ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
4,
1979
CITY OF MORRISON,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 79—144
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE
BOARD
(by Dr.
Satchell):
This matter comes before the Board upon a petition for variance
filed July 17,
1979 by the City of Morrison (Morrison)
in Whiteside
County.
The petition requests, pursuant to §35 of the Environmental
Protection Act
(Act), Procedural Rule 401
and
Rule 914 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution (Water Rules), relief from fecal coliform effluent
limits and monitoring requirements in connection with the discharge
from Morrison’s sewage treatment plant which is covered by NPDES
Permit No.
IL 0027006.
The pleadings do not disclose the partic-
ular provisions from which the variance is sought.
Water Rule 405
sets
a fecal coliform limit of 400 per 100 ml.
Water Rules
501 and
910(f) (2)
allow the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
to
establish
monitoring and reporting requirements.
No hearings were
held and no public comment has been received.
Morrison has a population of 4,387.
Its sewage treatment plant
treats an average of
.9 MGD.
Existing facilities include grit re-
moval, primary sedimentation, trickling filters and final sediment-
ation with separate anaerobic digestion.
Morrison has not included
information on the extent of the present failure to meet the 400
per 100 ml fecal coliform standard but has attached an engineer’s
opinion that the existing facilities could not meet the fecal coli—
form limit with best possible operation.
The effluent is discharged
into Rock Creek which is tributary to the Rock River.
The petition
alleges that there
is no downstream use for drinking water or re-
creational lakes, that the existing stream conditions are not drast-
ically affected by the discharge and that no particular environmental
impact will result from the variance.
The Agency does not contest
this assertion.
Morrison has completed its Step 1 facility plan which was approved
on June
6,
1979 by the Agency.
It has
a grant priority of 190 and is
eligible for grant funds through Step 3.
The sewage treatment plant
improvements are to include disinfection facilities and a monitoring
system for fecal coliform.
Morrison’s NPDES permit calls for sub-
mission of final
plans
and specification by July,
1980, completion
-in
—2—
of construction by March, 1983 and compliance with final effluent
limitations by June
1,
1983.
However,
the project schedule in the
grant agreement calls for start—up by September,
1982.
The Agency
recommends grant of the variance through the later date, June
1,
1983, or until operational status is obtained.
The
disinfection and monitoring equipment have an estimated
cost of $140,000.
Morrison is eligible for 75
grant participation.
If it were required to proceed immediately with its own funds
it
would not be entitled to grant participation.
The Board finds that
this would pose an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship.
Morrison’s NPDES permit requires fecal coliform monitoring five
times per week.
Water Rules
501 and 910(f) (2)
authorize the Agency
to establish reporting requirements in permits.
It is within the
power of the Agency to adjust the frequency of monitoring without
application to the Board for a variance.
However,
the Board may
in
a variance proceeding order less frequent monitoring where it
is shown that the required monitoring is sufficiently burdensome.
Although Morrison has not indicated how much the monitoring equip-
ment or outside laboratory services would cost, the Board assumes
that under the circumstances daily monitoring would alone constitute
an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship.
Nevertheless, the Board is
reluctant to allow a discharge to go unregulated and unmonitored.
Accordingly, Morrison will be required to submit samples quarterly
to the Agency and provide efficient operation of the existing
facilities.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and con-
clusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
Petitioner, the City of Morrison,
is granted a variance
from Rules
405, 501 and 910(f) (2)
of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution.
This variance shall terminate on June 1,
1983
or whenever operational status of its upgraded sewage
treatment plant is attained, whichever occurs first.
2.
Petitioner shall operate its sewage treatment plant so
as
to achieve the lowest practicable fecal coliform levels
attainable with its existing facilities.
3.
The Agency, pursuant to Rule 914 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution, shall modify NPDES Permit No.
IL 0027006
consistent with the conditions set forth in this Order.
—3—
4.
Morrison shall take all necessary pre—grant and post—
grant actions appropriate to the specific grant steps
for which it is then eligible as expeditiously as
is
reasonably possible.
5.
During the term of this variance Morrison shall submit
quarterly for fecal coliform analysis samples to the
Agency as directed by the Agency.
6.
Within forty-five days of the date of this Order,
Petitioner
shall execute and forward to the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency, Variance Section, 2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield, Illinois 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 this matter is being appealed.
The form of the Certificate shall be
as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We), _____________________________, having read
and fully understanding the Order in PCB 79-144, hereby
accept that Order and agree to be bound by all of its
terms and conditions.
SIGNED ____________________________
TITLE
_____________________________
DATE
_______________________________
Mr. Dumelle concurs.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify th
a ove Opinion and Order were adopted on
the
_________
day of
_________________,
1979 by a vote of
41.0
Christan L. Moff tjtJ/J~lerk
Illinois PollutiorV&6ntrol Board
35—481