ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July
1, 1982
IN
THE
MATTER
OF:
)
)
SITE
SPECIFIC
RULE
CHANGE
FOR
)
R81-21
FREEPORT
SOLID
WASTE
SITE
)
PROPOSED
RULE.
FIRST
NOTICE
OPINION OF
THE
BOARD
(by D. Anderson):
On July 7, 1981 the Cit~iof Freeport (Freeport)
filed
a petition for a site specific rule change to allow it to
burn landscape and
clean
wood waste
in an air curtain destruc-
tor located at its landfill site in Stephenson County.
On
July 23 the Board waived the requirement of 200 signatures
Procedural
Rule 204(a), codified as Sec. 102.121(a)
and
requested that Freeport amend the proposal to include the
proposed language.
On August
6 Preeport amended the petition
to include proposed Rule
503(h)
of Chapter 2:
Air Pollution.
On March 22,
1982 a public hearing was held at Freeport.
On
April
1, 1982 the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural
Resources advised the Board that the Economic Technical
Advisory Committee had determined not to issue an Economic
Impact Study,
as allowed by P.A~82—548.
Operation of air curtain destructors has been treated as
“open burning” within the meaning of Rule 502(a).
However,
Rule 504(a) (4)
allows the Agency to issue permits for burning
of landscape waste in
an
air curtain destructor.
Freeport
would
qualify
for
a
permit
under
this
provision
except
that
it
also
burns
wood wastes
produced
by
local
industry
(R.2l).
Freeport
has
operated
its
air
curtain
destructor
since
1972, pursuant to variances since 1976
(PCB 76—158, 23 PCB
501, September 15, 1976; PCB 81—57,
43 PCB 291, September 3,
1981).
The latter variance will expire “upon final action
of the Board” in this matter.
This will be construed to
refer to the effective date of a rule which will be filed
with the Secretary of State.
FACILITY DESCRIPTION
The. air curtain destructor is situated about one mile
south~of Freeport, adjacent to Freeportts. landfill, in the
Southeast Quarter of Section 7,
Township
26 North,
Range
8
East
of
the
Fourth
Principal Meridian
(R.9,
60).
The
landfill
is
on
a
42.7
acre
triangular
tract
bounded
by
South
Walnut
Road, Fairgrounds Road and Lamm Road
(R.17).
The air curtain
47-355
—2
destructor is presently situated near the northwest corner
of the site.
The surrounding land is agricultural, with the exception
of a factory and a nursing home owned by Stephenson County
(R.l4)
The air curtain destructor consists of a ~‘pit”made of
concrete blocks.*
It is twelve feet wide, twenty feet long
and rises twenty feet above the ground
(R.,9).
A 30 horse-
power motor blows air down from the top against the opposite
wall to create a circular flow referred to as an “air curtain”
(R.ll,
Ex.
2).
Waste is loaded through the top by means of
a grapple truck
(R,i0),
The device is lit with diesel fuel
between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m,
on days it is to be used
(R.15).
Three to five feet of ash accumulates weekly.
This
is removed
on Monday morning before start up
(R.20),
Burning was started at a time when Freeport was removing
one hundred diseased elm trees per day.
This continues to
be a major source of waste, but on a scale of one hundred
trees per year
(R.23).
Branches are mulched, but mulching
of trunks is extremely costly
(R.34).
The other source of waste is broken skids and leftover
wood from the manufacture of skids.
This wood is not painted
(R.7,
25).
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Based on four tons of wood burned per day for five days
each week, the Agency estimates the following annual emissions
(R.38, Ex. 1):
Tons
Kilograms
Suspended Particulates
2.4
2200
Nitrogen oxides
2.1
1900
Hydrocarbons
0.1
90
2.4 tons of particulates is about one—tenth the level for
review under the prevention of significant deterioration
(PSD)
program
(R.48, Ex.4).
*The “pit” is actually a walled-in area which is above
ground
(R.l9).
