ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July 11,

1986

VILLAGE OF LENA,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 86—101

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by J.D. Duinelle):

This provisional variance request comes before the Board

upon

a July 11,

1986 Recommendation of the Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency (Agency).

The Agency recommends

that a 45—day

provisional variance be granted to

the Village of Lena

(Lena)

from 35 Ill. Adm. Code

304.124 as

it pertains

to biochemical

oxygen demand

(BOD) and total suspended solids

(TSS)

to allow

adequate time for the completion of repairs

to the trickling

filter at the Petitioner’s wastewater treatment plant.

(Rec.

1—

3).

The Village of Lena was previously granted a provisional

variance

in PCB 85—117 on August

15,

1985 to allow the draining

of

its polishing pond to facilitate the removal of sludge from

the lagoon.

(See:

Opinion and Order of August

15,

1985 in PCB

85—117, Villa~of Lena v.

IEPA).

The Village of Lena owns and operates

a wastewater treatment

facility (WWTP) which has a design average flow of 0.20 million

gallons per day

(MGD)

and consists of

a trickling filter,

two

primary clarifiers,

a final clarifier,

a polishing lagoon, and

effluent chlorination.

The Petitioner’s WWTP discharges its

effluent to an unnamed tributary of Yellow Creek which

is

tributary to the Pecatonica River pursuant to its NPDES

Permit 11L0024945.

(Rec 1—2).

The Petitioner’s NPDES Permit provides that the Village’s

wastewater treatment facilities must meet interim effluent limits

of 45 milligrams per liter

(mg/i) as monthly averages for both

biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids until June

30,

1988.

The Agency has indicated that the Petitioner has

completed an acceptable Municipal Compliance Plan and

is

scheduled to meet the requisite final effluent limits of

10 mg/i

for BOD and 12 mg/l for TSS on July

1,

1988.

(Rec.

2).

Recent inspections

of Lena’s WWTP by the Agency have

disclosed that the sludge collector mechanisms in the

71-67

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Petitioner’s primary clarifiers and the trickling filter

center

column were badly in need of repair.

(Rec.

1).

On April

21,

1986, contractors hired

by the village began to repair the sludge

collectors in the primary clarifiers.

However, expeditious

completion of these needed repairs was inadvertently delayed

because

of problems involving the shipping and fabrication of the

requisite replacement parts.

(Rec.

2).

Subsequently,

on May 27,

1986,

the trickling filter distributor failed unexpectedly,

thereby causing the Petitioner’s wastewater treatment facility to

exceed the effluent standards set forth in its NPDES Permit.

At

the present time,

the WWTP’s flows are being treated

in one

primary clarifier,

a final clarifier,

and the polishing lagoon.

During the past year,

the Petitioner’s discharge monitoring

reports

to the Agency pertaining

to BOD and TSS in its effluent

have indicated the following concentrations:

Month

F1ow(M(~))

BCI) (mg/i)

TSS

(mg/i)

April, 1986

0.322

22.1

23.2

March, 1986

0.594

17.7

15.8

February, 1986

0.320

32.4

15.8

January, 1986

0.200

25.6

16.2

December, 1985

0.348

13.4

10.6

November, 1985

0.600

17.1

14.4

October, 1985

0.317

34.5

37.5

September,

1985

0.200

50

46.6

August, 1985

0.200

42

39.6

July, 1985

0.192

40.8

31.8

June, 1985

0.200

47.2

32.8

May, 1985

0.250

26

16

Average

0.312

30.7

25.0

(Rec.

2)

Additionally,

the Petitioner has reported

to the Agency that

the concentration of BOD in its effluent was 52 mg/l on June 4,

1986 and was 62.5 mg/i on June

6,

1986.

In reference to the relief requested by the Petitioner,

the

Agency has stated that

it “is not aware of any alternatives

to

bring

the plant

into compliance other

than getting the trickling

filter

repaired”.

(Rec.

3).

Moreover,

the Agency believes that

any adverse environmental impact will be minimized by the

treatment provided by the Village of Lena.

The Agency expects

that, although the receiving stream

is a zero low flow stream,

the recent rains

in the area should help guarantee that there

will be no long—term adverse environmental impact.

(Rec.

3).

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—3—

The Village of Lena contends that denial of

its requested

provisional variance would create an arbitrary or unreasonable

hardship and

the Agency

is

in agreement with the Petitioner’s

contention.

On page three of its Recommendation,

the Agency

states the situation as follows:

“...The Agency believes

that

an arbitrary and

unreasonable

hardship

exists

in

that

the

center

column

on

the

trickling

filter

has

already

failed.

While

some

blame

must

be

placed

on

Petitioner

for not having fixed

the

column

sooner

even

though

warned

about

its

condition

by

the

Agency...the

fact

remains

that it has failed and Petitioner does have an

emergency with which to cope.”

For the previously mentioned reasons, the Agency agrees with

the Petitioner’s assessment of hardship and has therefore

concluded that immediate compliance with the requisite NPDES

Permit standards pertaining

to BOD and TSS levels would impose an

arbitrary or unreasonable hardship upon the Village of Lena.

(Rec.

1—3).

The Agency has indicated that there are no federal

laws,

rules or regulations which would preclude the granting

of

the requested provisional variance.

(Rec.

3).

Accordingly,

the

Agency has recommended that the Board grant the Petitioner

a

provisional variance from 35 Ill.

Adin. Code 304.124

as

it

pertains to BOD and TSS, 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 Village of Lena,

is hereby granted

a

provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.124 as

it

pertains to biochemical oxygen demand

(BOD)

and total suspended

solids

(TSS)

to allow adequate time for the completion of repairs

to the trickling filter at

its wastewater treatment plant,

subject

to the following conditions:

1.

This provisional variance shall commence on May 27, 1986

and shall expire on July 11,

1986,

or upon completion of

repairs to the trickling filter, whichever occurs first.

2.

During the term of this provisional variance, the

effluent from the Petitioner’s wastewater treatment

plant shall meet

a standard of 75 mg/i for both BOD and

TSS as

a monthly average.

71.69

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—4—

3.

The Petitioner

shall continue

to monitor its effluent as

specified in its NPDES Permit No. 1L0024945.

4.

The Petitioner

shall complete repairs to the trickling

filter as expeditiously as possible.

5.

The Petitioner

shall operate its remaining treatment

units as efficiently as possible so as

to produce the

best effluent possible.

6.

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

tfiiTrflnois

Pollution Con?rR5l Board

in PCB 86—101

dated July 11,

1986, understand

and accept said Order,

realizing

that such acceptance renders all terms and conditions thereto

binding and enforceable.

Petitioner

~

Authorized Agent

Date

IT IS SO ORDERED.

71-70

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—5—

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

voteof

______.

7

I~orothyM. Gunn,CleiEk

Illinois Pollution Control Board