ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
December 16,
1982
CITY OF WEST FRANKFORT,
)
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 82—117
)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
I
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by
.1.D.
Dumelle):
This matter comes before the Board upon a September 20,
1982
petition for variance filed by the City of West Frankfort
(City).
The City requests variance from the ammonia nitrogen effluent and
water quality standards of Sections 302.212 and 304.301 and the
biochemical oxygen demand
(BOD5) and total suspended solids
(TSS)
effluent limitations of Section 304.120(c) of
35
111. Mm.
Code,
Subtitle C:
Water Pollution.
The City requests this relief for
a period of approximately four months,
from May to September of
1983.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
filed its Recommendation along with a motion to file instanter on
November 23,
1982, which motion is hereby granted.
Hearing was
properly waived and none was held.
The City owns and operates a trickling filter wastewater
treatment plant
(WTP) located in Franklin County and rated at
1.4 million gallons per day.
The WTP provides tertiary treatment
by an aerated lagoon which discharges to the Middle Fork of the
Big Muddy River.
Pursuant to its NPDES Permit No.
1L0031704 it
is allowed to discharge 10 mg/l BODçI
12 mg/i TSS and ammonia
nitrogen as specified in old Rule 2ti3(f)
of chapter 3 as long as
the water quality standard is not exceeded.
The City’s discharge,according to daily monitoring reports,
marginally exceeds the BODç and TSS limitations while it greatly
exceeds ammonia nitrogen standards.
Apparently,
the reason for
the violations is that the large deposition of solids in the
polishing lagoon
(2.7 million gallons) which are aerobically
fermenting cause deamination of organic matter with a resultant
increase in ammonia nitrogen levels.
Further, resuspension of
suspended solids and organic matter into overflows to the chlori-
nation basin result in increased TSS and BOD5 concentrations.
This large deposition of solids was caused prematurely by the
bypassing of all flows to the aerated lagoon during the 3 year
construction period of the plant (1970—1973).
5O~137
2
The purpose of this variance is to allow for the removal of
settled solids from the tertiary polishing lagoon which will
necessitate the bypassing of the lagoon during removal.
While
the discharge quality during bypassing should remain slightly
better than secondary effluent, NPDES and Board standards will
be exceeded.
The Agency recommends that the variance be granted subject
to certain conditions to allow the solids removal
in order to
determine whether the City’s WTP is capable of meeting present
standards.
The only other alternatives would
be to require the
City to incur further upgrading costs
for other tertiary treatment
systems or the dredging of the lagoon while keeping it in service.
The former, absent a showing that the proposed method will not
work,
is unreasonably expensive,
while the latter might result in
enormous effluent excursions due to resuspension during dredging.
If the dredge were shut down during storms it would cost $1,000 to
$1,500 per day,
thus increasing the costs beyond
the
recommended
method.
Since the WTP’s effluent may well improve during bypassing,
the Board finds that little or no environmental harm should occur
during the period of variance,
that denial of variance would
constitute an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship,
and, therefore,
that variance should be granted.
While the record could be somewhat more fully developed, the
conditions recommended by the Agency appear reasonable and have
not been objected to by the City.
The Board will,
therefore,
impose those conditions,
The Board notes, however, that those
conditions do not recognize that the ammonia nitrogen rules have
been changed and that an alternative standard became effective
September 7,
1982,
whereby up to 15 mg/i ammonia nitrogen is
allowable if the un—ionized ammonia concentration does not exceed
0.04 mg/i
(Section 302.212).
Thus it
is possible that a variance
for ammonia nitrogen is unnecessary.
However, this seems unlikely
and the Board will
follow the recommendation.
Further,
the
recommended limitations are not specified as monthly or daily
averages or as a grab sample maximum.
Data presented indicates
that the relief requested requires these to be monthly averages,
and the Board has
so modified the recommended limitations.
Finally, no explanation is given for the Agency’s conclusion
that solids deposits, most of which have been in the lagoon for
ten years or more, continue to cause ammonia nitrogen increases.
Such a situation seems unusual.
However,
in the absence of any
better explanation for the increase in ammonia nitrogen
concentration in the polishing pond, the Board agrees that the
solids removal is appropriate, especially since they could clearly
impact the other pollutants.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
50-138
3
ORDER
The City of West Frankfort is hereby granted a variance from
the ammonia nitrogen limitations of Sections 302.212 and 304.301
and the BOD~/TSSlimitations of Section 304.120(c)
subject to the
following c5nditions:
1.
This
variance shall expire on September
1,
1983.
2.
The City’s effluent shall not exceed a BOD5/TSS limit
of 20/25 mg/i
or an ammonia nitrogen limit of 15 mg/l
as a monthly average.
3.
The City shall
install a bypass around the aerated
lagoon by January
1,
1983.
4.
The City shall sample both the aerated lagoon influent
and effluent and discharge from the point with the best
quality of wastewater.
5.
Within forty—five days of the date of this Order,
the
City shall execute and forward to the Illinois Environ-
mental Protection Agency,
Division of Water Pollution
Control, Compliance Assurance Section,
2200 Churchill
Road,
Springfield,
Illinois
62706,
a Certificate of
Acceptance and Agreement to be bound to all terms and
conditions of this variance.
This forty-five day
period shall
be held
in
abeyance for any period this
matter is being appealed,
The form of the certificate
shall
be as follows:
CERTIFICATE
I,
(We),
,
having read
the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board in PCB 82—117,
dated December 16,
1982, understand and accept the said Order,
realizing that such acceptance renders ~ll terms and conditions
thereto binding and enforceable.
Petitioner
—________
By:
Authorized Agent
-
Title
Date
50-139
4
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of
the
Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby, c~rtifythat the above Opinion and Order
was
adopted
on~the
~
day
of
~
____—,
1982
by
a
vote
of
~
-
Christan
L.. Moff~t
Clerk
Illinois
Pollutionrc~ontrol
Board
50- 140