ILLINO:i S

Z~OLLUTION CONTROL

BOARD

April

5~ 1984

CITY OF HERRIN~AND HOUSING

)

AUTHORITY

OF

COUNTY

OF

WILLIAMSON~

Petitioners,

PCB 83—169

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER

OF

THE

BOARD

(by

J.

Marlin):

This matter comes before the Board upon the filing of

a variance petition by the City of Herrin (Herrin)

on November

i6~

1903 requesting relief from

35

Iii. Adm. Code 309.241

(old Rule 962 of Chapter 3).

Pursuant to Orders of the Board

dated November

18,

1983 and January 12,

1984

Herrin amended

its petition.

The

Housing Authority of Williamson County

(Authority) was joined as a necessary party.

Illinois Environmental

Protection

Agency

(Agency) filed its recommendation to grant

the

variance

on March

21r

1984.

There have been no objections

to

the relief

sought and the right to a hearing has been waived.

Facts

Ths Authority proposes

to construct 18 units of low—income

housing north

of

Carroll Street and east of 13th Street in

~errin~

iLlinois~ The units will

be

housed

in

nine

buildings

and

will require

a

790 foot extension of an

8 inch diameter

sanitary

sewer.

The Authority~ with Herrin,

has obtained

$750~00O

in

financial

assistance

from

the U.

S. Department

of Housing and Urban Development

(HtJD)

to carry

out

the housing

proposal.

The

Herrin

wastewater

treatment

plant

(WWTP)

was placed

on

Restricted Status

on

August

29,

1980

by

the

Agency

for

exceeding

effluent

limitations.

The

Herrin

WWTP

serves

10,000

people

and

4 major industries.

The

plant

was

constructed

in

1950

while

the

sewer

system

dates

back

to

1938

and

was

modified

in

1964,

The

plant

provides

secondary

treatment.

Raw

sewage

bypasses

the

WWTP

during

wet

weather~

Inf low

from

several

storm

sewers

and

infiltration

during wet weather cause

basement backups and manhole overflows.

57-341

---

The

WWTP has a design

average flow of 1.2 million gallons

per

day.

Discharge

is

to

an

intermittent unnamed tributary

of the Big Muddy

River.

The proposed project will add a daily

average flow of 2600 gallons per day

(Petition at 3).

Herrin~sNPDES permit #IL0029165 expired on June 30,

1983 and Herrin has applied for its renewal.

A draft permit

specifying interim and final effluent limitations for Outfall

001 and 002

is under final

consideration by the Agency and proposes

the

Interim

Final

Parameter

Monthly Avg.

Monthly Avg.

(mg/i)

(mg/i)

BOD5

25

10

TSS

70

12

pH

Range of

6 to

9

6 to

9

Chlorine Residual

0,75

0.75

Ammonia Nitrogen

Sample only

(no limit)

(Agency

Recommendation at 3).

Limitations for

bypass

applicable to outfall 002 are in

35

ill.

Adm. Code

306.103(a)

and

(c).

Outfall 002 limitations

are

not

being met

by the WWTP,

According to the Agency,

Herrin

is capable of

substantially

complying with the interim effluent

limitations.

Currentiy~

Herrin

is participating in the Federal

Construction

Grants Program and

is awaiting a Step

2

grant

for the design

of a new

wastewater treatment plant that will

meet the final effluent limitations

aboveJ

If the variance

is

not granted, Herrin would have

to construct

a separate

wastewater

treatment facility

for the housing project or delay

the

project until

restricted

status

is lifted.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The

petitioner must.

assess the environmental

impact if

the variance was

granted.

35 Iii. Adm,

Code 104.121.

Rerrin

estimates that the housing project will add the following

to the existing

WWTP:

1The effluent limitations may differ from the final limitations

in

the

draft permit if discharge

is routed directly into the

Big Muddy River (Petition at 4).

57-342

---

—3-.

