ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
9,
1986
COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY,
BYRON GENERATING STATION,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 86—168
)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by J.D. DuTnelle):
This provisional variance request comes before
the Board
upon
an October
8,
1986 Recommendation of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency (Agency).
The Agency recommends
that a 45—day provisional variance be granted
to
the Commonwealth
Edison Company
(CWE)
from 35
Ill.
Adm. Code 304.120(a)
as
it
pertains to
the biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD)
and
total
suspended solids
(TSS)
effluent requirements of the Petitioner’s
NPDES Permit for Outfall 001(b)
(Sewage Treatment Plant
Discharge) during the
time period
in which portions of the sewage
treatment plant are bypassed for essential maintenance and
repairs.
The Petitioner’s Byron Generating Station
is a nuclear—
fueled steam electric generating plant located
in Byron,
Ogle
County,
Illinois.
At this nuclear
power pant,
a maximum
capacity of 2350 megawatts of electric power will
be provided by
two pressurized
water
reactors.
There
is one 1175 megawatt
electric unit presently
in operation,
while the other electric
unit
is still under construction.
(Pet.
1—2).
Commonwealth
Edison Company owns and operates both sanitary and
industrial
wastewater
treatment
facilities
in
conjunction
with
its
Byron
Generating
Station.
The
Petitioner’s
sanitary
wastewater
treatment facilities, which are the subject of the instant
provisional variance request, consist of flow equalization
equipment, grit removal, flow measurement,
final claifiers,
aeration tanks,
sand filters, disinfection, sludge drying beds,
and aerobic digestion.
(Rec.
1).
These facilities have
a design
average flow of 0.046 million gallons per day
(MGD)
and treated
effluent from
the sewage treatment plant discharges into
the Rock
River via the generating station’s cooling tower blowdown lines
after being
combined with effluent from the
industrial wastewater
treatment facilities.
CWE presently discharges wastewaters
pursuant to
its NPDES Permit No.
IL 0048313 which was just
reissued on April 28,
1986.
(Pet.
1).
73-73
—2—
The reason that corrective maintenance work
is vitally
important
is that “cracks
in welds between the various chambers
of the old activated sludge plant have been observed” while
“cracks
in the bottom are suspected”.
(Pet.
2).
Moreover,
the
coatings on the chamber walls are corroding, thereby jeopardizing
their
integrity.
During the requested provisional variance
period,
CWE
intends to
repair
the welds, sand blast
the walls,
and recoat the chamber walls.
The units not undergoing
maintenance will remain
in
service
to provide some treatment of
the domestic wastewater.
(Pet.
1—2; Rec.
2).
The Petitioner
emphasizes the necessity for essential maintenance by contending
that,
if the weld (and other)
repairs are not performed soon,
“the plant could be idled
for
a much longer reconstruction
period”.
(Pet.
2).
As alternatives to partially bypassing
its sewage treatment
plant,
the company has considered two primary alternatives:
(1)
to shut down electric plant operations
and thereby eliminate
all
waste
inputs,
and
(2)
to shut the sewage treatment plant down
and
use portable tanks
for the storage of sewage generated during
the
shutdown.
(Pet.
2; Rec. 2).
However, the Petitioner believes
that
a shutdown of its electric plant operations
is not feasible
since
it would necessitate the complete shutdown of its 1175
megawatt electric unit which
is currently generating power
on a
24—hour
a day, 7—day
a week basis, thereby costing
CWE
(and
ultimately its
customers
via
increased
electric
rate
charges)
up
to $1,000,000
per day in
fuel charges and electric power
replacement costs.
(Pet.
2).
Moreover,
its sewage treatment
plant receives wastes even when the electric plant is not
operating,
so that a complete
elimination of waste
inputs “could
only be accomplished by virtually deserting the site and this
is
clearly impossible.”
(Pet.
2).
Similarly,
the shutdown of its sewage
treatment plant and
use of
portable tanks
for
the storage of
sewage generated during
the shutdown
is not practical “because of the amount
of storage
that would be required and the difficulty that would arise later
in trying
to
treat the
stored waste
along with the normal
treatment load”.
(Pet.
2).
In
its Recommendation,
the Agency
has stated that it agrees with the Petitioner’s “assessment of
the alternatives and the remedial method selected”.
(Rec.
2).
To minimize any adverse environmental
impact while repairs
to its sewage treatment plant are being performed,
the Petitioner
plans
to
reduce the level
of pollutants
in its discharge by:
(1)
performing
the essential maintenance and
repair work
in stages,
so that units
(such as the digester) not normally used for
treatment will be reconfigured
to provide some treatment
at all
times,
and
(2) providing temporary tanks
for chlorination “to
assure uninterrupted disinfection” during the
time period that
repairs are being
completed.
(Pet.
2).
73-74
—3—
The
Petitioner
has stated that it believes that “the
environmental impact
to the Rock River will
be negligible due
to
the relatively small wastewater volumes involved
(daily average
flow of the STP
is approximately 20,000 gallons per day)
and
because
the discharge
is co—mingled with cooling tower blowdown
water
flowing at approximately 10,000 gallons per second prior
to
its entry to the Rock River”.
(Pet.
2).
