ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September 24,
1981
MISSIONARY SISTERS SERVANTS
OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 81—113
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by J.
1).
Dumelle):
On July
15,
1981 the Missionary Sisters Servants of
the Holy Spirit filed a petition for variance from Rules
203(d) and 402 and 902(i)(1)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
as they relate to dissolved oxygen.
The Illinois Environi~ent.t1
Protection Agency
(Agency)
filed a recommendation to grant
the variance, subject to certain conditions, on August 17,
1981.
Hearing was properly waived,
and none was held.
Missionary Sisters owns and operates the Convent of
the
Holy Spirit.
Wastewater from the convent
is treated
in a
septic tank which is followed by intermittent sand filters ~irii
chlorination.
Design average flow is 0.06 MGD and discharge
is to the West Fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River.
The plant is operated under NPDES Permit No.
1L0026689 which
expired on December 31,
1979.
The Agency has advised the
Missionary Sisters that the permit cannot be renewed absent
the relief sought in this proceeding.
Discharge Monitoring Reports
from April, 1980 to March,
1981,
and Agency grab samples disclose near compliance to the
NPDES Permit limitations
for BOD5 and suspended solids of
30 mg/l.
Thirty—day averages have ranged from 1.0 to 7.25
mg/i and 5.0 to 19.75
mg/l,
respectively.
The relief sought by the Missionary Sisters is essentially
identical
to that granted by the Board
in Village of Bloomin~1daie
v. IEPA
(PCB 78—124,
32 PCB
23, Nov.
2,
1978), and the Board’s
reasoning in that case applies here.
In Bloorningdale nearly
300 dischargers
to the DuPage and Des Plaines Rivers were
joined in a variance proceeding concerning depressed dissolved
oxygen
(DO)
levels
in those rivers.
Demonstrations of non—
contribution to violations of DO by all dischargers was held
to impose an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship.
Furthermoce,
43—361
—2—
the Agency has indicated that had
the Missionary Sisters
riot
been overlooked by the Agency
it would have been included as
a
joined party in the Bioomingdale proceeding.
The Board finds that the flows involved here are small
and the quality
of effluent is
good.
The Board further
finds
that a grant of variance would cause little or no adverse
environmental impact and that denial of variance would cause
an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship for the same reasons
as expressed in Bloomingdale.
The Agency has recommended as
a condition of variance that
the Missionary Sisters shall provide proper chlorination
to
assure compliance with its present and any future chlorine
residual and fecal coiiforrn limitations.
This is based on
an allegation that the effluent’s chlorine residual has not
been within permit limitations
since 1979 or before.
Since
Board regulations set no chlorine residual
limitations, and
since it
is the Board’s understanding that such limitations
have,
in general, been dropped from recently issued Agency
permits,
the Board finds such a condition to be inappropriate.
Furthermore,
since the Board will impose a condition that the
plant shall be operated using the best practicable operation
and maintenance practices and must conform with any properly
imposed permit conditions,
including such a condition
in this
variance
is unnecessary.
The Board will impose a condition that
the Missionary
Sisters shall cooperate in the development and implementation
of the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission’s
(NIPC)
wastewater treatment management plan.
Pursuant to Section 208(b)
of the Clean Water Act,
NIPC has developed an areawide wastewater
treatment management plan for northeastern Illinois.
Therefore,
under Rule 902(j)(4)
of Chapter
3, the Agency cannot issue
a permit which would authorize a discharge in conflict with
that plan.
Although no specific time period for variance has been
requested,
the Agency has recommended a termination date of
December 31,
1983 which is
in conformity with the Bloorninq~le
variance.
The Board will follow that recommendation.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of
law
in this matter.
ORDER
1,
The Missionary Sisters Servants of the
Holy
Spirit are
hereby granted variance from Rules
203(d),
402, and 902(i)(1)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution,
as they relate to dissolved
oxyg~nwater quality until October 19,
1983,
subject to
the
following conditions:
a.
Missionary Sisters shall ~ooperate in the development
and implementation of the NIPC wastewater treatment management
plan.
43—362
—3—
b.
Missionary Sisters shall operate its treatment plant
using the best practicable operation and ~naintenancepractices.
c.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, Missionary
Sisters shall execute and forward to the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency, Water Pollution Control Division, Variance
Section,
2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield,
Illinois
62706,
a
Certification of Acceptance and Agreement
to be bound
to all
terms and conditions set forth
in the Order.
The 45—day period
shall be held in abeyance during any period in which this matter
is being appealed.
The form of Certification shall be as foliow~:
CERTIFICATION
Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Convent hereby
accepts and agrees to be bound by all terms and conditions of
the Order
of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 81-113, dited
September 24,
1981.
Petitioner
By
I
Title
authorized agent
Date _____________________________
2.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
is authorized
to issue Missionary Sisters a renewed NPDES Permit consistent
with the terms and conditions of the variance herein granted.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify that t~ieabove Opinion and Order
was ~dopted on the ~~1~day
of
~
1981 by a vote
Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
43—363