ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July 22,

1976

ATWOOD GRAIN

AND

SUPPLY COMPANY,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

 PCB 76—62

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD

 (by Dr.

 Satchell):

This case comes before the Pollution Control Board

 (Board)

upon a Petition by the Atwood Grain

and

Supply Company

 (Atwood)

for a variance from applicable Noise Pollution Control Regula-

tions

 (Noise Rules).

 The Petition was filed March

2,

 1976.

An

amended petition was filed April

 28 in response to an Interim

Order of the Board requesting more information and the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency’s

 (Agency)

 motion to dismiss for

inadequacy, which was filed concurrently with the Board Order.

While the amended petition was still somewhat deficient,

the

Agency f~ashionedits recommendation which was filed on June

21,

1976.

 No hearing was held concerning this matter.

Atwood Grain and Supply operates an elevator in Atwood,

Illinois, population 1100.

 The community is located on the

Douglas and Piatt County line near the northeast corner of

Moultrie County.

 Atwood operates as

 a cooperative, serving

approximately 350 farm families involving about 30,000 acres

of farm land.

 Atwood has

 306 patron stockholders.

The storage capacity of the elevator is 783,000 bushels,

with a replacement cost of approximately $2,000,000

 (Pet. at 2).

A portion of the storage

 is “flat storage,” requiring the use

of portable auger equipment to load out the grain.

 Petitioner

employs seven employees with

 a payroll of $137,000.

 In fiscal

1975,

 the company handled approximately one and one-quarter

million bushels of grain valued at $4,500,000.

 Figures for

fiscal 1976 are estimated to be in excess of the quoted amounts.

The noise emissions which are of concern evolve from the

steel chutes from the headhouse to

 bins

 and tanks adjoining

the headhouse and the use of portable augers to load out two

separate storage facilities at the center of the site and two

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separate facilities at the east end of the site.

 The Agency

has received complaints from residential neighbors of Atwood

Grain ever since October of 1972.

 Both grain moving in the

chutes and the use of the portable augers for loading have

been found to emit noise in excess of the standards established

for emissions from Class C to Class A land use in Rule 202 of

the Noise Rules

 (Petitioner’s Ex.

 1,2).

The chutes from the headhouse were replaced in 1975 at

a cost of approximately $12,500

 (Amended Petition at

3).

 These

chutes have a useful life of five to eight years and are rotated

periodically so as to extend their useful

 lives.

 Atwood states

it cannot purchase a substitute for the present chutes

 so that

the sound would be adequately attenuated.

 Atwood is presently

installing experimental chutes, such as lined or wrapped chutes

in connection with the removal and reinstallation of an elevator

leg from the east end of the site to the center of the site.

These chute attenuating installations are the first such in-

stallations in the State of Illinois.

 Atwood states that the

sounds from these chutes are primarily during daylight hours,

are only intermittent, and for the most part during the harvest

season.

 Atwood would like to defer the expense of replacing

the new chutes until replacement is necessary.

 This would allow

time to monitor the newly installed experimental chutes, both

from noise attenuating and a weathering basis.

 Atwood does not

offer any estimate of what the cost of compliance would be;

however, since the state of the art of noise control on grain

elevators is not advanced there may be no reliable estimate.

The Agency does not agree that the present chutes cannot

be replaced or the noise attenuated.

 The Agency believes that

lagging could be used to lessen the noise emissions.

The

Agency estimates the cost for lagging at $11,735.

 However,

the

Agency states that replacement or lagging may be presently

economically unreasonable.

The portable augers also have been shown to violate

Rule 202.

 Some of the storage facilities at Atwood are situated

so that they cannot be loaded out except by portable equipment.

Atwood is presently relocating an elevator leg to service the

storage facilities

 in the center of the site.

 This should

reduce the use of the portable auger equipment to load out

operations on the outside of the facilities.

 Atwood states that

the facilities are loaded out only once a year.

