ILLINCIS ~~OLLUTION

CONTROL BOARD

N~

rember

23, 1977

ARLAN

R. JOHNSON AND SALLY P.

JOHNSON,

Petitioners,

V.

)

PCB

77—222

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent,

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Werner):

This matter comes before the Board upon the September

1,

1977 Petition for Variance filed by Arlan

R. Johnson and

Sally P.

Johnson, requesting permission to connect two homes

into

a sewer extension built in

1976.

That

extension connects

into the sewer system of Hanna City, Peoria County,

Illinois,

which has been on restricted status since April

16,

1974.

The Agency filed its Recommendation

in

favor of denying

this variance on October 28,

1977 after the Petition had

been amended by filing a waiver of hearing on September 27,

1977.

No hearing was held in this matter.

In Arlan

R.

Johnson

v,Environmental

Protection

Agency,

PCB

76-176,

24

PCB 241,

the

Board

granted

permission

to

construct

a

sewer

extension

and

connect

one

home

into

it.

The

rationale

for

that

decision

was

not

the

hardship

imposed

on

Johnson

but

rather the

hardship

imposed

on

the

Baillez

family,

the

purchasers

of the

lot

who

were

waiting

to

move

into

their

completed

home.

In

the

present

matter,

the

Johnsons

are

requesting

that

two

more

homes

be

connected

into

the

same

sewer

extension

based

upon

arbitrary

and

unreasonable

hardship

to

them,

No

purchasers

are

affected

as all purchases are prospective and construction of homes

has not begun.

The hardship alleged here is an inability to pay a

note

for $10,591.00,

used to finance the sewer extension, which

comes due on December

4,

1977.

However,

this hardship is

self—imposed.

Construction

of the Baillez

home did

not begin

until July 26,

1976

(24 PCB

241

at

241)

even though Hanna

City was placed on restricted status

in early 1974.

Without

that construction,

the sewer extension would have been

unnecessary.

28

—

265

---

—2—

Tf~~

environmen~..

imp&.ct of a variance gnnt would be

to exac.erbato an ex

i

high level sanita~sewer over—

floss ptoblem in Hanna Cit.

In addition, thc flanna City

scwa~etreatment plant

Ii~

:icrically overlc ~Ocd,

Based on this evidence,

i~.

Board finds chat Arlan

and Sally Johnson have not dunn’

trated

any hardship which

is arbitrary or unreasonable when weighed against the necessity

of maintaining the integrity of ~ restricted status

and

the

possibility of environmental dam~ge. The request for variance

is denitd.

This Opinion and Order constitute the f’

‘ings of fact

ORDER

It is the Order of the b... Ltion Control Board that the

Petition for Variance filed h~

on September 1, 1977 be and :~..iereby denied.

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

Control Board,

lereby ce~ifythe above Opinion and Order

were adopted op the

ti2”t’

day of

,

1977

byavoteof Sb

.

—

istan L. Mo

~

C er

Illinois Polluti

Control

Board