
r
~fl~J)l
Io1i~ir St..~~eue
t
Ph.
Agency
also alleged
..‘a.
ro’~
aarv
.
.~
:‘-
ator
in
thc C4 tv’r
v~temhas
been
black,
bo’vn
..r
r
t
ol.t
c
--
Icor
Ju~
8—1
,
‘97r
the
City failed to pr
vi.dc
at
t~.
-
q
..
ti~.y
ci ‘nt.r to
it.
ar~~
EJLdence pro.icc
a’ “c
z’ ~~ngx~.cat~tine tha Cat2 ~Lnce at
least March didi not eto.~o;a ~cr
.fio~C1.sre ~ Cr B pub)ic water supply
operator.
The City
1uE
~
~.
‘ttV’
f
“r
•
a-a P’orc?.all, a
certifi’~d
operat. r
I
.
-
.
tn
‘ly
ist-id ‘~4,-h .‘e
Agency
as
an
SfltIjLflCj
-
o
~
:c
tflt
,‘t.
F’dn3t
L.
8)
Mr.
Pierceall
-e-
•
is
Li
-
•
mu
o
.~i
r’ne
to
th’
~j.~ant three
times
since
Februar)
(B
18’
••j~~
(••S
.
tcstifiec.
thai-
the
C’t
had
since
March
tvi~c
-
-
-
-
u.
bn
..
La’
qu...’
ifter
a
very
short
period
U
Th.
hi
t
ifiec?
tPit
a
list
it
had
conpilc.
an..
t
ti
vi’.
.2
t’ •ss B
-
-
yrtor_
‘re’4
31
Class A operat ~a
‘c..
~.
.‘r.
t
ri
vni..h
14io
(
tv
i~
located
CR. 135).
The
Cit
d.
o
3
‘c’i.
se-cr
f
ho d’fici—
encies
;n
4te
.
.
c
i..
i
r’ti~.i
iradecuate
fluoridatiot
bet
-
~
‘
x
-.
,
I
•
-e
:uey
2;
~flo,
and others.
Spec..fic~~±”.
a
~-c
.tllegi
I
in
pa..
graph
11 a), e),
fl
c.
4
.nojast-...
Tha Cc’ indi-
cates ii
~s
1
ff•
c
ic
-
-
r
p
ra~.o:fo
the correction of
those deficien c~
c
i
-
-
;
..r’~.cybeer corrected
(See Respon-
dent’s Exhib
t
No
I
.
~
-
-
thc
~ncy
s
thmittcd
its evalua-
tion to the
C~
;~
~
j
-
~.
.F
--licates the deficiencies
alleged
r p:r~gra~
.
3
-
I
c
o..
to
.~mpIatrt
as well as the
other deficiencics ‘~cd ab ~e
;~-
we~vedby the
hge•cy
during an
inspection.
The
Csty
admits
that
at
times
the
water is black,
brown
or
rust
color
(Admission
No.
20).
However,
the
City
indicates
that
this discoloration occurs oily after the system has been flushed,
which is a normal part of the ooeration of the system.
Finally, the
City
admitn
that
on
.7
fly
3-
1,
Ui
iii
fly
or
w.itrr
uu)qblic-d
to
the
City’s residents w~ssnadc2uoto
(Admission No.
21).
The City testi-
fied that this inadequacy zi.~sul-cdfrom the failure of the automatic
switch and that the ~
op’rated the switch manualy
for those days
until an electrician
coula
repair
the
switch
(R.
41,
47,
71).
Several citizens testified at the hearing concerning the quality
and quantity of water stpplied by the Cfty.
The citizens testified
that during the July 8-11 period, pressure was very
low
and
at
times
there was no water at all
(R.
15, 127).
Several other occasions when
pressure was very
low
werc cited, and the citizens testified that low
24—688
—
3~
pressure was
a frequent occurrence
(R.
117,
119,
127,
149,
157).
Several citizens obtain bottled water or water from Springfield for
drinking purposes
(R.
121,
152,
164).
The citizens complained that
the water
is often discolored or contains sand or grit
(P.
6,
12,
20,
122,
133,
152).
The Agency testified that during one incident when
the system had been turned off in order
for a new valve
to be in-
stalled,
samples indicated there was contaminating matter
in the
system for about one week
(B.
102).
The Board finds that the City has violated Section
501 of the
Public Water Supply Act,
Rule
302 of the Public Water Supply Regula—
tions, and Section
18 of the Act.
The allegation of violation
of
Section
17 of the Act is dismissed in that Section
17 is merely an
authorization for the adoption of regulations by the Board.
Further-
more,
the Board finds that the City has violated the Agency~sTechnical
Policy Statement as alleged in the Complaint and that such violations
are violations
of Section 18 of the Act.
The Board has considered the factors enumerated
in Section
33(c)
of the Act.
The Board finds that injury to the public in this case,
as indicated by the citizen testimony,
has been extensive.
The Mayor
of the City indicated that the City could afford to pay
a full-time
certified operator
(B.
205).
The purpose of requiring a certified
operator is
to avoid exactly the types
of problems the City has faced
in its supply sysLern.
No question of technical feasibility or economic
reasonableness has been presented,
Furthermore,
the Board hereby takes
official notice of its prior decision in Environmental Protection
PCB
76-11,
in which the Board found the City
to have failed
to employ
a properly certified operator from 1973 until
January,
1976.
The City has apparently ignored the Board~sOrder and
continues
in its violation, with the resulting injury to the public.
The Board finds that a penalty of $2,000 is appropriate for the exten-
sive violations
found herein.
However,
the Board recognizes that
Athens
is
a small municipality and that the citizens will have
to bear
the expense caused by the omissions of the City~sofficials.
There-
fore,
the Board will,
on the condition that the City employ
a properly
certified operator within 45 days,
suspend all hut $100.00 of the
ssessed pendity.
This Opinion constitutes
thc findings of
fact
and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
It
is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1.
The City of Athens
is found to have violated Section
501
24
—
689
of An Act
to
RequJ
~e
Section
18
of
th~
ii~vir~
Public
Water
F~
2.
For
~
of
$2,OOO~OO.
:~
has
employed
a
pr~rcrl~
~r
formed
the
Ag~rcy
af
penalt/
shall
be
~usp
~o.
days
of
the
date
of
taLE
I
~i~oi~
221C
Ch~r
S
pera
J.
S
Cit
~
~
~r ~r
3.
The C~ty
water
supply
ope~~
u
within
45
days
ct
tao
iii~ei oullic
is
iun
1
4.
The
C
~v
violations.
IT IS SO ORD~Th~
I,
Christan
L~
MofteL~-
Liar
o~
1~
inoi~
Po~1ution
Control
Boar
hereby
certify
the
out.
Cpi
lot
~od
Ord~er were
adopted
on
the
~day
of
Februarj
i~
iv
o
of
~
sjc
to:
I
Board