ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
October
9, 1975
COUNTY
OF
MACOUPIN
)
UNIVERSITY
MANOR
NURSING
HCME,
)
)
Petitioner,
)
)
v.
)
PCB 75—273
)
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
)
)
Respondent.
)
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF TEE BOARD
(by
Mr.
Zeitlin):
Petitioner County of Macoupin,
(County), filed its
original Petition for Variance in this matter on July 17,
1975, stating that it sought permission to install
sewer
connections to serve “University Manor, the
new County
Nursing Home, Carlinville, Illinois.”
In an Order dated
July 24,
1975,
the Pollution Control Board,
(Board), stated
that the County’s Petition was inadequate in that it failed
to identify the Statute or Regulation from which Variance
was sought,
and
ordered
that
the missing information be
supplied within 30 days.
Following submission of a Recommendation by the Environmental
Protection Agency,
(Agency), on August 18, 1975, the County
submitted an “Attachment” to its original Variance Petition
on August 20,
1975.
(The Board finds that the additional
information submitted by the County constitutes an Amended
Petition, and shall treat it as such.)
Petitioner seeks a
Variance from Sections 12 and 39 of the Environmental Protection
Act,
(Act), and Rule 962 (a) of the Board’s Water Pollution
Regulations, insofar as these would prevent the issuance of
a permit by the Agency allowing tie-in of the
new
University
Manor facility to the City of Carlinville sewer system.
Ill.Rev.Stat. Ch.111’l/2, 51012,1039
(1973); PCB Regs.,Ch.3,Rule
962 (a).
No hearing was held in this matter.
19—46
‘-2—
The County
presently
operates an antiquated and obsolete
nursing home north of Carlinville, Illinois.
The old County
Nursing Home,
(old Home), has a capacity of
38 beds,
and is
able
to obtain only a conditional license from the Illinois
Department
of Public Health because of the old Home’s inability
to meet state standards.
The old Home was constructed in
1902,
and converted to its present use by the County in
1942.
To alleviate this situation,
the County is presently
in
the
process of constructing a new County Nursing Home,
(“University Manor”),
in the City of Carlinville.
University
Manor
is expected to cost approximately $750,000, and will
have a capacity of
98 beds.
Pending the completion of the
new
facility, the
County has been allowed by the Department
of Public Health
to continue operating the old
Home.
According to the Petitioner,
the old Home
is
served by
a septic system.
University Manor will be served by the
sewer
system
of the City of Carlinville.
The County estimates
that University Manor will be completed and ready for occupancy
in
September,
1975; however,
the Environmental Protection
Agency has refused
to issue the necessary permits to allow
connection of University Manor to the Carlinville Sewer
System.
It
is
clear
from
the Amended Petition and the
Agency’s
Recommendation that the Agency’s action in refusing this
permit
was
proper.
Carlinville’s Sewage Treatment Plant,
(STP), has a design capacity of 0,55 million gallons per day
(MGD);
without considering any bypassed
flows, average
loading at the plant
was
1.005 MGD during the first six
months
of
1975,
Carlinville reports indicated
DOD5 loadings
in
Carlinville’s effluent ranging between 15 and
24 mg/i;
Agency
grab
samples over the last year averaged 44
mg/i
for
DOD, and
42 mg/i for suspended
solids.
In
addition,
a
geometric
mean of
12
Agency
grab
samples
revealed an average
of
165,000
fecal
coliform.
During
periods
of
rain,
raw
sewage
is
usually bypassed into an unnamed tributary to the
Blackburn Branch of Macoupin Creek,
into which the STP
discharges.
To correct this inadequacy,
Carlinvilie is presently
engaged
in plans
to construct expanded treatment facilities.
On June
4,
1975,
the City was awarded a Step
I State Grant,
and plans for the new treatment plant
are
to be submitted
to
the Agency in September,
1975,
Carlinville
now
expects,
under
a time schedule approved
in
the Agency Recommendation,
that
it
will
be
able to complete construction of a
1.5
MGD
tertiary treatment plant by February,
1978.
19— 47
—3—
In
the interim, the Agency has certified Carlinville’s
NPDES Permit, which limits the city
to a 40 mg/i
DOD5
and
40
mg/i
55
effluent
from the present plant,
(NPDES Permit
No.
IL
0022675.)
Contingent on construction of
the
new
STP, Carlinvilie’s effluent will then be limited to 10/12
mg/I
for
BOD5
and SS, respectively.
