ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September 29,
1977
ILLINI BEEF PACKERS,
INC.,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 76—117
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Goodman):
On April
27, 1976 Illini Beef Packer,
Incorporated
(Illini)
filed a Petition before the Board requesting variance from Sections
9(a)
and
9(b)
of the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
and from
Rules 102 and 103(b) of Chapter
2,
Illinois Pollution Control Board
Rules
and
Regulations
(Regulations)
,
for
its
beef
packing
plant
in
rural
Rock
Island
County,
about
one-half
mile
from
the
Village
of
Joslin.
Subsequent to the filing of the Illinois Environmental Protec-
tion Agency~s (Agency) Recommendation and prior to a hearing herein,
the parties filed a Stipulation for Grant of Variance,
and Petitioner
filed a Motion for Grant of Variance Without Hearing.
The Board
finds that a Stipulation
is not an appropriate method of determining
~ variance petition as the Board construes
its duty under the
Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
.
The Act calls for a response
from the Agency to a variance petition and,
if necessary,
a hearing
to develop sufficient facts for the Board to make
an intelligent
decision on the petition.
A stipulation presents only certain facts
designed to support an agreed common position of the parties.
This
denies the Board’s duty to consider all of the facts and restricts
the Board from determining conditions under which the variance
is
granted.
The Board therefore rejects the stipulation and denies
Petitioner’s Motion for Grant of Variance without Hearing.
However,
the Board finds the information presented by the parties
(excluding
the proposed stipulation)
constitutes a sufficient basis for grant
of the proposed variance.
Illini owns and operates a beef packing plant near the Village
of Joslin
in Rock Island County.
Under a prior Board Order,
Illini
installed a scrubber system at its facility to eliminate the odors
common
to
its
type
of
operation.
Upon
application for renewal of an
operating permit which had expired February 21,
1975,
the Agency
denied the application stating that the rendering room at the
facility may be causing air pollution
in violation of Section 9(a)
of
the Act
a~nd
Rule 102 of the Regulations.
Denial was based upon com-
plaints of some residents of the nearby town of Village of Joslin.
In order
for the scrubber to work effectively, openings in the
rendering room have to be closed and the room kept under negative
pressure.
Cur~rentoperations,
however, call for one door to be
opened when cooler air
is needed for the comfort of employees in
the rendering room.
Review of the Agency investigation of citizen
complaints indicates that odor is detected under specific tempera-
ture and wind conditions,
indicating that the open door is causing
the intermittent odor problems.
Illini proposes to make certain structural changes which will
result in closing of the door of the rendering room and thereby
eliminating
a threat of air pollution.
This system will bring makeup
air into the rendering room under controlled conditions and keep the
room under negative pressure to assure that all rendering room air
will pass through the scrubber.
The Agency agrees that the proposed
system is likely to succeed in controlling the emissions sufficiently
to stop any further violations of the Act and Regulations and
recommends grant of the variance under certain conditions.
The Board
finds that Illini has made good faith efforts in the past to control
the emissions from its facility and is prepared to install equipment
which will control the intermittent odor violations
alleged by the
Agency.
The Board finds that it would be an arbitrary and unreason-
able hardship on him!
to deny the variance which would allow
installation of this control equipment.
The Board will therefore
rant Illini variance from Rule 02
of the Requlations and
9(A)
of the
Act,
consistent with this opinion, from February 21, 1975 until
November
1,
1977 under certain conditions. Request of Variance from
Rule 103(b)
of the Regulations and
9(b)
of the Act is denied as
unnecessary.
This Opinion constitutes the finding of facts and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
6
ORDER
It is the Order of the Polution Control Board that hllini
Beef Packers,
Incorporated, be granted variance from Rule 102 of
Chapter
2,
Illinois Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations
and 9(a)
of the Environmental Protection Act from February 21, 1975
until November
1,
1977 for its rendering facility in Rock Island
County under the following conditions:
1.
Illini shall execute their compliance program
as indicated
in paragraph
(5) and Exhibits A and B
of their 4April 27,
1976 Petition for Variance which
Petition is hereby incorporated by reference as if
fully set forth herein.
2.
All openings which would impede the maintenance of
a negative pressure in the rendering room shall be
closed in a permanent fashion except those needed
for intermittent access.
3.
Tests shall be made
c
the effectiveness of the
equipment installed and results of these tests shall
be presented to the Agency immediately as they become
available.
4.
Illini shall pursue
a program of maintenance and
housekeeping designed to eliminate odor emissions from
the facility.
5.
Within 35 days of the adoption of this Order,
Illini
Beef Packers, Incorporated, shall execute and forward to both
the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill
Road, Springfield,
Illinois 62706 and the Illinois Pollution
Control Board
a Certification of Acceptance and Agreement to
be bound to all terms and conditions of this Order.
The form
of said certification shall be as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I
(We),_________________________having read and fully under-
standing the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board
in PCB 76-117 hereby accept said Order and agree
to be bound
by all of the terms and conditions thereof.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
—4—
6.
Petition for Variance from SecLion
9(b)
of the Environmental
Protection Act and Rule 103(b) of the Regulations is hereby deni
Mr. Young concurs.
I, Christan
L.
Moffett, Clerk of the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board, hereby certify t e above Opinion and Order were adopted on the
~q~day
of
,
1977 by a vote of
~/—O
Christan L. Mofté
,
Clerk
Illinois Pollution
ontrol Board