ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December

20,

1977

CHARLES EUGENE MAYHOOD,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 77—161

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Young):

This matter comes before the Board on a variance petition

filed on June 15,

1977,

by Charles Eugene Mayhood requesting

relief from Section

39 of the Environmental Protection Act

and from Rule 962 in Chapter

3 of the Water Pollution Regula-

tions.

The Petitioner filed an Amended Petition on July

8,

1977, waiving his right to

a public hearing and submitted a

second Amended Petition on September 26,

1977;

the Agency

filed a Recommendation to deny on August

9,

1977, and an

Amended Recommendation

to grant with certain conditions on

October 28,

1977.

Petitioner seeks

a variance to allow the connection of

twelve lots in the B

& B Subdivision to an existing eight—

inch sewer extension which

is tributary to the City of Effing-

ham sewage treatment plant

(2nd Amend. Pet. p3);

the sewage

treatment plant has been on restricted status since February

20, 1976,

and is both organically and hydraulically overloaded

(Rec.

Exh.

1,

2).

Eight of the twelve lots are occupied by

homes currently utilizing grossly inadequate septic tank

facilities which the Effingham County Health Department has

found to be

a health hazard

(Pet.

Exh. B-i,

E-2).

Mr. Mayhood

alleges that the eight—inch sewer extension, when constructed,

was designed

to handle exclusively a daily discharge of 1030

gallons of domestic sewage from the rest room facilities of

an auto dealership, Dan Hecht Chevrolet.

The tap-ons presently

requested by Petitioner are deemed necessary to correct a

public

health hazard existing in the vicinity of the sewer extension

(2nd Amend.

Pet. p3; Amend. Rec. p2).

The Petitioner estimates

that the average flow from the auto dealership and the B

& B

Subdivision would be 5,000 gallons per day resulting in daily

averages of 8.5 pounds BOD5 and 11 pounds of suspended solids

(Pet.

p2).

28

—

467

---

—2—

The Petitioner~sextension is connected

to the Effingham

sewage system

which

has been on restricted status since

February

20, 1976.

At the present time, the City of Effingham

is undertaking measures to upgrade its facility.

According to

the Agency’s Amended Recommendation at page

3,

the City has

completed Step

I facilities planning for upgrading the system

and treatment of combined overflows,

Step II plan preparation

is underway~for sewer system rehabilitation and primary treat-

ment and chlorination; and Step III construction for an up-

graded sewage treatment plant has been certified by th~USEPA.

The record indicates that Mr. Mayhood applied to the Agency

for a permit to connect the twelve lots of the B

& B Subdivision

to an eight-inch sewer extension constructed by the Petitioner

to transport the discharges from the auto dealership into the

Effingham sewage system.

The Agency aenied the application

on May 9,

1977,

citing treatment plant inadequacy and the sewer

ban.

After a permit denial,

a petitioner has three options;

one, make the necessary corrections

in the permit application

and resubmit it to the Agency;

two, contest the Agency decision

in a permit denial appeal; or three,

seek a variance from the

applicable regulations upon a showing of hardship.

In this

matter,

Mr. Mayhood chose to seek a variance from Section

39,

the permit requirements of the Act, and from Rule 962 of

Chapter

3 in order to connect others to the sewage system on

restricted status.

The Board will dismiss the Petition for Variance from

Section 39 of the Act because a grant of variance from Rule

962 will give sufficient relief from the standards of issuance

for construction and operating permits of Chapter 3 as necessary

to connect those parties who

have demonstrated the requisite

hardship.

It is not usual practice for the Board to grant variances

to petitioners who plead the hardship of others in justification

of a grant of variance.

The Petitioner needs no variance

in this

case; the Petitioner constructed an eight-inch sewer

extension to handle daily discharges of 1030 gallons from a

single building, such connection being exempt from the permit

requirements of Rule 951(b)

of Chapter

3.

Mr. Mayhood now claiias

that he needs

a variance from Rule 962 of Chapter

3 in order to

connect the twelve lots of B

& B Subdivision.

The Board does

not agree;

the residents of the B

& B Subdivision are entitled

to the variance based on an independent showing of arbitrary

and unreasonable hardship.

