ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    October
    18, 1971
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
    v.
    )
    PCB 71-157
    CITY OF SILVIS,
    ILLINOIS
    John
    C.
    Parkhurst, Attorney for the
    Environmental
    Protection Agency
    N.L. McGehee, Attorney for the City of Silvis
    Opinion of the Board
    (by Samuel R. Aldrich):
    On June
    22,
    1971,
    the Environmental Ptotection Agency
    (“Agency”)
    filed a complaint against the City of Silvis,
    Illinois.
    The
    complaint alleges that the City operated its sewage treatment plant
    so as to allow the discharge of untreated or poorly treated sewage
    into the Rock River,
    in violation of Section 12(a) of
    the Environ-
    mental Protection Act
    (“Act”)
    and of Rule 1.08(10) (b) and Rule
    1.08(11) (b) of Rules and Regulations SWB-ll,
    The complaint
    further alleges that the City violated Rule 1.08(12)
    of SWB-ll by
    virtue of its failure to meet deadlines for updating its existing
    treatment facilities.
    The Agency requested that the City be
    ordered to cease and desist from further violations,
    meet new dead-
    lines for modernizing its facilities,
    and pay a money penalty.
    A hearing in the case was originally scheduled for August
    6,
    1971,
    but was
    continued to September
    13,
    1971, at the request of counsel
    for the Respondent.
    Prehearing conferences were held August 11,
    1971,
    and August
    31,
    1971.
    At the hearing the Village of Carbon
    Cliff was added as
    a party to the
    case.
    The Village, within whose
    boundaries
    the Silvis treatment plant is situated, was not repre-
    sented at the hearing, however,
    Background
    to the City~spresent waste disposal problems
    is contained
    in
    a letter written August
    12,
    1971, by John
    C. Parkhurst,
    attorney
    for the Agency,
    in which he requests that
    a prehearing conference
    be held August
    31.
    The
    City, whose existing sewage treatment plant
    provides only primary treatment, made plans early
    in 1971 to pro-
    vide
    for secondary treatment.
    An interceptor system was to be con-
    structed to feed the City~s sewage into
    the secondar~treatment
    plant of the City of East Moline.
    An agreement to do
    this was
    entered into on January
    5,
    1971.
    At that time
    it appeared that
    Silvis would be in compliance with existing water pollution regula-
    tions
    as soon as financing for the project could be obtained.
    2
    677
    In order to make a proper decision in this case it it necessary
    for the Board to understand the reasons behind the abandonment
    of the plan
    to send the Silvis waste into the treatment plant of
    the City of East Noline.
    The only reason given in the record is
    that new regulations “caused the City of East Noline plant to be
    out of compliance”.
    The regulations are referred to as “federal”
    ones, when in fact they are probably the regulations established and
    promulgated by the Pollution Control Board regarding secondary
    treatment plant performance and new dates for the completion of
    facilities with secondary treatment that discharge into the Mis-
    sissippi River.
    Those regulations which were adopted by the
    Board on January
    6,
    1971, provided essentially that all wastes
    discharged to the Mississippi shall receive a minimum of secon-
    dary treatment by December 31,
    1973.
    In addition,
    the regulation
    upgraded the performance levels for secondary plants.
    It is
    unclear from the record
    in
    this case which part of the regulation
    adopted by
    the
    Board
    caused the East Moline plant to be out of
    compliance as of the date of adoption of the regulations.
    This
    matter must be explained more fully to the Board because the
    Board has consistently taken the position that it favors the use
    of larger plants where possible.
    This regional, large plant
    approach makes the cost of waste treatment less and in may cases
    improves
    the efficiency of the treatment process.
    It may very well be that after we receive
    a response to this opinion
    and order we will order
    the City of Silvis
    to further explore and
    in fact build the interceptor
    to the City of East Moline plant as
    stated above.
    However,
    the Board has insufficient evidence to
    make any determination of the issue.
    In order
    to further inform
    the Board, we therefore order that the City of Silvis and the
    Environmental Protection Agency submit to the Board on or before
    October
    29,
    1971,
    a
    full and complete explanation as to the
    obstacles which prevent the City of Silvis from connecting
    to
    the
    treatment plant of the City of East Moline,
    This report shall
    include inter alia,
    a detailed explanation of the problems caused
    by
    the new regulations which allegedly affect the City of East
    Moline plant.
    This opinion constitutes
    the Board~s finding of fact and conclusions
    of
    law.
    I, Regina
    E.
    Ryan, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board,
    certify that the Board adopted the above opinion and order
    this
    j~day of
    October
    ,
    1971,
    2
    —
    678

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