ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
12,
1980
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 79—220
VtLLAGE
OF THORNTON,
an
Illinois Municipal Corporation,
Respondent.
~1R. PHILIP M. WILLMAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF
OF
TIlE COMPLAINANT.
MR. JOHN DAVID DILLNER, ATTORNEY AT
r~A~J,
APPEARED ON BEHALF OF
TUE
RESPONDENT.
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
TEIE
BOARD
(by
Board
Meinb~r
Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the October
19,
1979
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
Count
I of
the Complaint alleged that,
from June
1,
1978 until October 19,
1979, the Respondent’s wastewater treatment
works discharged contaminants
into Illinois waters without an
NPDES
Permit in violation of Rule 901 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Control Regulations
(“Chapter
3”) and Sections 12(a)
and 12(f)
of
the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(“Act”).
Count II
alleged that the Respondent violated certain terms of an interim
modification of its prior NPDES Permit
by discharging wastewater
containing excessive levels of BOD and residual chlorine and by
submitting deficient discharge monitoring reports
to the Agency
in
violation of Rule 410(a) of Chapter
3 and Sections 12(a)
and 12(f)
of
the Act.
Count III alleged that,
from June
1, 1978 until
October 19,
1979,
the Respondent discharged wastewater
from its
treatment works at levels exceeding the Board’s general effluent
standards
in violation of Rule 404(b)
of Chapter
3 and Section 12(a)
of the Act.
Count IV alleged that the Respondent failed to employ
.i
certified wastewater treatment plant operator
in violation of
Rule
1201 of Chapter
3 and Section
12(f)
of the Act.
A hearing
was held on April
.17,
1980.
The parties filed a Stipulation and
Proposal for Settlement on May
6,
1980.
The Village of Thornton
(“Village”) owns and operates
a
treatment works
(“the Thornton plant”)
in Cook County which
discharges wastewater
into Thorn Creek,
a tributary of Little
—2—
Calumet River.
This facility has a design capacity of 400,000
gallons
per
day
and serves most
of
the
3,500
residents
of
the
Village.
Until December
30,
1976,
the Village operated its treatment
facility and discharged wastewater pursuant
to an NPDES Permit.
On
December
30,
1976,
the U.S.E.P.A. granted the Village’s request
for
an
interim modification of
its
NPDES
Permit
which
changed
various
effluent
limitations
for
biochemical
oxygen
demand,
suspended
solids,
and residual chlorine.
On June
1,
1978, the Village’s
NPDES
Permit
expired.
However,
the
Village
did
not
submit
a
request
for a
renewal
of
this
NPDES
Permit
until
May
7,
1979.
On
June 5,
1979,
the Agency denied the Village’s request
for NPDES
Permit renewal on the grounds that the requisite effluent
limitations
were
not
being
met.
Accordingly,
it is
stipulated that,
from December
30,
1976
until
June
1,
1978,
the
Village
discharged
wastewater
from
its
facility pursuant to an NPDES Permit.
(See:
Stip.
2 and Exhibit A).
However,
from
June
1,
1978
until
May
6,
1980,
the
Village
discharged
wastewater without an NPDES Permit in violation
of
Rule
901
of
the Board’s Water Pollution Control Regulations and Sections 12(a)
and
12(f)
of
the
Act.
(Stip.
3).
The
parties
have
also
stipulated
that,
during
various
specified
time periods, the Village allowed
the
discharge
of
wastewater
from
the Thornton plant into Thorn Creek
to contain pollutants exceeding
the NPDES Permit limitations on biochemical oxygen demand and
residual chlorine and failed
to submit
the
necessary discharge
monitoring reports
to the Agency in violation of Rule 404(b) and
410(a)
of
Chapter
3
and
Sections
12(a)
and
12(f)
of
the
Act.
(Stip.
3—5).
Additionally,
it
is stipulated that,
from January
1,
1976
until January
15,
1980,
the Village operated the Thornton plant
without a certified operator
in violation of Rule 1201 of Chapter
3
and Section 12(f)
of the Act.
(Stip.
5).
