ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April 28, 1977
BALL
CHATHAM
COMMUNITY
UNIT
)
SCHOOL DISTRICT
5,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 77—31
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on the petition filed
on January 31,
1977, by the Ball Chatham Community Unit School
District
5 seeking variance from Rules
402,
404(f) (ii) (A)
and
404(f) (ii) (D)
as regards phosphorus, ammonia nitrogen and
dissolved oxygen.
The variance is sought for a discharge to
Lake Springfield from a waste treatment facility located
at
Glenwood-Junior-Senior High School as well as
for a discharge
to Brush Creek from a waste treatment facility located at
Ball Elementary School.
Brush Creek Valley
is the proposed
site for Lake Springfield II, although Brush Creek is presently
tributary
to Horse Creek.
The recommendation states that water
from Horse Creek is pumped into Lake Springfield during periods
of low water level
in that lake.
The Agency Recommendation
favorable to the grant of the variance was filed on March 21,
1977.
Petitioner seeks this variance to qualify these discharges
for Rule 404(f) (ii)
(Pfeffer)
exemptions,
thus relieving Peti-
tioner of the requirement of performing certain treatment plant
upgradings.
It
is Petitioner’s contention
that the expense of
these upgradings would place an unreasonable hardship on Peti-
tioner,
a contention based on the fact that Petitioner hopes
to
discharge directly
to the sewers of the Springfield Sanitary
District at a time no later than 1980.
While it is indeed probable that the Board would agree with
this contention
if
the
extensions occur
as planned, the Board
believes,
that with the exception of the request for relief for
the phosphorus discharge from the Glenwood School,
this petition
is inadequate and premature.
The petition
is
inadequate because
it fails to include any data or analysis showing that the dis-
charges cause a water quality violation;
indeed, the petition
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—
401
—2--
fails
to contain any water quality data whatsoever.
It is
elementary that before the Board will grant variance from
a
regulation, violation of that regulation must be shown.
The
Board believes this petition is premature because
it is Peti-
tioner’s obligation to first formally apply to the Agency for
Rule 404(f) (ii)
exemptions before filing
a variance petition
with the Board.
It is not apparent from the pleadings that
this procedure has been followed and no adequate reason was
presented for the departure therefrom.
The exemption procedure
was provided in the regulations
in general recognition of the
fact that it would be far more practical and economical if the
Agency possessed the authority to first formally rule on these
requests.
The Board believes therefore,
that in all cases
except those
in which the water quality violations are obvious,
this procedure should be followed.
In submitting the Rule 404
(f) (ii) exemption request to the Agency for the discharge from
the Glenwood School,
the District may employ the mixing zone
concepts
as contained
in Rule 201 in making its analysis re-
garding the effects of the discharge on the lake’s dissolved
oxygen water quality.
Village of ma, PCB 77—38
(April 28, 1977).
In view of the foregoing, with the exception noted, this
matter will therefore be dismissed without prejudice.
In
regards
to the phosphorus discharge from the Glenwood treatment
plant, the Board will,
after taking notice of the many decisions
already rendered in regards
to discharges of this particular
contaminant, grant the requested relief.
Villag~eof Ar9enta
and Village of Cerro Gordo, PCB 75—182,
PCB 75—183,
18 PCB 152;
City of Hoopeston, PCB 76-234; Caseyville Township, PCB 77-14.
This same relief would have been provided for the discharge from
the Ball Elementary School if the pleadings had established that
the discharge presently enters a lake or reservoir.
Further,
the Board holds that a plant’s discharge requirements are not
dependent on the fact whether some downstream user chooses to
pump that water into a lake or reservoir.
This Opinion constitutes
the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
The Ball Chatham Community School District
5 is granted
variance for its discharge from the Glenwood School sewage
treatment facility from Rules
203(c),
402,
404 (f) (ii) (A)
and
404 (f) (ii) (D) of the Water Regulations as regards phosphorus
until April
1,
1982, subject
to the following conditions:
1.
This variance will terminate upon adoption by the
Board of any modification of the existing phosphorus water
quality standards and effluent limitations and the District
shall comply with such revised regulations when adopted by the
Board.
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402
—3—
2.
Within 35 days of the date of this Order, the Petitioner
shall submit to the Manager, Variance Section, Division of Water
Pollution Control,
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill Road, Springfield,
Illinois,
62706, an executed
Certification of Acceptance and agreement to be bound to all
terms and conditions of the variance.
The form of said certifica-
tion shall be as follows:
CERT IF ICAT ION
I,
(We),
________________________
having
read
the
Order
of
the
Pollution
Control
Board
in
PCB
77-31,
understand and accept said Order, realizing that such
acceptance renders all terms and conditions
thereto
binding and enforceable.
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
The Petitioner’s request for variance from Rules
402,
404
(f) (ii) (A)
and 404 (f) (ii) (D)
as regards ammonia nitrogen and
dissolved oxygen for both the Glenwood School and Ball Elementary
School,
as well
as the request for the same relief as regards
phosphorus at the Ball Elementary School,
are hereby dismissed
without prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
‘~-/~day of (j~)~
,
1977 by a vote
/
~
f1L
Cfiristan L. Moffett,~’~1erk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
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