ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 1,
1993
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
PETITION OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
)
AS 92-10
POWER COOPERATIVE
(MARION POWER)
)
(Adjusted Standard)
FOR ADJUSTED STANDARDS FROM
35
)
ILL. ADM. CODE 302.208(e)
)
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by B.
Forcade):
On September 21,
1992,
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative
(SIPC)
filed a petition for an adjusted standard for its Marion
Power Station from the general use water quality standards for
boron in 35 Ill.
Adin. Code 302.208(e).
Based on additional
information supplied by the Agency, SIPC filed an amended
petition on December
11,
1992.
The Agency filed its
recommendation on March 17,
1993.
The Agency recommends granting
the adjusted standard as requested in the amended petition.
SIPC
requested a waiver of the hearing and no hearing was held in this
matter.
On June
16, 1993,
SIPC filed a Motion For Entry of a
Final Order.
In its amended petition,
SIPC requests that the following
standard for boron be applied to the Marion Power Station:
From Southern Illinois Power Cooperative’s Outfall 005
to a point of the South Fork of Saline River where it
leaves the S-E quarter of Section
6,
T.1OS—R.4E,
Williamson County, the standard shall
be 9 mg/l and
from said point to the point of confluence with the
Middle Fork of the Saline River, where
it leaves the
S—W quarter of Section 28, T.9S—R.7E,
Saline County,
the standard shall be
3 mg/I.
(Am. Pet.
at 3.)
BACKGROUND
SIPC operates the Marion Power Station located approximately
8 miles south of Marion, Williamson County,
Illinois.
(Pet.
at
4.)
The station has an electrical generating capacity of 272 mw
and is comprised of four coal fired units.
(Pet.
at 4.)
Bottom ash from units
1,
2,
3 and 4 is sluiced to ponds
1
and
2 and is hauled off-site by contractors.
(Pet.
at
4.)
The
fly ash produced in units
1,
2 and
3
is sluiced to either ponds
A-i or B-3.
(Pet.
at 4.)
The sluice water produced by water
contact with the bottom ash
is collected in pond
4 and discharged
through outfall
002.
(Pet.
at 4.)
The sluice water produced by
water contact with the
fly
ash
is
collected
in pond B-3 and
discharged
through
outfall
005.
(Pet.
at
4.)
Ash
and
plant
drain
2
systems permit
a degree of flexibility as
t~- which pond and
outfall the discharge
is directed.
(Pet.
at
5
‘
The station discharges wastewater to the Little Saline
Creek,
a tributary to the South Fork of the Saline River.
The
wastewater discharged from outfall 001,
002 and 005 are governed
by SIPC’s NPDES permit.
(Pet.
at 4.)
The permit states the
interim effluent limits for all parameters except boron,
iron and
total dissolved solids
(TDS),
and lists the final effluent limits
for all parameters effective January 15,
1993.
(Pet.
at 5.)
The
permit also requires the monitoring of the outfalls for boron,
iron and TDS for the purpose of characterizing the discharge.
(Pet.
at 5.)
The final effluent limitation for outfalls 001,
002
and 005 is 1.0 mg/l as a daily maximum value for boron.
(Pet.
at
5.)
The standards listed
in the permit are the same standards
established by the Board’s regulations.
SIPC contends that
monitoring effluents and SIPC historical data regarding boron
concentrations indicate that discharges from these outfalls
suggests noncompliance with the final effluent limitation for
boron.
(Pet.
at 5.)
DISCUSSION
Section 302.208(e)
of the Board’s general water quality
standards establishes
a numerical standard of 1.0 mg/i for boron.
(35 Ill.
Adrn.
Code 302.208(e).)
Section 28.1 of the Act allows,
in pertinent part,
for an adjusted standard from a rule of
general applicability upon adequate proof that:
1.
factors relating to that petitioner are substantially
and significantly different from the factors relied
upon by the Board
in adopting the general regulation
applicable to the petitioner;
2.
the existence of those factors justifies an adjusted
standard;
3.
the requested standard will not result in environmental
or health effects substantially and significantly more
adverse than the effects considered by the Board in
adopting the rule of general applicability; and
4.
the adjusted standard is consistent with any applicable
federal
law.
siPc
notes that the water quality standard for boron was
based on evidence that higher levels of boron can harm irrigated
crops.
(Pet.
at 18.)
SIPC argues that this concern
is not
applicable,
because neither the Little Saline nor the South Fork
are used for irrigation purposes.
(Pet. at
18,
Exh.
3 at 4.)
The
Agency agrees that the basis of the boron standard was crop
3
protection from irrigation and not aquatic toxicity.
(Ag.
Rec.
at
4.)
The reports submitted by SIPC indicate th~tthese waters are
not used for irrigation.
(Exh.
3.)
The Agency further notes that
use of these waters for irrigation would not be expected due to
the small volume of flow in the Saline—South Fork system.
(Ag.
Rec. at
4.)
