ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    April 15, 1999
    UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT
    OF THE INTERIOR - CRAB ORCHARD
    NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
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    PCB 99-144
    (Provisional Variance - Water)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by C.A. Manning):
    On September 29, 1998, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) filed a
    request for a provisional variance and notification of recommendation. The Agency
    recommends that the Board grant a 45-day provisional variance. The provisional variance
    would allow the petitioner’s Williamson County wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to treat
    and discharge one sub-waste stream not currently listed in its National Pollutant Discharge
    Elimination System (NPDES) Permit No. IL0004791. This waste stream is approximately
    20,000 gallons of water collected in the leachate collection system at the petitioner’s Metals
    Area Operable Unit landfill. In making its recommendation, the Agency states that failure to
    grant the requested provisional variance for
    45
    days will result in an arbitrary or unreasonable
    hardship on the petitioner. The Board granted petitioner a similar provisional variance in
    docket PCB 99-48 on October 1, 1998.
    The Board grants the petitioner a provisional variance from effluent discharge limits set
    in 35 Ill. Adm. Code 304.141(b) and 35 Ill. Adm. Code 309.102, which prohibit discharges
    not specifically allowed by an NPDES permit, Section 12(f) of the Environmental Protection
    Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/12(f) (1996)), NPDES Permit No. IL0004791, and the Board’s
    regulations. The Board is required, in a provisional variance, to adopt a formal order, assure
    formal maintenance of the record, assure the enforceability of the variance, and provide
    notification of the action by press release. Pursuant to Section 35(b) of the Environmental
    Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5/35(b) (1996)), the Board must issue the provisional variance
    within two days of the filing.
    The provisional variance shall begin on a date in 1999, subject to the following
    conditions:
    2
    1.
    The variance shall begin when the leachate water is pumped to the WWTP and
    continue for 45 days or until all the leachate water is pumped to the wastewater
    treatment facility, whichever occurs first.
    2.
    During the variance period, petitioner shall operate its WWTP so as to produce
    the best effluent practicable. Petitioner shall also continue to meet the effluent
    limits contained in its NPDES Permit No. IL0004791. Petitioner shall monitor
    and meet the following additional effluent limits from outfall 001 of the
    WWTP:
    Concentration Limits Milligrams/Liter
    30 Day Average
    Daily Maximum
    Arsenic
    0.25
    0.50
    Chromium (total)
    1.0
    2.0
    Copper
    0.5
    1.0
    Fluoride
    15
    30
    Lead
    0.2
    0.4
    Manganese
    1.0
    2.0
    Mercury
    -
    0.0005
    Nickel
    1.0
    2.0
    Phenols
    0.3
    0.6
    Phosphorus
    1.0
    2.0
    Silver
    0.1
    0.2
    Zinc
    1.0
    2.0
    During the provisional variance period, boron, cadmium, copper, iron (total),
    manganese, sulfate, total dissolved solids, and total suspended solids shall be
    sampled on a twice-per-week basis. All other parameters shall be sampled on a
    twice-per-month basis during the variance period.
    3.
    Petitioner shall notify Dwight Hill of the Agency’s Marion regional office by
    telephone at 618/993-7200 when the leachate water is pumped to the WWTP
    and again when pumping of the leachate water is completed. Written
    confirmation of each notice shall be sent within five days to the following
    address:
    Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
    Bureau of Water - Compliance Assurance Section
    Attention:
    Mark T. Books
    1021 North Grand Avenue East
    P.O. Box 19276
    Springfield, Illinois 62794-9276
    3
    4.
    Petitioner shall sign a certificate of acceptance of this provisional variance and
    forward that certificate to the Agency within ten days of the date of this order.
    The certification should take the following form:
    CERTIFICATION
    I (We), _________________________________, hereby accept
    and agree to be bound by all terms and conditions of the order of the
    Pollution Control Board in PCB 99-144 dated April 15, 1999.
    ______________________________________
    Petitioner
    ______________________________________
    Authorized Agent
    ______________________________________
    Title
    ______________________________________
    Date
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    Section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act (415 ILCS 5/41 (1996)) provides for
    the appeal of final Board orders to the Illinois Appellate Court within 35 days of service of this
    order. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 335 establishes such filing requirements. See 172 Ill. 2d
    R. 335; see also 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.246, Motions for Reconsideration.
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, hereby certify that
    the above order was adopted on the 15th day of April 1999 by a vote of 7-0.
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board

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