ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

March 11,

1976

CITY OF AMBOY,

)

)

Petitioner

)

)

v.

)

PCB 75—455

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Dumelle):

Petitioner City of Amboy

(Amboy),

located in Lee County,

Illinois, filed a Petition for a Variance before this Board on

December

1,

1975.

The Variance is requested to allow the construc-

tion of a sanitary sewer extension to service

23 additional lots at

the Green River Mobile Home Park

(Park) which is

located in Amboy.

The Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

filed its Recommendation

on January

9,

1976.

In its Recommendation, the Agency recommends

that the Board grant a variance from Rule 962 of the Board’s Water

Pollution Regulations subject to the condition that “Amboy shall

immediately apply for Agency construction and operating permits...”

Amboy was placed on restricted status on June 28,

1974.

At that

time Agency data indicated that Amboy’s waste treatment facilities

were being operated with a tributary waste load of approximately

296 per cent of design capacity.

The existing facility consists

of

a three cell unaerated lagoon system which is designed to receive

and treat wastewater flow of 0.56 MGD and an organic population

equivalent of 4956.

Effluent from the plant, which is not presently

chlorinated,

is discharged to the Green River,

a tributary of the

Rock River.

The average effluent BOD, for a period of May through

October,

1975 is

11 mg/i.

We do not know on this record what the

required BOD effluent level for this plant is under Illinois

regulations.

On July 18,

1975, Amboy was awarded a Step 1-3 State Grant

to upgrade its waste treatment facilities and to renovate portions

of its sewer system.

Construction and operating permits which

20— 257

---

provide

for

conversion

of

the

existixig

lagoon system to a 2-cell

aerated

lagoon

system

and

construction

of

chlorination

facilities

bay

already

been

issued

by

the

Agency.

The entire pro~ectis

4u3.ed

for

cc*~letion

by

September

of

1976,

at

which.

~iae

~~~ects

the

restricted

status

to

be

lifted

entireb~.,

~$sue

presented to the Board is whether Amboy’s need for

thè~posed addition of 23 units outweighs the environmental and

otheteconomic harms which would result, ‘such that the denial

of a variance would constitute an arbitrary or unreasonable

hardship to the City of

Amboy.

On the issue of need, Amboy

states

that

it is experiencing a shortage of low-cost housing

unite,

The additional

23 mobile home units would help reduce

this shortage.

The

connections would also enable the Park owner

to reverse his alleged financial losses caused by the fact that the

imposition of restricted status

cane

after. he had developed only

30

lote, which

is allegedly insufficient to make this park financially

riable.

1*0

proof is given of these losses.

Amboyts housing shortage would be a far more persuasive factor

than the unproved economic interests of the Park’s owner.

While there

is littj* evidence to

support

the allegation of a housing shortage,

the

Mayor of Mthoy

has

presented facts which support

his

conclusion

(see

paragraph 12 of Recousendation).

The Park’s owner has been allegedly

losing money for the last

3 years because of the fact that the imposition

of restricted status interfered with his development plans.

However,

the restrictions imposed on January .28, 1974 could not have caused

losses for 3 years but only for two.

By the City‘s estimates, the

restricted status will be lifted in September.

Whatever hardship that

exists would presumably be removed shortly thereafter,

Amboy does have a significant interest in insuring the

availability of sufficient numbers of low-cost housing units.

This

interest,

as well as

the. Park owner’s interests, must be balanced

against the environmental impact of. the proposed ~connections.The

sewer service extension would, using the estimate of Ainboy’s consulting

engineer, result in an increase of 1.3

in the total plant flow.

Ainboy

presents several factors which may tend to mitigate any adverse

effects attributed to this increase:

1.

The Arnboy Packaging Company has

ceased

discharging 80,000

to 100,000 gallons of cooling

water

per

day;

thus significantly

decreasing the plant’s hydraulic overioadinq, and

!.

The

in~i

jor

1

~r~i

I

.i

itdu~

~‘

r:

i

;

c’xp~~

ed

1:0

reduce its

poliutionai

•toal

disc

~rci~~i

~

3,

The

pr0~JJeH~

o~

~Ur

i;u~~

in~ ~

h.ic.h—ups

in

the

Park’s

area

)m~alleqedly

been

a~lcvi~t.•’d.

---

—3—

The Agency is thus convinced that “adverse environmental impact

is unlikely” but does not present information as to the present situa-

tion on the Green River.

While

Amboy has made statements tending

to show that the proposed connections would not result in adverse

environmental effects,

it has not presented substantial, in—depth,

data to support that allegation, which

is its burden to do.

This is

especially the case regarding surcharging and basement backups,

and biological conditions now in existence on the receiving stream.

Further, while the Agency has supplied some effluent data,

Amboy has failed to demonstrate which effluent standards are applicable

to its plant.

No data are given on the water quality of Green River

and Rock River, which receive the effluent from Amboy’s plant.

For

all the Board knows, Amboy’s effluent could be causing or contributing

to a fish kill or odor nuisance at the Green River and/or Rock River.

It

is impossible

to judge the extent of potential adverse environmental

effects without any information on the water quality of the receiving

waters.

An increased flow of 5250 GPD and

69 PE would add to the oxygen

demand on the receiving stream.

The removal of 80,000-100,000 GPD

of cooling water will decrease the amount of hydraulic overloading,

but

will also have the effect of raising the concentration of the effluent

presently discharged.

The biological load will be increased by

both the additional flow and the lower dilution factor caused by

the lack of the cooling water.

Amboy has failed to present facts necessary to allow the Board to

determine the nature of any adverse environmental effects which may be

caused by the proposed connections.

Amboy has also failed to

substantiate the alleged hardships for which variance is sought.

For these reasons Amboy’s petition is inadequate and must therefore

be

dismissed.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and

conclusions of law.

Mr. Goodman and Mr. Young dissent.

ORDER

The City of Amboy’s Petition for Variance is hereby dismissed

without prejudice.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board,

hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the

~~_day

of March,

1976 by

a vote of

3

—~

Illinois Pollution

trol Board

20—259