ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
9,
1977
GOVERNOR’S
MEDICAL
CENTER GROUP,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 77—94
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDE~ROF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Zeitlin):
This matter is before the Board on a Petition for Variance
filed on March 25,
1977,
seeking relief from §39 of the
Environ-
mental Protection Act
(Act) and Rules 604(b),
701,
951,
952, and
962 of Chapter
3: Water Pollution,
of this Board’s Rules and
Regulations.
Petitioner
also
requested
(if
deemed necessary by
the Board
Variance from §~12(a)
and 12(c)
of the Act and from
Rule 404(c)
of Chapter
3.
The Variance is requested to allow the
connection of a medical office building to sewers tributary to the
Village of Homewood sewage treatment plant
(STP).
A Motion for Decision Without Hearing was filed by Petitioner
with its original Variance Petition.
Petitioner also filed a Motion
to Strike the Environmental Protection Agency’s
(Agency)
formal
Objection,
filed March
31,
1977.
An Interim Order was entered by
the Board on April 14,
1977,
denying Petitioner’s Motion to Strike
and setting the matter for hearing.
Ill.
Rev. Stat.
,
Ch. 111-1/2,
§1037
(1975)
Additional
Interim Orders were entered by the Board on
April
28,
1977,
qrantinq
the
Agency’s Motion for Extension of Time,
and on
May
~2,
1 977,
jr~~ntinj
the A;enuy
‘s
Mo!
.i
nn
~C)
Withdraw
its
Objection.
Thu A;ency
‘
~
Rccnmrnendu
tion w~i~
1
1
ed
on
A~r
ii
29
,
1977
No
hearing was held.
Petitioner in this matter is a partnership of seven doctors
associated for the construction of a medical center consisting of
20 doctors’ offices, laboratory, and pharmaceutical facilities.
Petitioner commenced planning, obtained funding, secured necessary
zoning
changes,
and
applied
for
all
permits
prior
to
Respondent
Agency’s April,
1976, determination that the Village of Homewood
STP must be placed on Restricted Status.
The Agency based its
determination
as
to Restricted Status on the belief that the
Village STP was operating with a tributary wasteload of 105
of
design capacity.
The plant discharge also exceeds applicable
—
7~t7
—2—
standards for BOD5 and suspended solids;
1976 BODç discharges
(30-day average)
ranged from 8.9 mg/i to 18.5 mg/I,
and SS effluents
during the same year
(also 30-day averages)
varied from 12.3 mg/l
to 38.2 mg/l.
(However,
only one 30-day average during 1976 exceeded
22.6 mg/i SS, with most averages
in the range of 13 mg/l
-
18 mg/l.)
Appendix
I,
Petition.
In addition
to financial hardship preceding the imposition of
Restricted Status,
the Petition states that the Village of Homewood
may have mislead Petitioners into making additional expenditures
subsequent to the imposition of Restricted Status.
The Petition
alleges that a representative of the Village led Petitioner to
believe that the Restricted Status problem could be speedily resolved,
and the Village accordingly issued Petitioner the necessary building
permits
(although without permission to tap into the sewer system).
Accordingly,
Petitioners commenced construction of the medical
center, which
is now 30
complete.
The Petition also alleges as hardship that there is
a signifi-
cant shortage of primary care medical doctors in the area to be served
by the new center.
The Village of Homewood and the adjacent villages
of Glenwood, Hazeicrest, and Country Club Hills, with a population
of 57,000,
have only 23 physicians,
seven of whom are primary care
physicians.
The Agency does not dispute these allegations.
Balanced against the alleged hardship to Petitioner and the
community would be the addition of approximately 2200 gallons per
day to the STP’s present flows of 2.85 to 3,10 mgd,
(Rec.,,
¶4).
Further minimizing any environmental damage if the Variance were
granted
is the fact that a recent fire destroyed the Washington
Park Racetrack, which previously contributed significant sewage
flows to the Homewood STP,
Balancing these factors, we feel that a Variance from Rule 962
is warranted.
We agree with the Agency, however,
that the addi-
tional Variances requested by Petitioner are not warranted under
these circumstances,
Rule 604(b)
is definitional, and the remaining
Variances requested are unnecessary where
a Variance from Rule 962
has been granted.
As recommended by the Agency, we find that the
Petition in this matter does not justify Variance from the permit
requirements of Rule 951 and 952 and shall not grant Variance from
those Rules.
(Inasmuch as Variance from Rules 951 and 952
is not
granted, the Agency’s Recommendation that any Variance be conditioned
upon application for all appropriate permits, need not be accepted;
without Variance from those Rules, Petitioner must comply with them.)
25
—
748
—3—
Finally, both Petitioner and Respondent make reference to an
outstanding Enforcement action, EPAv.
Village of Homewood, PCB 76-320;
both parties allege that current settlement negotiations
in that
case will bear on the environmental result of a Variance grant in
this case.
We find that a Variance is warranted upon the facts of
this case only,
and choose to deal separately with PCB 76—320.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
IT IS THE ORDER OF THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD that Petitioner
Governor’s Medical Center Group be granted Variance from Rule 962
of Chapter
3: Water Pollution,
to allow the connection of Petitioner’s
medical
center
to
sewers
tributary
to
the
Village
of Iomewood
sewage
treatment
plant.
Those portions of the Petition in this matter
seeking relief from
§~ 12(a),
12(c),
and
39
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Act
and
from Rules 404(c),
604(b),
701,
951,
and 952
are dismissed.
I, Christan
L. Moffett,
Clerk of the I11inoi~Pollution
Control
Board,
hereby
certify
the
above
Opinion
and
Order
were
adopted
on
the
~
day
of
~
,
1977,
by
a vote of ~J1c~
Christan L. Moffetc~”C1erk
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board
25
—
749