ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

August 23, 1979

CITY OF OLNEY,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 79—82

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

DISSENTING OPINION (by Mr. Dumelle):

My reason for dissenting lies in the grant of the

variance by the majority of the Board to permit further

delay in the disinfection of the sewage treatment plant

effluent.

The Olney sewage treatment plant was built under a 1966

permit. Its completion date is not available in this record

but can be estimated as 1968. On April 1, 1968 the former

Sanitary Water Board’s SWB-14 Rules and Regulations on

Intrastate Waters went into effect. These Rules required

disinfection of sewage effluent where primary contact (swimming)

or secondary contact (boating or fishing) occurred. We do

not know by this record whether the unnamed tributary to the

Fox River, the Fox River itself or the Little Wabash River

are used for swimming, canoeing, fishing or other recreational

uses. These are the streams through which the Olney sewage

plant effluent flows.

On March 7, 1972 this Board adopted R71—14 which required

disinfection of sewage treatment plant effluent on a year—round

basis. Even if we assume that Olney was not required by

SWB-14 to disinfect in 1968 then it certainly was required

by Rule 405 to disinfect by July 31, 1972. This record does

not give any reason for the 7—year delay between 1972 and

today’s date. Had Olney proceeded promptly with disinfection

in 1972 the cost would have been far less than the $20,000

quoted at today’s inflated prices.

rrl~e

disinfection equipment such as a sodium hypochiorite

or clii

)ririe gas

feeder and necessary storage tanks can be

used in a temporary setup and then relocated into a permanent

plant facility. And disinfection can often be done in an

outfall pipe if residence time is long enough.

Thus we have here unexplained delay, unknown uses of

the receiving streams, and costs which are entirely reasonable

for a community of 9,159. The Board Opinion speaks of fecal

coliforms as being the sole parameter from which variance is

35—2 27

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—2—

given. It ignores completely the fact that fecal coliforrns

are the proxy variable used to ensure the death of pathogenic

bacteria such a typhoid, cholera, dysentery, salmonella,

etc. long known to be present in human wastes discharges and

dangerous to public health.

Lastly, the disinfection request was added to the

original variance petition some 6 weeks later. The public

would have had no notice of this additional request. Inclusion

of late amendments to a variance petition should be done

only when the subject matter is routine and does not involve

public health.

I would have denied the variance from the disinfection

requirements.

/

$acob D. Dumelle

/ /

I, Christan L. ~o~fett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby certify the above Dissentin Opinion

was submitted on the

1I~

day of

________________

~

..~.~....~

Christan L. Moffett,’ r

Illinois Pollution Co ol Board

35—228