ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
18,
1976
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 75-6
CITIZENS UTILITIES,
)
Respondent.
Mr.
James
L.
Dobrovolny, Assistant Attorney General, appeared on
behalf of Complainant
Mr.
Daniel
J.
Kucera, Chapman and Cutler, appeared on behalf of
Respondent
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Goodman):
On January
6,
1976,
the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
filed a Complaint against Respondent Citizens Utilities
Company of Illinois
(Citizens).
Citizens filed a Motion to Dis-
miss on January
22,
1975.
The Agency filed an Amended Complaint
on January 24.
On February 4, Respondent amended its Motion to
Dismiss which was granted as to Count
I.
On March
5,
1975, the
Agency filed its second Amended Complaint.
On March 12, Citizens
moved to dismiss again.
That motion was denied as to Count
I?
the
remaining portions being taken with the case by Board Order of
April
4,
1975.
Due to the Board’s decision herein,
the remaining
portions of said Motion are denied.
Citizens provides public utility and sanitary sewer service
in several portions of metropolitan Chicago.
Included in its
service area is the “Fernway—Westhaven” area,
in which Citizens
provides public water and sanitary sewer service to some 700
customers located in the Fernway Subdivision of Orland Park and
the Village of Westhaven.
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Count
I of the Second Amended Complaint charges Respondent
with violating Section 18 of the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
in that Respondent has failed to distribute water which is
clean and of satisfactory mineral character for ordinary domestic
consumption.
More particularly, Citizens
is charged with dis-
tributing water which is discolored and unpalatable due to the
presence of excessive concentrations of iron.
Count II charges
violation of Section
19 of the Act in that Respondent allegedly
failed to submit bacterial samples
to Complainant for fifteen
months in 1973 and
1974.
Count III alleges that Citizens has
allowed the existence of three operational and structural
sanitary
defects:
i.e., lack of screen on well casting vents;
an unscreened
air relief valve vent pipe which terminates below ground levels;
and fill line for the phosphate tank which terminates below the
tank rim,
in violation of Section
18 of the Act.
At a hearing conference on April
21,
1976,
the parties agreed
to submit a Settlement Agreement to the Board by
May
25,
1976.
That
Settlement was received May 24,
1976.
Respondent’s public water supply system includes four wells,
two elevated storage tanks and an integrated system of mains,
hydrants, and appurtenances
thereto.
At a cost of $311,000.00,
Citizens constructed Well No.
3 which has been the primary water
supply since December 23,
1974.
The underground waters are drawn
from the wells,
chlorinated,
and fluoridated.
Trisodium polyphos-
phate is injected for iron control by sequestration.
Since October
of 1975,
Respondent has attempted to control pH by feeding caustic
soda.
Since March,
1975, Citizens has implemented a flushing pro-
gram for its distribution system.
The parties stipulate that water quality has improved since
well
No.
3 became operational.
That well has
a depth of 1,700
feet with capacity of 1,000 g.p.m.
Respondent has also constructed
a new
400,000 gallon elevated storage tank at a cost of $226.000.0O.
The parties stipulate that Respondent has consistently submitted
the monthly bacterial samples at least since the filing of the Com-
plaint and that the water is bacteriologically safe.
The parties
also stipulate to a dismissal of Count III.
The Respondent,
in consideration of the Settlement of this
cause,
agrees to remit $1,600 to the State of Illinois.
In addi-
tton,
Respondent agrees to implement the following program which
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is taken verbatim from the Settlement Proposal:
PROGRAM
1.
Respondent agrees to do the following:
(a)
To continue to use Well No.
3 as
its lead well, subject
to unavailability due to mechanical failure or shutdown
due to maintenance, repair, power outage,
failure,
or
other operational difficulties.
(b)
To continue to regularly flush its distribution system
as required to remove accumulated sediment and to con-
trol sediment thereafter.
(c)
To submit all monthly bacterial samples required by
Complainant, and to maintain records of the taking of
such samples.
(d)
To continue its program for monitoring its water supply
and distribution system and to maintain records thereof,
and to permit authorized representatives of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency and of the office of the
Illinois Attorney General, Environmental Control Division,
reasonable inspection of such records.
