I

LLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June

10,

1982

CITY OF WYOMING,

Petitioner~

PCB

82~7

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Respondent

OPINION

AND

ORDER

OF

THE

BOARD

~by J,D,

Durnelle):

On January

25,

1982 the

City

of

Wyoming

(City)

filed a

petition for variance from

Rules

203~q)and 405

of

Chapter

3:

Water Pollution,

as

they

relate

to fecal

coliform,

An

amended

petition

requestin

the

same relief

was

filed on

March 19, 1982~

Hearing

was waived and

none was

held.

On

April

23,

1982,

the

Illinois

Environmental

Protection Agency

(Agency)

filed

a

Recommendation that

the variance be

granted,

subject

to

certain

conditions~

The

City

owns

and

operates a trickling

filter

wastewater

treatment

plant

in

Stark County with a design

capacity

of

1800

P.E.

(population

equivalents)~ The City is presently

in the

Construction

Grants Program

for

upgrading of

its plant,

including

chlorination

facilities

The plant is currently

operated under

NPDES Permit No.

1L0026336

which

contains a fecal

coliform effluent

limitation of 400/100

ml.

There

is no indication

in the record

as to present

compliance with this standard.

Discharge is to

an unnamed tributary

approximately 0,6 miles

upstream of the

Spoon River at a

point approximately 80 miles

upstream of Spoon

River’s confluence

with

the

Illinois

R.iver~

There

are no public

beaches or

water

intakes

used for public or

food

processing

water supplies,

nor are any lakes

located

within 20 stream miles

downstream

of the

discharqe

point.

The proposed

upgrading program, which includes

chlorination

facilities,

is to

be completed by March,

1984.

The City seeks

this variance

to allow the program

to proceed

without

the

necessity of chlorination

facilities.

The City estimates

the construction cost of

chlorination

facilities to be $65,000.

However, as the

Agency points out,

since the City

will be obtaining grant funding,

the local

share

should be only

$16,400

or $27.50 per connected

household.

47-253

---

—2—

Operation

and

maintenance

costs

are

not

given.

This,

the

City

argues,

constitutes

an

arbitrary

or

unreasonable

hardship,

given

the

alleged

lack

of

any

environmental

harm.

The

Agency

agrees.

The

Board

is

presently

considering

modification

or

elimination

of

the

water quality

and

effluent

standards

for

fecal

coliform

in

R77—12, Docket D.

Under the Board’s Proposed Rule/First Notice

Order of October 8,

1981, the City would be exempted

from

the

current disinfection requirements.

While construction of the proposed facility could begin by

late summer, installation of the chlorination facilities need

not be accomplished until the end of the construction period.

Therefore,

installation

could

be delayed for a year or more

without delaying the plant startup date.

Since the variance

is requested to extend only until the Board’s final decision

in R77—12, Docket D takes effect,

and

since

that

should occur

well within a

one

year period, installation of chlorination

facilities, if necessary, could still proceed in a

timely

fashion

•

Therefore,

the

Board

finds

no

adverse

environmental

impact

if

this variance is granted and finds

that

denial would

constitute

an

arbitrary

or

unreasonable

hardship.

For

the

city

to

obtain

the

complete

relief

it

requests,

the

Agency

must

also

be

authorized

to

modify

the

City’ s

current

NPDES Permit’s fecal coliform limitation.

However, such modifi-

cation should be

written

so as to assure the continuation of

disinfection presently practiced until such

time

as

the

Board’s

final

decision

in

R77—12,

Docket

D

takes

effect.

The

variance

granted shall

only

awl y

to

the

upgraded

plant.

This

Opinion

constitutes

the

Board’s

findings

of

fact

and

conclusions

of

law

in

this

matter.

ORDER

1.

The City of

Wyoming

is hereby granted a variance

from

Rules 203(g) and 405 of chapter 3;

Water Pollution,

as they relate to fecal coliform limitations applied

to

the

city’s

proposed

wastewater

treatment

facility;

2.

This

variance shall

extend

until the

Board’s

final

decision in R77-12,

Docket

D takes effect;

3.

The Agency is hereby authorized to modify

NPDES

Permit

No. 1L0026336 in a manner consistent with (tie Opinion

and Order;

and

4.

Within

forty-five

(45)

days

of

the

date

of this Order, the

city

shall

execute

and

send

to

Steven

N.

Spiegel,

Attorney

Advisor,

Enforcement

Programs,

Illinois

Environmental

Protection

Agency, 2200

Churchill

Road,

Springfield,

Illinois 62706, a Certification of Acceptance by which

47-254

---

it agrees to be

bound

by

the

terms

and conditions of

this variance~

This

forty~five

(45) day period shall

be held in abeyance for any period for which this matter

is appealeth

The form of said certification shall

be

as follows:

CERTI FICATION

I

(We),

,

having read

and fully understanding the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board in PCB 82~-7, hereby accept that Order and agree to be bound

by all terms and conditions thereof~

Petitioner

By:

Authorized Agent

Title

Date

IT IS SO ORDERED~.

I,

Christan L0 Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board,

hereby certify that thp above Opinion and Order

were adopted ~

the________ day ~

,

1982

byavoteof~S—(~

Christan L~Moff

~(~lerk

Illinois

Pollution Control Board

47-255