 The westernmost

storage area is normally filled with beans and takes approximately

six working days to load out.

 The bin at the center of the site

and the

two

 easternmost facilities are normally filled with corn

and require approximately twenty working days to load out.

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Atwood estimates that during load out operations the portable

auger equipment is used approximately 10

 of the time on the

outside of the buildings.

 Atwood further states that the

equipment in operation on the inside should have muffled

emissions.

 The Agency does not accept this determination.

 The Agency states that the entry of the portable auger equip-

ment into the storage facilities would not reduce the sound

but magnify it directionally due to a megaphone effect.

 This

would add to the emissions to the residences

 to the north of the

elevator on North Wisconsin Street

 (See Agency Ex.

 18).

The

Agency also points out that load out would also occur from

time to time as grain is

 sold.

Atwood claims that at present the technology does not

exist to safely or economically prevent the augers from

emitting offensive sound.

 However Atwood is moving an elevator

leg to service these facilities and should eliminate the problem

with respect to the filling of the facility except for the work

on the outside of the facility.

 The Agency believes that the

augers could be brought into compliance,

 but because of the

limited duration of their use and with certain conditions of use

that it would be unreasonable to require Atwood to attempt to

alter the augers.

In Atwood’s Exhibit II, measurements of the electrically-

driven portable augers indicate much lower sound emission levels

than those of the gasoline engine driven portable auger.

Due to this fact and the megaphone effect onto North Wisconsin

Street from loading the center site inside the facility the

Agency recommends the gasoline—driven auger should not be

utilized to out load facilities at that location.

 The Agency

also recommends an acoustical muffler should be purchased and

 installed on the gasoline engine

 for that auger.

Petitioner submits that denial of

 a variance would force

Petitioner to cease business operations.

 The Board has often

stated that denial of a variance petition is not tantamount

to a shut down order;

 a denial merely subjects Petitioner to

a possible enforcement action.

 PCB 74—356,

 14 PCB

 761.

 (1974)

Petitioner also submits that granting a variance to the

elevator under present conditions would result in no perceptible

harm to the public.

 The Agency disagrees.

 Residents of the

area have been and will be unable to use their yards; and within

residences they will experience interference with normal conver-

sation, with listening to the radio, television or records, with

rest and relaxation and with sleep.

 They will also experience

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irritability and anxiety

 (Agency Exs. 9-15,23).

 The Agency

estimates 36 residences would be so affected

 (Ex.

 23).

Petitioner has already completed some noise abatement

work.

 This includes the three dryer fans with enclosures and

barriers; installed air intake silencers and frames for the

two soybean units’

 aeration fans; and replacement of an axial

vane aerating fan on the east end holding tank with a squirrel

cage aeration fan.

 The total cost involved was $18,713.03.

Petitioner currently has under contract the following

sound attenuating projects:

1.

 Removal of present elevator leg and chutes at

the east end of the site.

 New elevator legs

and chutes will be installed for this area.

Included in the work order is the requirement

that the approximately 400 feet of 12 inch chutes

be covered with acoustical material known as Cousti—

composites 0550.

2.

 The present elevator leg at the east end of the site

will be removed and reinstalled in the center of

the

site and will serve the three round storage bins and

the flat storage building used for soybeans.

The

various chutes associated with this relocated leg

will be covered with acoustical material.

3.

 In addition to the relocating of the elevator

leg for the center complex,

 the horizontal

interior auger serving the flat storage building

will be equipped with a reversing switch which

will permit total filling of this building without

the use of an exterior portable auger.

Petitioner states that the work in connection with moving

the elevator leg to the center of the site is to be done by

June

 30, 1976.

 No other completion dates are given.

 On com-

pletion of all the work the only chutes involved in the total

site that will not have attenuating treatment will be those

associated with the headhouse located on the west side of the

 elevator site.

 There will be no need to use the portable auger

equipment to fill the storage facilities.

