ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

OctoI~er19, 1978

CITY OF EAST ST.

LOUIS,

)

Petitioner,

)

v.

)

PCB 78—217

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Young):

This matter comes before the Board on the Petition filed

on August

14,

1978,

by the City of East St. Louis seeking a

variance for an indefinite period of time from Rule 1201 of

Chapter

3:

Water Pollution Regulations which requires that

Petitioner’s sewage treatment works be operated by a person

with the credentials of a Class

1 operator.

No hearing was

set for this variance proceeding; Petitioner properly waived

hearing in accordance with Procedural Rule 401(h).

On September

22, l~78, the Environmental Protection Agency filed a P~ecomrienda-

tion to deny the City of Fast St. Louis the requested relief.

While

Petitioner may file an Amended Petition requesting hearing

within

7 days after receipt of the Agency Recoirnendation pursuant

to Procedural Rule 406(b), the ~oerd received no filing under

406(b) from the City of East St. Louis.

The City of East St.

Louis

owns

and operates a primary

treatment facility which discharges an average daily flow of

14 million gallons to the Mississippi River containing average

BOD5/SS concentrations of 120 mg/i and 180 mg/i respectively

and variable levels of fecal coliform anc~pr~ (ret.

2).

l’c’t:i

L1on(~r

rc’quc’sts this

varthnce

from

the

Cir~ss

1

ot)erator

reuircnu~nts

I

ecnu~e

of

its

11

ITliculty

in

retr~inincij’l~intm3n3qcr~

who

hnVc

~ttaincd

the

Class

1

operator

status.

The

City

of

East

Ft.

Leuis

clair~

that

Class

1

operators

have voluntarily terminated employment with Petitioner for higher

paying positions.

The Agency contacted two former Class

1 em-

ployees of the Petitioner on September

6,

1978, ~ho reported to

the Agency that each took pay cuts in order to leave the City

of East St.

Louis

(Rec.

1).

~ 1.~Q~

---

—z—

Petitioner

also

stated

that

its

current

Plant

Manager,

Mr. Ronald McCioud,

a Class

II operator, was expected to

enroll for and take the Class

1 examination scheduled for

September 14, 1978.

However, the Agency reports that Mr.

McCloud is not eligible for the Class

1 examination until

he completes approximately three years of additional work

experience or additional course work and that he had not

applied for the September 14, 1978, Class

1 operator examina-

tion

(Rec.

1,

2).

Additionally, the Petition requested the

grant of a variance for an indefinite period of time, contrary

to the requirement of Rule 401(a) (6) and beyond the Board’s

authority under the Environmental Protection Act.

On the basis of the information before us,

the Board has

no alternative hut to deny the request.

Denial of this variance

does not require that Petitioner cease and desist the operation

of

the

primary

treatment facility nor does it preclude the City

of

East

St.

Louis

from

resubmitting

a new Petition for the same

relief containing updated information and a definite schedule

for compliance.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact

and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

The

Petition

for

Variance

from

Rule

1201

of

Chapter

3:

~‘7ater

Pollution

Regulations

is

hereby

dismissed.

IT

IS

SO

ORDFRFD.

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

Control Board, hereby certify the

a ove Opinion and Order were

adopted on the

~

day of

_____________

,

1978

by

a

vote

of

‘t-O

Christan L. Moff~t

,

lerk

Illinois Pollution

trol Board

31—694