ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
December
29,
1983
GIFFORD-HtLL-AMERICAN
LOCK
)
JOINT,
INCORPORATED,
)
)
Petitioner,
)
)
v.
)
PCB
83—125
)
ILLINOIS
ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
)
Respondent.
)
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
B.
Forcade):
On
August 30, 1983, Gifford—Hill—American
Lock
Joint, Inc.
(GHA) filed a Petition for Variance, and on October 5,
1983,
amended that Petition for Variance.
GHA requests a four—year
variance from 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 807.305 (previously Rule 305(a)
of Chapter 7) which requires a six—inch daily cover for GHA’s
on—site landfilling of its cement wastes.
No hearing was held
since GEA waived hearing and no objections were received.
On November 23, 1983, the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency (Agency)
filed its recommendation supporting a grant
of variance if certain conditions were imposed.
GHA operates a reinforced concrete pipe manufacturing
facility, which employs 150 people, at a 93 acre site in northern
Winnebago County, Illinois
(Pet., par.2).
On a daily basis
GHA uses approximately 255 tons of sand, stone and cement
to mix with water in making concrete
(Pet.
par.3).
At the end
of daily operations approximately
2 to 4 tons of concrete,
resulting from spillage, breakage and waste, are transported
to the on—site landfill
(Pet. par.4).
Cull pipe and steel
rods may be embedded in this concrete
(Ag. Rec., par.6)
Disposal of the waste concrete without daily cover does not
produce a noxious odor nor harbor rodents; quarterly tests of
water quality on a nearby well have shown no change and the
Winnebago Department of Public Health tests show the water is
•safe to drink (Pet., par.7).
Any environmental impact from
granting this Variance would be minimal or non—existent
(Am.
Pet.,
par.7; Ag. Rec., par.
10).
The Agency has inspected this facility
nine times in the last five years and found no environmental
problems resulting from lack of daily cover during any of the
inspections (Ag.
Rec.,
par.
11).
The Agency has received no
complaints regarding operation of the site, nor objection to
the grant of variance.
55-481
2
In a 1976 request for variance, compliance with the six—
inch daily cover requirement was estimated to cost $1,000 per
week,
there
is no reason for
this
estimated
cost
to
have
decreased
since then
(Pet,,
par.
8,
Ag.
Rec,,
par,
13).
The Agency
believes that it would be
arbitrary and unreasonable to impose
this
cost
for the minimal environmental benefit derived from
daily
cover
(Ag.
Rec.,
par.
14),
The
Agency recommends granting
the Variance subject
to certain conditions
(Ag.
Rec,,
par.
18).
GHA purchased this facility from Interpace Corporation on
July
3,
1981
(Ag.
Rec., par.5).
Previously Interpace had re-
quested and received
3 variances similar to the present request
from GRA.
PCB No.
Date of Order
Effective date of Variance
75-
I7~i~7~776
——
77—274
12/20/77
12/20/77~10/19/79
79—206
12/13/79
12/13/79—07/03/81
GHA is presently in violation of
35
Iii.
Adm, Code 807.305
(Pet., par.5).
This Petition for Variance does not present difficult
substantive issues to the Board,
It
is clear that lack of daily
cover presents
little
if any environmental harm and that com-
pliance with the daily cover requirement would pose an arbitrary
or unreasonable hardship on GHA,
However, this petition does
present a significant procedural problem,
A variance petition must contain a detailed description o~
a proposed control program to achieve
“full
compliance” with
the Act and regulations.
35 Ill.
Adm.
Code 104.120(f).
The record indicates that since
1975,
this facility has never
had daily cover, and the petition for variance does not provide
for ultimate compliance with a
dail~
cover requirement,
Con-
sequently the Board will not grant a four year variance.
However, due to the substantial evidence of little or no harm,
as
well
as unreasonable compliance costs,
the Board will grant a
one—year variance to GHA subject
to Agency requested conditions.
The Board will impose,
as an additional requirement of the variance,
a condition that CHA submit,
prior to the termination of this
variance,
a plan for compliance with the daily cover requirements
of
35
Ill.
Adm. Code 807,305,
Prior
to termination of this
variance, and submission of the compliance plan,
GHA may wish
to
apply for site—specific relief from that rule.
ORDER
Gifford—Hill American Lock Joint,
Inc.,
is hereby granted
a variance from 35
Ill.
Adm.
Code 807.305 subject to the following
conditions:
55-462
3
1.
This variance shall expire on December 29, 1984,
2.
The
exposed
surface of Petitioner’s site shall be limited
to no more than one acre;
3.
Disposal shall be
limited
to
the
relative
height
of
adjacent improved terrain and to the type of materials
previously handled at the site (such as concrete waste,
cull pipe, and occasional steel rod embedded in the
concrete);
4.
Petitioner shall cover the exposed surface
every
6
months with 1
foot
of
earthen
material
and
with
2
feet
of
final
cover
at
the
end
of
the
variance
period,
5.
Prior
to
the
termination
of
this
variance
Petitioner
shall
submit to the Agency a plan for full compliance
with
35 Ill.
Adm. Code 807.305, and
6.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, Petitioner
shall execute the Certification of Acceptance and
agreement to be bound to the terms and conditions of
this
variance.
This
45
day
period
shall
be
held
in
abeyance
if this matter is appealed.
The Certification
shall
be
forwarded
to
the
Illinois
Environmental
Protection Agency, Variance Section, 2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield,
tllinois
62706.
I,(We),
_________________________,
having read
the Opinion and Order of the Board of the Illinois Pollution
Control
Board
in PCB 83—125,
dated
December 29, 1983, under-
stand and accept the said Opinion and Order of the
Board,
realizing that such acceptance renders all terms and conditons
thereto binding and enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized Agent
Title
Date•
55-483
4
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
Chairman Jacob D, Dumelle
concurred,
I,
Christan
L,
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify that,the above Opinion and Order
of The Board was adopted the
~
____day ~
1983
by
a vote of
Christan
Ta,
Mof~
,
Clerk
Illinois
Polluti~
Control Board
55-464