ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May
29,
1984
JAMES J. CUPP,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 83—104
SOUTH PALOS TOWNSHIP SANITARY
)
DISTRICT,
)
Respondent.
MR.
JAMES J. CUPP,
PRO
SE, APPEARED FOR COMPLAINANT;
MSSRS. PATRICK A. LUCANSKY AND THOMAS BAYER (KLEIN, THORPE
&
JENKINS, LTD.) APPEARED FOR RESPONDENT.
OPINION AND ORDER OF
THE
BOARD (by
B.
Forcade):
On July 29,
1983, James
J,
Cupp
(“Cupp”)
of Palos Park filed
this enforcement action against the South Palos Township Sanitary
District (“South Palos”).
Cupp claimed violations of 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 306.304
(overflows of sanitary sewers expressly forbidden
and 306.102(a)
(systems reliability of treatment works and assoc-
iated facilities.
On October
5,
1983, South Palos
filed a
motion to limit claimants request for relief.
On December 22,
1983,
a hearing was held in Palos Hills,
Illinois.
South Paloc provides sewer service to an area approximately
one mile wide,
running between 127th Street on the north and
135th Street on the south
(R.
57);
this area includes four or
five different water sheds or subsheds draining in different
directions
(R.
59).
rrhus
lift
stations must be used to trans-
port sewage from certain areas to the treatment plant.
Cupp~s
home is approximately 100 feet from the lift station at 131st
Street and 80th Avenue
(R.
65).
The manhole on that lift station
and the lower level
living area of Cupps home are at approximately
the
same level
(R.
75).
During periods of rainfall the sanitary sewers near Cuppts
home back—up.
Sewage will back-up through Cupp’s toilets into
the recreation room,
study and basement area.
Back—ups from the
lift station manhole flood Cupp’s yard with human waste and
toilet paper.
Cupp’s back-ups began on April
18,
1975 and have
continued on the following dates:
4/27/75, 5/25/75, 2/21/76,
9/76, 3/28/79,
3/29/79, 4/11/79, 4/25/79, 4/27/79,
5/23/79,
6/11/79, 6/19/79,
7/24/79, 7/25/79, 8/9/79,
8/14/79,
12/24/79,
1/16/80, 3/27/80,
4/4/80,
6/80, 9/16/80,
3/28/83, 4/2/83,
4/10/83,
4/13/83, 7/1/83,
and 7/18/83
(R.
8—11).
Cupp has contacted the
58-223
2
South Palos trustees
(R,
8),
South Palos field workers
(R,
11),
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(R.
11) and
filed
an informal complaint with this Board on April
11,
1979
(R.
26)
in an effort to remedy Cupp’s formal complaint.
South Palos testified that the cause of
flooding
is excessive
infiltration and inflow
(“1
& I”)
into the sanitary sewer system
tributary to the lift station near Cupp’s home;
inflow in excess
of the lift station’s pumping capacity
(R.
68).
On a nationwide
basis approximately 20
of the
I
&
I
is from the municipal sewers,
80
from the private sewer
lines; that ratio should be valid for
South Palos
(R.
65).
Illegal downspout and sump connections con-
tribute significantly to private sewer line inflow
(R.
61) and
illegal connections exist
in South Palos
(R.
62).
The sewer lines
involved are sanitary sewer lines
(R.
59).
The flooding problem
is not limited to Cupp but is experienced by a number of other
residents
(R.
91, 98).
The Board finds that the sanitary sewer
lines of South Palos
are overflowing onto Cupp’s
lawn and home as a result of excessive
infiltration and inflow and that this constitutes a violation of
35
Ill, Adm. Code 306.304.
Section 306.102(a)
requires that
treatment works be so constructed and operated as to minimize
violation of applicable standards during various types of
contingency situations.
There
is no evidence in the record to
support a finding that such a failure during these types of
contingencies has occurred, but that count is dismissed.
The
Board will order a specific program to reduce the infiltration
and inflow.
Cupp has requested this Board to order South Palos
to pay
for damages to his property
(Complaint, ¶
5) and install
a
collection tank on his property
(R,
24).
The Board declines
to award damages as this would not constitute a civil penalty
to aid enforcement of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
The
Board is empowered to assess civil penalties
but it
cannot
award private damages.
Accordingly, South Palos’s motion to
limit relief is granted.
Also,
while a collection tank and
ejector might alleviate the symptoms (Cupp’s flooding) it does
not address the problem (infiltration and
inflow).
South Palos
testified that they were presently engaging in a door-to—door
inspection program for illegal hook-ups
(R.
70).
This effort
should be coupled with a public awareness campaign to inspect
homes and inform residents of hook~-uprestrictions.
The Board
has,
in a previous case, ordered public notification of hook-up
restrictions through customer mailings.
Vi11aq~9fBourbonnais
v, Illinois Environmental Protection A enc
,
PCB 83—71, October 19,
198
at
.
Pu
ication in a newspaper o
general circulation is
another option.
South Palos also testified that there are feasible
methods of detecting leaking sewer pipes using smoke or soil
saturation techniques
(R.
71—72),
58-224
3
South Palos has taken steps to alleviate
problems
with their
sewer system, however,
the Board’s finding of violation requires
that a more formal and comprehensive program be mandatorily
implemented.
The Board today will order South Palos to develop
within 60 days a comprehensive progr~.mto evaluate the sources of
iufiltration and inflow and remedy those problems.
That program
must, within one year after Board acceptance result in identifi—
cation of the sources of such excessive flows,
elimination of 90
of the illegal downspout and sump pump
connections,
and application
for any available fede.~alfunding to cure the infiltration
in
the
public sewer
lines.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s
findings of
fact and
conclusions of law in this matter,
ORDER
1,
The South Palos Township Sanitary
District has
violated
35 Ill. Adm, Code 306.304.
2.
The allegation of violation of Section 306,102(a)
is
dismissed,
3.
Within 35 days
of the date of the Order, the Respondent
shall, by certified check or money order payable to
the
State of Illinois and designated for deposit into
the
Environmental Protection Trust Fund, pay the penalty of
$100 which
is to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield,
IL
62706
4.
Within 90 days of the date of this Order the South
Palos Township Sanitary District shall submit
to the
Board and the Agency a districtwide
plan or
program
to
identify and eliminate,
as much as possible, the
excessive flows to the system’s sewers,
At a minimum
such plan shall call for:
a.
A
schedule of full completion
not later
than
one year from acceptance by the Board;
b.
elimination of at least 90
of the illegal down~’
spout and sump pump connections;
1.
this effort should
include,
at a
minimum,
a public awareness program, which utilizes
publication in a newspaper of general
circulation and customer mailings coupled
with door-to—door inspections and all legal
remedies to force homeowner compliance
58~225
4
2.
application
of smoke and soil saturation
tests to identify illegal downspouts and
damaged sections of sewers;
c.
application for any available federal funds to
cure infiltration into the public
sewers.
5.
Within
30
days of the date the South Palos Township
Sanitary District submits its plan, the Agency shall
provide comments to the Board on the adequacy of the
plan.
6.
The Board will retain jurisdiction in this matter until
plan approval.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Board Member J.D. Dumelle concurred.
I,
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order
was adopted on the ~?7~day
of
~
,
1984
by
a vote of
“—C
.
I
Dorothy M. Arnn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
58~226