ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
February
7,
1980
CITY OF BENTON,
Petitioner,
V.
)
PCB 79~227
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Respondent,
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF
THE BOARD
(by Mr. Dumelle):
On October
31,
1979 Petitioner
filed for a variance
from the fecal coliform monitoring requirements
of Rule 405
and Rule 501 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution,
An Amended
Petition was filed on November
26,
1979,
The Agency has
recommended that a variance be granted for
5 years for
Petitioner~sNorthwest plant or until Petitioner~s upgraded
plant becomes operational or until
a decision
is rendered on
the proposed rule change in R77-12, Docket D,
The Agency
further recommends that the request
for relief from Rule 405
for Petitioner~s Southeast plant be denied.
Petitioner
is presently
in Step
I Preliminary Planning
for new treatment facilities which will include chlorination
facilities.
Wastewater treatment plants are located in two
areas,
one northwest of
the city with a design capacity of
1.4 million gallons per day
(MGD) which discharges
into
Sugar Creek,
a tributary of the Big Mnddy River, and a
lagoon system with a design capacity of 0.06 MGD southeast
of the city which chlorinates,
and discharges into an
unnamed creek tributary of the Middle Fork of the Big Muddy
River. Petitioner~s system
is operating
under NPDES Permit
Nos,
IL
0022365
and IL 0047163,
A schedule of compliance
for Petitioner
to
upgrade the existing facilities to comply
with State and Federal Water Pollution Regulations has been
established by the Agency with start—up of Petitioner~s new
plant projected for November,
1983.
Although Petitioner has indicated that there are no
public water supplies or bathing beaches within 20 miles of
Petitioner~sdischarge,
Petitioner has failed to provide
37—333
information on whether its discharge would have a
detrimental effect on other recreational or public uses
of the water such as fishing, canoeing or wading.
Also,
Petitioner claimed that fecal coliform monitoring is
impossible due to inadequate laboratory facilities and
that
an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship would be
imposed
on
Petitioner should expansion of its present laboratory
facilities be required.
However, Petitioner has not shown
that alternative methods of analysis for monitoring fecal
coliforms by private laboratories or other facilities are
prohibitive.
The Agency has recommended that the Petition for
Variance be granted for Petitioner’s Northwest plant for a
period of 5 years or until Petitioner’s upgraded plant
becomes operational or until a decision is reached on the
proposed rule change in R77—12, Docket D.
The Board finds a
five year variance is
unwarranted
due to Petitioner’s
failure to include sufficient information, and grants a
variance for a period of 6 months from the date of this
Order.
Petitioner
may
at a later date include the necessary
information in seeking an .extension of the
time period
by
filing a
new
petition for variance pursuant to Procedural
Rule 402.
Relief from Rule 405 for Petitioner’s Southeast
plant is denied although a
new
petition
nay be
filed
pursuant to Procedural Rule 401.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1)
Petitioner is granted a variance from the fecal
coliform monitoring requirements of Rule 405 and Rule
501 of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution for its Northwest
plant for a period of
six
months from the date of this
Order.
2)
Petitioner is denied relief from the fecal coliform
monitoring requirements of Rule 405 for Petitioner’s
Southeast facility.
3)
The Agency is authorized to modify Petitioner‘s NPDES
permit
No.
IL 0022365 in a
manner
consistent with the
terms
of
this
Order
including
terms
and
conditions
consistent
with
best
practicable
treatment,
operation
and maintenance of Petitioner’s facilities.
37—334
4)
Within
45 days of the date of this Order, Petitioner
shall execute
a certification of acceptance and
agreement to be bound by all the terms and conditions
of this variance,
The Certification shall
be forwarded
to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
Division of Water Pollution Control, Variance Section,
2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield,
Illinois 62706,
This
45 day period shall
be held in abeyance if this matter
is appealed.
The form of the Certification shall read
as follows:
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We),
,
having
read and fully understanding the Order
in 79-227 hereby
accept that Order and agree to be bound by all of its terms
and conditions.
IT
IS SO ORDERED
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
I, Christan L.
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby ce~ify that the abo e 0
were adopted on the
7
day of
~~nion
and Order
1980 by a vote of
C)
ristan L. Moffet~
Illinois Pollution
C
ol Board
37—335