ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March
30, 1978
AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 77—296
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Young):
This matter comes before the Board on a Petition for
Variance filed on November 16,
1977,
by the American
Development Corporation
(ADC)
seeking relief from Section
39 of the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
and from Rule
962(a)
of the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations,
Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
(Regulations)
for the construction
and operation of
a sanitary sewer connection to serve
a oro—
posed housing project for the elderly in the City of Effingham.
On February
7,
1978,
the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency) filed a Recommendation
to grant
a variance from Rule
962(a)
of Chapter
3.
No public hearing was held; hearing was
waived by Petitioner in an Amended Petition on January
6,
1978.
The Petitioner requests
a variance to allow its proposed
housing project to connect with the Effingham sewage treat-
ment plant which was placed on restricted status on February
20,
1976
(Pet.
p2).
The American Development Corporation has
secured
a 9-acre parcel of land suitably rezoned in Effingham,
Illinois, where
it plans
to construct a 3-story building con-
taining
113 rent-subsidized apartment units under the U.
S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines for
approximately 175 senior citizens
(Pet.
p1)
.
Equally important
is Petitioner’s need for a variance
to satisfy federal require-
ments.
While
the Department of Housing and Urban Development
has approved Petitioner’s preliminary construction plans
and
reserved $406,800 annual funding for rent subsidy and mortgage
insurance, HUD has conditioned final approval of funding upon
meeting all administrative and statutory requirements
(Pet.
Exh. A).
Accordingly, ADC has petitioned the Board for this
variance
to allow it to construct sewer mains and connect to
the Effingham sewage treatment plant.
If this requested relief
is not granted by March, 1979, Petitioner claims that it will
lose the amounts reserved by HUD and force abandonment of this
project
(Pet.
p3).
29—431
Both parties
to this variance agree there is a definite
need for low income housing for senior citizens
in the
community of Effingham.~ According to the Effingham County
Housing Authority, few low—rent apartments are available to
those elderly on low fixed incomes.
At last count,
the
Housing Authority had 84 applicants
in need of this type
of housing.
Comments fr~rnthe Effinqham City Council on
Aging and the Effinqham Mayor and City Council support Peti-
tioner’s project
and
ti-ic Agency has received communications
from the Superintendent of the Effingham County Department
of Public Aid further substantiating
this immediate need for
low—income elderly housing in this area
(Pet.
Exh.
B,
C,
D,
Rec.
p2Y.
Review of the record indicates that while the Effingham
treatment
facility
is
biologically
overloaded,
the
City
of
Effingharn has initiated interim measures
to
substantially
improve
the effluent quality from its sewage treatment plant.
In 1975,
the Effinqham STP produced discharges which averaged
78 mg/l
13OD5
and 84,3 mg/i PS with maximum levels of 150
and 160 mg/l respectively
(Pet.
Exh.
D).
Subsequent dis-
charge monitoring reports showed
a marked improvement to
29/40 BOD5/SS as early as October-December,
1975
(Pet.
Exh.
D), and most recently the BOD~/SSreadings for a six-month
period ending in October,
1977, averaged 27.8 mq/l and 22.0
mg/l respectively
(Pet.
Exh.
F).
The City of Effinghain has also undertaken measures to
upgrade its sewage treatment plant under
a federal construction
grants program.
Upon last review
in Mayhood, PCB 77-161,
(Decem-
ber
8,
1977)
of its efforts, the City of Effingham reported
that Step
I
facilities plannine had been completed;
Step
II
plans for rehabilitation of sewer system and to correct its
combined sewer overflows were underway; and the City had been
certified for Steo III construction by the USEPA.
Since
then,
the Step III construction grant has been delayed due to lack
of available federal
funds and because of administrative appeals
to
Region
V of the USEPA to
protest
the award of
a contract and
problems
associated with equipment warranties
(Pet.
Exh.
F,
Rec.
p2).
