ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December

20, 1965

TAYLORVILLE SANITARY

DSTRICT,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 85—205

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDEF

OF TUE BOARD

(by W.J. NegaY~

This provisional variance request comes before

the Board

upon

a December

18,

1985 Recommendation of the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency (Agency).

The Agency

recommends

that

a 45-day provisional

variance commencing

from November

15,

1985 be granted

to the Taylorville Sanitary District

(TSD)

from

35

Ill.

Adm. Code 302.203,

302.209, 304.106,

and

304.121

as

it

pertains

to color

(Rec.

1).

The Petitioner owns and operates wastewater treatment

facilities (~WTP)which

serve various domestic, commercial

and

inaustrial

users

located

in Taylorville, Illinois.

The

Petitioner’S WWTP includes activated sludge units, sludge

digestion and drying

facilities, tertiary filters, excess

flow

treatment

facilities,

and effluent disinfection.

The

Petitioner’s Elm

Street

excess flow facilities are the subject

of

the present variance request.

An excess flow storage pond has

existed

at the Elm Street location since

1970

and,

in order

to

provide more effective control of

its combined sewer overflow,

the TSD has contracted

for construction

of

a

first flush storage

tank

and related

facilities.

Because the pond

is being modified

to make space available for

the new storage tank,

the existing

pond and pumping station need

to be taken out

of service during

construction.

The Petitioner’s discharge from

its

stormwater

lagoon

is

to

an unnamed

tributary of Panther Creek

into Panther

Creek,

and then into the South

Fork of the Sangamon River,

(Rec.

I).

The TSD would

like to

be able to discharge its combined

sewage overflow to the customary outlet authorized pursuant

to

its

NPDES Permit No,

IL0031356 during

the

time period

that the

existing pumping

station and pond will be out of service.

As previously

indicated,

the TSD is currently authorized

to

discharge from the Elm Street excess

flow facilities pursuant

to

its NPDES Permit which

sets sampling and monitoring requirements

for this discharge which

is designated Outfall 003.

~heriflows

to

the Petitioner’s main treatment facilities exceed 6.125

million gallons

per

day and its lagoon contains 6,65 million

gallons or mo~eF

~:he

TSD is allowed to discharge

from Outfall

003

87-133

---

pursuant

to

its NPDES Permit,

During such discharges,

the

TED

is

required

to monitor

f.or flow,

five—day chemical oxygen demand

(BOD),

total

suspended solids (TSS),

fecal colitorm,

and

6

~o 9

Standard Units pH.

The Agency

has stated that all

flows stored

in the lagoon

are subsequently bled back

to

the main wastewater

treatment plant

for full treatment.

(Rec.

I),

During

the past year,

the Petitioner’s discharge monitoring

reports to the Agency pertaining

to Outfall 003 have indicated

the following

data:

Month

Flow

10/85

None

9/85

8/85

7/85

6/85

5/85

4/85

3/85

2/85

1/85

12/84

11/84

(Rec.

2).

The TSD has requested a provisional variance

for

the

time

period

that improvements are being made

to

its excess

flow

treatment system.

The specific relief requested is from the

effluent and water

quality color

limitations, since

the TSD has

an

industrial discharger on

its system which discharges a high

amount of color

in

its waste.

Because the industrial discharger,

the Georgia—Pacific Company, is

a paper manufacturer,

the color

discharged

ranges from one

end

of

the spectrum to another.

The

Georgia—Pacific

paper mill’s schedule of color runs depends upon

market conditions,

in that there may be color

runs once

a month

or once every two months depending upon demand,

The Petitioner

believes that,

if the

industrial discharger’s color

runs coincide

with flow

in excess of interceptor

and plant capacity, there

could

be

a discharge of color

to Outfall

003,

Elowever,

the

Georgia—Pacific

paper mill

has been shut down for

plant

modifications during

the time period from December

2,

1985 until

December 20,

1985 which will significantly lessen the impact that

this industrial discharger could have on the TSD’s discharge

if

one should occur,

(Rec.

2).

Because chlorination of

its

discharge will

not be possible during

the time period that the

existing pond

and pumping station are out of

service while

construction work

is proceeding,

the Petitioner

has

also

requested

relief from the applicable

fecal

coliform effluent and

water quality standards,

The Agency has

stated

that

it

“is unaware of any reasonably

cost efficient alternatives

to discharge under

rainfall

67-134

---

—

events”.

(Rec.

2).

Although the TSD did not

provide

r~ny

specific

cost data

on the possible alternative of

dirt

hauling,

the Agency believes that the cost of such an

alternative would

c~~~Ly

be prohibitive.

