ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April 12, 1990
    CITY OF WENONA,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 90—48
    (Provisional Variance)
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (J. Anderson):
    This matter comes before the Board on receipt of an Agency
    Recommendation dated April 11, 1990. The recommendation refers
    to a request from Petitioner, City of Wenona for a provisional
    variance from the 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5),
    suspended solids
    (TSS),
    and fecal coliform effluent limitations,
    as set forth in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.120(a) and 304.141(a), for
    the period from the initiation of diversion of wastewater flows
    from the City wastewater treatment facility primary lagoon to the
    secondary lagoon, and continuing to the earlier of the return to
    service of the lagoons or the expiration of 45 days.
    Upon receipt of the request the Agency issued its
    recommendation, concluding that the failure to grant the
    requested provisional variance would impose an arbitrary or
    unreasonable hardship on Petitioner.
    The City of Wenona operates a wastewater treatment facility
    that discharges 0.16 million gallons per day of treated effluent
    to Sandy Creek, which discharges to the Illinois River. The
    facility consists of a main lift station, a primary lagoon, a
    secondary lagoon, and a chlorination system. The present
    effluent limitations are 30 mg/i BOD~ (monthly average), 37 mg/i
    TSS (monthly average), and 400 colonies/mi fecal coliform (daily
    maximum)
    The City must repair and upgrade its lagoons. The City must
    divert flows around its primary lagoon to its secondary lagoon to
    effect repairs to its primary lagoon, then it must divert flows
    back to its primary lagoon for storage to effect cleaning of its
    secondary lagoon. The City will have only one lagoon out of
    service at any given time during repairs. The estimated effluent
    BOD5 content will be 33.4 mg/l, and the estimated TSS will be
    39.3 mg/i, during repairs.
    The Agency recommends that the Board grant the requested
    provisional variance with conditions. The Agency concurs with
    the City that the anticipated environmental impact of the
    110—61
    2
    requested provisional variance would be minimal. The Agency is
    unaware that the grant of a provisional variance would adversely
    impact a public water supply. (The nearest downstream water
    intake is Peoria Water Co., 45 miles down stream.) The Agency
    states that the denial of this provisional variance would impose
    a hardship on the City, in that the City would then be forced to
    construct a temporary lagoon at significant cost to effect the
    repairs.
    The Board notes that Agency Condition #5 provides, at the
    Agency’s total discretion, for a potentially unappealable,
    prospective denial determination. Such an authority is contrary
    to the Act in terms of unlawful delegation and appeal rights, and
    could prematurely terminate the variance contrary to the Board’s
    Order. In the interests of expedited resolution of the problem,
    we have changed the language to “in consultation with the
    Agency.”
    In light of the Agency Recommendation, the Board hereby
    grants a provisional variance from the BOD5, TSS, and fecal
    coliform effluent limitations of 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.120(a) and
    304.141(a), provided:
    1. The term of this provisional variance will commence on
    the day the City first initiates diversion of wastewater
    flows from its primary lagoon to the secondary lagoon and
    shall continue until the expiration of 45 days, or until the
    City returns both lagoons to service, whichever occurs
    first;
    2. The City shall limit its effluent BOD5 concentration to
    40 mg/i and its TSS concentration to 45 mg/i (monthly
    averages);
    3. The City shall notify Tom Meyer of the Agency’s Peoria
    Region office by.telephone, at 309—693—5463, when the
    diversion of flows from the primary lagoon begins and when
    both lagoons are returned to service;
    4. The City shall, within 5 days, forward to the Agency
    written confirmations of the notifications made under
    condition 3, addressed as follows:
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    Division of Water Pollution Control
    2200 Churchill Road
    P.O. Box 19276
    Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276
    Attn: Compliance Assurance Section
    5. The City shall dispose of the contents of its lagoons
    11(1—I~2
    3
    in consultation with the Agency;
    6. The City shall operate its wastewater treatment
    facility in a manner that will assure that it achieves the
    best effluent quality practicable;
    7. The City shall perform all necessary repair work as
    expeditiously as possible and in a manner that minimizes the
    time that the lagoons are out of service; and
    8. The City shall execute and forward a Certificate of
    Acceptance and Agreement within 10 days of the date of this
    Order to Mr. Mark T. Books at the address specified in
    condition 4, and that Certificate shall take the following
    form:
    CERTIFICATIOH
    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—48, dated April 12, 1990.
    Petitioner
    Authorized Agent
    Title
    Date
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    Board ~te~bersB. Forcade and R. Flenal concurred.
    1 IM—E3
    4
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, do hereby certify that .the above Order was adopted on the
    /~~day of ____________________________, 1990, by a vote of
    ‘7
    /
    ~
    ,~.
    ~Dorothy M.,Aunn, Clerk
    Illinois ~ollution Control Board
    110—64

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