ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
April
1,
1982
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
and METROPOLITAN SANITARY DISTRICT OF
GREATER CHICAGO,
Complainants
PCB 75—11
REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION,
)
a New Jersey Corporation,
Respondent.
JUDITH GOODIE, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL? APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE E.P.A.
PHILIP ROTHENBERG, PRINCIPAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY,
APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE METROPOLITAN SANITARY DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO.
J.
BRIAN CROWLEY, BOODELL, SEARS, SUGRUE, GIAMBALVO
& CROWLEY,
APPEARED ON BEHALF OF REPUBLIC STEEL CORPORATION.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by I.
Goodman):
This matter comes before the Board on the January
8,
1975
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection agency
(Agency) and the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago
(District).
The Complaint alleged that,
from April
7,
1972 until
January
8,
1975,
the Respondent discharged treated wastewaters
containing cyanide in excess of 0.025 mg/i
from the by—product
recovery system of its coke plant to a public sewer owned by the
District in violation of Rule 703(a) of Chapter
3:
Water Pollu-
tion Regulations
(Chapter
3) and Section
12(a) of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act (Act).
On January 30,
1975,
Republic
Steel Corporation
(Republic)
filed
a Motion to Stay Enforcement
Proceedings pending the outcome of two consolidated regulatory
proposals
in R 74-15,
16 to amend the cyanide sewer discharge
limitations.
On February
6,
1975,
the Board entered an Order
granting Respondent~smotion to stay.
The Agency filed
a Motion
to Consolidate PCB
75—11 with a pending variance case
in PCB
74—481
(Republic Steel Corporation v.
EPA) on February 6,
1975.
On March
13,
1975,
the Board entered an Order denying the
Agency’s motion to consolidate.
An Amended Complaint was filed
on March
24,
1975.
On November 30,
1978,
the Board entered an
Order vacating the stay of the enforcement action in PCB 75—il.
On February 17,
1982,
a hearing was held and the parties filed
a Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement.
46—1
—2—
Republic owns and operates
a steel
miii
at 11600
Burley
Avenue in Chicago,
Cook County,
Illinois which
employs about
6,000 people.
Repuhli&s integrated
facilities
also include
a coke plant which generates gases that
contain oils,
ammonia,
phenol
and
cyanide.
These
gases
are
treated
in a
by—product
recovery
system
which
discharges
wastewaters
to
a
sewer
owned
by
the
City
of
Chicago
and
then
to
a
sewer
owned
by
the
District.
It is stipulated that Republic:
(1) discharged wastewaters
con-
taining total
cyanide
in
excess of
0,025 mg/i into
the District’s
sewer from April
7,
1972
until June 30,
1974;
(2) installed a
blast furnace wastewater recycle system
and
a roiling mill re-
cycle system in an attempt to limit
cyanide discharges;
and
(3)
significantly reduced the levels of cyanide discharges by the end
of 1978 due to its compliance efforts.
(Stip.
2—4;
Ex.
A
& B).
In May of 1979,
the Respondent
completed the
installation
of all equipment necessary to treat
its wastewater
discharge to
fully comply with all applicable regulations pertaining to
cyanide levels.
(Stip.
4).
The
Respondent has
described its
cyanide treatment program as follows:
~‘Repub1ichas determined that
most of its
readily releas-
able cyanide discharge originates
primarily in the
baro-
metric condenser water discharge
from the
ammonium sulfate
production operation.
The
flow
from the
barometric
con-
denser is about 300 gallons per
minute, with a
cyanide
concentration approaching 40
mg/i total cyanide.
.
.to treat
this
discharge
separately
to
reduce
the cyanide
in
the
combined
discharge
to
the
MSD
sewer by means
of
chemical
oxidation
and
aeration
in
a
mixing
tank,. ,the
barometric
condenser
water
is
pumped
to
a
15,000 gallon holding
tank
where
it
is
aerated
and
mixed
with a
chemical
oxidant such
as hydrogen peroxide or sodium
hypochlorite.
The oxidant
will be pumped from
a separate
oxidizer
tank and mixed by
aeration to oxidize and remove
the cyanide
from the baro-
metric condenser discharge.
Anticipated
flow
rates give
the discharge water a 50 minute
residence time
in the holding
tank,
from which it drains to
the sewer.”
(Stip.,
Ex. C).
The parties have stipulated as
to the
effectiveness
of
the
Respondent~scyanide treatment
program and have
submitted test
results to demonstrate compliance
with both Rule 703(a)
of
Chapter
3 and with the District~s
Sewage and
Waste Control
Ordinance.
(Stip,
4;
Ex,
D).
The
proposed settlement
agree—
nient
provides
that
Republic
shall
cease
and desist
from further
violations,
pay
the
District
$5,000
for
costs
incurred,
and
pay
a
stipulated
penalty
of
$5,000.
(Stip.
4-5),
The
Board
finds
the
settlement
agreement
acceptable
under
Procedural
Rule
331
and
Section
33(c)
of
the
Act
and
finds
that the Respondent
has
violated
Rule
703(a)
of
Chapter
3
and
Section
12(a)
of
the
Act.
Republic will be ordered to cease and
desist from further
vio-
lations
and
to pay
the stipulated penalty of $5,000.
4f~—2
—
3~
This
Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings
of
fact
and
conclusions
of law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
The Respondent, Republic Steel
Corporation,
has vio-
lated Rule 703(a) of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Regulations
and Section
12(a)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
2.
The
Respondent shall cease and desist from further
violations.
3.
Within
30
days
of the date of this Order, the
Respon-
dent
shall,
by certified check
or
money order payable
to
the
State of
Illinois, pay the stipulated penalty
of
$5,000
which
is to be sent
to:
Illinois Environmental
Protection
Agency
Fiscal
Services
Division
2200
Churchill
Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
4.
The
Respondent
shall
comply
with
all
the
terms
and
conditions
of
the
Stipulation
and
Proposal
for
Settlement
filed
on February 17,
1982,
which
is
incorporated
by
reference
as
if
fully set forth herein.
Mrs. Joan Anderson abstains.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board,
hereby certify that the abo~eOpinion
and Order
were
adopted on the
J~
day of
~
,
1982
by
a
vote of
3-
.
V
Christan L. Mo
f
lerk
Illinois Pollutio
ntrol Board
46—3