ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June

9,

1977

MOBIL

OIL

CORPORATION,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 77—22

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

CONCURRING OPINION

(by Mr. Dumelle):

The record in this case is incomplete and unsatisfactory

in

many respects.

No reasons are given by Mobil Oil for the 29—month

delay in achieving the 3.0 mg/i ammonia effluent standard which

became effective on December 31,

1974.

All we know is that ammonia

discharges have been cut about in half from 77 mg/i

in 1973 to 42

mg/i for

1975.

Besides this unexplained delay is the question of the effect of

Mobil Oil’s ammonia discharges upon the Illinois River.

The Board’s

Opinion in the Effluent Criteria proceeding,

R70—8,

(January

6,

1972)

is quite clear that low dissolved oxygen levels

in the Illinois River

were

the

reason

for

regulating

ammonia

effluents

to

the

Des

Plaines

River

(3 PCB 406).

The

~\gency,

which

should

be

fully

familiar

with

this

major

Board

Opinion,

was

silent

on

this

point.

We

do

not

know

in

this

record

whether di

ssol.ved

oxyqen

leveL.;

in

the

Ii,

~

mo

i s

Ri

ver

below

Peoria

are

still substandard and deleterious to fish or whether the River

has now recovered and meets Illinois standards.

One

milligram

per

liter

of

ammonia

requires

4.5

times

as

much

oxygen.

Thus

the

daily

average

of

889

lbs.

of

ammonia

and

the

daily

maximum of 1,957

lbs.

granted to Mobil Oil translate to 4,000 lbs.

and 8,806 lbs. of oxygen required.

This in turn,

translates to the

raw

sewage approximate equivalent of a City of 24,000 people or

52,836 respectively.

We would not tolerate the raw sewage dumping

to the Illinois River of a Pekin

(31,375)

or a Berwyn

(52,502)

.

Why

were the ammonia levels not reduced in a timely fashion?

26

—

115

---

2

If the waters of Illinois are to

be

made

“fishable

and swim-

mable”

then we had best follow the Board’s dates

for compliance.

I concur in this decision because

it

does

place Mobil Oil on

a research program.

I hope

that

in

future

variance proceedings,

if still necessary,

that they will examine the effects of their

ammonia discharges upon

the

dissolved

oxygen of the Illinois River.

Respectfully submitted,

/

)

“7)

Jacob

D.

Dumelle

I, Christan

L,

Moffett,

Clerk

of

the

Illinois

Pollution Control

Board,

hereby certify the above Concurring Opinion was submitted

on

the~day

of~,

1977.

~stanL,Moffet,erk

Illinois Pollution

rol Board

25

—

716