ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL

BOARD

April

18, 1985

CIT~COF O’FALLOL

)

)

Petitioner,

)

PCB 85—48

itd~INOtSENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

3PINION

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by J.D. Dumelle):

This provisional variance request comes before

the Board

upon an April

18, 1985 Recommendation of the Illinois Environ-

mental Protection Agency (Agency).*

The Agency recommends that a

45—day provisional variance be granted to the City of O’Fallon

(City) from 35

Ill. Adm.

Code 304.141(a)

to allow removal from

service for repair

and maintenance of

one of

its

wastewater

treatment facility’s two package contact stabilization units, and

to allow the Petitioner

to exceed

its interim NPDES Permit

effluent limitations during the period that the unit

is out of

service,

The

Petitioner was previously granted

a pro~visiona1

variance

in PCB 84—148

(see:

City of O~Fal1onv.

IEPA,

PCB 84—148, Opinion and Order of September

20,

1984),

The

City

of O’Fal~on owns and operates a wastewater treat—

ment facility which includes two 1.5 million gallon

per day

(MGD)

package contact stabilization units followed by a lagoon

system.

Effluent from this facility

is

discharged

to

Silver

Creek pursuant to NPDES Permit No.

1L0021636,

(Rec,

i)*

During September of

1984,

the Petitioner

awarded

a contract

for painting one of

its

stabilization

units

and

subsequently

finisI~edrepair and maintenance work

which

included

the draining

and cleaning of the tank and the

installation

of

new

diffusers

and air drop pipes.

However, weather conditions

were

not

suitab~efor the requisite painting work at

that

time.

To clean

the

tank in preparation for the necessary painting, the

Petitioner wishes to remove the stabilization unit

from

operation

on

May

1,

1985 and anticipates that the painting contractor will

complete the appropriate work by June

15, l985~~ (See:

letter

from City Engineer David J.

Davis to Agency dated April

5,

1985.)

*On April

18,

1985,

the Agency filed

an ~mendment to

the

Agency Recommendation which added

the Agencyes

finding

of~

arbitrary or unreasonable hardship,

83-511

---

—2—

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

wastewater treatment facilities must meet effluent limitations of

30 mg/i for both BOD and suspended solids,

The

following table

summarizes the relevant information obtained from the

Petitioner’s discharge monitoring reports

to the Agency

pertaining to SOD and suspended solids levels during

the past

year:

Month

Flow

(M~)

B~X~

(n~/l)

55

(i~q/l)

March,

1984

2.8

53

154

April

2.7

81

37

May

1.3

47

30

June

1.3

26

36

July

0.4

32

57

August

1.4

13

29

September

1.1

15

45

October

1.1

13

33

November

2.0

14

21

December

2,0

14

21

January, 1985

1~6

11

18

February

2.6

6

9

Average

1.7

27

41

(See:

Rec.

2)

Although the City of O’Fallon did not request specific

effluent limitations for

the time period of

its requested

provisional

variance,

the

Agency

has

recommended

that effluent

limits of 40 mg/i SOD and 65 mg/i suspended solids are reasonable

and appropriate based on the pre’~,iouslydelineated data derived

from

the

Petitioner’s

discharge

monitoring

reports.

(Rec.

2).

The Petitioner has indicated to the Agency that it wishes to

atart draining the package contact stabilization unit

to be

worked on

in

the

very near future (i.e.,

on May 1,

1985).

The

City intends to complete the necessary repair

and maintenance

work

on

the

stabilization unit and return

it to service by

June 15, 1985.

(Rec.

2).

The Petitioner anticipates that this

repair

and

maintenance

work

will

include

cleaning,

sand

blasting,

and

painting

the

tank.

(Rec,

2).

According to Agency field personnel, the line from the

Petitioner’s activated sludge units to the lagoon cannot handle

the flow during periods of high influent flows,

thereby causing

the flow to backup and flow over the tops of the activated sludge

units.

(Rec.

2).

Although

the Petitioner did not address this

potential problem in its provisional varianca request,

the Agency

has recommended that this line from the activated sludge units to

the lagoon be inspected and,

if necessary,

rodded out to avoid

environmental problems.

(Rec.

2).

The Board agrees with the

Agency’s assessment of this situation, and will mandate that this

corrective action be taken,

63-512

---

—3—

The Agency has agreed with the Petitioner that the

maintenance of the contact stabilization unit

is

necessary and

believes that there

is no practical alternative to taking the

unit out of service

to perform the requisite repairs and

maintenance.

(Rec.

3).

Moreover, the Agency has concluded that

the

environmental impact on Silver Creek caused by one

stabilization unit being out of service will

be minimal,

since

the

other lagoons will remain available during the time period

that one of the units

is being repaired.

(Rec.

3).

The Petitioner has asserted that an unreasonable hardship

(due to the ultimate cost of

a new treatment

unit

to replace the

present one) would result

if the necessary repair and maintenance

work

to the contact stabilization unit is not performed.

The

Agency agrees with the Petitioner’s contention

in regard to such

hardship and notes that “failure to maintain the contact

stabilization unit would accelerate deterioration of this

unit”.

(See:

April

18, 1985 Amendment to the Agency

Recommendation).

Accordingly, the Agency has concluded that compliance

on a

short—term basis with the provisions

of

35 Ill. Mm. Code

304.141(a) would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship

upon

the Petitioner.

Therefore, the Agency recommends that the

Board grant

the City of O’Fallon a provisional variance from

Section 304141(a) for

a period of 45 days,

subject to certain

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 City of O’Fallon is hereby granted

a provisional

variance

from 35

Ill. Mm. Code 304.141(a), subject

to the

following conditions:

1.

This provisional variance shall commence

on May 1,

1985

and shall continue for

45 days,

or until the Petitioner’s contact

stabilization unit

is returned to service, whichever occurs

first.

2.

During

the period of this provisional variance, the

effluent discharged shall be limited

to

40 mg/i BOD and 65 mg/i

suspended solids.

3.

The Petitioner

shall sample

and perform laboratory

analyses as required

in its NPDES Permit No.

1L0021636.

83-513

---

—4—

4,

The Petitioner

shall notify Mr. Michael Severns of the

Agency’s Compliance Assurance Section via

telephone at

217/782—9720 when dewatering

of the contact stabilization unit

is

begun; when painting and repair work

is begun;

and when the unit

is returned to service,

Written notification confirming the

telephone notification shall be submitted within

5 days

thereof.

This written notification shall

be submitted

to:

Mr. Michael Severns

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

Division of Water Pollution Control

Compliance Assurance Section

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield,

Illinois

62706

5.

The Petitioner

shall inspect

the line between the

activated sludge units and the lagoon and,

if possible,

shall

perform all necessary maintenance and/or repairs

to

this line

during the provisional variance period

to alleviate the flow

backage during periods of high influent fiows.~

6.

The Petitioner

shall operate and

maintain

the

wastewater treatment facility so as to produce

the

best effluent

practicable.

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. 3ames Frost of the Agency at

the address specified

in condition 4,

above, of this Order.

This certification shall have the following form:

I,

(We) ______________________________

___,

having read

the Order

of the Illinois Pollution Control Board

in PCB 85—48

dated April

18,

1985,

understand and accept said Order,

realizing

that such acceptance renders all terms and conditions thereto

binding and enforceable~,

Petitioner

By:

Authorized Agent

Date

83~514

---

—5—

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Dorothy M.

Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boards

hereby

certify

that

the

above

0 iniori and Order was

adopted on the

/~

day of

______________,

1985 by

a vote

of4-O

~

Dorothy M. Gunn~Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

63415