ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March
1, 1979
CITY OF ELDORADO,
Petitioner,
V.
)
PCB 78—280
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on a Petition filed
on November
8,
1978, by the City of Eldorado,
Saline County,
Illinois, for a variance from Rule 962 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution,
of the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations
and Sections
12 and 39 of the Environmental Protection
Act.
No hearing was held;
the City of Eldorado waived
hearing
in an Amended Petition filed December
4,
1978.
The Environmental Protection Agency filed a Recommendation
favorable to the grant of a variance,
subject to certain
conditions, on January
9,
1979.
Rule 962(a) provides that the Agency shall not grant
any permit required by Chapter
3 unless adequate proof is
submitted that the facilities to be permitted will he
constructed or operated without violating the Act or
Regulations;
or, has been granted a variance under Title IX
of the Act.
The existing sewage treatment facilities consist of
a 20 acre waste stabilization lagoon,
one lift station and
a system of sanitary sewers ranging
in size from
8 to 24
inches constructed in 1968
(Pet.
1, Rec.
1).
Discharge
is
into the Eldorado Drainage Ditch, which is tributary to
the Middle Fork of the Saline River.
The discharge is
authorized by NPDES Permit No. 1L0028649 issued June 28,
1977.
A USEPA Enforcement Compliance Schedule Letter has
established interim effluent concentration limitations for
BOD5 and suspended solids at 60 mg/l until such time as
improvement and upgrading of the existing facilities are
completed
(Pet,
2,
Rec,
2).
The system has been on restricted
status since October
20,
1976, due to organic and hydraulic
overloading of the present treatment facility
(Rec.
2).
33—3 1
—2—
The City of Eldorado is currently in Step II Design
of new treatment facilities with a projected completion
date of December,
1980
(Pet,
2).
The variance requested by the City of Eldorado would
allow the construction and operation of sewer extensions
to serve two areas which presently utilize individual
private sewage disposal systems.
The City has applied for
and
is expected to receive a grant from the United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development for the
sewer extensions.
The grant will provide approximately
5200 lineal feet of
8 inch diameter sewer to connect 50
of
the unsewered residents in an area known as College
Heights and 13,000 lineal feet to connect unsewered
residences in the second area known as Parrish Addition,
College Heights contains 213 lots;
169 with septic tanks
discharging above ground,
15 discharging to field tile,
15 connected to City sewers and
14 vacant.
Because of the
topography, only those residences which can be served by
gravity flow will he connected under the HUD grant.
Parish
Addition contains 136 lots;
119 with septic tanks discharging
above ground,
7 discharging to field tile and 10 vacant.
Most,
if not all, of these residences will be connected
under the HUD grant
(Pet,
3,
4; Attach.
C;
Rec.
4).
The
proposed sewer extensions would be completed
in the spring
of 1980 at
a cost of $658,000.00
(Pet.
4,
5).
The Egyptian Health Department, which serves Gallatin,
Saline and White Counties has conducted a complete and
comprehensive survey of the individual private sewage
disposal systems in Eldorado August
14
—
September
7,
1978,
which concludes that the only solution to the problems
existing with the failing private systems
is the installation
of a community sewer system in the unsewered areas.
The
survey states that the soils and the high water table,
coupled with the small average lot size
(50’ x 125’)
are
not conducive to the installation and proper operation of
septic tanks.
Robert
J.
Burns, Director of Environmental
Health for the Egyptian Health Department states that it
is
of utmost importance to the health and safety of the
residents that immediate consideration he
given toward the
construction
of
a community
collection and disposal system
at the earliest possible date
(Pet.
Attachment D).
The
Agency states that the
proposed sanitary sewer extensions
will
introduce
approximately
47,000 gallons per day of raw
or inadequately treated sewage into the City system which
would otherwise reach the receiving stream by way of storm
drainage ditches or
pond
in low—lying areas creating
unwarranted health hazards
(Rec.
4).
33—32
—3—
The Board finds that the grant of a variance in this
instance
is necessary to alleviate an objectionable nuisance
situation and a potentially serious threat to the public
health,
It would not appear from the facts presented that
any additional environmental harm will result from an in-
crease in flow to the existing treatment facilities for a
short period prior to the completion of new treatment
facilities.
The Board will dismiss the petition for relief
from Sections 12 and
39 of the Act since a variance from
Rule 962(a) provides sufficient relief to allow issuance
of the construction and operation permits necessary for the
sewer extension projects.
Collection
systems are no longer
eligible for grant funding under the Clean Water Act,
and
because there is no assurance of the availability of HUD
grants for such purposes in the future,
it would
be
unreasonable to defer construction of these collection systems
until completion of the upgrading of the treatment facilities,
particularly
in vie~’of the short interval between the
completion dates of the sewer extensions and the treatment
facilities and the present public health considerations.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
The City of Eldorado is hereby granted a variance
until February 15,
1984,
from Rule 962(a) of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution, of the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations,
to allow the issuance of construction and operation permits
for sewer extensions and connection to serve existing
residences in the areas described as College Hills and Parrish
Addition within the City of Eldorado.
2.
The Petition for Variance from Sections 12 and 39
of
the Environmental Protection Act is hereby dismissed.
3.
The City of Eldorado shall promptly apply to the
Environmental Protection Agency for all necessary permits
to initiate
construction of any sewer extension or connection.
4.
Within forty-five
(45) days of the date of this
Order, the Petitioner shall submit to the Manager, Variance
Section, Division of Water Pollution Control, Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, 2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield, Illinois,
62706, an executed Certification of
Acceptance and Agreement to be bound to all terms and
conditions of the variance.
The forty-five day period
herein shall be suspended during judicial review of this
variance pursuant to Section 41 of the Environmental Protection
Act.
The form of said certification shall be as follows:
33—33
—4—
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We),
having
read the Order
of the Pollution Control Board in
PCB 78-280, understand and accept said Order,
realizing that such acceptance renders all terms
and conditions thereto binding and enforceable.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opnion
and Order
were adopted on the
J~
day of
or)
,
1979,
byavoteof
4”—O
.
Illinois Pollution
33—34