ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
November 15,
1979
ZEIGLER COAL COMPANY,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 79—123
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION
2~ND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Dr.
Satchell):
This matter first came before the Board upon a petition for
variance filed on June
15,
1979.
An amended petition was filed
on September 7,
1979.
A recommendation by the Illinois Environ-
mental Protection Agency
(Agency) was filed on October 15,
1979.
No response by Petitioner was made to the recommendation.
Pet-
itioner requests a five year variance from Rule 203(f) of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
as it applies to sulfate and total dissolved
solids
(TDS)
and from Rule 408(b)
of Chapter 3.
The variance is
requested for Petitioner’s mining operation known as Zeigler No.
4 Mine located in Williamson County, Illinois.
The Agency
recommends
a grant of the variance subject to certain conditions.
This mine,
located in sections
9,
16 and 17, township
8
south, range
3 east of the 3rd principal meridian, Williamson
County,
Illinois,
is an underground coal mine, producing and
processing
4000 tons of raw coal per day and has 250 employees.
The mine has had ongoing problems with water pollution since 1972
(7 PCB 19, February
6,
1973).
Various projects to move toward
compliance have appeared as permit conditions.
A commercial process for removing sulfate and TDS from water
is the reverse osmosis technique.
To employ this process on the
scale necessary to treat the discharges from Petitioner’s prop-
erty would involve
a capital investment for equipment of
$1,296,000 and a daily operating cost of $1210
(Pet.
2).
This
does not include the cost of disposal of the waste from the
system.
The Agency issued Petitioner NPDES Permit No.
IL 0059056
for discharges for the subject mine with an effective date of
February
9,
1979 and an expiration date of December 31,
1979.
Two discharge points are authorized by the NPDES permit:
Dis-
charge Point 001 from the slurry circuit which occurs after the
water contained therein has undergone lime treatment,
and Dis-
charge Point
002,
an emergency discharge from the slurry circuit,
specifically Slurry Lake No.
5, which occurs before the water
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contained therein has undergone lime treatment.
From information
supplied by Petitioner’s renewal application for its mine related
pollution control permit
(No. 1977-MO-5114), the Agency recommend-
ation states that the estimated system water losses will exceed
rainfall runoff contributions by 54.1 acre/feet on a yearly basis.
Intermittent discharges
are expected during periods of excessively
wet weather when the storage capacity of the slurry circuit is
exceeded.
Petitioner’s estimated maximum flow from the discharge
or discharges will be 1200 gpm (1.73 MGD).
It is unclear whether
these flow estimates include the emergency discharge from Dis-
charge Point 002.
If 1200 gpm were released there would be 1800
lbs. of sulfates
(at 3000 mg/l)
and 300 lbs.
of calcium and
miscellaneous metals
(at 500 mg/i)
for a one hour release
(Amend.
Pet.).
Petitioner did not indicate the amount of storage capacity
in the slurry circuit.
The petition states that the discharge of TDS would be
approximately 4500 mg/i based on normal operation of a similar
treatment system now in operation.
It is not stated where the
similar system is located.
The discharges from the mine in
question enter into unnamed tributaries of Lake Creek.
Lake
Creek,
in turn, enters into Pond Creek which,
subsequently joins
the Big Muddy River.
The Johnston City Sewage Treatment Plant
(design average flow—-400,000 gpd) discharges into Lake Creek
downstream from Zeigier No.
4 Mine.
The Agency recommendation provides further information.
According to the Illinois State Water Survey the receiving waters
of the mine discharge with the exception of the Big Muddy River
are classified as intermittent.
The 7-day,
10—year low flow of
the Big Muddy at United States Geological Survey Gauging Station
5-5970 which is located above the confluence with Pond Creek is
31.0
cfs
(13,913 gpm).
As
a result, the minimum dilution ratio
for all discharges from the subject mine which reach the Big
Muddy River would be 11.6 to 1
(Rec.
6).
