ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April
7,
1983
CONTINENTAL
GRAIN
COMPANY,
)
)
Petitioner,
)
)
PCB
83—45
)
ILLINOIS
ENVIRONMENTAL
I
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
I
Respondent0
)
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by W.J. Nega):
This provisional variance request comes before the Board
upon an April
6, 1983 Recommendation of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (Agency).
The Agency recommends that a
provisional variance be granted to Continental Grain Company
(Continental) for a period of 28 days to begin within one week
of the date of the Board’s Order.
Continental owns and operates a soybean processing plant
in Taylorville, Christian County,
Illinois which has wastewater
treatment facilities that include a 1—acre anaerobic lagoon and
a 1—acre aerobic lagoon operated in series,
Effluent discharged
from this lagoon system flows into a final spray irrigation system
which includes 5 spray nozzles
located along the southern quarter
of
the
32 acre irrigation field0
During the rainy season,
flows
which exceed the 200 gpm pumping capacity of the spray irrigation
pump are diverted to
3
storm water discharge pipes located along
the southern edge of the irrigation field.
Under such wet weather
conditions, seepage into the soil is collected by a tile field
underlying the irrigation
field, and is recycled either back to
the spray irrigation system
(where additional evapotranspiration
can occur) or to the cooling tower
(to be used as makeup water).
About 95,000 gpd of water is ordinarily recycled back to the
cooling tower during the operation of the processing plant.
At the present time, and for the last several years, the
northern portion of the
32 acre irrigation field is, and has
been, flooded.
About 16 acres of this irrigation field is
currently under about 18 inches of water,
On March
9,
1983,
the
5-inch underground spray irrigation pipe line ruptured
(making the
irrigation system inoperable).
From March
9, 1983 until April
1,
1983, no process water (except for some cleanup water) will be
discharged to the wastewater treatment facilities,
Storm water,
however, will continue to be discharged.
Without the use of the
spray, irrigation system and the ability to recycle through
the cooling tower,
spring rains might further flood the irrigation
field and run off to a roadside drainage ditch, adjacent property,
and even the road itself.
52-57
—2—
To eliminate
this potential spring flooding problem and
restore the
efficiency of its wastewater treatment system,
Continental
needs
to expeditiously dig down about
3
feet to
repair the ruptured
pipe and replace the entire length of pipe
that feeds the 5
spray nozzles,
Continental must first drain
the flooded
irrigation field before draining the immediate area
surrounding the
5 spray nozzles
so the appropriate equipment can
be
brought into
the field to make the requisite repairs.
About
8.0 MG of water
will be discharged to Illinois waters to drop
the level
of the pond so that Continental can proceed with its
repairs on
the ruptured line,
To drain
the flooded area, Continental can either
(1)
discharge to
an 18-inch sluice gate by opening a sealed outlet
to divert flows
to the field tile system, or (2~discharge directly
from the flooded
irrigation field for about 30 feet to a small
roadside drainage
ditch which leads to the field tile system.
In either case,
the drained water would flow through the field
tile system
and travel about 1.25 miles before emptying into
an
unnamed ditch which
is tributary to the South Fork Sangamon River.
The
Agency,
which inspected Continental~swastewater treatment
facilities on March
30,
1983, has indicated that:
(1)
the environ-
mental impact to the
drainage ditch, the unnamed ditch,
and the
South Fork Sangamon
River is minimal;
(2)
no
toxic pollutants
are known to exist
in this situation;
(3) laboratory
test results
show pollutants
to be
at low levels
(see:
Exhibit A);
(4) if
repairs are made
during dry weather while the processing plant
is shut down, there
may not be any discharges; and
(5)
if
discharges
occur, they will
be for a relatively short period of time
(it will take
approximately 8 to 16 days for draining and
about
5 to 10 days to complete repairs)0
The Agency has concluded that compliance on a short—term
basis with the biochemical oxygen demand. (BOD) and total suspended
solids
(TSS)
limitations of 35 Ill.
Adm,
Code 304,120(c) would
impose an arbitrary
or unreasonable hardship.
It,
therefore,
recommends tbat
the Board grant Continental
a variance from
Section 304.120(c)
for a period of 28 days to begin within
one week of the
Board~sOrder,
subject to certain conditions,
Pursuant to
Section 35(b) of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act, the
Board hereby grants the provisional
variance as recommended,
ORDER
Continental
Grain Company is hereby granted a provisional
variance from 35
Ill.
Adm,
Code 304,120(c)
for a period
of
28
days
to begin
within
orte week of the date of the Board~s
Order
subject to the
following conditions:
52-58
—j—
1.
Continental
shall
inform Robert Broms, Manager,
Compliance Assurance Section, Division of Water Pollution
Control
(217/782—9720):
a.)
The day the discharge begins;
b.)
The day the discharge ceases;
c.)
The day repairs are completed and the system is
put back into operation.
2.
Continental shall either discharge to the sluice gate
in order to discharge directly to the field tile or,
to the drainage ditch but, if to the drainage ditch,
Continental shall control
such a discharge by use of
either a pump or another method that can be shut on
and off;
3.
Continental
shall sample, using approved methods,
the discharge
2 times per week for BOD,
TSS,
ammonia
nitrogen, and pH;
4.
Sample
results
shall
be
submitted
to
Robert
Broms,
Manager, Compliance Assurance Section, within
7 days
after the end of each calendar week of discharging;
5.
Continental
shall remove, immediately upon expiration
of this variance, any device use for the discharge;
6.
Within
10
days
of
the
date
of
the
Board’s
Order,
Continental
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:
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We)
having read the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board
in PCB 83—45 dated April
7,
1983, understand and accept said
Order, realizing that such acceptance renders all terms and
conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
Petitioner
By:
Authorized
Agent
Title
Date
52-59
—4—
IT
tS
SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of
the Illinois Pollution
Control
Board,
he~ehy certify
that
the
above
Opinion
and
Order
was
adopted
on
the
~7~~day
of
1983
by
a
vote
of
-
Christari
L.
Moff~i,
Clerk
Illinois Poilut~onControl Board
52-60