 The total time for

use of the portable augers outside the large flat storage buildings

is to be less than three working days of eight hours each, or a

total of 20.8 hours per year

 (Amend.

 Pet. at 8).

The Agency recommends granting the variance subject to

conditions.

 The Agency stated that as lagging of the chutes

in question is expensive and that Atwood has and is expending

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a considerable amount of money in a short period of time

that postponement of such lagging is reasonable.

 It might

be possible that Petitioner could use an alternative method

of abatement such as rubber-lined chutes (Agency Ex.

 23).

The Agency further calculated that the grain chutes of the

headhouse are not the predominate noise when considered in

conjunction with the dryers at that location, and that with

the dryers as presently barriered or not operating, the head-

house grain chutes may not exceed the limits of Rule 202.

This would have to be measured during the drying season to

verify this conclusion.

 If it is not correct the Agency recom-

mends the chutes should be brought into compliance by July 31,

1977.

The Board finds that the facts that Petitioner and the

Agency have presented warrant the granting of a variance from

Rule 202 of the Noise Regulations.

 Petitioner has shown

diligence in attempting to lessen the noise levels of the

grain elevator.

 Petitioner has expended a large amount of

money to attempt to attenuate the noise on a major portion

of Petitioner’s property.

 Although some irritation to

neighboring residences may still exist, it should be sub-

stantially less than those they have experienced in the past.

The Board does grant a variance from Rule 202 of the

Noise Regulations subject to the Agency’s recommended con-

ditions.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of facts

and conclusions of law.

ORDER

The Illinois Pollution Control Board hereby grants

Atwood Grain and Supply Company a variance from Rule 202

of the Chapter

 8: Noise Regulations, as to the headhouse

grain chutes, up to and including July 31, 1977,

the

commencement of the 1977 harvest season;

 and further a

variance from Rule 202 of the Noise Regulations as to the

portable augers utilized for outloading Petitioner’s storage

facilities for a period up to and including March

1,

1981

subject to the following conditions:

A.

 That except for sounds emitted by said headhouse

grain chutes and said portable augers,

 sounds

emitted by Petitioner shall at no time exceed

the numerical limits of Rule 202.

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B.

 That Petitioner shall accomplish all the above mentioned

noise attenuation work that Petitioner now has under

contract by August 15, 1976.

C.

 That Petitioner shall utilize the electric-driven

portable auger for outloading the storage facilities

in the vicinity of North Wisconsin Street,

 described

in the Amended Petition for Variance as the center

of the site and shall refrain from using the gasoline

engine—driven portable auger for outloading these

facilities; and that Petitioner shall refrain from

using portable augers for other than outloading

operations.

D.

 That on or before September 1, 1976, Petitioner shall

install on the gasoline engine—driven portable auger,

acoustical mufflers equal to or better than those

described in the Agency’s recommendation (Exhibit 23).

E.

 That Petitioner execute and forward to the Environmental

Protection Agency, Division of Noise Pollution Control,

Enforcement Section, 2200 Churchill Road, Springfield,

Illinois 62706, and to the Pollution Control Board

within twenty-eight days after the date of the Board

Order herein a Certification of Acceptance and

Agreement to be bound to all the terms and condi-

tions of the Variance, the form of said Certification

to be as follows:

CERTIFICATION

Atwood Grain and Supply Company, an Illinois Corporation,

is aware of and understands the Order of the Illinois

 Pollution Control Board in PCB 76-62 and hereby accepts

said Order and agrees to be bound by all of the terms

and conditions thereof.

ATWOOD

GRAIN

AND

SUPPLY COMPANY

By_____________________________

Authorized Agent

Title or Company Position

(Date)

IT IS SO

ORDERED.

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I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certi~fythe above

 inion and Order

were adopted oq the

 day of

____________,

1976

by a vote of

OLL~47)

~4/i~

Christan L. Moffett,

9~1,~k

Illinois Pollution Cofr~olBoard

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