ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 22,
1976
VILLAGE OF HUMBOLDT,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 76—163
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on the petition of the
Village of Humboldt filed May 25,
1976 seeking variance from
Rules 203(c)
and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Rules and
Regulations as regards phosphorus.
On June
23, 1976, the Agency
filed a Recommendation in this matter;
no hearing was held.
The Village of Humboldt is located in Coles County and has
a population of 524 people.
The Village presently has
no
sewage
collection system or municipal sewage treatment facilities.
Sewage treatment currently consists of individual septic tanks
and tile fields.
On September 26;
1975,
the Village was offered
a
75
funded Federal Step
I grant
for the preparation of a Faci-
lities Plan.
This Facilities Plan was submitted to the Agency
on March 10,
1976 and the Village
is awaiting Agency approval
thereof.
The proposed treatment facilities are designed to receive
an average flow of
.065 MGD and consists of a three cell aerated
lagoon with submerged sand filter and chlorination facilities.
The discharge from the proposed facility will be tributary to
Flat Branch Creek,
a tributary of the Kaskaskia River which is
tributary to the Shelbyville Reservoir.
It is estimated that the
Village’s discharge will contribute considerably less than 1.0
of the total phosphorus load to the Shelbyville Reservoir.
Rule 203(c)
sets a standard of 0.05 mg/i for phosphorus as
P in any reservoir or lake, or in any stream at the point where
it enters any reservoir or lake and Rule 402 requires that the
Village’s efflu~entnot contribute to a violation of the Rule 203
(c)
water quality standard.
The phosphorus concentration in the
Kaskaskia River as
it enters the Shelbyville Reservoir presently
exceeds
.05 mg/i;
therefore, the Village’s effluent is water
quality limited to the Rule 203(c)
standard of
.05 mg/i phosphorus.
If the Village’s proposed treatment facility does not meet the
.05
mg/i standard of Rule 203(c)
,
the Agency cannot issue
a construction
permit unless the Village first obtains a variance from the Board.
23—167
—2—
In order to meet the 203(c)
standard, the Village would
have to install phosphorus removal facilities estimated to
cost $130,000.00 with
a yearly maintenance cost of $6,200.00.
Discharging the effluent into an adjacent watershed and land
application were also considered, but these alternatives were
estimated to cost even more than the phosphorus removal equip-
ment.
On January
5,
1976, the Agency filed
a Petition for Regu—
latory Change
(R76-l) with the Board which would amend the Regu-
lations by requiring only point sources who have 1500 or more
population equivalent to treat wastewater to a level not to ex-
ceed
1 mg/l phosphorus prior to discharge.
As justification
for
this proposal the Agency submits that eutrophication studies by
both the USEPA and the Illinois State Water Survey show that the
contribution of point source dischargers to the total phosphorus
problem of lakes and reservoirs is small compared to the non-
point source contribution.
The Agency submits that non-point
sources such as run—off waters from farm lands fertilized with
phosphate base fertilizers,
account for the overwhelming majority
of the phosphorus loading of most lakes and reservoirs.
The Village alleges that they will suffer an unreasonable
hardship if the Board denies this variance request,
a denial
which would prevent the Village from utilizing State/Federal
grant funds to assist in the construction of
a much needed sewage
treatment plant.
Under almost identical circumstances in a series
of cases, the Board has granted the relief which the Petitioner
herein seeks.
Village of Argenta v.
EPA, PCB 75—182; Village of
Cerro Gordo
v.
EPA,
PCB 75-183;
Village of Strasburg v. EPA, PCB
76-28; Village of Tower Hill v. EPA, PCB 76-101.
The Board be—
lieves that this Village is also entitled to relief.
The Board
will require, however, that the Village design and construct the
sewage treatment plant to allow for the possible future installa-
tion of appropriate phosphorus removal facilities.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s
findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
The Village of Humboldt is granted a variance from the phos-
phorus limitations of Rules
203(c) and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution Regulations until July 1, 1981,
subject to the following
conditions:
1.
This variance will terminate upon adoption by the Board
of any modification of the existing phosphorus water quality stan-
dards and effluent limitations and the Village of Humboldt shall
comply with such revised regulations when adopted by the Board.
23—
168
—3—
2.
The sewage treatment plant shall be designed and con-
structed to allow for the possible future installation of appro-
priate phosphorus removal facilities, and
3.
Within 35 days of the date of this Order, 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 76-163,
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, here1~ certify the ab ye Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
~,‘
day of
_________________,
1976 by a vote
of
________
Q4L~cL~/)V
~
Christan
L.
i~1offett,C ~
Illinois Pollution Cont~-~’
Board
23
—
169