ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
November
8, 1984
CITY OF O~FALLON,
)
Petitioner,
V.
)
PCB 84—168
)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE
BOARD
(by W.
3.
Nega):
This provisional
variance
request comes before the Board
upon a November 8,
1984
Recommendation
of the Illinois Environmental
Protection
Agency
(Agency).
The Agency
recommends that an 8~day
provisional variance be
granted
to
the
City of O~Fallon(City)
from 35
111. Adm, Code
141(a) to allow
continuation of the work
begun under the
previously granted
provisional variance in PCB
84—148.
(See:
~
O’Fall2n v.
IEPA,
PCB 84—14S, Opinion and
Order of September
20,
1984).
The
City of O~Fal1onowns and operates a
wastewater treatment
facility which includes two 1.5 million
gallon
per day package
contact stabilization units followed by a
lagoon system. Effluent
from
this facility is discharged to Silver
Creek pursuant to
NPDES
Permit No,
IL 0021636.
The Petitioner~s
NPDES Permit
provides that the Cityvs wastewater treatment
facilities must
meet effluent limitations of
30
milligrams per liter
(mg/I)
for
both biochemical oxygen
demand
(BOD)
and
suspended solids.
However, the prior provisional variance
in
PCB 84~l48allowed the
City to exceed its
interim NPDES Permit
effluent limitations
during the period
that one of its
1.5 million gallon per day
treatment units
was removed from service
for the purpose of
maintenance
and repair.
Although the repair
and maintenance
work was scheduled to he
completed by
November
2, 1984, the Petitioner
has not yet been
able to perform the
requisite painting work
due to the heavy
rainfall (i.e.,
approximately 16 inches of
rain)
occurring during
the time period
between September 20,
1984 and October 31,
1984.
(Rec.
4),
The City of
O~Fallonhas already
cleaned and drained the
tank of accumulated grit
and solids,
removed the air drop pipes,
and fabricated new air drop pipes and
diffusers,
(Rec.
2).
The
Petitioner~scost of draining, cleaning, and grit
removal operations
has been approximately $7,000.00.
Installation of
the
ne~~essar~i
aifftiser equipment has previo~s1’,~
~
to
install the equipment
~ft~r
tta~jinI~
w~~t
rinish working on
a
section of the tank.
However,
painting and
61-73
—2—
sandblasting operations are estimated to require about 15 working
days and an additional
10 days of curing at temperatures above
fifty degrees Fahrenheit prior to submergence.
(Rec.
4).
Because
of the onset of colder weather during this fall season, it is now
unlikely the weather will be satisfactory to complete the painting
and sandblasting work within the next 45 days.
Accordingly, the City of O~Fallonnow proposes to delay the
sandblasting and painting of the tank until the summer months of
1985.
Thus, the Petitioner has requested that its previous
provisional variance in PCB 84—148 be extended until November 16,
1984
to allow it time to install
the
necessary aeration piping
and air diffusion equipment
and return
the unit to operation.
(Rec.
4—5),
The Agency has agreed with the Petitioner that the provisional
variance should be granted until the unit can be returned to
service.
(Rec,
2).
Moreover, the Agency has concluded that the
environmental impact on Silver Creek
“will continue to
be
minimal”.
(Rec.
2).
The Agency has concluded that compliance on a short—term
basis with the provisions of
35 Ill. Adm, Code 304,131(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 304,141(a),
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~sfindings
of fact and
conclusions of
law in this matter.
ORDER
The City
of O1Fallon is hereby granted
a provisional variance
from 35 Ill. Adm, Code 304,141(a),
subject to the following
conditions:
I.
This
provisional variance shall continue
until November
16,
1984,
or until the 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 50 mg/I BOD and
75 mg/l suspended solids.
3.
The Petitioner shall sample and perform laboratory
analyses
as
required in its NPDES
Permit No,
IL002l636.
61-74
—3—
4.
The Petitioner shall notify Mr, Michael Severns of the
Agency~sCompliance Assurance Section via telephone at
217/782—9720 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, Ilinois
62706
5.
The
Petitioner shall operate and
maintain the
wastewater
treatment facility so as to produce the
best effluent
practicable.
6.
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
the Agency
at the
address specified in item #4 of
this Order,
This certification shall have the following
form:
I,
(We)
____________________________________
______
having read the Order
of the
Illinois Pollution Control Board
in
PCB 84—168 dated
November
8,
1984, understand and accept said
Order, realizing that such acceptance renders all terms and
conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
Al JV~
‘-4—
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy
M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order was adopted
on th~_~~AL
day
of
~
1984 by a vote of
/J~~ ~
Dorothy M. ,IGunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
61-76