Petitioner estimated that the University Manor facility
will
place
a further P,E,
loading on the present STP of
approximately 104,
and an average additional flow of 10,400
gallons per day.
Petitioner has further estimated that
University
Manor will result in a 1.77
load increase on the
already
overloaded Car.linville STP.
Agency
calculations, however, indicate that Petitioner’s
estimates
are
excessive.
First, Petitioner based its
estimates
on
the
design flow of the STP,
rather than on
the
present
overload
flow entering
the
plant.
Second, the
Agency
has
examined
figures from other nursing homes and
concluded that
nursing home patients exert
a
lower P,E.
;Loadir~c~
on
sewage
systems.
This conclusion agrees with the
fiodinq
of
tIe
Board
in
First
Trust
and
Savings Bank
of Taylorvilie
v.
EPA, PCB 74-448, March
13, 1975.
Based
on
that fact, and
the
fact that any increase in
loading is
to be measured
against
present
rather
than
design loads, the
Agency feels that
the
new University Manor will result
in an
increased load of only 6344
to
8424 gallons per day,
or
.5
to
.7
ci present total loading on the STP.
The
Agency has concurred in several claims made by
Petitioner which would support the grant of
this
Variance.
First,
the Agency agrees that a failure
to
approve the
new nursing
home
would work a hardship
on
the residents of
the
old
Home.
In
addition to the
problems
noted
by the
Department
of
Public Health,
the
Agency
notes that the
old
Home
is
not air conditioned,
and
does
not
have
the
required
patient
facilities
which will
be
present
in University
Manor.
Second,
calculations
submitted by
the
Agency
show that
four
other
nursing
homes
in Carlinville,
and
seven, in the
surrounding
area, are
filled to near capacity.
Were the
Board to
deny
this Petition,
and the
old Home
closed by
the
Department
of
Public Health,
the additional strain
on
existing
facilities would
be
great.
(A
comment received by
the Board
from
the
Illinois
Department on Aging supports
this
view,
and urges that the Variance be granted.)
19
—
48
—4—
The Agency has also shown that the sewage facilities at
the
old Home are wholly inadequate.
The Agency investigation
showed that, contrary to the information in the original
Petition submitted by the County,
the old Home is not served
by
a septic system.
Instead,
the old Home has an ~T~ost
entirely inoperable Imhoff Tank and intermittent sand filter.
There is no method to allow transfer of sludge from the
completely filled Imhoff Tank to the sludge drying beds, so
that a broken tube system on the Tank operates as
a constant
discharge
structure to one sand filter.
The Agency further
states that the sand filter in use is subject to constant
ponding
over l/3rd of its surface; as much as ten gallons
per
minute
of untreated sewage enter a tributary of Macoupin
Creek from the old Home,
As
further proof of hardship, Petitioner states that
the
cost to
provide adequate treatment for the University
Manor
facility would probably exceed $25,000.
Any such
costs incurred in providing treatment for University Manor
would be completely lost upon completion of the proposed new
Carlinville STP.
Balancing all of these factors,
the Board finds
that:
1.
There exists a hardship to the present
residents of the old
Home.
2.
There exists a hardship to the Petitioner,
arising
from:
a.
lost use of its $750,000 invest-
ment
in
University Manor, either permanently or pending
completion of treatment facilities.
b.
costs of providing alternate
treatment
controls at University
Manor,
exceeding $25,000.
3.
Failure to
grant the instant Variance
would create a further
hardship because:
a.
there
is
a need
for additional
nursing care
beds in
the area.
b.
closure of the old Home
would
place an additional strain
on existing area facilities.
4.
The additional load to
the
admittedly
overloaded
present STP would
be minimal,
and will last only
until completion
of the proposed new STP,
We feel that a grant of the Variance has been justified,
and
that the County has carried its burden of proof.
The
situation here is unlike prior cases, where the Board has
lad to weigh the likelihood of sewer back-ups during
wet
weather.
There
is no indication here of hydraulically
overloaded sewers, despite Carlinville’s combined sewer
system,
SeeP, First_Natio:-a1 Sick of Springfield
v.
EPA,
P513
74—298,
14
~
s~ealSO,
Scist. Trust
and
Savings
Dank
of
Taylorvilie,
supra.
19
—
49
—5--
in
addition, the grant of this Variance would be in
keeping
with
prior,
similar cases decided by the Board.
The
Board
found
in
Brethren
Home
of Girard
v,EPA,
PCB 75-193,
July
24,
1975,
that “the overall interests of the community
are best served
by
granting
this
variance,”
(Opinion
at
4).
