ILLINOIS POLLUTION

CONTROL BOARD

December

16,

1976

CITY OF HOOPESTON,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 76—234

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER

OF

THE

BOARD

(by

Mr.

Young):

This matter comes before the Board on the variance

petition filed September

23,

1976,

by the City of Hoopeston

seeking relief from Rules

203(c),

402,

404(f) (ii)(A)

and

404 (f)

(ii) (D)

of the Water Pollution

Regulations

as regards

phosphorus,

The Agency originally objected

to the grant

of the variance.

On November

22, 1976,

the Agency filed

their Recommendation

in this matter and also filed

a Motion

for Leave

to Withdraw their Objection.

The Board hereby

allows this latter motion.

The Board is familiar with the situation which confronts

the City of Hoopeston and has already granted

the requested

relief in many prior variance cases.

Village of Argenta and

Village

of

Cerro

Gordo,

PCB

75-182, PCB 75—183,

18 PCB 152;

Village

of

Strasburg,

PCB

76-28;

Old

Ben

Coal

Company,

PCB

76-21.

The

City

of

Hoopeston

is

attempting

to

upgrade

its

existinci

sewage

treatment

plant

with

the

help

of

State/Federal

funds

but

Agency

approval

of

the Facilities Plan and Step

II

funding cannot he made due

to the phosphorus water quality

violation to which the City~sdischarge contributes.

Because

the Ci ty

does

not; hel

~

ow’

i

t.

i s both

tecThn~c~

1

ly

iea~ih le

drid

~c:or~om

lCd

I

y

rcasoiiabl

c

Lo

L.roa

t

I

di ~-;cIii

r~o to

moot

tWo

.05 mq/i

waLer

qual

i

Ly

s Lania~d

Ioi~ phosphorus,

tWo

C

t:y

socks

this variance.

The

Agency

agrees

with

the

City

that

requiring

phosphorus

removal

to

the

0.05

mg/I

level

is

not

techn:ically feasible

or

economically

reasonable

(Rec.

4).

The

Agency

has

also

filed

a

Petition

for

Regulatory

Change

(R76-l)

with the Board which

24 —441

---

—2—

would amend the regulations by requiring only point sources

which have untreated waste loads of 1500 or more population

equivalents and which discharge

into impoundments of greater

than twenty acres to

treat the wastewater

to a level not to

exceed

1 mg/i prior

to discharge.

The City’s facility is

presently serving a population of approximately 7,000,

and

if the regulatory proposal is adopted would be required to

treat

to a level of

1 mg/i phosphorus.

The Board

is disposed to grant the relief requested.

As

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

City would suffer an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship if

required

to meet the 0.05 mg/i water quality standard.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact

and conclusions of law in this matter.

ORDER

The City of Hoopeston is granted a variance for the

operation of its sewage treatment plant from Rules

203(c),

402,

404(f) (ii) (A) and 404 (f)(ii) (D) of Chapter

3:

Water

Pollution Regulations

as regards phosphorus until December

16,

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 standards and effluent limitations and the City of

Hoopeston shall comply with such revised regulations when

adopted by the Board.

2.

If grant funds become available during the period

of this variance, the City shall install and operate the

requisite equipment necessary to reduce the phosphorus con-

centration in its discharge to

1 mg/i,

or

to whatever alterna-

tive level may be set by the Board.

3.

Wi thin

35 days

or

the date of

tlii

~

Order,

the

City

of Iloopeston

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 certification shall be as follows:

CERTIFICATION

I,

(We),

________

__________________

having

read of the Order of the Pollution Control Board

24

—

442

---

—3—

in PCB 76-234,

understand and accept said Order,

realizing that such acceptance renders all terms

and conditions thereto binding and enforceable.

IT

IS

SO ORDERED

SIGNED

TITLE

DATE

I, Christan

L. Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, here~ycertify

the above Opinion and Order were

adopted onkthe

J~

day of

____________________

,

1976 by

a vote of ~

Illinois Pollution

1 Board

24

—

443