Until completion of the~~Effingha~~
sewage treatment plant,
discharges
into
the
Salt
Creek
tributary
to the Little Wabash
River are
exoected
to he well-within the 40/60 BOD5/SS limits
of its NPDES nermit
as modified by a USEPA enforcement compliance
schedule letter due to expire
on
September 30,
1981
(Rec.
p1).
Inspection of the SaLt Creek downstream of the Effingham discharge
revealed
little
visual
contamination,
no sludge banks,
odors, or
any
anaerobic
conditions.
Petitioner
claims
that
effluent
in-
creases from the Petitioner~sproject of
17,500
GPD
resulting
in
daily
increased
loadings
of
30 pounds BOD5 and
39 pounds suspended
solids to the Effingham plant will not unduly harm the water quality
in the Salt Creek
(Pet.
p2,
3,
Exh. G).
29
—
432
—3—
It is not the practice of the Board to grant
a variance
without a showing of arbitrary and unreasonable hardship.
Mayhood, PCB 77-161
(December
8,
1977).
The Board also
requires,
in this case,
a clear showing that Petitioner’s
activities will not cause substantial harm to the environment
and that efforts are being made to achieve compliance.
Alton
Box Board, PCB 75—496,
20 PCB 279
(March 11, 1976).
In this matter,
the Petitions and the Recommendation
indicate that without a timely variance, subsidies reserved
by HUD would be forfeited and Petitioner would abandon this
housing project for the elderly in Effingham.
We need only
mention that the record clearly reflects immediate efforts
to minimize harm to the waters of the Wabash River Basin and
Petitioner
is actively seeking federal funding for upgrading
the treatment plant in Effingham.
The Board finds the housing needs
for the Effingharn
elderly warrant an immediate grant of
a variance from Rule
962(a)
of Chapter
3 of the Regulations.
The Board will,
however,
dismiss
the Petition for relief from Section
39
of the Act,
for,
in this case,
a variance from Rule 962(a)
provides sufficient relief to allow issuance of the con-
struction and operation permits
for obtaining the sanitary
sewer connections needed to serve this construction project.
While the record indicates that the Effingham treatment
plant has made marked improvements
in its effluent quality,
the grant of relief to the American Development Corporation
is
further reason for the City of Effingham to expedite its plans
for upgrading its sewage treatment plant and sewer system.
The
Board expects the City of Effingham to commence construction
improvements on the treatment plant as soon as federal funding
becomes available.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
The American Development Corporation is hereby granted
a variance from Rule 962(a)
of Illinois Pollution Control Board
Rules and Regulations, Chapter
3:
Water Pollution,
to allow
construction and operating permits for the sewer mains and the
sanitary sewer connections needed to serve this project for the
elderly.
2.
The Petition for Variance from Section
39 of the Environ-
mental Protection Act is hereby dismissed.
29
—
433
3.
wit
n torty-tive
(45, days of the date of this
Order,
tte ~e
Lioner shall submit to the
Manager,
Variance
Sectior
D
V
si
r~
of Water Pollution
Control,
Illinois
Envi~oircrta1 Pro cc ion Ajency
2200 Churchill Road,
Spr~rg
-~
~ro
62
06
~n executed
Certification
of
Accep
-
ent to be bound to all terms and con—
dit
c
s
t
-
at
a
~
forty-five day
period
herein
shall t’~
e
ing judicial review
of
this
variance
pursurt
e
of the Environmental Protection Act.
The for
~ai
tification ahall be as follows:
Con
were
by
d
CERIItICAPION
IL
having read
o
r ~
oL
tie
ollution Control Board in PCB 77-296,
e
ao ept card Order
realizing that such
a c
u
n
~s all ter s and conditions thereto
a
Cerk
of the Illinois Pollution
~rt1tIL
th
abvt
Opnion
and
Order
41
lay ot
~
1978
s
Pollution
itrol
Board