ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL

BOARD

April

19,

1984

CITY

OF

OREGON,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 84—48

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

)

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE

BOARD

(by W.

3.

Neqa):

This provisional variance request comes before the Board

upon an April

19,

1984 Recommendation of the Illinois Environ—

mental Protection Agency

(Agency).

The Agency ‘recommends that

a

3-day provisional variance be granted to the City of Oregon

(Oregon)

from

35

Iii. Mm. Code 304.120(a),

35

Ii..

Adm. Code

304.141(a)

and 35 Iii. Adm. Code 309.208 to allow a variance from

its NDPES Permit requirements during the time that the Petitioner

replaces a wall between the contact and reaeration tanks of its

activated sludge process and to allow Oregon to apply liquid

sludge

from the aerobic digester and partially dried sludge from

the

sludge drying beds on nearby farmland.

(Rec.

1).

The

Petitioner owns and operates a wastewater treatment

plant

(WWTP)

which has a design average flow of 0.626 million

gallons per day

(MCD).

Oregon’s ~P

provides:

(1) primary

settling;

(2)

secondary treatment

(utilizing the contact stabil-

ization modification of the activated sludge process);

(3) aerobic

sludge disgestion;

(4)

sludge drying, and

(5) disinfection.

(Rec.

1).

oregon

is asking for a provisional variance to allow the de—

watering

of

the contact and reaeration tanks of its activated

sludge

process so that a new wall can he

installed between the

tanks.

(Rec.

1).

The Petitioner

is proposing to allow the

contents

of

these tanks to settle and then to pump the resultant

clear

liquid

through the chlorination process.

After chlorination

occurs,

the

liquid will be discharged.

The accumulated sludge

will

be pumped to a waste hauler and then applied to farmland by

injection

and plowing.

(Rec.

2).

During

the short time period that the contact and reaeration

tanks

are out

of

service, Oregon intends to treat the incoming

raw

sewage by:

(1) providing primary treatment in the primary

clarifier;

(2)

increasing settling

in the primary clarifier by

57-445

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—2—

adding chemicals to aid settling;

(3) providing chlorination

before discharge;

and

(4) providing solids retention capacity by

land application of the contents of the sludge drying beds and

part of the aerobic digester contents.

(Rec.

2).

Oregon believes that it will take about two days to install

the new wall provided that no unforeseen difficulties are encoun-

tered.

As part of the Petitioner’s proposed plan,

the dewatering

of the tanks and installation of the wall will occur on a

weekend.

(Rec.

2).

During the weekend, incoming flows are

expected

to be reduced because there will be no flow from the

Carnation Company’s plant which is the primary industrial contrib-

utor to Oregon’s WWTP flows.

(Rec.

2).

The Petitioner has

stated that, before the dewatering of the tanks commences,

all

equipment,

necessary parts,

and sufficient personnel will be on

the site to appropriately handle any contingencies that may

arise.

(Rec.

2).

Since January,

1983,

the Petitioner has reported the follow-

ing levels for biochemical oxygen demand

(BOD) and suspended

solids

(SS)

on its discharge monitoring reports to the Agency:

Month

January,

1983

February, 1983

March,

1983

April,

1983

May,

1983

June, 1983

July,

1983

August,

1983

September,

1983

October,

1983

November,

1983

December, 1983

January,

1984

~

1984

Average

Flow

(MGI))

0.237

0.260

0.243

0.248

0.246

0.261

0.274

0.273

0.238

0.156

data missing

data missing

data missing

0.257

0.249

BOD

(mg/i)

14

10

8

data missing

5

6

4

10

6

8

data missing

data missing

data missing

data missing

7.9

SS

(mg/i)

10

12

10

data missing

5

8

5

10

7

9

data missing

data missing

data missing

7

8.3

The Board notes that the requisite discharge monitoring data

is missing for the months of April,

1983; November, 1983; December,

1983; January,

1984, and February, 1984.

It is assumed that the

Petitioner will expeditiously submit the necessary data to the

Agency for the aforementioned months.

Oregon plans to apply about 150,000 gallons of sludge from

the aerobic digester and about 3,000 cubic feet of partially

dried sludge from the sludge drying beds to the land.

The sludge

in question has a pH of approximately 7.8 and contains about 5

57-446

---

—3—

organic matter.

(Rec.

3).

The Agency believes that the Peti-

tioner’s plan is practical and workable.

Oregon’s sludge disposal

plan is designed to dispose of the sludge while providing solids

retention capacity during the time that the aeration tanks are

out of service.

