ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August

4,

1977

CITY OF

SHELBYVILLE,

Petitioner,

V.

)

PCB 77—150

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent,

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Dumelle):

This matter comes before the POllutiOn Control Board

(Board)’

upon the June

6,

1977 Petition of the City of Shelbyvilie

(Shelbyville)

for a variance from Rules

203(c)

and 402 of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution.

A hearing on this matter was waived,

and the

Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

filed its Agency Recommend-

ation on July

5,

1977,

The City of Sheibyville owns and operates a system of combined

and sanitary sewers and a wastewater treatment plant

(WWTP)

located

in Shelby County,

Illinois,

Equipment at the WWTP includes primary

and secondary trickling filters with chlorination,

a grit tank,

a

sludge digester and sludge drying beds,

Effluent from the WWTP

flows into an unnamed tributary of Robinson Creek and from there

into the Kaskaskia River below Shelby Dam,

Shelbyville has applied

for and received a Step

I Federal grant for upgrading its present

facilities.

Agency approval for Step

2 and Step

3

funding was with-

held because of a violation of the phosphorus water quality standard.

Granting of a variance from Rule 203(c)

and Rule 402 as regards

phosphorus will permit Agency approval for additional Federal funding.

The Agency submits that requiring phosphorus removal to the

0.05 mg/l

is economically unreasonable,

The co~tof chemical treat-

ment to achieve removal to 1,0 mg/i at the Shelbyville WWTP would be

$40,000-$50,000 per year. The Agency has fileda Petition for Regulator:

Change which would change the required level of phosphorus removal

at treatment plants such as Shelbyvill&s.

Thus an arbitrary and

unreasonable hardship has been shown here.

The Board has repeatedly

---

granted

variances from the phosphorus water quality standard

because of

excessive costs of removal.

Village

of Argenta

and

Village

of Cerro Gordo,

PCB 75~l82,PCB75-183,

18

PCB 152;

Village of

Strasburg, PCB 76~28; Old Ben Coal Company,

PCB 76-21;

~i~Hoopeston,

PCB 76~234~City of Arcola, PCB 76—280;

~i~eyviIle

Township, POE 77-l4;

TyoToibson

City,

PCB 77-96;

~

POD 77~lU4;ViLiage of Kansas, PCB 77—109;

Village of Herrick, PCB 77—110; SouEE~i~Illin6i~niversity

T~a~dsviU~T,PCB 77~l1l.

The environmental inpact of granting this variance

is

slight,

as

the contribution by Sheibyvill&s WWTP

to the total phosphorus

load

to

the Kaskaskia River is

1.4

at 1.0 mg/i.

Since granting

a variance here will permit additional Federal funding necessary

for

upgrading the WWTP, the Board finds that the benefits derived

from the grant

of a variance outweigh any harm to the

environment.

The Board grants

a variance from Rules

203(c)

and 402 of

Chapter

3:

Water Pollution until June

1,

1982 subject to the

condition

that this variance will terminate upon adoption by

the

Board of

any modification in the existing phosphorus water

quality

standards or

effluent limitations.

This Opinion and Order constitutes the

findings of fact and

conclusions

of law of the Board.

ORDER

The

City of Shelbyville is granted a variance from Rule

203(c)

and Rule

402

(as regards phosphorus)

of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution

until June

1,

1982,

subject to the following conditions:

1.

This variance will terminate upon adoption by the Board

of any

modification

of the existing phosphorus water

quality

standards and effluent limitations and the City shall

comply

with such revised regulations when adopted by the Board.

2,

Within

35 days

of the date of this Order,

the Petitioner

shall submit to the Manger, Variance Section, Division

of Water

Pollution Control, Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency,

2200

Churchill Road, Springfield,

Illinois 62706,

an executed

Certi-

fication of Acceptance and agreement to be bound to all

terms

and conditions of the variance.

The form

of said certification

shall be as follows:

---

CERTIFICATION

(We),________________

____________________

having

read

the Order of~he Pollution Con~.ro1Board in PCB 77—150,

understand

and accept said Order,

realizing that such

acceptance renders all

terms and conditions thereto

binding

and enforceable.

S

IGNED______________________________

TITLE

_____________________________

DATE___________________________________

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Christan L. Moffett,

Clerk of

the

Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on

the

4~

day of~j~L,,

1977

by a vote of

~.o

~istanI~.M~~

Illinois

Pollution