ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September

6,

1979

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Complainant,

v.

)

PCB 78—188

)

VILLAGE

OF RAYMOND,

)

Respondent.

WILLIAM 3. BARZANO, JR., ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED

ON BEHALF OF COMPLAINANT;

GERALD PATRICK HUBER, ATTORNEY, APPEARED ON

BEHALF

OF RESPON-

DENT.

OPINION

AND

ORDER OF THE

BOARD

(by Mr. Goodman):

This matter comes before the Board upon the June

21, 1978

Complaint filed by the Environmental Protection Agency (Agency~

against the Village of Raymond

(Raymond), population,

890.

The Agency’s Amended Complaint of November 15, 1978 alleges

violations of NPDES permit conditions, Rule 901 of the Water

Pollution Regulations, and Section 12(f)

of the Environmental

Protection Act

(Act).

A hearing was hel?i on December 13, 1978

in which citizen witnesses participated.

Raymond operates

a municipal wastewater treatment facil-

ity

(STP) which consists primarily of an Imhoff tank,

a trick-

ling filter,

a three—stage aeration lagoon, and chlorination.

It has a design flow of 0.1 mgd and discharges into the west

fork of Shoal Creek.

On November 30, 1973 Raymond was issued a NPDES permit

which authorized

it

to discharge in accordance with permit

terms.

The Complaint alleges that Raymond allowed a bypass

o~discharge from

its STP and that

it failed to report this

bypass

to the Agency.

The Complaint also alleges that an in—

sufficienL amount of

time was spent at the STP and that sludge

and solid disposal procedures utilized by facility operators

were inadequate.

On February

7,

1978 the Agency’s routine inspection of

Raymondts STP disclosed that sewage flow was bypassed after

its primary treatment

in the Imhoff tank.

The bypass resulted

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from the inoperability of one of two primary effluent pumps

and from the other pump’s ineffectiveness

(R.11).

The Agency

did not establish how long the bypass

lasted (R.31), but

Raymond was aware before February

7, 1978 of the pumps’ deter-

iorated condition.

Although there was no choice but to bypass

due to the condition of the pumps,

the bypass was not neces-

sary to prevent a loss of

life or damage to property

(R.13).

It was not necessitated by excessive storm drainage

(R.31).

Raymond first notified the Agency of the bypass on March

16, two days after its receipt of a bypass compliance inquiry

letter from the Agency.

Raymond alleges that

it was unfamiliar

with the permit requirement of notification,

although it had

had opportunities to read the permit prior to February

7,

1979

(R. 103).

The Agency conducted an inspection of the STP on July 18,

1978.

This inspection indicated that the facility’s bar screen

needed cleaning,

that the Imhoff tank’s settling chamber was

full of sludge,

that gasification occurred

in the secondary

settling tank,

and that the northern aerator in the lagoon was

out of service.

Some of these problems had been noted during

prior Agency inspections

(R.66).

The Agency representative

who inspected the plant felt that several of the deficiencies

could be attributable

to an insufficient amount of time being

spenL

at the facility

(R.66).

The STP operators worked approx-

imately

two to three hours on weekdays and visited the plant

during weekends and holidays

(R.16,17).

One of the biggest

deficiencies

at the STP had been an inability to dispose of

sludge and solid material.

Although it had been Raymond’s

practice to wet haul the sludge,

there is not enough surroun-

ding

land for acceptance of the deposits.

Raymond has taken

steps

to correct the problems.

It has

purchased two new pumps,

new aerators, and a new well.

It

also purchased real estate for use as sludge drying beds and

has applied under a grant program to obtain them.

Moreover,

operators have been instructed to spend at least four man

hours per weekday at the plant.

At the hearing Mr. Woodrow Paulson, mayor of Raymond, Mr.

Mark Meyers and Mr. Dennis Held,

Trustees,

Mr. Ray Held of the

local

fire district,

and Miss Sandra Mclntire,

local reporter,

testified.

Their testimony indicated that Raymond had made

good faith attempts to upgrade the quality

of the STP, but

also

illustrated the economic difficulties which Raymond faced.

Maintaining a bypass in strict conformance with permit

conditions prevents potential degradation of the receiving

water.

Raymond’s nonconformity to permit conditions

created

a potential danger to the health,

general welfare, and proper-

ty of the People of

Illinois.

Notwithstanding that there was

no choice hut to bypass,

the bypass may have been prevented

35—3 16

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had the pumps been replaced sooner

(R.59).

Moreover, Raymond

had an obligation to promptly inform the Agency of the bypass.

The Board finds that Raymond failed to properly maintain

and operate the STP in accordance with permit conditions,

and

that this created such conditions as the accumulation of

sludge.

Raymond’s poor management of its STP created a poten-

tial danger to the People

of Illinois because it constituted

an ineffective treatment of sewage.

Although the STP has

social and economic value to Raymond, and the facility is

suitable to the area

in which it

is located,

it

is imperative

that the plant he run properly so that its social and economic

value to the public is not jeopardized.

The Board recognizes

that Raymond has experienced economic difficulties in maintain-

ing

its facilities and that Raymond has attempted in good faith

to upgrade its plant.

The Board finds Raymond to be in violation of Rule 901

and Section 12(f) of the Act.

The Board finds that Raymond

must continue its efforts to obtain sludge drying beds,

that

the operators of the STP must work an average of four man hours

per weekday and observe plant conditions on weekends, and

that Raymond must continue

its efforts to upgrade the opera-

tions

of the facility.

The Board further finds that a fine

of $100 is sufficient to serve

the purposes of the Act.

The

violations did not result in immediate harm to the environment

and Raymond had attempted to correct the problems in good faith.

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:

1)

The Village of Raymond violated Rule 901 of Chapter 3:

Water Pollution Regulations and Section 12(f)

of the

Environmental Protection Act.

2)

The Village of Raymond shall

cease and desist from fail-

ing to properly maintain and operate its sewage treat-

ment plant.

3)

The Village of Raymond shall promptly undertake all

necessary pre—grant and post—grant steps to obtain

sludge drying beds,

shall require its operators to spend

an average of four man hours per weekday at the sewage

treatment plant, and shall continue its efforts to up-

grade the facility.

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4)

The Village of Raymond shall, within 35 days of the date

of this Order, pay a penalty of $100 by certified check

or money

order to:

Fiscal Services Division

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield,

Illinois

62706

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board,

h r~bycertify the

a ov

Opinion and Order were

adopted ~the

~

day of

____________________,

1979 by a

Ltrol Board

35—318