(Rec.

3).

The Petitioner has asserted that,

because of the high water

conditions

in the receiving stream during this season of the

year,

the environmental impact during the time period that the

replacement work is done will be a minimal. The Agency agrees

with the Petitioner and also indicates that there will

he

a

minimal adverse impact on the environment.

(Rec.

3).

The Agency believes that the provisional variance

is appro-

priate because it sees no alternative to bypassing and dewatering

of the tanks since the wail must be installed

in order for the

treatment process to operate as designed.

(Rec.

3).

Accordingly,

the Agency believes that the denial of the provisional variance

would impose an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship on the City of

Oregon.

Thus,

the

Agency

recoramends

that

the

Board

grant

the City of

Oregon

a 3—day provisional variance from Sections 304.120(a),

304.141(a),

and 309.208, subject to certain conditions.

Pursuar~

to

Section

35(b)

of

the

Illinois

Environmental

Protection

act,

the

Board

hereby

grants

the

provi~iional

variance

as

recommended.

This

Opinion

constitutes

the

Board’s

findings

of

fact

and

con~

clusions

of

law

in

this

matter

ORDER

The

City

of

Oregon

is

hereby

granted

a

provisional

variance

from

35

Ill.

Mm.

Code

304.120(a),

35

Ill.

Mm.

Code

304.141(a)

and

35

iii. Mm.

Code 309.208

to

allow

it

to

replace

a wall

between

the

contact

and reaeration tanks

of

its

activated

sludge

process and to allow the application of liquid sludge from

the

aerobic digester and partially dried sludge from the sludge

drying beds on nearby farmland, subject to the following conditions~

1.

The provisional variance shall

be

for a period of three

(3)

days.

2.

The Petitioner

mlst

begin work prior to May 26,

1984.

3.

The Petitioner

shall notify James Frost of the Agency’s

Compliance Assurance Section via telephone (Telephone

#217/782—9720) the day before Petitioner intends to begin

dewatering the tanks

to allow installation of the new wall.

57-447

---

*

4—

4.

The Petitioner shall pump the clear liquid from the

tanks being dewatered to the chlorination process for disinfec

tion prior to discharge.

5.

During the time period that the aeration tanks are out

of service,

the Petitioner shall provide primary settling

and disinfection to the incoming raw sewage, and retention

of captured solids from the raw sewage.

The Petitioner

shall operate and maintain the associated treatment units so

as to provide the best treatment possible during this period.

6.

Each day that the aeration tanks are out of

service,

the

Petitioner shall sample the treatment plant effluent and the

receiving stream both upstream and downstream of the discharge

at 10:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M.

These samples shall be analyzed

for BOD, suspended solids,

and dissolved oxygen;

and the

results recorded.

7.

The Petitioner shall apply the liquid sludge from the

aerobic digester and the partially dried sludge from the

sludge beds uniformly to the 14.67 acre site indicated on

the map submitted with the variance petition, maintaining

necessary

buffers

around

any swale areas located on the site

and along the boundaries of the site.

8.

The Petitioner shall retain a minimum of 5,000 gallons

of sludge,

from either the aeration tanks or the aerobic

digester,

to be used as seed sludge to reestablish the

secondary treatment process when the aeration tanks are put

back into service.

9.

The Petitioner shall submit in writing the results of

the tests performed on the samples collected as part of this

variance to James Frost,

and the dates and times that the

work was begun and completed.

This information shall be

submitted within 15 days after the work is completed to the

address below.

10,

Within 10 days of the date of the Board’s Order, the

City of Oregon shall execute a Certificate of Acceptance and

Agreement which shall be sent to:

Illinois Environmental

Protection Agency, Division of Water Pollution Control,

Compliance Assurance Section, 2200 Churchill Road, Springfield,

Illinois

62706.

This certification shall have the following

form:

CE RTIF IC ATI ON

I,

(We),_________________________________,

having read

the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board in PCB 84-48 dated

April

19,

1984,

understand and accept the said Order,

realizing

that such acceptance renders all terms and conditions thereto

binding and enforceable.

57-448

---

Petitioner

By:

Authorized Agent

Title

Date

IT

IS

SO

ORDERED.

I,

Christan L.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order

was adopted on the

~g

~-

day of

,

1984 by a vote

of

~

--

~

~

o~(

Christan

L.

Moffe1~’,)~jlerk

Illinois Pollution~ontrolBoard

57-449