ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June

9

1977

CITY OF GIBSON CITY,

Petitioner,

v.

)

 PCB 77—96

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

 (by Mr. Young):

This matter

 is before the Board on the petition filed on

March

 28, 1977,

 by the City of Gibson City seeking relief from

Rules

 203(c)

 and 402 of the Water Pollution Regulations as

regards phosphorus.

 Although the Agency did file a Recommenda-

tion favorable to the grant of the variance,

 that Recommendation

was contingent upon the Board establishing an interim effluent

limitation which Gibson City had previously alleged would.irnpose

an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship upon it

 (Pet.

2).

 In view

of the pleadings,

 the Board therefore construed the Agency’s

Recommendation

as

 a partial objection to the grant of the variance

and in accordance with Material Service Corp. v.

 PCB,

 (3rd Dist.

1976)

 41 Ill.App.3rd 192,

 354NE2d37, set the thatter for hearing.

The Board also requested Petitioner to file

 a waiver of the 90-

day decision period set by statute

 so that the hearing could be

held.

 Because the Petitioner has informed the Board by phone that

 it does not plan to file

 a waiver of the 90—day decision period,

the Board feels compelled to render its decision on this matter

at this time or the variance will be granted by operation of

 law.

The Board has previously dealt with many petitions

 in which

relief was souqht from the requirement of mcetinq the phosphorus

water quality standard.

 Village of Argenta and Village of Cerro

Gordo,

 PCJ3 75—182, PCB 75—183,

 18 PCB 152; Village of Strasburg,

PCB 76-28; Old Ben Coal Company, PCB 76—21; City of Hoopeston,

PCB 76-234; City of Arcola, PCB 76-280; Caseyville Townsh~, PCB

77-14.

 Although not the case

 in the instant matter,

 in almost

all of the cited cases

 the variances were granted so that the

petitioners could qualify for financial assistance

 in regards to

the upgradings

 at their sewage treatment facilities.

 Gibson City

has recently completed its upgrading efforts and has the equipment

available

for phosphorus removal.

—

755

—2—

Gibson City operates a 0.575 MGD conventional activated

sludge process followed by a low rate trickling filter and

clarifiers.

 The effluent discharges to Drummer Creek, which

is tributary

 to the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur.

 Because

 the phosphorus concentration in the Sangamon River exceeds

the 0.05 mg/i level as it enters Lake Decatur, by operation

of Rule 402 the Petitioner’s discharge is water quality limited

to the Rule 203(c) standard of 0.05 mg/l phosphorus.

As in many of the cited cases,

the

Agency submits that

requiring phosphorus removal to the 0.05 mg/l water quality

level is technically feasible but economically unreasonable

(Rec.

2).

 Consistent with this belief, the Agency has filed

a Petition for Regulatory Change

 (R76-l) with the Board which

would amend the regulations by requiring only point sources

which have

tsoo

or more population equivalent and which dis-

charge

into

impoundments

greater

than

twenty

acres

treat

the wastewater to a level not to exceed

 1 mg/i phosphorus prior

to discharge.

 Because Petitioner’s waste load is greater than

1500 population equivalent, if the regulation is adopted as

proposed the Petitioner would be required to treat to a level

of 1 mg/i phosphorus.

As in the earlier cited cases, the Board finds here that

Petitioner would suffer an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship

if required to meet the 0.05 mg/i phosphorus water quality

standard and will therefore grant relief from that requirement.

This relief will be conditioned on the fact that Petitioner

 utilize its existing chemical feed equipment to reduce the

phosphonis concentration in the plant’s effluent to 1.0 mg/i.

While the Board recognizes full well that the Petitioner sought

relief from this specific interim limitation, absent a hearing

in this matter the Board is unable to determine whether Peti-

tioner is entitled to this relief.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

Petitioner, City of Gibson City,

 is granted variance from

Rules 203(c)

 and 402 of the Water Pollution Regulations as regards

phosphorus until June 1, 1982, subject to the following conditions:

1.

 This variance will terminate upon the adoption by the

Board of any modification of the existing phosphorus water quality

standards or effluent limitations and the Petitioner shall comply

with such revised regulations when adopted by the Board.

25-756

—3—

2.

 During the period of this variance, Petitioner must

utilize its existing chemical feed equipment and reduce the

total phosphorus concentration

in

the

plant’s effluent to 1.0

mc /1.

3.

 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 Certifi-

cation of Acceptance and agreement to be bound to all

 terms and

conditions

 of the variance.

 The form of said certification shall

be

 as follows:

CERTIFICATION

I,

 (We), ___________________________

 having read

the Order of the Pollution Control Board in PCB 77-96,

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.

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 ~ day of

~

 1977 by a vote of

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Christan L. Moffett,7~erk

Illinois Pollution C~ntrolBoard

25

—

757