The Petitioner has established no

hardship to himself which would be entitled to a variance.

28

—

468

---

In the B

& B Subdivision,

the

residents of the eight

developed lots

servec. by septic

canks are enoriencing

problems

constituting a

threat to public

health.

The Board recogr4zes

this serious problem and

will permit the eight

residents to

connect to the sewer

extencion

constructed by the Petitioner.

The Board will grant relie~

o

Rule 962 for these residents

only.

The Board will not

peroit

further connections to the

sewer extension until the

~

ban” has been lifted in

Effingham.

The record further

discloses

that critical sections of

the sewer extension may

have been

constructed with materials

other than as specified

in tne nermit

application or required

by Agency design criteria

pursuant

to Rule 967 of Chapter

3

(Amend.

Rec.

p3).

The Board

will

require Petitioner tà

submit

“as built” plans to the Agency certified by an Illinois

registered professional

engineer

and upgrade the sewer

extension

construction as necessary to

meet

Agency criteria.

This Opinion

constitutec~

nba Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions

of law in this

ma~cr,

1.

The Petition for

Vcniance from

Section

39 of the ~ct

is hereby dismissed.

The

Board will grant a

variance from the

operating and construction

permit

requirements of Chapter

3

as

is necessary

to immediately connect the owners of

t~e eight

homes

in the

5

& B Subdivision, subject to the following con-

ditions:

a)

Petitioner

shall submit

within

60 days of

thisBoard Order

“as built” plans

certified

by

a professional engineer registered in

the State of

Illinois

showing the detail

of the sewers and the appurtenances in-

stalled.

b)

If it is determined by the Agency that any

component of

said sewer

extension is viola~-

tive of Agency

design

standards or

is iriad~—

quate for the purposes for which that corn—

ponent is intended, Petitioner shall immediately

replace or modify such component accordinq to

the specifications of the Agency.

2.

The Petition ~or Variance from Rule 962 of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution Regulations

is hereby granted to the ~n*rs

of

the eight homes presently existing in the B

& B

Subdivision,

four of whom are identified

as:

28

—

469

---

Ce~c.Yac~

Fayc Moor

St~ze anti C~t

Madcnc~aRn

These residents and ~ie f

structures

shaL

be grnntc~

Rules

which

will perm~

constructed

by

the Pe~tlconi

3.

No

furthe~

extension

until

the

Effingham

5Th and tue Pet~c~

Agency.

4.

Within forty~five

the

Petitioner

shall submit

b

Division

of Water Polln~i~o

Protection

Agency,

2200

b

62706,

an

executed Certif

to

be

bound

to all terrn~

forty-~five

day per:od Ia

review

of this varincc~

mental Protection Act,

as follows:

dentif

led

owners of existing

raance

from

Rule

962

of

the

connect

with

ticc’

sewer

extension

sh~1lbe moie to

Lhe

said

sewer

tatus

is

removed

from

the

obtains

a

pormi~

from

the

days

of

the

date

of

this

Order,

the

Manager,

Variance

Section,

to?,

Illinois

Environmental

1

Road,

Spri:gfield,

Illinois,

of Acceptance and Agreement

ditions

of

the

variance.

The

11

not

run

during

judicial

c to Section 41 of the Environ-

I,

(We),

_______

having

read

the Order of

the P~iiutioitControl

Board in PCB 77-l~l,

understand and a~copLLaid Order,

realizing that such

acceptance

renders

all te~na~and conditions thereto

binding

and

cnforceable.

IT

IS

SO ORDERED

SLiNED

TITLE

DATE

I, Christan

L. Moffett, Clerk of

the Illinois Pollution

Control

Board,

herr.by certift the above Opinion and

Order were

adopted on

the ~~day

of

~,

1977 by a vote

of~ç~

Christan

L.

Moffett,

e

TljflOjS

Pollution Control Board

~hc ~.ysideDrive

~bs

Thadyside Dri~c

• ~Thr,

108

Shadvs±dc

orive

Shadyside

Drive

.c.

nrc of

said

certification shall be

CL~3tL CATION