ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
November 7, 1985
MOBIL CHEMICAL
COMPANY,
Petitioner.
PCB 85-189
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by W,J, Nega):
This provisional variance request comes
before the Board
upon ~aNovember 7,
1985
Recommendation of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency (Agency).
The Agency recommends
that a 45—day provisional variance be granted to
Mobil Chemical
Company (Mobil) from the 15 milligrams
per liter (mg/l) total
suspended solids (TSS) effluent standard of 35
Ill. Adm Code
304.124(a). (Rec, 3)~
The Petitioner
owns and operates a
fertilizer manufacturing
plant located in
DePue,
Bureau County, Illinois which employs
about 117 people and
produces
approximately 250,000 tons of
fertilizer per year from raw
materials
which include phosphate
rock, sulfur, and ammonia. Mobil’s facility consists of sulfuric
acid manufacturing plant, a phosphoric acid manufacturing plant,
and a diaminonium phosphate (DAP) plant. The Petitioner’s
fertilizer
manufacturing operations result in
two effluent
discharges which
are subject
to NPDES Permit #1L0032182. Mobil
discharges its
wastewater
through two outfalls which are
designated Outfall
001 and Outfall
002. Outfall 001, which is
the
subject of the present
provisional variance request,
discharges
approximately 20
million gallons per day (GPD) of non—
contact cooling
water to
Lake DePue, a backwater of the Illinois
River. Outfall 002, which is not involved in the
instant relief
request, discharges a small quantity of groundwater
seepage from
the gypsum pond
area of the Petitioner~s facilities.
Mobil has
two lagoons which provide treatment of the non—contact cooling
water from Outfall 001, filter backwash, boiler blowdown, and
softener regenerant wastewater, (Rec, 1).
Mobil presently has no effluent
limitations for total
suspended solids set by its NPDES Permit~. The Petitioner is, in
essence, requesting an extension of the variance previously
granted by the Board for the discharge from Outfall 001 in PCB
82—18. (See: Opinion and Order of November
12, 1982 in Mobil
Chemical Co. v. IEPA, PCB 82—18). Item 1(d)
of the Order in PCB
82—18 mandates that the Petitioner ~monitor at Outfall 001 for
TSS by means of a composite sample taken five times per week”
thereby requiring Mobil to sample the influent
and effluent TSS
levels. During the past year, the Petitioner’s discharge
monitoring reports to the Agency pertaining to TSS levels in its
influent and effluent have indicated the following
concentrations:
Month
Influent TSS (mg/i)
Effluent TSS (mg/l)
Avg. Max,
Avg~ Max.
7/85
44
93
28
57
6/85
32
57
24
32
5/85
36
66
30
64
4/85
61
264
66
228
3/85
:L23
500
104
520
2/85
55
308
58
368
1/85
77
498
71
398
12/84
29
86
30
69
11/84
35
110
27
64
10/84
36
100
21
34
9/84
35
59
26
54
8/84
45
106
26
53
Average
50.7 187.3
42.6 161.8
(Rec. 2)
In reference to the above analyses results,
the
Petitioner
has asserted that the high total suspended solids levels in its
effluent are due to the high TSS level in its intake water from
the Illinois River. (Rec. 2).
Mobil has stated that it needs the requested provisional
variance in order to protect itself during the time period that
the current variance in PCB 82—18 expires until the modified
NPDES Permit becomes effective, The Petitioner applied to the
Agency for a modified NPDES Permit on August 13, 1985 and the
permit was sent to 15 day notice on October 10, 1985. The Agency
indicated that, assuming no unforeseen delays occur, the modified
NPDES Permit could be issued as early as November 26, 1985,
effective December 26, 1985. (Rec. 2).
As required by its variance in PCB 82—18, Mobil has been
removing sources of TSS loading on Outfall 001 and then been
sending it to the gypsum pile for appropriate treatment. The
Agency has noted that “these actions appear to have improved the
quality of effluent discharge at Outfall 001”. (Rec. 2).
The Agency believes that, because the solids discharged are
solids taken in from the Illinois River and no degradation should
occur, the environmental impact of the proposed provisional
variance will be minimal. (Rec, 3)~ The Agency anticipates that
Mobil’s discharge will have no impact on the City of Peoria’s
public water supply, since the Petitioner’s discharge is about 47
miles upstream ot the Peoria Water Company intake. Because of
the nature of Mobil’s discharge and the dilution ratio involved,
66-348
—3—
the Agency feels that Peoria’s public water supply system will be
virtually unaffected. (Rec. 3).
Because of the ‘impracticality of installing a control
system to attain full compliance when full compliance will be
achieved through administrative action’, the Agency has indicated
that ‘Petitioner’s hardship in this matter is readily
apparent’. (Rec. 3).
The Agency has therefore concluded that compliance with the
provisions of 35 Ill. Mm. Code 304.124(a) as it pertains to
total suspended solids would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable
hardship upon Mobil Chemical Company. (Rec. 1—3). The Agency
has ascertained that there are no federal regulations that would
preclude the granting of the requested relief. Accordingly, the
Agency has recommended that the Board grant the Petitioner a
provisional variance from 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.124(a) as it
pertains to total suspended solids, subject to 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 ifl this matter.
ORDER
Mobil Chemical Company is hereby granted a provisional
variance from 35 Ill. Mm. Code 304.124(a) as it pertains to
total suspended solids discharged from Outfall 001 of its DePue,
Illinois fertilizer manufacturing facility, subject to the
following conditions:
1. This provisional variance shall commence on November 15,
1985
and
shall terminate on December 30, 1985, or upon
effectiveness of its modified NPDES Permit, whichever occurs
first.
2. During the time
period
of the provisional variance, the
effluent shall be limited such that the effluent TSS
concentration shall not exceed the influent TSS concentration on
a monthly basis.
3. The Petitioner shall continue to monitor its effluent as
stated in its existing NPDES Permit.
4. 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:
M449
—4—
Mr~ James Frost
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Division of Water Pollution Control
Compliance Assurance Section
2200 Churchill Road
Sprir~gfield, Illinois 62706
This certification shall have the following form:
CERTIFICATION
I, (We)
____
,having read
the Order of the Ililnois Pollution Control Board in PCB 85—189,
dated November 7, 1985, 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,
Chairman Dumelle concurred,
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
~
1985 by a vote
~
//~/
Dorothy M. 6unn, Clerk
Illinois
Pollution Control Board
66-350