Since the discharges
from the subject mine should occur only during excessively wet
periods of weather, additional dilution can be expected.
The
City of Royalton does draw its drinking water from the Big Muddy
River at
a point downstream from its confluence with Pond Creek.
Petitioner’s Addendum to Variance Petition provides
an
environmental study for the discharges presently occurring.
This
included drainage
from the requested emergency discharge.
The
study was done
on one day, August
1,
1979.
The investigation
included five sampling points.
Stream degradation was apparent in
a 0.9 mile stretch of stream from sampling station Z—2 to Z-5.
At
36—116
—3—
stations
Z—4 and Z—5 this may be partially accounted for as a
result of the physical habitat present.
There is no record of
fish kills,
or collection of threatened or endangered species
of fish reported in the area of sampling.
There are currently two regulatory proceedings pending
before the Board concerning these types of discharges.
R76-7
concerns an exemption for coal mining from the TDS standards
of Chapter
3.
R77-l0 is a petition for amendments to the mining
regulations.
In order to further address these problems
a Mine
Related Pollution Task Force consisting of members from both
industry and government have proposed an amendment
in R77—lO to
include a Code of Good Operating Practices.
If adopted,
these
changes would allow the Agency to grant exemptions to the mine
operator from the Chapter 3 standards for TDS, sulfates, chlor-
ides, iron and manganese if the operator demonstrates compliance
with the Code of Good Operating Practices.
The Agency does agree with Petitioner that it is neither
technically feasible nor economically reasonable for Petitioner
to maintain its effluent at Discharge Point 001 at the levels
of TDS and sulfates mandated by Rules
203(f) and 408(b)
of
Chapter
3.
With regard to Discharge Point 002, the Board does
not grant variances for emergency discharges.
The Board finds, considering the limited environmental damage
of Petitioner’s current discharge coupled with the potential
change of regulations and the lack of economically available
treatment,
that to require Petitioner’s Discharge Point 001 to
comply at this time would be
an arbitrary and unreasonable hard-
ship.
The Board will grant Petitioner a variance for three years
or until final resolution of R77—lO by the Board, whichever
occurs
first.
The variance will be subject to the Agency’s
proposed conditions.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board that
Zeigler Coal Company shall be granted a variance for its Mine No.
4 in Williamson County from Chapter 3:
Water Pollution,
Rules
203(f)
and
408(b)
as those rules apply to TDS and sulfates.
This
variance shall be for three years or until resolution of proposed
regulatory change R77—lO, whichever occurs first, and shall be
subject to the following conditions:
36—117
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1.
Petitioner shall comply with the Management Requirements
of its NPDES permit.
2.
The variance shall be granted only for the discharge
from Discharge Point 001.
No variance shall be granted
for any discharge from Discharge Point 002.
3.
Petitioner shall meet the following effluent standards:
Maximum
(mg/l)
TDS
3500
Sulfate
3000
4.
Petitioner shall meet the following water quality
standards:
Maximum
(mg/l)
TDS
3500
Sulfate
3000
5.
Petitioner, within forty—five
(45) days of the Board
Order herein, shall submit to the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency, Mine Pollution Control Program, 2200
Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois 62706,
a report
detailing the specific steps it intends to take in
order to achieve “good operating practices”,
as those
practices are set forth in the Code of Good Operating
Practices and to reduce the levels of TDS and sulfate
in its effluent.
6.
The Agency shall, pursuant to Rule 914 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution, modify NPDES Permit No.
IL 0059056
consistent with the conditions set forth in this Order.
7.
Within forty-five
(45)
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
36—118
—5—
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 ~CB 79-123,
hereby accept that Order and agree to be bound by all
of its terms and conditions.
SIGNED
________________________
TITLE
________________________
DATE
__________________________
I,
Christan L.
Noffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby~certify the above Opnion and Order were
adopted on the
~
day of
fr)
,
1979 by a
vote of
______
Christan L. Moffet
erk
Illinois Pollution
rol Board
36—119