IMPACT OF PROPOSED HOUSING

PROJECT2

Parameter

Existing Condition

Proposed Conditions

Average Flow

0.980

0.983

Infiuent

SOD

91 mg/i

91 mg/i

Influent SS

208

mg/i

.

208 mg/i

DAP

2600 GPD

DMF

a

10920 GPD

HOD5

a

26 x 0.l7*/Cap./Day

a

4.42*/Day

55

a

26 x 0.20*/Cap./Day

a

5.2*/Day

“The additional wastewater will not hydraulically or organically

overload the existing system.”

(Petition at 6).

Any

negative

effect will be for 3 years when the upgraded treatment facilities

will be in operation

(fl).

My negative effect will be outweighed

by the positive effect on the community in supplying much-needed

low income housing.

Besides the impact on the existing WWTP, the impact on

the waters of the State must be considered.

An Agency inspection

report stated the following:

‘This

(Big Muddy River) is possibly one of the poorest

quality, at the point of withdrawal, both chemical and

physical, sources of surface water within the Region

5 (Southern Region) area.

The wastewater effluent

from at least nine community WWTP’s and the runoff

from at least 11 coal mines discharges either directly

into the Big Muddy River or one of its tributaries

upstream from the Cities Water Company

-

Royalton

WTP’

(Herrin is the closest

WWTP

and is one of the

largest).

(Agency Recommendation at 7).

The proposed project will add a minimal

amount

of discharge

to the

WWTP

and the impact on the environment will be negligible.

Herrin will be adding improvements to its wastewater system

in the near future.

In addition, the proposed housing project

will be required to reduce its wastewater volume by implementing

water conservation measures.

In its amended petition Herrin commented on several in-

expensive, easily installed water conservation devices which

would

lessen

sewer

loadings.

Manufacturers

estimate

that

these

devices

can

reduce household water usage by up to 40 percent.

Herrin concluded that it

could not require

that

the devices

be installed, but that it would have to be accomplished voluntarily

through an educational program put on by the petitioner.

(Amendment to Petition at

2 and 3).

The Authority plans to

use some water conservation devices throughout the proposed

units.

The Board encourages the

use

of such devices and will

require an educational program as a condition for granting the

variance.

2Petition at 3,4

57-343

---

HARDShIP

Petitioner must show that compliance

with the Board’s

rules and regulations would

impose an arbitrary or unreasonable

hardship.

Ill.

Rev.

Stat.

1981,

oh,

111½,

par.

1035.

If

the

variance was denied,

the

Authority could only construct

6

of the

18 units and possibly lose the

$750,000 HUD assistance.

If the Authority

still

wanted

to build the 18

units, they

would

have to spend

$28,788

for an

on-site wastewater treatment

facility

(Amendment to Petition at 1,2).

This

option is cost

prohibitive relative to the cost of extending the sanitary

sewers to the area (Petition at

7).

The construction of this

treatment plant would violate Herrin zoning ordinances because

of the availability of sanitary sewers

(Id.)

HUD made a finding

of need for this low-income project

in Ilerrin.

This project

primarily will

house

elderly people.

The Authority has a

list of 250 low-income applicants awaiting housing

(Petition

at

8).

The

Authority

has

sought

public

housing

since

February

of

1980.

The WWTP was placed on

restricted status in late

August,

1980.

According

to the Agency:

During the negotiation sessions

of the PCB 79—239

proceeding in 1981,

Herrin stated openly

that it had

applied

for public housing

and requested from the Agency,

at that time, what was necessary

for Herrin to do to

warrant support from the Agency to extend

sewer service

to this public housing

project.

In

1981, the Agency

responded

that the

most

important criteria

would be

Herrin’s commitment and progress toward

building its

treatment

plant and commitment

to operating the existing

system as effectively

as possible.

Agency

Recommendation

at

9.

It

is

apparent

that

Herrin,

the Authority and the Agency were

aware that this project was

initiated prior to restricted

status

and

during

negotiations made

provisions for its

continuance.