A similar
decision
was
reached
in
First
Trust
and
Savings
Bank of Taylorville,
supra.
Similarly,
the Board
has previously
~~dT~iog~ssituations
that the presence of community
hardship weighs heavily in our consideration of
a
Variance,
See, Sandwich Community Unit Schools Dist,
No.
430,
v.
EPA,
P~
74—428, April
4,
1975,
and cases cited there.
As the Agency points out in its Recommendation,
there
remains the possibility that funding for the new Carlinville
STiP
may
not
be forthcoming from
the
State and Federal
Governments,
To deal with this possibility, we have adopted
the
Agency’s
recommended
condition
to require that,
in the
eventuality
that
Carlinville
does
not
receive
grant
funding,
Petitioner
will
be
required
to
submit
plans
for
construction
of
a
holding
tank
for
use
during
periods
of
heavy
inflows
to
the
existing
Carlinville
STP.
The
Agency apparently fears
that
the
County
will
convert
the
o:Ld
Home
to some other use after the new University
Manor
Nursing
Home has been completed.
In granting this
Variance,
we
may require of Petitioner any reasonable
conditions
which will tend
to decrease the total of pollutants
entering
the
waters of the State,
By allowing the new
University
Manor to tie into the
Carlinville
sewer
system,
and also
requiring that Petitioner cease
and
desist all
improper
discharges
from
the old Home,
we
will
decrease the
total
damage
done to Macoupin Creak
and
its tributaries.
We
will
therefore
impose a stronger condo.tion tnan tnat suggested
by
the
Agency, and require that
Petitioner
simply
cease and
desist
all discharges from the old
Home
in violation of the
Act
or
our Rules and Regulations,
immediately
after the
atientS
have
been
transferred
from the
old
Home to the new
University
Manor Nursing Home,
No
variance
has
been
granted
with
regard
to
§~l2 and
39
of the
Environmental
Protection
Act;
since
we
have
granted
a
Variance
from
Rule 962
(a) of
the
Water
Pollution
Regula-
tions, Variance from those Sections is unnecessary.
This Opinion
constitutes the findings of fact and
conclusions of Law of the Board
in this matter.
19—50
—b-
ORDER
IT IS THE ORDER
OF THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
that PetItioner County of
Macoupin be granted a Variance
from Rule
962
(a)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution of this
Board’s Rules and Regulations, until February
28,
1978,
to
allow
connection
of its new County Nursing
Home,
known as
University
Manor,
to the City of Carlinville sewer system,
subject
to
the following conditions:
1.
If
the
Carlinville Sewage Treatment Plant
does not receive Step
II and Step III state grants
for the
upgrading
of present treatment facilities or the construction
of new facilities by February 28,
1976,
Petitioner County of
Macoupin
shall submit to the Agency within 60 days thereafter
feasability
and cost studies for the construction and operation
of
a holding tank to
be used in conjunction with the new
University
Manor Nursing Home.
2.
If
the Carlinville Sewage Treatment Plant
does
not
receive Step
II and Step III state grants for the
upgrading
of present treatment facilities or the construction
of
new
facilities by April
30, 1976,
the Environmental
Protection
Agency
may,
as a condition of any permits issued
for
the
installation or connection of sewer facilities to
serve Petitioner’s
new nursing home, require that Petitioner
install
and
operate a holding tank.
3.
Immediately
following
the
opening of Petitioner’s
new
nursing
home,
and
the
transfer
Of
patients thereto from
Petitioner’s old nursing home, Petitioner
shall cease and
desist all
violations of the Environmental Protection Act or
this Board~s
Rules
and Regulations caused by discharges from
its old nursing
home.
4.
Within
30 days of the date of this Order,
Petitioner
County
of
Macoupin
shall
execute
and forward to
the Manager, Variance Section, Division of Water Pollution
Control,
Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency,
2200
Churchill Rd.,
Springfield,
Illinois,
62706,
and to this
Board,
a Certification of Acceptance in the following form:
19—
51
—7
CERTIFICATION
I (We),
___________
____
have
read a~
Tulyunders?and
the
Order of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board in PCB 75-273, and
accept said Order, understanding
that such acceptance renders all
terms
and conditions of said
Order binding and enforceable,
SIGNED
TITLE
DATE
IT
IS
SO ORDERED.
I,
Christan
L.
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and
Order were adopted on the _______________day of
October, 1975 by a vote of
~
~~stanL.
offe
ler
Illinois Pollutio
ntrol Board
19
—
52