However,
the Village
rectified this situation by hiring a duly certified Class
II
sewage treatment operator on January
15,
1980.
(Stip.
5).
Subsequently,
in February and March of
1980, the Village
fully
complied with “the reporting requirements of a NPDES Permit.”
(sic)
The
discharge
monitoring
reports
indicate
that
current
wastewater
discharges
do
not
exceed
NPDES
Permit
limitations.
(Stip.
5).
The
Illinois
General
Assembly
passed
legislation
on
June
29,
1979
which
provides
that
the
area
which
is
now
serviced
by
the
Thornton
plant
will
be
included
within
the
corporate
limits
of
the
Metropolitan
Sanitary
District
of
Greater
Chicago
(“District”).
The
Thornton
plant
will
be
taken
out
of
operation
and
decommissioned
after annexation proceedings are completed
(i.e., by June 29,
1981).
(Stip.
5).
The proposed settlement agreement provides that,
until
annexation to the District is completed, the Village
shall:
(1) operate the Thornton plant
so that it meets the effluent
—3—
limitations
in its last NPDES Permit;
(2) employ
a properly
certified Class IT operator
to supervise the operation and mainte-
nance
of
the
facility;
(3)
submit
discharge
monitoring
reports
for each month as required by its last NPDES Permit (the Mayor of
the Village of Thornton will personally review and sign each
discharge monitoring report that the Village submits to the Agency);
(4)
if, under certain specified circumstances, the discharge
monitoring reports indicate that the Thornton plant has failed to
meet all of the effluent limitations contained in its last NPDES
Permit,
then the Village will promptly:
(a) dredge or pump out all
accumulated
solids
in
the
final
settling
pond
and
haul
it
to
an
Agency-approved landfill for disposal, and
(b)
install chemical
feed equipment at the inlet to the secondary clarifiers for the
purposes of settling out solids in the clarifiers;
and
(5)
if the
aforementioned work is required, the Village will prepare specifi-
cations for the required work along with the necessary permit
applications, and promptly submit them to the Agency.
(Stip.
6—7).
Additionally, the Stipulation provides that the Village shall:
(1) continue its effort to complete annexation to the District
before June
29,
1981;
(2)
dredge, or pump out,
all accumulated
solids
in
the
final
settling
pond
and
haul
it
to
an
Agency—approved
landfill
for disposal within 30 days after annexation to the
District is completed, and
(3) pay a stipulated penalty of $500.00
Moreover, the Agency has agreed to issue an NPDES Permit to the
Village upon the Respondent’s full compliance with all the
applicable regulations and statutes.
(Stip.
7).
In
evaluating
this
enforcement
action
and proposed settlement,
the Board has taken into consideration all the
facts and circum-
stances in light of the specific criteria delineated in Section 33(c)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
The Board finds the
stipulated agreement acceptable under Procedural Rule 331 and
Section 33(c) of the Act.
The Board finds that the Respondent,
the Village of Thornton, has violated Rules 404(b),
410(a),
901,
and 1201 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations and
Sections
12(a)
and
12(f)
of
the
Act.
The
stipulated
penalty
of
$500.00 is hereby assessed against the Respondent.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It
is the Order of
the
Illinois Pollution Control
Board that:
1.
The
Respondent,
the
Village
of
Thornton,
has
violated
Rules
404(b),
410(a),
901, and 1201 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Control Regulations and Sections 12(a) and 12(f) of the Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Act.
—4—
2.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall, by certified check or money order payable to the State of
Illinois, pay the stipulated penalty of $500.00 which is to be
sent to:
Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Fiscal
Services
Division
2200
Churchill
Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
3.
The
Respondent
shall
comply
with
all of the terms and
conditions
of
the
Stipulation
and
Proposal
for
Settlement
filed
on
May
6,
1980,
which
is
incorporated
by
reference
as
if
fully
set
forth
herein.
I,
Christan
L.
Moffett,
Clerk
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order were adopted
on the
J~K
day
of
~
1980
by
a
vote
of
________
CL~rr~
~
Christan L. Moff~4~,Clerk
Illinois Pollutiô~YControlBoard
