ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 3, 1990
CITY OF POLO,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 90—125
)
(Provisional Variance)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J. C. Marlin):
This matter comes before the Board on receipt of an Agency
Recommendation dated July 2, 1990. The recommendation refers to
a request from Petitioner, City of Polo, for a 45-day extension
to a provisional variance from effluent 5-day biochemical oxygen
demand (BOD5) and suspended solids (TSS) limitations, as set
forth in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.120(c), previously granted in PCB
90-39 on March 22, 1990. The original provisional variance ran
for the period beginning from when the City removes its final
clarifier from service, on April 30, 1990, and lasted for a
period of 45 days, until June 15, 1990. The requested extension
would commence on June 15, 1990 and expire when the City returns
its clarifier to service or after 45 days, whichever comes first.
Upon receipt of the request the Agency issued its
recommendation, concluding that the failure to grant the
requested 45-day provisional variance would impose an arbitrary
or unreasonable hardship on Petitioner.
The City operates a 0.5 MGD DAF wastewater treatment
facility that discharges to Buffalo Creek, a tributary of Elkhorn
Creek, in the Rock River basin. The present effluent limits of
NPDESand
12permitmg/i TSSnumber(monthly1L0030449averages).for
itsThedischargesCity
mustareremove10mg/iits60D5
final clarifier from service for repairs. The Agency agrees that
this is necessary. During the time the final~clarifier has been
down, the City’s plant has operated the remaining equipment,
primary settling, the comminutor, a trickling filter, a polishing
lagoon, and disinfection, providing primary and secondary
treatment with disinfection.
The repair work has been delayed. First, there was a delay
in shipment of the clarifier mechanism. Second, the City
notified the Agency that wet weather has further delayed the
work. Finally, the City asserts that extra time is necessary for
curing of paint before the units return to service.
The Agency does not believe that the requested relief will
113—101
2
have any adverse impact on any downstream public water supply.
The Agency is not aware of any federal law that would preclude
the requested relief. The Agency agrees with the City that any
environmental impact of this provisional variance would be
minimal. The Agency recommends that the Board grant the
requested provisional variance with conditions.
In light of the Agency Recommendation, the Board hereby
grants an extension of the provisional variance originally
granted March 22, 1990 in PCB 90-39 from 35 Ill. Adm. Code
304.120(c), from June 15, 1990 and continuing until the City of
Polo returns its final clarifier to service or for 45 days after
that date, whichever comes first, with the followin1 conditions:
1. The term of this provisional variance shall commenc on
J:une.15,~1990 and it.shall xp-ire~on_thedate~the City_c~.
Polo returns its final clarifier to service or after 45 ys
have elapsed from June 15, 1990, whichever comes first;
2. During the term of this provisional variance, the
effluent from the City of Polo’ treatment plant shall not
exceed concentrations of 45 mg/i BOD5 and 60 mg/i TSS;
3. During the term of this provisional variance, the City
of Polo shall collect samples and analyze them according to
the terms of NPDES permit number 1L0030449, and report them
to the Agency on its monthly discharge monitoring reports;
4. The City of Polo shall notify Dennis Connor of the
Agency’s Rockford office by telephone, at 815-987-7755, when
the final clarifier is removed from service and when the
work is completed, and the City shall confirm this notice in
writing within five days, addressed as follows:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Water Pollution Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200 Churchill Road
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276
Attention Mark Brooks
5. During the term of this provisional variance, the City
of Polo shall operate its plant in a manner that assures
that it discharges the best quality effluent practicable;
and
6. The City shall execute a copy of a Certificate of
Acceptance of this provisional variance and forward that
copy to the Agency addressed as indicted in condition 4; the
113—102
3
City shall forward that copy within 10 days of the date of
this Order of the Board, i.e., on or before July 13, 1990;
and the Certificate of Acceptance shall take the following
form:
CERTIFICATION
I (We) _____________________________________
hereby accept and agree to be bound by all terms
and conditions of the Order of the Pollution
Control Board in PCB 90-39, March 22, 1990.
Petitioner
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy N. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
B~.ard, do hereby certify
~______
day of
_____________________________~
above Order was1990,adoptedby
a voteon
theof
7-0.
Dorol
Illinois
runn, Clerk
llution Control Board
113—103