~ISPOLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

November

23, 1977

OLIN CORPORATION,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 77—177

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Goodman):

On June

30,

1977 Olin Corporation

(Olin)

filed a Petition for

Variance before the Pollution

Control

Board requesting variance

from Sections 12(a)

and 12(f)

of

the

Environmental Protection Act

(Act)

and Rules

203,

402, 404(c)

and

(f) and 408 of the Water

Pollution Regulations

(Chapter

3)

as applied to discharges

from

Olin~sOutfalls 003,

004, and 005 of

its East Alton,

Illinois

plant.

On August

2,

1977

the

Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

filed its

Recoinrnendation, and on August15,

1977 Olin

filed a response to the Agency’s Recommendation.

On September

29,

1977, both parties filed a Joint Motion for Decision without

a public hearing, and along with the motion filed a Stipulation

of the testimony that would have been given by witnesses for Olin

and the Agency at the hearing on this matter.

Olin’s East Alton plant

is a brass strip and small arms

ammunition plant which occupies an area of approximately 1,732

acres.

The company conducts a brass casting operation and it

manufactures copper, copper—base alloy slabs,

and copper—alloy

tubing at its zone 17.

At zones

1 and

7, brass strip and fabric-

ated products, metallic and shot ammunition are manufactured, and

a steam generating plant and a potable water treatment plant are

operated.

Olin manufactures shot shell ammunition and primer

ex-

plosives at zone

4.

Wastewater discharges from Zones

1,

4,

and

7

are treated at Olin’s zone

6 wastewater treatment facility, and

zone 17 wastewater discharc~esare treated by the zone

17 facility.

Both facilities employ

limE, precipitation and polymer coagulation

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and flocculation proces~

After

treatment,

the effluent from both

facilities

is either pumped or

:fLows

by gravity

to

Wood River Creek.

Sludge is dewatered by means of

vacuum

filters.

Average discharge

from the zone

6 treatment facility is

3 million gallons per day

and from the zone 17 facility,

0.4 million gallons per day.

The

discharges or outfalls of the Company which are the subject of this

Petition, Outfalls numbers 003,

O04~, and 005,

are emergency by-pass

discharges of combined processed sanitary and storm sewers coming

from the Company’s zones

I and 7 operations.

During normal opera-

tions,

a combined flow is directed to Olin’s zone

6 wastewater

treatment plant.

However during occasions of exceptionally high

rainfall, a portion of the combined flow is by~~pnssed

to the east

fork of Wood River Creek.

Wood River Creek is a small stream adjacent to Olin’s plant,

which discharges into the Mississippi River.

In a recent decision

the Fifth District Illinois AppeilaLe Court upheld a prior

decision of the Board which found that classification of the

stream as

a secondary contact and indigenous aquatic life water

under Rule 302(k)

of Chapter

3 ca~only be determined on the basis

of a regulatory proceeding hefern the Board.

Olin seeks a one—year

variance so that the by-passes nan~continue while the Company

completes its program of gathering information regarding the by-

passes inorder to determine what control measures,

if any,

are

needed.

The infrequent use of the discharge points, which are

occasioned only upon excessive storm flows, has prevented gathering

enough data to determine the nature and effect of these discharges

so that a determination of whether or not controls are needed can

be made.

An analysis of several of the by-passes that occurred

during the past year are presented in Exhibit A attached to the

Stipulation.

The existing control methods consists

of the pumping stations

which direct all but at normal wet-weather flow to the zone

6

wastewater treatment plant.

Although Olin cannot now submit a

proposed method of control,

a time schedule has been proposed for

a sampling and study period to gather the information which would

be sufficient on which to base a compliance plan.

In accordance

with the Agency’s Recommendation, Olin in the Stipulation agreed

to amend its request for a one—year variance to a request for a

variance until March 1,

1978.

The Agency and Olin stipulate that

they know of no evidence of any significant present adverse environ-

mental impact which would be caused by the subject discharges on

the receiving stream for the period of the recommended variance.

The Company~szone

6 wast, water treatment facility

is designed to

handle 7500 GPM, approximately 3.5 times normal dry weather flow.

