ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July

7,

1977

CITY OF QUINCY,

)

Petitioner,

)

)

V.

)

PCB 77—102

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Goodman):

This matter is before the Board on a Petition for the City of

Quincy

(Quincy)

requesting variance from Rules

403,

404(a) and 408(a)

of Chapter

3 of the Illinois Pollution Control Board Rules and Regu-

lations

(Regulations)

for the discharge from

its

water treatment

plant located on the Mississippi River

in Quincy.

Quincy has waived

hearing

in this matter in accordance with Rule 401(b)

of Chapter

1

of the Board’s Procedural Rules.

Quincy requests variance until October

1, 1977 so that it may

continue its current practice of discharging water treatment plant

filter back wash and sludge to the Mississippi River without treatment,

until

a proposed sludge disposal system can be constructed and placed

into operation.

The water treatment plant has two separate outfalls

designated 001 and 002.

Outfall 001 is

a filter back wash with a

discharge of 75,000-90,000 gallons per day containing 2,461 mg/i of

suspended

solids and 35.7 mg/I of BOD at

a pH of 8.6.

Outfall 002

is a sludge waste discharge of

about

250,000

qal1~ons

at a pH of

10.4.

This discharge occurs less than once per month.

Quincy engaged an engineering firm to determine

the most

economically reasonable and technically feasible method of treating

the water plant discharge.

The conclusion reached by this study was

diversion of the discharge by means of a force main to Quincy’s

waste treatment plant.

The Agency Recommendation filed herein indi-

cates that Quincy has established the requisite hardship required

for the grant of a variance but recommends denial based upon a legal

---

—2—

conclusion concerning Sections 301 and 510 of the

Federal Water

Pollution Control Act 1~mendmentsof 1972

(P.L.

92-500)

with regard

to achieving best practicable control technology currently avail-

able

(BPT), and Section 35 of the Illinois Environmental Protection

Act (Act).

The Board finds that it is not in a position nor does it

have

the authority to determine BPT under P.L.

92-500.

The United States

Environmental Protection Agency

(USEPA)

is

the sole judge of what

BPT is for each discharger and should be the entity which determines

compliance.

The Board finds therefore that

it may grant variances

from Illinois Regulations beyond the date of July 1,

1977 to the

extent, in accordance with Section

35 of the Act, that the relief

granted is consistent with the applicable provisions of the Federal

Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972.

The limitations of

this variance with respect to the provisions of 92—500 will have to

be determined by the Agency who is charged with the administration of

92—500,

U.S.

EPA.

Under the circumstances of this case the Board finds that

Quincy’s proposed disposition of the waste from its water treatment

plant is reasonable and that it would create an unreasonable and

arbitrary hardship upon Quincy if the

variance were to be denied.

The Board will therefore grant Quincy the requested

variance until

October

1,

1979.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of facts and conclusions

of law of the Board in this matter.

ORDER

It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that the City

of Quincy be granted variance until

October

1, 1979 from Rules 403,

404(a), and 408(a)

of Chapter

3 of the

Board’s Rules and Regulations

for its water treatment plant located in Quincy, Illinois.

I,

Christan L.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on

the~2J4

day of

,

1977 by

a vote of

f—C)

Christan L. MoffefU,

Clerk