ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August

2,

1984

In the flatter of:

Petition of

MOLINE

FORGE

for a Site—Specific

Operational

Level

Pursuant

to

35

)

R83-33

Ill.

Adm~ Code

901.105(d)

)

PROPOSE!)

RULE.

FIRST

NOTICE.

PROPOSED

OPINION

AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by

J~ Marlin):

On november

23, 1983

Moline Forge petitioned for a site-

specific operational level for its forging shop as an alternative

to compliance with the noise limits contained in 35

Ill, Adm.

Code 901.105

(old Rule 206 of Chapter 8).

The Illinois Environ-

mental Protection Agency (Agency) filed its response on January

24, 1984.

A public hearing was held in Peoria,

Illinois on

March 12, 1984~ No members of the public or press attended.

This hearing was scheduled with three other similar forging noise

cases involving central Illinois shops in order to conserve the

time and funds of all

tne parties involved.

A negative declaration

was filed by the Illinois Department of Energy

&

Natural Resources

on April 27,

1984,

The Economic and Technical Advisory Committee

concurred on July 18,

1984.

Section 90i~l05(d)allows an existing forging shop to

petition the Board for a site-specific operational plan which will

limit noise emissions from the shop.

Petitioner must demonstrate

that it is technically and economically infeasible for its shop

to meet the numerical limits,

Petitioner must also propose

measures to reduce impulsive noise where possible and assess the

consequential health and welfare impacts on the surrounding

community.

Moline

Forge

is located at 4101 Fourth Avenue, Moline,

Illinois,

Its complex covers two square blocks,

To the north

are railroad tracks,

residences and the Mississippi River.

To

the east and south are commercial and then residential property.

To the west

is

scattered residential, commercial and industrial

property.

Significant noise sources in the area other than trains

include trucks using Highway 92 just south of tne forge.

All

the

property surrounding the forge when it was built in

1918 was vacant

or

used for farmland.

The forge shop itself is

marked as building X on Exhibit B to the petition.

The building

is 265 feet 1ong~120 feet wide and 55 feet high.

It produces

The Board acknowledges the work of Kevin F. Duerinck, hearing

officer and administrative assistant for this rulemaking.

59~3o9

---

2

mainly forgings for the agricultural industry.

The forge

shop

contains nine

forging

hammers weighing 2,500 to 8,000 pounds

apiece arid nine

furnaces.

The heat from the furnaces,

22000 to

2350°F,

raises

the

temperature of the shop to 120°to 130°F.

Windows and

ro.Il~open

doors draw fresh air into the building and

a new open

root

system

with two fans draws warm air out.

When

the outside

tamDerature

is

over 100’~F, the work force

is composed

of volunteers because temperatures inside are extremely hot.

The forqinq

hammers

currently operate from 6:00 a.m,

to 2:30

p.m. five days per week.

Historically, at peak capacity the

hammers have operated two shifts from October

1. through April

30,

from 6:00

a.m~ until

11:00 p.m.,

five days

per

week, with oc-

cassional

work

on

Saturday from 5:00 a.m, until 3:30 p.m.;

and

one shift from

May

I

through September

30, from 6:00 a.ni.

until

3:30 p.m. five days per week with occasional work on Saturday

from 6:00

a.m.

until

3:30

p.m.

At peak capacity 85 to

90 people

were employed compared with the current

65 people.

Moline Forge

requests that

it

be allowed to operate its nine hammers six days

per week, from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. Monday through Friday

and from 6:00 a.m.

until

3:30 p.m.

on Saturday

(Petition at 10).

Production decreased from 1980 through 1982 as will be shown

by the table beIow~

This resulted in less hammer blows and less

impulsive noise.

The

decline

is expected ~tolevel off in 1983.

(Petition at

5).

Total

no~

of

No.

of

To~mageof all

~~ric~sonhamrners

~~ins

1930

i,0i5~~0OO

9,642,500

4,060

1981

972~000

9,234,000

3~644

1982

5,580,000

2,790

Permissible impulsive sound levels for existiz~g~

shops

are found

in

35

III,

Mm.

Code

901.105.

The i~u1s:1~esound level

emitted to residences

(Class

A

land)

caflnot

oeed

~

~q

during

the

day or 53.5 Leg at night.

As to commercial

t~ii~tments

(Class B),

the

level

cannot exceed 64.5 Leq.

