ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOAP~)
December
20,
1977
VILLAGE OF ARTHUR,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 77—266
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on a variance petition
filed on October 11,
1977, by the Village of Arthur requesting
relief from certain provisions
of Chapter
3 as applied to the
wastewater treatment plant of the Village.
In particular,
variance
is requested from the phosphorus standard of Rule
203(c)
and the ammonia nitrogen requirements of Rule 203(f).
On November
9,
1977,
the Agency filed a Recommendation
favorable
to the grant of the variance subject to certain conditions; the
Village has waived the right to hearing in this matter.
The Village owns and operates a sewage treatment plant
which discharges approximately 300,000 gallons per day into a
drainage ditch with a 7-day 10-year low flow of zero which
is
approximately
7.5 miles upstream from the Kaskaskia River and
approximately
30 miles tributary to Lake Shelbyville
(Pet. p1).
The Petitioner has spent over $600,000 in
the
past 12 years
to
expand and upgrade their treatment plant
(Pet.
p2).
The existing
facility includes primary treatment, activated sludge,
secondary
treatment,
tertiary filtration,
and disinfection.
At present,
the Village has sought grant monies in an effort
to make
needed
improvements.
1\ccordinq
to
the
Petit:ion
it
paqe
2,
the
Village
has subm~LLedSLop
I
facilities
pianniny
reporL;
SLep
II
plan
preparation
is scheduled to begin in April,
1978;
and the Village
claims construction should be completed by November,
1978.
The Petition alleges that the variance
is necessary to
relieve the Arthur sewage treatment plant from meeting the
water
quality standard of 0.05 mg/l for phosphorus and 1.5 mg/l for
ammonia nitrogen.
Rule 203(c) provides that phosphorus
(as P)
shall
not
exceed
0.05
mg/i in any stream at the point where the
stream enters any lake or reservoir.
Rule 203(f) requires that
a
1.5
mg/l
concentration
of
ammonia
nitrogen
(as
N)
shall
not
be
exceeded
in
the
waters
of
the
State
except
for
certain
e~c—
ceptions not applicable here.
In addition,
the Petitioner
cannot
28
—
—2—
ignore Rule 402 of (Thapter
3 which requires
that
no effluen~.
shall
alone
or
in
couthination with other sources cause
a
violation of any applicable water quality standard,
In those
instances
where
the
water
quality standard for a particular
constituent is exceeded in a receiving body of
water,
any
discharge
of
that
constituent
to
that
body
of water
must
meet
the
water
quality
standard
as
an
effluent
limitation
unless
a
variance
has
been
granted
pursuant to Title
9
of
the
Environ-
mental
Protection
Act.
In
support
of
the
variance
petition,
P~uLitioner
has
submitted
materials which are of questionable value
to
this proceeding.
The
graph identified as Attachment
I, which sumaa~izesmonthly
EPA
grab sample analysis of the treatment facility,
fails
to
provide
the
supporting
figures.
In
addition,
Petitioner
has
included
various
data
sheets
on
water
quality
parameters
of
the
Kaskaskia
River
-
Lake Shelbyville Station from the Water Quality Survey
without designating units of measurements.
From these data,
the Board will assume that
the
ammonia nitrogen and phosphorus
water quality standards are
not
presently achieved either in
Kaskaskia
River
or
at
the
point
of entry with Lake Shelbyville.
The
Board
has
previously
granted
a
number
of
Petitions
for
Variance in which Petitioner has sought relief from the 0.05
mg/l water quality standard,
ç4fl~ofj~ooeston,PCB 76-234,
24
PCB
441;
Southern
Illinois
U~
tEdwardsville,
PCB
77—ill,
25
PCB
775;
~1
Compan,Inc.,
PCB
77—146,
25 PCB
289.
In thosu and other cases, the Board has
found that
the practice is technically feasible but economically impractical.
