ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April
    8, 1976
    CATERPILLAR TRACTOR COMPANY,
    )
    (Joliet Plant)
    )
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 75—467
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    )
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr.
    Duinelie):
    Petition for variance from Rules 404(b) (ii),
    902, 952, 953 and
    1002 of Chapter
    3, Water Pollution Regulations, was filed December
    11,
    1975.
    No public hearing was held.
    The Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency recommendation was filed on January 29,
    1976.
    On March
    4,
    1976 Petitioner filed amendments to its Petition.
    The Joliet Plant of the Caterpillar Tractor Company
    (“Caterpillar”)
    employs about 6,000 persons in the manufacture of earthmoving and
    construction machinery and equipment.
    Previous variances were granted
    by the Board on October 24,
    1974
    (PCB 74-333)
    and on April
    24,
    1975
    (PCB 75—54),
    The previous variance petitions,
    recommendations and Board Opinions
    were attached and made part of the instant Petition.
    The history of this proceeding can be summarized as follows:
    Caterpillar discovered, about May 1974,
    that their reported BOD5
    values
    were far too low by a factor of
    3 to
    4.
    They promptly engaged a
    consultant and devised
    a program to come into compliance with the
    Regulations.
    The most recent variance
    (PCB 75-54) set 130 mg/i as the maximum
    monthly average limit.
    It also required the construction work to
    be awarded by June
    1,
    1976 with completion by July 1,
    1977.
    Caterpillar did not meet the 130 mg/i limit as shown below
    in four of nine months for which data are presented.
    21—99
    —2—
    January 1975
    133 mg/l
    February
    847
    March
    97
    April
    125
    May
    63
    June
    65
    July
    54
    August
    394
    September
    134
    As can he seen from the data,
    two of the violations
    (January and
    September)
    are de minimus.
    The remaining two violations are severe.
    February 1975 averaged 847 or more than
    6 times the Board level;
    August averaged 394 or
    3 times
    the authorized level.
    The daily
    data shown in Exhibit D of the Petition reveals extremely high values.
    February
    7 for example was 5700 mg/i or 44 times the monthly limit.
    On August
    19,
    a level of 3,960 mg/i was recorded.
    These high levels
    were said by Caterpillar to be due to spills.
    Caterpillar requests a new monthly average limit of 170 mg/i
    and 426 mg/i as
    a daily average with
    5
    of the BOD
    samples allowed
    to exceed the
    limit in any calendar month.
    It ask~that the con-
    struction completion date of July
    1,
    1977 be extended to December 1,
    1977 with a further
    5 month allowance
    (to April
    1,
    1978)
    for
    a debugging period.
    The Agency~srecommendation quotes an Illinois State Water
    Survey study of 1971 of the Dresden Island Pool into which the
    subject effluent flows.
    It points out that the minimum dissolved
    oxygen of 2.1 mg/i in the Pool is almost at the minimum standard
    of 2.0 mg/l and it gives the equivalent Caterpillar discharge as
    being 1,092
    lbs. of BOD5 at 170 mg/l.
    We are then able to project the probable effects of Caterpillar’s
    discharges.
    The February 1975 discharge would put
    6 times more
    BOD into the Dresden Island Pool or about 6,600
    lbs. per day for
    the entire month.
    The February
    7,
    1975 discharge of 5,700 mg/i
    would put 48,400
    lbs.
    of BOD on this single day.
    The Agency recommendation gives the 1971 value of 90,450
    lbs.
    of BOD
    as the daily loading.
    The February
    7, 1975 discharge would
    thus exceed 50
    of that amount.
    A discharge of 48,400 lbs. of
    BOD contains the oxygen demand of the raw sewage of 290,000 persons.
    However, we are dealing above with 1971 data.
    We do not
    know the present BOD loading into the Dresden Island Pool or its
    resulting oxygen levels,
    The environmental impact of the Caterpillar
    discharge on the Dresden Island Pool was not addressed by either
    party
    in the two previous variances.
    21
    —
    100
    —3—
    Because Caterpillar has relied upon prior variances granted
    by the Board we feel it best to grant
    a six month variance under
    the old limits.
    In a
    new
    proceeding, Caterpillar will be able
    to fully document the environmental impact,
    if any, of their
    discharges upon Dresden Island Pool.
    In addition, the possibility
    of using surge tanks
    or lagoons to trap spills ought to be explored.
    Lastly, the delay in equipment delivery has not been documented.
    This Opinion constitutes the Board’s
    findings of fact and
    conclusions of law.
    ORDER
    1.
    Caterpillar is granted a variance from Rules
    404(b) (ii),
    962 and 1002 of Chapter
    3 from December
    31,
    1975 until July
    1,
    1976.
    2.
    Petitioner’s effluent shall not exceed 130 mg/i BOD5 on
    a monthly average basis.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    BoarjL~hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the
    $day
    of April,
    1976 by a vote of
    ~‘..O
    Illinois Pollution C~
    21
    —
    101

    Back to top