(Rec.

2).

On October

21,

1985,

the Petitioner’s consulting engineers

initially wrote

to the Agency,

on behalf of the TSD,

to r~qunst

the

provisional variance,

In

a

letter

to

the

consulting

engineers dated November

15, 1985,

the Agency indicated that

it

would

not provide

the Board with the certification necessary to

grant

the

requested relief until

the Agency was supplied with

additional

informatiOn*.

In

a letter dated December

ii,

1985,

the Petitioner’s consulting

engineers provided the Agency with

the additional

information requested,

and the Agency subsequently

filed

its Recommendation on December

18,

1985.

The Agency believes that the environmental

impact of t~?~

proposed provisional variance will be minimal.

(Rec.

2).

Thin

Agency determination

is based on the fact that the

industrial

discharger will

be out of operation for the majority of the

proposed variance period

and

that, during

the last eleven days of

the variance period

(i.e.,

from December 20,

1985 until December

31,

1985),

any precipitation which occurs

is likely to be

in

the

form of snow rather than rain, thereby lessening the possibility

of discharge

and

the quantity of any discharged flows.

(Rec.

2).

Moreover, the

closest downstream water supply that could be

affected

is the Alton Water Company on the Misssissippi

River

which

is over 200 stream miles downstream from the Petitioner.

Although the Village of Kincaid operates

a surface supply which

is only about 10 miles downstream from the TSD,

the

impoundment

used to supply Kincaid’s water

is

a small tributary of

the South

Fork of the Sangamon River

and make

up water

for the lake,

if

it

is

needed,

comes from another

tributary of the South

Fork (i.e.,

Lake Sangchris).

Therefore,

the TSD discharge will not affect

the Village of Kincaid’s surface supply.

(Rec.

2).

The Agency has concluded that compliance with

the

provisions

of

35

Ill. Adm. Code 302.203, 302.209,

304,106, and

304.121

as

it pertains

to color would

impose

an arbitrary or

unreasonable hardship upon the Taylorville Sanitary District.

(Rec.

1—3).

The Agency has indicated that

it would be

impossible

for

the Petitioner

to treat

surplus flows while

its treatment

facilities

are out of service.

Accordingly,

the Agency has

recommended that

the Board grant

the Petitioner

a provisional

variance from 35

Ill.

Adm.

Code 302.203, 302,209,

304.106,

and

304.121

as

it pertains

to effluent and water quality color

limitations,

subject

to specified conditions.

The Agency has

*The Petitioner

also applied for

a provisional variance on

May

3,

1984 for other purposes, but this petition was

also not

certified

to

the Board

by the Agency and

is

therefore not germane

to

the instant

case.

67-135

---

—4—

ascertained that

there

are no federal regulations that would

preclude

the granting of the requested relief.

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 Taylorville Sanitary District

is hereby granted

a

provisional variance

from

35

Ill.

Adm.

Code 302.203,

302.209,

304.106,

and 304.121

as

it pertains

to effluent and water

quality

color limitations, subject

to

the following conditions:

1.

The variance

shall commence

on November

15,

1985

and

shall terminate on December 31, 1985,

or upon completion of

modification

to the excess flow treatment facilities scheduled

to

be completed prior

to winter shutdown, whichever occurs

first.

2.

The Petitioner shall complete the

improvements as

expeditiously as possible.

3.

The Petitioner shall attempt

to convey as much

flow as

possible

to

its main treatment plant prior

to discharging any

flows

at Outfall

003.

4.

The Petitioner shall monitor any flows discharged

at

Outfall 003 during

the term of the provisional variance

in

accordance with

the monitoring conditions contained

in its NPDES

Permit No.

1L0031356.

5,

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 ~ater Pollution Control

Compliance Assurance Section

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield, Illinois 62706

This certification shall have the following

form:

67-136

---

CERTIFICATION

I,

(We),

,

having

read

the

Order

of the

Illinois Pollution Control Board

in PCB 85—205,

dated December

20,

1985, understand

and accept

the

said Order,

realizing that such acceptance renders all terms

and conditions

thereto binding

and enforceable.

Petitioner

By: Authorized Agent

Ti

Lie

Date

IT

IS

SO ORDERED,

I,

Dorothy

1’1.

Gunn, Clerk of

the Illinois Pollution Control

Board,

hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order was

adopted

on

the

~

day of

~

,

1985

by

a vote

of

7- ~

,

Dorothy

M.

Gunn,

Clerk

Illinois

Pollution

Control

Board