ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 15, 1979
    VILLAGE
    O~’ FISHER,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 79—170
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr.
    Goodman):
    Petitioner requests that its present variance from the
    total iron limitations
    of Rules 203(f) and 402 of Chapter
    3:
    Water Pollution Rules and Regulations
    (Water Rules) be extended
    until
    its facility improvements affecting its water treatment
    plant become operational.
    The Agency recommends
    that a var-
    iance be granted.
    Petitioner waives its right to a hearing.
    The Village of Fisher,
    located
    in Champaign County, oper-
    ates a water treatment facility that removes iron from well
    water that serve an estimated population of 1600.
    On August
    24,
    1978,
    in PCB 78—162, Petitioner received, inter alia,
    a
    one—year variance from Rules 203(f)
    and 402
    of the Board’s
    Water Rules.
    The record, Opinion,
    and Order from that pro-
    ceeding were incorporated by reference into the variance
    petition now before the Board.
    As a condition of the variance,
    Petitioner proposed water treatment facility improvements that
    were accepted by the Agency.
    The proposed improvements inclu-
    ded a new water treatment plant and the installation of a slow
    sand filter for iron removal.
    The Village of Fisher
    is cur-
    rently completing
    the required preapplication documents for a
    Federal Community Development E,lock Grant and expects funds
    to be available by
    late Spring of 1980.
    Construction,
    depending on weather conditions,
    could begin in late 1980;
    however,
    the date when completion of construction
    is antici-
    pated
    is not stated.
    Failure oF one of the Village’s wells has caused an
    immediate water supply shortage that has necessitated the
    postponement
    of the water facility construction project.
    Village funds
    for
    the
    proposed construction are presently
    being
    used For the development of
    a new well and improvement
    of the existing well.
    Petitioner asserts that requiring the
    construction of the slow sand filter at this time would impose
    36—129
    —2—
    an unreasonable economic hardship on the Village and would
    delay completion of the total water treatment improvements.
    Petitioner,
    therefore, requests a variance from the iron limi-
    tations of Rules
    203(f) and 402 of the Board’s Water Rules
    until
    all improvements to the water treatment system are
    operational.
    The Agency’s recommendation discusses several problems
    with the Petitioner’s variance request.
    The foremost consider-
    ation is that the Agency’s grab samples
    do not indicate that
    the Village of Fisher
    is exceeding the iron limitation of the
    Board’s Water Rules.
    The Agency,
    therefore,
    suggests that a
    variance be granted for a period sufficient to allow the
    Village to determine whether
    it is actually exceeding the
    total
    iron standard.
    If
    it
    is determined that the Village is
    not exceeding this standard, then the variance should be ter-
    minated.
    The Agency recommends granting a six—month extension
    to the variance
    if testing indicates that the Village
    is
    exceeding the Board’s total iron standard.
    The Board can find no reason that this variance should be
    granted.
    The only factual information available concerning
    whether or not the Village of Fisher
    is exceeding the iron
    limitation in the discharge from its sewage treatment plant
    indicates that it is not.
    Three grab samples taken by the
    Agency were all well below the 1.0 mg/l
    total iron limitation.
    The sewage treatment plant consists of
    a modified activated
    sludge package plant tributary
    to a
    five-day retention lagoon
    with
    a design capacity of 0.151 mgd.
    The five—day retention
    lagoon coupled with a discharge of 150,000 gallons per day
    supports the evidence in the record of discharges of total
    iron that are
    low.
    The Board
    finds that the Village of Fisher
    is not experiencing
    a total iron discharge problem with its
    sewage treatment plant inconsistent with Rules
    203(f) and 402
    and therefore does not grant the requested variance.
    This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclu-
    sions of law of the Board in this matter.
    ORDER
    It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that the
    petition for variance by the Village of Fisher
    is hereby denied.
    36—130
    I,
    Christan L.
    Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
    Control Board, heç~ certify the above Opi ion and Order were
    adopted on the
    (S~
    day of
    _____________________,
    1979
    byavoteof
    q.-ø
    Christan L. Moffet~f~erk
    Illinois Pollution ~~trol
    Board
    36—131

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