Additionally,
the Board has before it
R76-l
a regulatory change
proposed
by
the
Agency
to
modify
the
existing
effluent
and
water
quality
standards.
In
view
of
the
foregoing,
the
Board
finds
here
that
Petitioner
would
suffer
an
arbitrary and unreasonable
hardship
if
required
to
meet
the
0.05
mg/i
phosphorus
limitation.
The
Board
will
therefore
grant
a
variance
from
Rules
203(c)
and
402 as applied to phosphorus.
The Agency’s Recommendation at page
3 states that the Peti-
tioner’s facilities are not currently capable of achieving removal
of ammonia nitrogen
to a concentration of 1.5 mg/l.
Furthermore,
the Agency has submitted a regulatory proposal
(R77-6)
to modify
the
ammonia
nitrogen
regulations
of
Chapter
3,
In
this
case,
the Board will grant Petitioner relief from Rules
203(f)
and
Rule
402 insofar
as the rules apply to ammonia nitrogen.
The
Board
finds
that
to
require
Petitioner
to
show
here
what
the
Agency
has
undertaken
io
demonstrate
in
R77-6
would
be
an
unreasonable burden.
This Opinion constitutes the Board1s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
28
—
492
—3—
ORDER
1.
The Village of Arthur
is granted a variance for the
operation
of
its
wastewater
treatment
plant
~:rom
Rules
203(c)
and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution,
of
the
Board’s Rules
and Regulations regarding phosphorus until
December
20,
1982,
subject to the following conditions:
a)
This
variance
will
earlier
terminate
upon
adoption
by
the
Board
of
any
modification
of the existing phosphorus water quality
standards and effluent limitations and the
Village shall comply
with
such
revised
regu-
lations on adoption by the Board.
b)
In the event that grant funds become available
during the period of this variance,
the Village
shall incorporate
in any design and specifica-
tion adequate provision for the installation
of equipment for the removal of ohosphorus which
will
provide
the
best
practicable
treatment
technology
for
the
removal
of
phosphorus
over
the life of
the
works.
2.
The Village of Arthur
is granted a variance for the
operation of its wastewater treatment plant
from Rules
203(f)
and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution,
of
the
Board’s
Rules
and
Regulations
regarding
ammonia
nitrogen
until
December
31,
1978,
subject to the following conditions:
a)
This variance will earlier terminate upon
adoption by the Board of any modification
of
the
existing
ammonia
nitrogen
water
quality standards and effluent limitations
and the Village shall comply with such
revised regulations on adoption by the
Board.
b)
In the event that grant
funds become available
during the period of this variance,
the Village
shall incorporate in any design and specifica-
tion adequate provision for the installation
of equipment for the removal of ammonia nitro-
gen which will provide the best practicable
treatment technology for the removal of ammonia
nitrogen over the life of the works.
c)
During the period of this variance,
the Village
shall operate
the Arthur wastewater treatment
plant to achieve the minimum discharge of
ammonia nitrogen consistent with the capabilities
of the existing equipment and process.
28
—
493
—4-.
3.
Within
fort~y
five
(45)
days
of
the
Lae
of
this Order,
the Petitioner shall submit to the Manager, Variance Section,
Division of Water Pollution Control, Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency,
2200
Churchill
Road,
Spriivjfield,
Illinois,
62706,
an executed Certification of Accentance
and
Agreement
to be bound
to all terms and conditions of the variance.
The
forty-five day period herein shall not run during judicial
review of
this
variance
pursuant
to
Section
41 of the Environ-
mental Protection Act.
The form of said certification shall be
as
follows:
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We),
_________________________
having
read
the Order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 77-266,
understand and accept said Order, realizing that such
acceptance renders all terms and conditions thereto
binding and enforceable.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby certify
tI)~e above Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
~
day of
_________________,
1977 by
a vote
of
(al)
Christan
L. Moffett~FC1erk
TU
Illinois Pollution Control Board
28
—
494