In fact,
CWE
expects
that discharges
from its sewage treatment plant
will, during most
of the time,
still
be
in compliance with the requisite NPDES
Permit limits because of
its partial treatment of sewage wastes
and chlorination of
its sewage treatment plant discharges during
the time that necessary maintenance work is performed.
(Pet.
2).
After carefully evaluating
the company’s detailed
maintenance plan
for performing the requisite system repairs,
the
Agency has indicated that
it agrees with CWE’s conclusion that
there will be
a minimal environmental impact.
(Rec.
2).
Based
on limited sampling
of partially treated sewage which
the Byron Generating Station has collected during the past
several weeks, the Petitioner has requested that interim effluent
limitations
of 100 mg/l for biochemical oxygen demand and 100
mg/l for total suspended solids from Outfall 001(b)
should
be
established during the
time period that corrective maintenance
work will
be done.
(Pet.
1).
However, the Agency has recommended
that the Board set
interim effluent limits of
75 mg/l
for both BOD and TSS because
CWE
will be providing partial
treatment while
the requisite
repairs are being made.
(Rec.
2).
The Board believes that the
Agency’s evaluation of the situation
is fundamentally cor;ect,
and will therefore set appropriate interim effluent limits
in
accord with the Agency’s recommendation.
The Commonwealth Edison Company contends that denial of its
requested provisional variance would
impose
an arbitrary or
unreasonable hardship because
it will now be providing partial
treatment to
the wastewater
when repairs are made, while
the
alternative of doing nothing until
failure of the welds would
probably result in little
or
no treatment being provided for
a
period longer than 45 days.
(Pet.
1—3).
The Agency agrees with the Petitioner’s assessment of
hardship and has therefore concluded that immediate compliance on
a short—term basis with
35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.120(a)
as
it
pertains
to the BOD and TSS effluent requirements of the
Petitioner’s NPDES Permit for Outfall 001(b) would
impose
an
arbitrary or
unreasonable hardship upon the company “since
Petitioner
is ready to repair
the affected treatment units before
total failure occurs
and will be able
to provide partial
treatment while the repairs are made”.
(Rec.
1—3).
Additionally,
there
are no
federal
regulations which would
preclude
the granting
of the requested relief and there
are no
73-75
—4—
public
water
supplies which would be adversely affected by the
granting of the provisional variance.
Accordingly,
the Agency
has recommended
that the Board grant
the Petitioner
a provisional
variance
from 35
Ill.
Adm.
Code 304.120(a) as
it pertains to the
Bod
and TSS effluent limitations
for Outfall 001(b), subject
to
various specified conditions.
Pursuant to Section 35(b)
of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act,
the Board hereby grants the provisional variance
as recommended.
This Opinion constitutes
the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law
in this matter.
ORDER
The Petitioner,
the Commonwealth Edison Company (Byron
Generating Station),
is hereby granted a provisional variance
from 35 Ill.
Adm. Code 304.120(a)
as it pertains
to
the
biochemical oxygen demand
and
total suspended solids effluent
requirements of its NPDES Permit No.
IL 0048313 for Outfall
001(b)
(Sewage Treatment Plant Discharge), subject
to the
following conditions:
1.
This provisional variance shall
begin on October
17,
1986,
and shall continue
for 45 days thereafter,
or
until the
repairs to
the sanitary wastewater
treatment facilities
are completed, whichever
occurs
first.
2.
The Petitioner
shall
sample
and analyze the effluent
discharged
from Outfall 001(b)
as required by its NPDES
Permit No.
IL 0048313.
Analysis results shall
be recorded
and submitted
to the Agency on the requisite monthly
discharge monitoring
reports.
3.
Effluent discharged
from Outfall 001(b)
shall be limited
to 75 mg/i and 35.5 lb/day for both biochemical oxygen
demand
and
total suspended
solids
as
30—day
averages
during
the
time
period
of
this
provisional
variance.
4.
The
Petitioner
shall
notify
Mr.
Gary
Reside
of
the
Agency’s Compliance Assurance Section via telephone
at
217/782—9720 when the repair work
is started and when
it
is completed.
Written confirmation of each telephone
notification shall
be submitted within
5 days to the
Agency at the address given
below:
73.76
—5—
Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Division
of
Water
Pollution
Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200
Churchill
Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
Attention:
!‘lr.
Gary Reside
5.
The
Petitioner
shall
adhere
to
the
maintenance
procedure
referred
to
in
its
provisional
variance
petition
so
as
to
provide
partial
treatment
at
all
times.
6.
The Petitioner
shall operate
and maintain its sanitary
wastewater treatment facilities so as to produce the best
effluent
possible
during
this
provisional
variance
period.
7. Within
10 days of the date of the Board’s Order, the
Petitioner
shall execute
a Certificate of Acceptance
and
Agreement which shall
be sent to Mr. James Frost of the
Agency
at
the
following
address:
Mr. James Frost
Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Agency
Division
of
Water
Pollution
Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200
Churchill
Road
Springfield, Illinois 62706
This certification shall have the following
form:
I,
(We)
,
having
read
the Order of the Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board
in
PCB
86—168
dated October
9,
1986,
understand
and accept said Order,
realizing
that
such
acceptance
renders
all
terms
and
conditions
thereto
binding
and
enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized
Agent
Title
Date
73.77
—6—
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy M.
Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order was
adopted on the
____________
day of
~
,
1986 by a
vote of
_____________
~
Dorothy
M.
n,
Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control
Board
73.78