ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    June
    20,
    1986
    OASIS OUTDOOR,
    LTD.,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 85-126
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    )
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by J.
    D. Dumelle):
    This matter
    comes
    before the Board upon an October
    24,
    1985
    Amended Petition
    for Variance filed on behalf of Oasis Outdoor,
    LTD.
    (Oasis).
    Oasis requests
    a one—year variance from the
    Board’s effluent standards for five—day biochemical
    oxygen demand
    (BOD5),
    total
    suspended solids
    (TSS),
    fecal coliform and ammonia
    nitrogen
    (35 Ill.
    Adm.
    Code 304.120, 304.124,
    304.121 and
    304.122,
    respectively).
    The purpose of
    the variance
    is
    to allow
    Oasis
    time to prepare plans
    and specifications, solicit bids and
    complete construction of
    its sewage treatment plant
    (STP)
    upgrade.
    (Amend Pet.
    pp.
    1—3).
    The Illinois Environmental
    Protection Agency
    (Agency)
    filed its recommendation that the
    variance be denied
    on April
    2, 1986.
    Oasis operates
    a STP with
    a design average flow of 150,000
    gallons per day which services
    a mobile home park with
    a
    population of approximately 2,000 residents
    in DesPlaines,
    Illinois.
    The STP discharges
    to Higgins Creek pursuant
    to an
    NPDES permit containing effluent limits
    of
    10 mg/i BOD5,
    12
    nig/l
    TSS, 400/100 ml fecal coliform and 1.5 mg/i ammonia nitrogen.
    According
    to Oasis’s discharge monitoring reports,
    these effluent
    limitsThave been exceeded
    on several occasions over the last
    three years.
    (Rec.
    Exh.
    1).
    These exceedances
    are primarily due
    to hydraulic overload and plant design problems.
    (Amend.
    Pet.
    p.
    2).
    Oasis
    seeks variance from 35
    Iii.
    Adni.
    Code 304.120,
    304.121, 304.122 and 304.124
    for
    a period
    of one—year
    to allow
    Oasis
    time to complete
    its STP upgrade.
    The burden
    is on Oasis
    to prove
    that denying variance would impose
    an arbitrary or
    unreasonable hardship
    on
    it.
    When determining whether
    an
    arbitrary or unreasonable hardship exists,
    the Board
    takes into
    consideration any environmental harm.
    For
    the following reasons,
    the Board
    finds that Oasis has failed
    to establish
    an arbitrary
    70-258
    —2—
    or unreasonable hardship and,
    therefore, denies Oasis’
    variance
    request.
    4r~n~n~2act
    Oasis asserts that there
    is
    no significant
    risk of
    environmental harm or
    risk
    to public health
    if the Board grants
    Oasis variance.
    However,
    Oasis offers no data
    to support
    this
    assertion.
    The Agency contends that while it has no recent water
    quality data on Higgins Creek, Oasis
    fails
    to prove
    that the
    environmental impact of granting this variance would be
    minimal.
    The Board agrees.
    Oasis offers no evidence which would
    enable the Board
    to find that the environmental impact
    of
    granting
    this variance
    is minimal.
    In fact, Oasis’s discharge
    monitoring
    reports indicate otherwise, with elevated levels
    of
    BODç, TSS,
    fecal coliform and ammonia nitrogen occurring
    in its
    STPT5 effluent
    on several
    occasions.
    The only proof offered by
    Oasis
    is the assertion that there
    is no significant
    risk
    of
    environmental harm in granting variance.
    Without more,
    the Board
    cannot find that the environmental impact of granting variance
    would
    be minimal.
    Hardship
    Oasis offers
    the following as evidence of diligence
    in
    seeking compliance with its effluent limitations;
    that it sought
    permission
    to connect
    into the Metropolitan Sanitary District of
    Greater Chicago’s sewer
    system which was denied,
    and that in 1980
    and 1981 Oasis made improvements
    in its sewer
    system and
    constructed a storm water retention
    tank.
    The Agency asserts
    that these efforts
    at compliance have only been partially
    successful
    and that the stormwater
    retention tank has been out of
    service since mid—1984 and,
    as
    of December, 1985,
    remains out of
    service despite Oasis’s agreement to place
    the tank back
    into
    service.
    (Rec.
    p.
    2).
    Also,
    the Agency contends that
    it has
    attempted
    to urge Oasis
    to achieve compliance with its effluent
    limitation and
    has gone
    so far
    as
    to conduct
    a compliance
    sampli~iginspection and hold
    a pre—enforcement conference
    in
    February, 1985.
    (Rec.
    Exh.
    4).
    Oasis agreed
    to make
    improvements but has failed
    to devise
    an acceptable plan which
    would ensure compliance.
    The Board
    notes
    that as early as 1980,
    Oasis
    has been aware
    of hydraulic overloading problems at its STP.
    The
    1980 and 1981
    improvements were partially successful but there was need for
    additional
    action.
    Oasis’s compliance plan
    is
    to upgrade
    its
    STP, minimize violations and continue
    in its
    efforts to determine
    why excess water infiltrates its sewer system during heavy
    rain
    storms-.
    The Board
    is at
    a loss
    to understand why Oasis
    has taken
    so long
    to rectify the problems with its STP.
    Oasis has not
    demonstrated diligence
    in seeking compliance with
    its NPDES
    70-259
    —3—
    effluent limitations
    and,
    therefore,
    any hardship experienced
    by
    denying this variance would be largely self—imposed.
    This Opinion constitutes
    the Board’s findings of
    fact and
    conclusions
    of law in this matter.
    ORDER
    Oasis Outdoor, LTD. of DesPlaines,
    Illinois
    is hereby denied
    variance
    froni 35
    Ill.
    Adni. Code 304.120,
    304.121, 304.122 and
    304.124.
    IT
    IS
    SO ORDERED.
    I, Dorothy
    M.
    Gunn, Clerk
    of
    the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that the above Opnion and Order was
    adopted on the
    _______
    day
    of
    _____________,
    1986
    by
    a vote
    of
    ________.
    Dorothy M. Gu
    n, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    70-260

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