ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
January
18,
1979
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB
78—224
SPRINGFIELD SANITARY DISTRICT,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF
THE
BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
Respondent Springfield Sanitary District was charged
in a Complaint filed August 18,
1978, with violation of
condition
1.B(6)
of NPDES Permit
IL 0021971 and thereby
violating Section 12(f)
of the Act and Rules
410(a)
and
901 of Chapter
3 of the Board’s Rules and Regulations.
Hearing was held in the
New
State Office Building
in Springfield, Illinois,
on December
5,
1978,
at which
time a joint Stipulation and Proposed Settlement was
entered into the record.
No members of the general public
were in attendance at the hearing.
The Springfield Sanitary District is a municipal
corporation which owns and operates the Sugar Creek
Sewage Treatment Plant at Interstate
55 and Mechanicsburg
Road in Sangamon County,
Illinois.
NPDES Permit Number IL 0021971, expiring
May
31,
1978,
was issued to Respondent on September 15,
1976,
by the
Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection
Agency under Section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments of 1972
(P.L.
92-500)
which permit
authorized said Respondent to discharge contaminants
in
accordance with said permit from a point source at Re-
spondent’s Sugar Creek Sewage Treatment Plant into Sugar
Creek.
The Respondent’s NPDES permit provides
in pertinent
part:
“1.
Effluent limitations.
*
*
*
32—437
—2—
B.
During the period beginning on the
effective date of this permit and
lasting until the expiration date
the quality of effluent discharged
by the facility shall be limited
at
all times as follows:
*
*
*
(6)
The effluent Ammonia-N concentration
in the subject discharge shall be
limited to a level
that will not cause
the receiving stream to exceed the
water quality standard limit in Rule
203 of the Water Pollution Regulations
of Illinois,
Chapter 3.”
Rule 203(f) provides in pertinent part:
‘(f)
The following levels of chemical
constituents shall not be exceeded:
Concentration
Constituent
(mg/l)
Ammonia Nitrogen
(as N)
1.5”
During the months of October,
1977, November,
1977,
December,
1977,
January,
1978,
and February,
1978,
the
Respondent,
by its operation of its Sugar Creek plant,
has caused the monthly average concentrations
of Ammonia
Nitrogen
(as N)
levels in Sugar Creek downstream from
the Respondent’s plant to exceed 1.5 mg/i
(Stip.
3).
Rule 203(f)
was adopted March 15,
1973; construction of
the Sugar Creek plant began well before that date and was
completed
in August,
1973.
Ammonia nitrogen removal
facilities were not required at the time of the original
design of the plant and were not incorporated in plant
construction
(Stip.
3).
Respondent applied for a grant from the Agency
December
1,
1976,
to prepare
a facilities plan to include
ammonia nitrogen removal
at Respondent’s plant.
The District estimates that modification of the plant
to insure full compliance with the Rule 203(f) standard
would cost approximately four million dollars
at current
prices.
Respondent
is currently cooperating with Southern
Illinois University
in a survey of Sugar Creek for the
32—438
-.3—
Institute of Natural Resources
to determine the economic
feasibility of the ammonia nitrogen standard at its present
level; neither Complainant nor Respondent has any evidence
of damage
to aquatic life in Sugar Creek caused by ammonia
nitrogen
(Stip.
4).
The District has agreed to continue to cooperate in
the SIU study and to actively pursue grant funding to
provide the necessary facilities
to bring the Sugar Creek
plant into compliance with Rule 203(c)
at the earliest
possible date after receipt of grant funding.
The parties
stipulate that a penalty would not aid in the enforcement
of the Act and propose that none be imposed by the Board.
On the basis
of the foregoing and the Stipulation and
Proposed Settlement, the Board finds that the Respondent
did violate Section 12(f)
of the Act and Rules
410(a)
and 901 of Chapter
3.
The Board has considered the appli-
cation of
the requirements of Section 33(c)
of the Act to
the facts and circumstances herein and finds that an
imposition of a penalty for the violations found would
not aid in the enforcement of the Act and further finds
the Stipulation and Proposed Settlement presented acceptable
under Rule
331 of the Board’s Procedural Rules.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and conclusions of
law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
Respondent, Springfield Sanitary District,
is found
to have operated its Sugar Creek Sewage Treatment Plant
in
violation of Section 12(f)
of the Environmental Protection
Act and Rules 410(a)
and 901 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution,
of the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations.
2.
Respondent,
Springfield Sanitary District,
shall
adhere to all provisions of the Stipulation and Proposed
Settlement filed December 13,
1978, which
is incorporated
by reference as
if fully set forth herein.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were
adopted o~ithe
_____
day of
___________________,
1979 by a
vote of
4’-O
Christan
L.
..
of’A~~rk
Illinois Pollutlo
ntrol Board
32—439