ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

January 22, 1981

CITY

OF

LaSALLE,

)

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 80—192

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by N.E.Werner)~

This

matter comes before the Board upon a Variance Petition

filed October 16,

1980 by the City of LaSalle

(“City”) which

requested a Variance from Rule 1201 of Chapter

3.

Water Pollution

Control Regulations for a 12 month period so that its presently

certified Class

2 wastewater treatment plant operator can qualify

for Class

1 operator certification.

On October 17,

1980?

the Roard

entered an Order which required that the Petitioner file an affidavit

attesting to the truth of the facts presented in its Variance

Petition.

On November

3,

1980,

the City filed the requisite

affidavit.

On December 8,

1980, the Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency (“Agency”)

filed its Recommendation.

The Agency recommended

that the Variance be granted,

subject to various conditions.

No

hearing has been held in this matter and no public comment has been

received.

The City owns and operates a wastewater treatment plant

(“plant”)

which discharges effluent pursuant to NPDES Permit No.

IL 0029424

and serves about 12,000 individuals and several industrial facilities.

The Petitioner’s plant was upgraded in 1977 to include secondary

treatment units.

(Pet.

3;

Rec.

1).

The Agency notes that “at

that

time, the upgraded plant was rated as

a Class A facility that

required supervised plant operation by a Certified Class

1 Operator”.

(Rec.

1).

For the past

3½

years

(i.e., since June of 1977),

the City’s

wastewater treatment facilities have been operated by Mr.

Samuel

T.

McNeilly (who obtained his Class

2 certification in June of 1979).

The City believes that Mr. McNeilly is

a “competent, experienced”

operator and Agency inspection reports “cite satisfactory plant

operation and Mr. McNeilly’s rapid progress in achieving a thorough

record keeping system, quality laboratory work, as well as a good

understanding of treatment process controls”.

(Rec.

2;

Pet.

2).

40—343

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—2

In its Variance Petition,

the City notes that Mr. McNeiily is

a very capable college graduate who is currently the President of

the North Central Water

& Wastewater Operator’s Association.

(Pet.

3).

The Petitioner also has indicated that its facilities

are “being considered for an award this year for being one of

the

best run Class A plants in the State”.

(Pet.

2).

Thus,

the City

believes that no adverse environmental impact will result from

allowing “an able and experienced operator” time to qualify for

Class

1 certification.

(Pet.

2).

Similarly,

“the Agency also

concludes that minimal risk of adverse environmental harm would

result from allowing continued plant operation under Mr. McNeilly’s

supervision”.

(Rec.

3).

Alternative compliance methods (such as searching for, and

hiring,

a full—time certified Class

1 operator at a higher salary

to replace Mr. McNeilly and increasing the average user charge for

City residents who often are living on fixed or low incomes) appear

to he

inappropriate in this case, and “the Agency concurs with the

Petitioner that the alternative compliance methods,

as described

by Petitioner, are unreasonable in view of these facts.”

(Rec.

3).

Although the City “has requested

a 12 month variance period on

the basis that Mr. McNeilly will become eligible for Class

1 Operator

Certification in the summer of 1981”, the Agency has recommended

“that a variance period longer than the time requested by Petitioner

is appropriate” because “the Agency Operator Certification Unit

indicates that Mr. McNeilly will be qualified for Class

1

Certification in November,

1981.”

(Rec,

2).

The Board, after evaluating the facts and

circumstances of

this case,

finds that the City of LaSalle would suffer an arbitrary

or unreasonable hardship if this Variance were denied.

Accordingly,

the Variance will be granted subject to the conditions delineated

in the Board’s Order.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

The Petitioner, the City of LaSalle,

is hereby granted a

Variance from Rule 1201 of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution Control

Regulations until March

1,

1982,

or until

Mr.

McNeilly becomes

properly certified, whichever occurs first,

subject to the following

conditions:

1.

If

Mr.

McNeilly terminates his employment before March

1,

1982,

the Petitioner’s Variance shall expire and the

City of LaSalle shall obtain the services of a Class

I

certified operator within 60 days of Mr.

McNeilly’s

termination date.

40—344

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—3

2.

The Petitioner shall operate its wastewater treatment

plant under the best practicable operation and maintenance

practices.

3.

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 80-192,

hereby

accept that Order and agree to be bound by all of its

terms and conditions.

SIGNED

____________________________

TITLE

_________________________

_____

DATE

_________________________

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, christan L. Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control

Board,

hereby certfy that the above Opinion and Order

were adopted pn the

.A

~‘

day of

~‘

,

1981 by

a vote of

~‘-~

.

~

2?~/~

Christan L, Moff~~Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

40—345