ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September

1,

1977

IN THE MATTER OF:

ALTERNATIVE

THERMAL

EFFLUENT

)

PCB 77-124

LIMITATIONS FOR ELECTRIC ENERGY,

INC.

JOPPA GENERATING STATION

)

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Dumelle):

This matter comes before the 3oard o~ia petition for a

determination’of alternative thermal

effluent

limitations pursuant

to Rule 410(c)

of Chapter

3:

Water Pollution of the Board’s Rules

and Regulations.

On

February 12,

1976 Petitioner submitted a demonstration

to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(USEPA)

in support of

its request that

the

plant be allowed to continue operating with

its once through cooling system.

~)nFebruary 22,

1977 the USEPA

granted Petitioner’s request,

The

3am.e demonstration was submitted

to the Board in support of this petition.

A hearing was held on

July 19,

1977 at the Massac County Courthouse in Metropolis, Illinois.

At the hearing the Agency indicated that it supported the petition.

No public comment on this matter appears in the record.

Petitioner

is requesting relief from the requirement of Rule 201(a)

of Chapter

3 which states that no single mixing zone shall exceed

the area of a circle with a radius of 600

feet

(approximately 26

acres).

The demonstration showed that during periods of low flow and

high plant operation levels a difference of

5 degrees Fahrenheit

over the Ohio River’s background temperature was measured in an

area that covered 31.1 acres

(Demonstration,

p.

174).

~t the

hearing Mr. Jacob testified that the thermal plume from this plant

had caused a

5 degree rise in temperature

in an area of 34.1 acres

during the third quarter of 1976.

These violations must be weighed against the other facts

brought out in the record.

The discharge from this plant ranges

from 0.13

to 1.7

of the total flow of the Ohio River with an

average of 0.56

(Demonstration p.

78).

The phytoplankton and

zooplankton in the river experienced some redistribution as a

result of power plant operations1 but there were no significant

effects on their population

(Demonstration p.

83,

90).

Macro-

invertebrates and fish also showed no harmful effects

(Demonstration

94, 100).

The

plume

from the Joppa Station covers from 0.37

to 10.7

of the surface of the river and is restricted to the top

3 to

5 feet (Demonstration p.

355).

---

The

Board

finds

that

the

Petitionex

‘~as ~

~

discharge

complies

with

the

thermal

standards

ct

C~iaj~te~

3

most

of

the

year

and

that

its

failure

to

comply

It~snot. had

any

significantly harmful effect on

Lhe Ohio Rlvei.

T

JimiJ..ation

on mixing

zones imposed by Rule 201(a)

of

Chapt.~r3

is

riot nec~~_J

to assure the protection and ~ropagdti~n cf

ba~n

ed,

indigenc.i~.;

population of shellfish,

fish, ar~wildlife

in

and

cn the Ohio Rf~r,

This

Opinion

constitutes

the Board~sf1~idinq?

Lf

fact

and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

It is the Order of the Pollution Control Beard that the Petitioner

may continue tooperate its Joppa Generating ~3tationwith a once—

through cooling system as long as thermal discharges irom this

facility do not exceed those levels

dSsOciat~d

with

LILe maximum power

production capacity capability existing on February 22,

1977.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the IlliIIeLb

~1.1ution

Control

Board, hereby certif

the above Opinion and Order ~:ere~dopted

on

the jS~

day of

,

1977

by

a

vote

~t

~

______

__—~

Christen L. Moff’~fIClerk

Illinois

Po11utio’!~’Control

r3oard

~

~6~45O~