The

Agency

is

satisfied

that

Herrin has now shown

enough

commitment

to

correcting

its

WWTP

problems to be allowed

to

connect

the

Authority~s

project.

Given

this chain of events,

the

hardship

was

not

self—imposed.

The

Agency

noted

that

Herrin

has

been

involved in an

enforcement

proceeding

for

effluent

and

bypass excursions

(Agency

Recommendation

at

5).

Notwithstanding

enforcement

actions~

in

its

recommendation

the

Agency

stated:

~7hile the Agency could readily justify

its

recommendation to deny based upon failures

evident

in the record, the Agency

is impressed by the need

for public housing

in

Herrin,

Agency

Recommendation

at

9.

57-344

---

The

Board

notes

that

prior

variances have

been granted where

the need for public housing has

been

balanced with the

environmental impact of adding to the sewage load

of the

existing facility,

~

of

Abin9~onand

Knox Count

Housin

~

50 PCB

419; ~

et a?.

v,

IEFA,

39 PCB 285,

In summary, Herrin sought public housing prior to the

imposition of restricted status,

is now showing commitment

to correcting its WWTP problems, has no economically feasible

alternative for treating waste water from

the

project, has

ade~oristratedneed for iow income housing for the elderly,

and cculd lose $750,000 in federal financial assistance if

the variance

is not granted.

The environmental impact from

granting the variance for the 18 units is minimal

in this

case.

Upon balancing these factors with the minimal environ-

mental impact,

the

Board finds that denial of the variance

would impose an arbitary or unreasonable hardship on the

petitioner.

Therefore,

based on the above,

the Board holds that denial

of the variance would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable

hardship on the petitioner,

The City of Herrin

is hereby

granted a variance from 35

Ill. Adm. Code 309,241.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions

of law of

the

Board in this matter.

ORDER

The City of Herrin is hereby granted a variance from

35 Ill.

Adm.

Code 309.241 to

allow the Agency to issue construction

and cperating permits for the

extension of a sanitary zewcr

to

the

proposed housing project site located north

of Carroll

Street and east of

13th Street

in the City of Herrin, Williamson

County,

Illinois,

subject to the following conditions:

1.

Water

saving

faucets

and water saving shower heads

shall

be

installed

throughout

the

18 unit project.

2.

Water

dams

or

similar

water

conservation

devices

shall

be

installed

in

the

flush

tanks

of

all toilets

in

the

18

unit

project.

3.

The

City

of Herrin shall conduct

an

educational

program

on

water

conservation to encourage its

citizens to voluntarily reduce water use

and

thereby relieve some of the load on its

waste water

treatment plant.

At a minimum this

program shall

consist

of the placement

of

at least

two display

advertisements,

discussing

the desirability of

water

conservation,

in a newspaper or newspapers

57-345

---

—6—

generally circulated in Berrin.

The advertisements

shall

generally

describe

the

simple,

inexpensive

water

conservation

devices

which

are

currently

available, their cost, and

how

they

might

be obtained.

4.

Within forty-five days of the date of

this

Order,

Petitioner

shall

execute

and

forward

to

the

Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency,

Compliance

Assurance

Unit, Water Pollution Control Division, 2200 Churchill

Road, Springfield, IL 62706, a Certificate of

Acceptance

and

Agreement to be

bound

to

all

terms

and

conditions

of

this

variance.

This

forty-five

day

period

shall

be

held

in

abeyance

for

any

period

during

which

this

matter is being appealed.

The form of the certificate

shall be as follows:

CERTIFICATE

I,

(We)

having read the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board

in PCB 83—169, dated ________________________________

understand

and

accept

the

said

Order,

realizing

that

such.

acceptance

renders

all

terms

and

conditions

thereto

binding

and enforceable.

Petitioner

By:

Authorized

Agent

Title

Date

I,

Christan

L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control

Board,

hereby

certify

the

above

Opinion

and

Order

were

adopted

on

the

t”

day

of

______________,

1984

by

a

vote

of

L,-o

C

~

thristan

L.

Mo~f~WClerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

57-346