47-356
Stephenson County is
an attainment area for total sus-
pended particulates
(TSP).
There are no air quality monitor-
ing stations in Stephenson County.
To the immediate east
is Winnebago County, which is more industrialized.
It showed
no violations of air quality standards for TSP during 1980
(R.42, Ex.5).
Full assessment of environmental impact also requires
evaluation of the alternative—-landfilling of the wood.
During the Dutch Elm disease period, the site would have been
completely filled within two and one-half years had the trees
been landfilled.
Large trees interfere with compaction of
refuse
(R.27).
This increases the danger of leachate genera-
tion.
Moreover, additional volume places pressure on site
availability, thereby increasing the cost of disposal of
other refuse and encouraging open dumping.
Any acceptable
alternative which reduces landfill volume has some positive
environmental impact.
PROPOSED REGULATION
Freeport proposed addition of Rule 503(h),
This would
allow operation of the air curtain destructor without an
Agency permit.
This is contrary to the practice under the
past variances.
Furthermore, it would require the Board to
impose detailed restrictions by regulation.
The Board will
instead approach the problem as though through Rule 504.
This will allow the Agency to impose appropriate conditions
in permits.
These can he modified without resort to
full
rulemaking
(R. 23).
Codification regulations set a limit of three pages on
sections.
In anticipation of this the Board will write
a
separate rule applicable to Freeport rather than increasing
the length of Rule 504.
Proposed Rule 550(a)
specifies the location of the air
curtain destructor.
This has been left sufficiently vague
to allow movement within a square mile without modification
of the rule.
Proposed Rule 550(b)
provides that operation pursuant to
permit conditions
is lawful; 550(c)
allows the Agency to grant
permits under Part
I and V of Chapter
2.
47-357
—4--
RELATIONSHIP
TO. CHAPTER
7
The
Agency
has
proposed
that
the
Board
amend
Chapter
7
to
expressly
require
permits
‘of
air
curtain
destructors
and
to impose operating standards on them.
In order to avoid
potential enforcement problems, prior to any adoption of
such a program, the Board has provided that Freeport is
exempted from Chapter
7, such exemption to terminate on any
relevant future amendments to Chapter
7
(R.2l).
In the meantime, the Freeport site is to be treated as
two sites,
a landfill regulated under Chapter 7 and an air
curtain destructor regulated under Chapter 2.
The Agency
shall require,
as a condition of the air permit, limited access
between the sites.
An unacceptable situation could arise if
the active face of the landfill were adjacent to the air
curtain destructor,
tempting persons taking firewood to expand
the scavanging area.
SMALL
BUSINESS
FLEXIBILITY
Section
4.03
of
the
Administrative
Procedure
Act
(APA),
as amended by P.A.
82-492, imposes small business flexibility
requirements on state agencies adopting regulations.
The
Board published notice of the hearing in the Environmental
Register and in a newspaper of general circulation in the
Freeport area.
The only impact on small business will be
a reduction in disposal costs
(R.62).
In response to Section
4.03(a)
of the APA, the Board finds that this proposal
establishes no compliance or reportirg requirements, or
performance, design or operational standards, and imposes
no requirements whatsoever on small businesses.
The Board will propose to adopt the text of Rule 550 of
chapter
2 which appears in a separate Order.
The Clerk is
directed
to
prepare
a
first
notice
for
publication
in
the
Illinois
Register.
The
record
will
remain
open
for
written
comments
for
45
days
from
the
date
of
publication
in
the
Illinois
Register.
This
Opinion
supports
the
Order
of
the
Board
adopted
on
this same date.
Mr.
Goodman
concurred.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control
Board,
hereby
certify
that
the
above
Opinion
was
adopted
on
the
~
day
of
~
•,
1982
by
a
vote
of
~.?~‘i-C)
Christan
L.
Mof~
Clerk
Illinois
Polluti
ontrol
Board
47-358