28 ~258

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Any adverse effects on

the receiving stream from the discharges

will be minimized beca~~eof the infrequent nature of the discharges

and the fact that such occur only during periods of high rainfall

when the flow in the receiving stream is increased.

During the

time required to complete the storm overflow study, Olin agrees to

make every reasonable attempt to minimize the impact of the infre-

quent combined sewer overflows on the receiving stream.

In the

Stipulation Olin indicates certain measures that have already been

implemented, including setting the float switches for all over-the-

levee pumps at the Outfalls at the maximum possible level to use

the sewer system to store as much storm water as possible, establish-

ing a program to sweep the major paved areas of the plant to reduce

the amount of solids washed down the sewer during a storm event,

instructing production operations tributary to the Outfalls not

to dump any spent process solutions during the storm events and

others.

A question arises as to whether the appropriate rule from which

Olin should be seeking variance

is Rule 602(c)

in that it governs

the treatment to be given by—passes and combined sewer overflows.

However,

the Board finds that Rule 602(c) was not intended to govern

the type of discharges involved herein.

The only sure method of immediate compliance with all regu-

lations that may be applicable would be elimination of the combined

sewer overflows.

Since infrequent storm flows cannot be handled

by the collection system pumps, plugging Outfalls 003, 004 and 005

could result in flooding Olin’s plant causing extensive damage.

The Board finds that to compel Olin at this time

to do more than

take the interim measures as undertaken to comply with all possible

statutes and regulations with regard to Outfalls 003, 004 and 005

for the extent and nature of any violation such provisions by those

discharges can be determined would be arbitrary and unreasonable.

The Board therefore grants Olin a variance until March

1, 1978

from Sections 12(a)

and

(f)

of the Environmental Protection Act and

Rules

203,

404(c),

404(f)

and 408 of Chapter

3,

subject to the

conditions listed below.

This Opinion constitutes the finding of fact and conclusions

of law of the Board

in this matter.

ORDER

It

is the Order of tie Pollution Control Board that Olin

Corporation be granted a variance until March

1,

1978 from Rules

28

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259

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203,

404(c),

404(f)

and 408 of Chapter

3 and Sections

12(a)

and

12(f)

of the Act subject to the following conditions:

1.

Olin Corporation shall monitor every

discharge from Outfails 003,

004,

and 005 and

shall analyze and monitor every discharge as

required by Olin’s NPDES permit.

All information

regarding such monitoring and analysis shall be

provided to the Agency within five days after it

is received by Olin.

2.

Olin shall continue to implement the

interim control measures as specified in

its

variance Petition and

in the Stipulation submitted

by the parties inorder to minimize the discharge

of contaminents,

3.

Olin shall continue to investigate all

methods of controlling or eliminating the discharge

of contaminants from Outfalls 003,

004,

and 005, and

Olin shall report to the Agency any progress regarding

such investigation.

Reporas shall be submitted by the

first of every month for the period of the variance.

4.

Olin shall submit a report to the Agency

on or before March

1,

1978, containing the results

of all analyses and monitoring of discharges not

previously submitted.

The report shall also contain

a complete description of the control measures

to be

adopted by Olin so that full compliance with the Act

and Regulations will he achieved,

If Olin concludes

that the discharges are not causing violations of the

Act or Regulations,

or that there

is no economically

and technoligically feasible control program for

bringing the discharges into compliance,

such conclu-

sion and the information substantiating it shall be

contained in the report~

5.

Within

35 days of the Board’s Order herein

Olin shall execute and forward to the:

Variance Section

Division of Water Pollution Control

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield, Illinois

62706

Atten-t ion:

Roger Callaway

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a Certification of Acceptance and agreement to be bound to all

terms and conditions of the variance.

The form of said certifi-

cation shall be as

follows:

CERTIFICATION

I

(We),_____________________________having read and fully

understanding the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board

in PCB 77-177 hereby accept said Order and agree

to be bound to

all of the terms and conditions thereof.

SIGNED________________________

TITLE________________________

DATE___________________________

I,

Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board,

hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on

the .utR”

day of

~

,

1977 by a vote of \~o

/1)

~

Christan L. Moff~fr4, Clerk

Illinois Pollutio~?Control Board

28

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261