ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August
1,
1974
CITY
OF
ST.
CHARLES
PETITIONER
v.
)
PCB
74—176
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
RESPONDENT
)
MR.
ALVIN L. CA~LLA,ATTORNEY, in behalf of
the
CITY
OF
ST.
CHARLES
MR.
JOHN
T.
BERNBOM,
ATTORNEY.,
in
behalf
of
the
ENVIRONMENTAL
PRO-
TECTION AGENCY
OPINION
~ND ORDER OF
THE
BOARD
(by Mr. Marder)
This case comes
to the Board on Petition of the City of St. charles,
to
extend
a variance granted by the Board
from
Rule 404
(b)
of chapter
3 of the Board’s Rules and Regulations in
P~B
73-247 for its waste
water treatment plant,
until
January
30,
1975
On May 16, by
a
vote
of
5-0,
the
Board
ordered
the
city
to file
more
information
as
to whether Swift
& Co.,
a party
to
the
previous
action,
was
also
a
party
in
the
matterr
and
also
requested
the
city
to
indicate
whether
the
record
in
the
previous
action
was
to
be
in-
corporated
into this proceedinq.
On
June
5,
1974,9
the
city
filed
a
letter
statin~
that
1)
the
record
of
PCh
73—247
should
be
incorporated
into
the
record
of
the
case,
and
2)
Swift
&
Co.
is
not
a
party
to
this
proceeding.~
PCB
73—247
involved
the
city’s
sewage
treatment
plant,
which
for
the
period
from
January
21,
l972~
through
March
31,
1973.
had
an
aver-
age
of
21
mg/i
BorJ
and 73
mg/i
suspended
solids.
Rule
404
(b)
sets
limits
in
effluent
at
20
mg/i BOD and
25
mg/I
suspended
solids.
The previous case arose when Swift and Co. was denied an operating
permit
for
their
new
dry sausage plant in St. Charles because
the
sew-
age
treatment
plant
was
near
its
design
capacity~
At the time of the previous matter the city had embarked on a pro-
ject
to
upgrade
the
plant
and
increase
its
capacity
from
4~0 mgd
to
8,0
mgd.
The
project
was
to
be
completed
by
April
1,
1975,
and
it
was
stated
that the ~critical final new tanks will be done by August
15,
l974.’~ (PcB 73—247,
P.
2.,
9
PCB
Opinions 344
1973).
The
variance
granted
allowed the city
to
discharge
25
mg/i
BOD
and
37 mg/
suspended so~idc
The
f~ra~Order a’so reqt4ir~c~
the
~na
—2—
tanks to be installed on or before August 15, 1974,
Polymers and
activated carbon were to be added to the clarifying tanks and aeration
tanks respectively so as to maintain the ordered BOD—suspended solids
levels.
The Petition alleges that at the time of filing Stage
I of the pro-
ject was completed and operational.
Stage II was progressing or
ahead
of schedule through April
30,
1974.
The reason for the
requested
variance
is
because the final clari-
fier equipment cannot be delivered on time, because of supply problems
the vendor
is having (Exhibit
#4
to the Petition).
This equipment is
promised for delivery by January, 1975.
The Agency states that from current operational data reported by the
city, the BOD and suspended solids concentration in the final effluent
have been within 25/37 mg/i limits.
Date
BOD
Suspended Solids
Jan.
1974
4
44
Feb.
1974
5
24
March 1974
5
39
April 1974
20
22
May 1974
17
26
Results of Agency grab
samples are as follows:
Date
BOD
Suspended Solids
Jan.
16, 1974
5
24
Feb.
20, 1974
6
14
March
6, 1974
15
43
April 10, 1974
9
11
May 6,
1974
4
16
June 11, 1974
7
23
The Agency states that Petitioner has followed the conditions as set
out in the Board’s Order and that Petitioner has used good faith in its
attempted compliance.
The Agency agrees that the delay in the equipment
delivery, along
with
a delay caused by a strike affecting cement
deliv-
eries, were beyond the control of Petitioner.
The Board feels that
it
serves no valid purpose to deny an extension
to a variance,
and
therefore subject Petitioner to possible enforcement
action, when Petitioner has exerci~edgood faith and pursued compliance
with
all
deliberate
speed.
In
the~/~previousmatter,
the
Agency
stated
that continued discharge at the rates ordered would not have an adverse
environmental impact.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions of
law of the Board.
13
—
270
ORDER
IT
IS THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board that variance from
Rule 404
(b)
is granted
until
January 30,
1975, for the waste water
treatment plant operated by the City of St.
Charles, subject to the
following conditions:
1.
Petitioner shall not cause or allow concentrations in
its effluent greater than 25 mg/i BOD and 37 mg/i sus-
pended solids.
2.
Construdtion shall be completed~and final tanks of Phase
II shall be operating by January 30,
1975.
3.
Polymers shall continue to be added to the clarifying
tanks and/or activated carbon to the aeration tanks as
considered necessary to meet the limits outlined in
(1)
above.
4.
Petitioner shall arrange to have the bond posted in
compliance with the Order in PCB 73-247 extended to
cover installation of equipment as required by this
Order within 30 days of entry of this Order.
5.
Petitioner shall notify the Agency of completion of
the final clarifier tanks within 5 days of completion.
I,
Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
certify t~t the above Opinion and Order was adopted by the
Board on the
J
day of
,
1974, by a vote of
~
to
13
—
271