ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    July 26, 2001
     
    IN THE MATTER OF:
     
    PETITION OF RHODIA, INC., and THORN
    CREEK BASIN SANITARY DISTRICT FOR
    AN ADJUSTED STANDARD FROM 35 ILL.
    ADM. CODE 302.208 AND 304.105
     
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    AS 01-9
    (Adjusted Standard - Water)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by N.J. Melas):
     
    On April 30, 2001, petitioners Rhodia, Inc. (Rhodia) and Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District
    (TCBSD) filed a petition for an adjusted standard from Board regulations at 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    302.208 and 304.105. Rhodia is seeking to expand its silica plant in Chicago Heights, Cook County,
    Illinois and consequently increase its discharges of total dissolved solids (TDS) and sulfates to the
    TCBSD treatment plant. The TCBSD treatment plant discharges to Thorn Creek approximately 10.1
    miles upstream of its confluence with the Little Calumet River.
    BACKGROUND
     
    Petitioners sought relief from the same Board regulations in an adjusted standard proceeding
    seven years ago. At that time, another company owned the Rhodia silica plant.
    In re
    Petition of
    Rhone-Poulenc Basic Chemicals Company and TCBSD (June 23, 1994, and August 11, 1994), AS
    94-7. In this matter, petitioners seek to increase the loading of TDS and sulfates from the levels that the
    Board approved in 1994.
    INFORMATIONAL SUFFICIENCY
     
     
    The Board finds that the petition has not adequately addressed certain information sufficiency
    requirements required by the Board’s rules at 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104.406. Specifically the petition fails
    to provide:
    1.
    The Board previously granted an adjusted standard from its TDS water quality standard
    and set a standard of 2,100 mg/L for parts of Deer Creek and Thorn Creek. The part
    of Thorn Creek at issue there stretched from the confluence with Deer Creek to the
    United States Geological Survey (USGS) Station, corresponding closely to “Reach 2”
    in the instant petition. See
    In re
    Petition of Nutrasweet Company and Consumers
    Illinois Water Company (February 28, 1991), AS 89-3. Petitioners are
    requesting a TDS water quality standard of 2,620 mg/L in Reach 2 of Thorn Creek.
    Petitioners must address the impact that Rhodia’s increased discharge would have on
    the ability of the petitioners in AS 89-3 to meet obligations under AS 89-3. See 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 104.406(a).
     
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    2.
    Petitioners must describe the water pollution control equipment that Rhodia employs at
    its silica plant. If Rhodia does not employ any such equipment, Rhodia must state this in
    the amended petition. Petitioners also must tell the Board how many employees work
    at TCBSD. See 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104.406(d).
    3.
    In order for the Board to develop conditions for petitioners similar to the relief provided
    in AS 94-7, petitioners must provide information from the Environmental Protection
    Agency (Agency) on its characterization of total maximum daily load (TMDL) limits in
    the stretches of Thorn Creek and the Little Calumet River at issue. Petitioners should
    explain how their proposal will affect TMDL limits in these stretches. If the Agency’s
    characterization of TMDLs is not yet available, petitioners should explain. See 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 104.406(d).
    4.
    As justification, the petitioners allege that the cost of compliance would price Rhodia’s
    silica product out of the market. The evidence that petitioners have presented on this
    point is insufficient. Petitioners are encouraged to submit as much relevant information
    as possible. The Board offers the following items as guidelines of types of information
    that petitioners may submit. However, these items are not an exhaustive list that will
    satisfy the requirements for Section 104.406(e) of the Board’s regulations:
    a.
    An analysis of market prices for precipitated silica products.
    b.
    Although petitioners have discussed treatment options at the Rhodia plant,
    petitioners must also discuss treatment options at the TCSBD facility.
    5.
    In AS 94-7, the Board set limits on TDS and sulfate discharges at 91,800 pounds per
    day (lbs/day) and 62,100 lbs/day, respectively, on a monthly average basis. In the
    instant petition, petitioners provide loading measurements in lbs/day on an annual basis.
    Petitioners must provide loading measurements in terms of a monthly average basis. See
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 104.406(f).
    6.
    Beginning in 2002, the relief proposed in the instant petition may also impact another
    facility, namely the Calumet Filtering Plant at 123
    rd
    Street, which is downstream of the
    area at issue on the Little Calumet River. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
    will divert overflows from Thorn Creek as part of its Thornton Quarry Water Retention
    Project, which is part of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (commonly known as the “Deep
    Tunnel”). Floodwater from the Thorn Creek and the Little Calumet River and will be
    diverted to Thornton Quarry via a tunnel. The floodwater will then be sent via another
    section of tunnel to the Calumet Filtering Plant at 123rd Street. The plant will disperse
    the floodwaters into the Little Calumet River at a slow rate. Petitioners must address
    the downstream impact of their proposal on the Calumet Filtering Plant. See 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 104.406(f).
     
     
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    7.
    Petitioners characterize Thorn Creek as a “limited” to “moderate” aquatic resource with
    “fair” water quality. Petition at 15. However, the Agency’s Targeted Watershed
    Approach Report
    1
    and the Agency’s Illinois Annual Water Quality Report have
    targeted portions of Thorn Creek and the Little Calumet River as Priority 1 for
    improvement to a “Highly Valued Aquatic Resource”, even though these portions are
    not currently classified as highly valued. Petitioners must address how their proposal
    will affect the Agency’s targeted potential for improvement. See 35 Ill. Adm. Code
    104.406(g).
    8.
    In 1999, the Illinois Department of Resources published a four-volume report titled the
    “Thorn Creek Area Assessment”. The report describes the Ecosystems Program, “a
    cooperative process of public-private partnerships that are intended to merge natural
    resource stewardship with economic and recreational development”.
    2
    Thorn Creek
    Area Assessment at iv. Petitioners must indicate if Thorn Creek is in an Ecosystem
    Partnership area. If it is, petitioners must indicate if they participate or plan to
    participate in Thorn Creek Ecosystem Partnership. See 35 Ill. Adm. Code 104.406(g).
    CONCLUSION
    The Board therefore directs petitioner to address the information requirements of Section
    104.406 of the Board’s rules in an amended petition. The amended petition must be filed with the
    Board by September 14, 2001, or it will be dismissed.
    Pursuant to a prior Board order, the Agency had been required to file a recommendation in this
    matter by July 30, 2001. As the Board is now requiring petitioners to file an amended petition, the
    Board will extend the deadline for the Agency’s recommendation to October 29, 2001.
     
     
     
     
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, hereby certify that the above
    order was adopted on the 26th day of July 2001 by a vote of 6-0.
    1
    See Targeted Watershed Approach (visited July 13, 2001)
    <http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/targeted-watershed/>.
    2
    See Conservation 2000 (visited July 19, 2001) <http:/www/dnr.state.il.us/orep/manage/partner.htm>.
     
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    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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