ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September

22,

1988

IN THE MATTER OF:

PETITION OF TUE CITY OF

JOLIET FOR A SITE SPECIFIC

)

R84—20

RULE FOR THE CAST SIDE

)

JOLIET WASTEWATER TREATMENT

)

FACILITY

)

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by J.

Theodore Meyer):

This matter is before the Board on

a May 29, 1984

petition

for site—specific rulemaking filed

by the City of Joliet.

Joliet

asks

that its East Side Wastewater Treatment Plant

(EWTP), which

discharges

into Hickory Creek,

be exempted

from the effluent

limitations

for biochemical oxygen demand

(BOD)

and suspended

solids

(SS)

applicable

to Hickory Creek.

Those limitations,

found

at

35 111.

Adm.

Code 304.120(c),

are

10 milligrams

per

liter

(mg/i) and

12 mg/i,

respectively.

Instead, Joliet requests

that the discharges

from

EWTP

be subject

to the

BOlD and SS

limitations applicable

to the Des Plaines

River.

Those

standards,

set forth

at 35

Ill.,

Adm. Code 304.120(b),

are 20 mg/i

BOD and

25 mg/i SS.

On June 30, 1988,

the Board proposed

for

first notice the

requested regulation exempting the EWTP from the

BOlD and SS

limitations applicable

to Hickory Creek.

However, because

of

concerns about

the effect

of the regulation on levels of

dissolved oxygen and ammonia nitrogen in Hickory Creek, the Board

proposed

a temporary regulation which will expire on January

1,

1994.

This period would allow Joliet

to conduct water quality

monitoring

for approximately three years

and still have time

to

petition

the

Board

for permanent relief

if

the monitoring results

are positive.

The rationale for proposing this rule

is set forth

in the Proposed Opinion

of June

30,

1988.

The proposed

regulation was published

in the Illinois Register on July 15,

1988,

at 12

Iii.

Reg.

11669.

It has recently come

to the Board’s attention that under

a

proposed

federal consent decree, Joliet would pay a $160,000

civil penalty

to resolve

a

federal enforcement action alleging

Clean Water Act violations at this EWTP.

(U.S.

v. Joliet,

DC N.

Ill.

No. 88—5661.)

The consent decree apparently would also

require Joliet

to attain and maintain compliance with its

discharge

permit,

upgrade treatment

facilities

to meet secondary

treatment standards, construct

a single—stage

nitrificatiori

facility,

and

take measures to ensure proper operation and

maintenance of

the

EWTP.

The Board has

no further

information

on

92—551

---

—2—

the proposed

consent decree,

nor was

it previously aware of the

federal enforcement action.

Because

tt-~is activity raises several questions,

the Board

will take no further action on this request for site—specific

rulemaking until both Joliet and the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency

(Agency) have commented on any relation between

this rulemaking and the federal consent decree.

Comments should

include information on the exact nature of the alleged

violations, whether any allegation of violation of the

BOlD and SS

limitations were included,

and all other relevant information.

Additionally, Joliet shall

include a copy of the proposed consent

decree and any documents referenced

in that decree,

and shall

indicate whether the proposed decree has been entered.

These

comments by Joliet and the Agency shall be filed on or before

October

24, 1988.

Of course,

any other interested persons may

also comment in this time period.

IT

IS SO ORDERED.

I,

Dorothy M.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify

t

t

the above Order was adopted on

the

~~day

of

____________________,

1988,

by

a vote

of

7—c’

.

Dorothy M. ~~Cler

Illinois Pollution Control Board

92—552