Ba~sad:up~onactual

noise level measurements, Exhibit A to the pe~it~on-~h~s

that

the

maximum

noise

level

is 70 Leq.

Approxin~beTh~’4J~3re5idences

potentially could be exposed to sound levels 1~n~exo~ssof 53.5

Leq.

The noise

level

and the number of resideflces ~exposedto a

certain

noise

level

vary

depending

on

wind

ve&~citty imd

direction.

Additionally~

the

nighttime

violations would not ~ccur U there

was

no

nighttime

shifts as in the present situation..

59~31O

---

3

Even though there are 418 residences theoretically

exposed

to the maximum noise level, there have been no noise complaints

within the last eight years.

When Moline Forge

had

operated

late

at. night

in

the

summer,

it

had

received

three

complaints

from

residents.

The

complaints

terminated

once

Moline

Forge

reduced

its

summer

hours.

Various measures have been proposed to reduce the sound

levels

at

Moline

Forge.

The

ETA

report

prepared

in

a

prior

Board

proceeding

(R76-14)

suggested

that

sound

barriers

could

be

installed

between

the

forge shop and Class A residents to

reduce

the

sound

levels.

The

author

of

this

report

was

and

is

the sound consultant for Moline Forge herein.

He stated at

hearing

that

this report was compiled and suggestions

made

before he

had

ever seen the plant (Tr.

33).

.

the plant he now states that installation of these barriers

would impede and in

some

areas halt the flow of traffic to the

forge shop

(Exh. E to the petition), thus impairing productivity.

He also proposed five measures

that

would reduce the sound

levels from the forge shop by l7dss

(See Response filed 7/29/84),

which included rebuilding the side walls with brick or glass

block and enclosing the forge shop in a new warehouse.

En

addition, the forge shop roof will not accept the weight of

additional fans

and

silencers

(Exh. D to Petition).

Moline Forge cites a cost of over $1 million for this

project.

The

president

of

Moline

Forge

stated

that

it

would

have

to

shutdown

operations

if

faced

with

such

compliance

costs

(Tr.

30).

Moline Forge tried to control excessive noise at its forge

shop.

Warehouse and die storage buildings were built between

the forge shop and Class A residences.

This did not effectively

reduce the noise level, however.

Petitioner has continued to

support the research conducted by the Forging Industry Education

and Research Foundation.

The Board proposes granting Moline Forge’s site—specific

operational

level

for

nine

h~’ers,

two

shifts

Monday

through

Friday

and

one

shift

on

Saturday.

The

consultant

does

not

foresee

any

adverse health effects from 70

Leq

(Petition

at

32).

The

Agency

states

that

there

would

be

no

danger

of

hearing

loss

to

area

residents

(Agency

Response

at

4).

Although

no

specific

numerical

noise

level

limitations

are

being

imposed,

it

is

assumed

that

noise

levels

will

approximate

those testified to by Moline Forge and its witnesses.

Moline

Forge should make efforts to lessen noise levels in the future

as

equipment

is replaced and

new

technology for noise suppression

becomes

available.

In the event that noise levels

from

the

forge shop become excessive, citizens have the right to initiate

proceedings to

change

the

rule

which

59-311

---

4

The

following

operational plan as set out in the attached

Order will he incorporated into

35

Iii. Adm.

Code

901.114.

Moline Forge

w:~i1

he reauired to comply with the plan upon

filing

with

tho

Secretary

of State of Illinois.

ORDER

35

lii.

1~dm~

Code

901.114

will

read as follows:

Section

9O1~114 Mo

line Forge

~

ific

~~t~nal

Level

Moline Z9rre and future ownersoft~~inf~ili~y

shall compiy~withthe following site-specific operational

level for the for9in~Sfacili~located at 4101 Fourth

Avenue~

Moiine~

Illinois or are otsbo

Section 901.105(c):

a)

Shai12~erateno

more

th

i

for in

hammers

at any one time;

and

b)

Shall

operate its forging hammers only between

the

hours of 6:00 a.m. until

11:00 p.m. Monday

through Friday and from 6:00 a.m,

until

3:30

S~d~

35

Iii.. Adm,

Code

901.114 is directed to First Notice.

IT

IS

SO ORDERED~

I, Dorothy M.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boards

hereby

certify that the

aboye

Proposed Opinion and Order

was adopted

on

the

~

day

of (~

~ 1984 by a vote

of

______

~

,~.

/L~

Dorothy M,’Gunn, Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

59412