(e)
To monitor and control any corrosive tendencies of the
water supply,
Respondent shall adjust the pH by the addi-
tion of caustic when necessary as indicated by an average
chlorine residual in finished water at either
.5 ppm
combined or .15 ppm free.
For purposes of this subpara-
graph,
the residual shall be measured by a weekly sample
by Respondent from the distribution system at the south
end of 170th Place in the Fernway Subdivision.
The
“average chlorine residual” shall be based upon the read-
ings of said samples for the period April
1,
1976,
to
October
1,
1976.
At the Agency’s request,
samples taken
in September,
1976,
shall be joint—samples taken by repre-
sentatives of Respondent and the Agency.
(f)
Respondent shall eliminate the dead-end water mains
located in the Village of Westhaven at the south end
of the streets from 90th to 94th Avenues by installing
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a water main of at least
8”
diameter connecting to the
mains
in each of said streets at the south end thereof.
Such work shall be completed by October
1,
1976.
(g)
Respondent shall
flush monthly its water mains located
at the south end of the streets
in the Fernway Sub-
division, and Leonard A Lindstrom, engineer for the
Agency,
and David Varner, engineer for Respondent,
shall
cooperate to experiment with valving at such locations
to improve the effectiveness of such flushing.
(h)
In the event that Respondent is unable to maintain the
average chlorine residual,
as defined in subparagraph
(e)
above,
then it shall install a water main of at
least
8” diameter connecting its main at the south end
of 170th Place in the Fernway Subdivision with its main
at the south end of 90th Avenue in the Village of West-
haven.
If such installation is required, the following
schedule will be observed:
(1)
Application for Agency permit by December
1,
1976;
(2)
Agency permit issued by March
1,
1977;
(3)
Construction completed by June 1,
1977,
or by July
1,
1977,
in the event of unfavorable weather condi-
tions.
Notwithstanding the foregoing,
failure to maintain the
average chlorine residual shall be excused, and the above
work not required,
if due to
a cause beyond control of
Respondent.
(1)
In the event that Respondent has maintained the average
chlorine residual,
as defined in subparagraph
(e)
above,
during the rest period referred to therein, but fails to
maintain it subsequent to October 1,
1976,
then within
60 days after written notice from the Agency
it shall
implement the construction program described in subpara-
graph
(h)
above,
in accordance with a time schedule con-
taining the relative time frames of the schedule contained
therein.
Failure to maintain the chlorine residual after
October is defined as follows:
when the average of the
chlorine levels
in weekly samples by Respondent for any
calendar month from the south end
of
170th Place
in the
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Fernway Subdivision is less than
.5 ppm combined or
.15
ppm free.
Maintaining on the average either level satis-
fies the chlorine residual maintenance requirement.
Not-
withstanding the foregoing,
failure to maintain the
average chlorine residual shall be excused if due to a
cause beyond the control of Respondent.
(j)
Respondent shall give prior notice by mail to customers
of all scheduled flushings of its distribution system.
(k)
Respondent has established and will maintain a department
in its office for the handling of service complaints by
customers,
in accordance with General Order 24, Revised
of the Illinois Commerce Commission, and will expedite
its training program for personnel handling such complaints.
(1)
Respondent has distributed and will continue
to distribute
periodically with its bills informative literature with
respect to the customer’s use of water service, including
maintenance of the customer’s hot water heater and water
softener.
(m)
Respondent will actively attempt to have prosecuted
persons who wrongfully open its hydrants or mains,
provided that witnesses will cooperate by furnishing
the necessary identification,
evidence and testimony.
(n)
Respondent will comply with all applicable water supply
requirements of the Statutes and Board regulations with
respect to iron content subject to such variances and
exceptions as may be allowed.
The Board finds
the Settlement Stipulation to be adequate and
will accept it in settlement of this action.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and conclu-
sions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Board that
1)
In
consideration of the Settlement herein,
this cause
is hereby dismissed.
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2)
Respondent shall remit $1,600.00 by certified check or
money order payable to the State of Illinois within thirty-
five days from the date of this Order.
Said payment shall
be sent to:
State of Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Department
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
3)
Respondent shall comply with the proposed program which
is hereby incorporated by reference as though it were fully
setforth herein.
I, Christan
L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereb
certify the
ove Opinion and Order were
adopted
on the
/
~
day of
,
1976 by
a vote of
~
Illinois Pollution C
rol Board
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