Under present operating conditions, the effluent discharges
will result in violations of the boron standard.
(Pet.
at 17.)
To comply with the boron standard SIPC would have to implement a
compliance alternative.
(Pet.
at 17.)
SIPC has considered five alternatives for obtaining
compliance with the effluent limitation.
(Pet.
at 6.)
The
alternatives considered were:
1.
Removal of fly ash from the site in a dry condition;
2.
Revision to cyclone burners to reduce fly ash
combustibles and increase the ratio of bottom ash to
fly ash.
3.
Use of alternative fuels
in place of Illinois coal;
4.
Treatment of wastewater discharges using boron specific
ion exchange; and
5.
Treatment of wastewater discharges using osmosis.
SIPC has concluded that the compliance alternatives available are
either technically infeasible or economically unreasonable.
(Pet.
at
6,
Exh.
2.)
Some of the compliance alternatives would lower
the actual flow in the Little Saline and the South Fork thereby
adversely impacting the aquatic ecosystem.
(Pet.
at 17.)
SIPC asserts that the proposed adjusted standard will not
result in a change in operations at the station nor in the
quality of the existing conditions
in the Little Saline.
(Pet.
at
16.)
The station has been operating at the proposed boron
standard, sought in this petition, without evidence of any
significant adverse impacts upon aquatic, human or terrestrial
species or upon current uses of the Little Saline and the South
Fork.
(Pet.
at 21.)
SIPC indicates that at the levels proposed in the adjusted
standard there
is no adverse environmental impact except for a
potential impact to fish embryos and young fish.
(Pet.
at 19.)
However,
SIPC notes that the Little Saline and South Fork are
less than adequate for fish spawning activities due to erosion,
low flow and low pH.
(Pet. at
19.)
4
SIPC
asserts that current uses of the Little Saline and the
South Fork will not be significantly impacted by the proposed
adjusted standard.
(Pet.
at 20.)
The Little Saline and the South
Fork are not used as sources of water for either public,
industrial or irrigation users.
(Pet. at 20.)
The primary use of
the South Fork is for agricultural drainage.
(Pet. at 20.)
The Agency recommends the granting of the adjusted standard.
The Agency asserts that the best degree of treatment is in place
at the Marion power station and that any more advanced treatment
would not be cost effective, given the negligible environmental
harm caused by the boron levels.
(Ag. Rec. at 3.)
The Agency
agrees with SIPC that the alternative compliance strategies
examined are not reasonable.
(Ag. Rec.
at 7.)
SIPC asserts and the Agency agrees that the adjusted
standard is consistent with applicable federal law.
(Pet. at 21,
Ag. Rec. at 8.)
CONCLUSION
The Board finds that petitioner has justified the granting
of an adjusted standard consistent with Section 28.1 of the Act.
In adopting the general regulation on boron the Board was
concerned with the effects of boron on crops.
The waters
affected by the adjusted standard are not used for crop
irrigation.
Further, the petitioner has demonstrated that the
adjusted standard will have a minimal environmental impact.
The
Board finds that the petitioner has justified the need for the
adjusted standard and the Board grants the adjusted standard as
requested by the petitioner.
This opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
Pursuant to Section 28.1(b), the Board hereby grants an
adjusted standard from 35
Ill. Adm. Code 302.208(e)
to Southern
Illinois Power Cooperative for its Marion Power Station.
The
following standard becomes effective on the date of this order:
1.
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative is
granted an adjusted standard from 35 Ill.
Adni.
Code 302.208(e)
for the discharge from
its Marion Power Station.
The adjusted
standard applies to Little Saline Creek and
the South Fork of the Saline River from
Southern Illinois Power Cooperative’s Outfall
005 which discharges into Little Saline Creek
5
to a point of the South Fork River
in the N-E
quarter of Section
20, T.1OS-R.5E,
~line
County.
2.
Instead of the standard for boron of Section
302.208(e), the following standards for boron
shall apply to Southern Illinois
Cooperative’s Marion Power Station:
From Southern Illinois Power Cooperative’s
Outfall 005 to a point of the South Fork of
Saline River where it leaves the S-E quarter
of Section 6, T.1OS-R.4E, WillIamson County,
the standard shall be
9 mg/i and from said
point to the point of confluence with the
Middle Fork of the Saline River, where it
leaves the S-W quarter of Section 28, T.9S—
R.7E,
Saline County, the standard shall be
3
lug/i.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act
(415 ILCS
5/41
(1992))
provides for appeal of final orders of the Board
within 35 days.
The Rules of the Supreme Court of Illinois
establish filing requirements.
(See also 35 Ill.
Adin.
Code
101.246, Motion for Reconsideration.)
I, Dorothy M.
Gunn,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify that the above opin
and order was
adopted on the ______________day of_________________________
1993,
by a vote of
7~
.
/
.
Dorothy M. 9~nn,Clerk
Illinois Po~lution Control Board