ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    August 18, 1988
    COMMONWEALTH EDISON
    )
    DRESDEN POWER STATION,
    )
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 88—128
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    )
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J.D. Dumelle):
    This matter comes before the Board upon the August 17, 1988,
    filing of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s (Agency)
    “Provisional Variance Agency Recommendation,” The Recommendation
    urges the Board to grant the request subject to certain
    conditions,
    On August 9, 1988, Petitioner, Commonwealth Edison, Dresden
    Power Station (Dresden), filed a request for provisional variance
    from the limitations set forth at 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.211 and
    Part 303. Dresden is a nuclear—fuelded electrical generating
    facility located near Morris, Illinois, with two boiling water
    reactors providing a maximum capacity of 1623 megawatts of
    electricity. Circulating water used to cool and condense the
    steam from the generating process is discharged to the Illinois
    River after passing through the cooling pond.
    Petitioner’s NPDES permit requires discharge cooling pond
    blowdown using an indirect open cycle cooling mode .from Jupe 15
    through September 30. The temperature of plant discharges shall
    not exceed 32.20c (90°F)more than 10 of the time and may never
    exceed 33.90c (930F).
    The petition for provisional variance avers that severe
    drought and extremely hot weather, low river flows, elevated
    ambient river temperatures and decreased heat dissipation have,
    in various combinations, imposed severe operating restrictions.
    Petitioner estimates that due to current weather conditions it
    will exhaust its 10 limit (259 hours) of allowable exceedances
    by mid—August, even when operating under 50 reduced capacity.
    Petitioner has reaffirmed its commitment to remaining in
    compliance with the absolute thermal water quality standards
    930F.
    91—383
    —2—
    Petitioner has stated, and the Agency agrees, that
    increasing the number of allowable hours of exceedances of the
    90°Fstandard should not result in any harmful effects. The
    Agency also concurs that failure to grant the requested short—
    term variance would work an arbitrary and unreasonable hardship
    on Petitioner.
    The Board does hereby grant Petitioner, Commonwealth Edison
    Dresden Power Station, a provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 302.211 and Part 303 subject to the following conditions:
    a. The variance shall begin when Dresden Station uses up
    their NPDES permit allocated 259 hours for discharge of
    effluent hotter than 90°and continue for 45 days or
    until September 30, 1988 or when Dresden Station uses up
    the additional 259 hours received from granting this
    variance, whichever occurs first.
    b. During the variance, the Petitioner will have an
    additional 259 hours where the temperature of the
    Dresden Station power could exceed 32.2°c (900) however
    at no time shall the temperature exceed 33.9°c (93°F).
    c. During this variance, the Petitioner shall maintain a
    continuous temperature and flow recorder for the cooling
    pond blowdown to the Illinois River. Such records shall
    be submitted with Petitioner’s Discharge Monitoring
    Reports. The records submitted should indicate the
    daily temperature discharge to the Illinois River.
    d. The Petitioner shall mitigate possible adverse effects
    to fish and conduct daily observations of fish
    conditions.
    e. Within 10 days of the date of the Board’s Order,
    Petitioner shall execute a Certificate of Acceptance and
    Agreement which shall be sent to Mark. T. Books at the
    address indicated below:
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    2200 Churchill Road
    P.O. •Box 19276
    Springfield, Illinois 62794—9276
    ATTN: Mark T. Books
    This variance shall be void if Petitioner fails to
    execute and forward the certificate within the ten day
    period. The ten day period shall be held in abeyance
    during any period that this matter is being appealed.
    The form of said Certification shall be as follows:
    9 1—384
    —3—
    CERTIFICATION
    I, (We), Commonwealth Edison Dresden Power Station, having
    read the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, in PCB
    88—128, dated August 18, 1988, understand and accept the said
    Order, realizing that such acceptance renders all terms and
    conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
    Petitioner
    By: Authorized Agent
    Title
    Date
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that the above Order was adopted on
    the
    _______________
    day of
    ~
    ,
    1988 by a vote
    of
    ~
    .
    ~
    Dorothy M. unn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    9 1—385

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