ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March
25,
1976
THE QUAKER OATS COMPANY,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 75—439
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION,
AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDE1~OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Goodman):
This matter comes before the Board upon Petition of The Quaker
Oats Company
(Quaker)
for review of certain contested conditions
included
in an operating permit issued by the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency
(Agency).
Hearing was held on February
2,
1976,
and a Stipulation Of Facts was filed I~4arch 1,
1976.
The permit in question concerns
a treatment facility serving
Quaker’s Pekin,
Illinois,
paperboard plant.
More specifically the
issue concerns the status of a ditch to which Quaker discharges
its
treated effluent from which,
in
turn,
the effluent
is discharged into
the Illinois River.
Quaker discharges approximately 1.25 million
gallons per day of treated waste water whose regulated pollutants
are basically DOD and total suspended solids
CTSS)
The Agency considers the ditch which conveys the effluent from
the treatment plant
to the Illinois River as a low flow stream
under the standard of Rule 404(f)
of Chapter
3 of the Illinois Pollu-
tion Control Board Rules and Regulations
(Regulations)
and thus im-
posed a standard of
4 mg/l of BUD and
5 mg/l of TSS on Quaker’s
effluent.
Quaker,
on the other hand,
considers the ditch to be
no
more than
a conduit or sewer and,
therefore,
under the limitations
for discharge directly to the Illinois River, i.e.,
20 mg/l of BOD
and 25 mg/l of TSS.
The issue in this case is, therefore,
simply whether Quaker
discharges
to an intermittent stream or to the Illinois River.
A
review of the record and the briefs
in this case reveals that the
20—385
—2—
Agency has taken a rather technical view of the status of the ditch,
relying upon the following facts:
it traverses more than one piece
of private property;
it has a meandering type configuration; and
it
was originally a stream connecting the Illinois River with what was
known as Dead Lake.
According to the Stipulation Of Facts filed in
this case Dead Lake
is now developed and used as a parking facility
and manufacturing site.
The Stipulation of Facts also reveals that a prior permit
issued by the Illinois Sanitary Water Board considered the discharge
from Quaker’s Pekin facility to be directly to the Illinois River.
Approximately 1.25 million gallons per day of treated waste water
is discharged from the existing aerated lagoon to the ditch which
runs one—half mile before it joins
the Illinois River, traversing
private land owned by the American Distillery Company, the Standard
Brands Company and Quaker.
Except during periods when the Illinois
River is high and backs up the length of the ditch, there
is no
aquatic life supported by the ditch.
The ditch is not used for recre-
ation, domestic animal watering,
or irrigation,
and exists solely to
carry industrial discharges.
During periods
of dry weather 95
of
the flow in the ditch results from Quaker’s effluent.
The remainder
of the flow results solely from limited discharges by nearby indus-
trial facilities discharging approximately
50 and 100 yards from
Quaker.
During wet weather some incremental water in the ditch re-
presents storm runoff,
this runoff being an insignificant portion of
the total
flow.
The ditch is not fed by
a natural source of water
except when the Illinois River is high and water backs into the
ditch.
Upon review of the Stipulation Of Facts and the record
in this
case,
the Board finds that whatever designation
is placed upon the
ditch,
it
is most certainly not an intermittent stream.
When the
Illinois River is in flood,
the area becomes a back water of the
River and Quaker’s discharge pipe is actually under the surface of
the River.
At this time Quaker is discharging directly to the
Illinois River.
At other than flood levels,
the discharge
is into a
conduit which has no other use but to deliver the industrial effluent
from Quaker and its neighbors to the Illinois River.
The Water Pollution Regulations of Illinois
(Regulations),
Chapter
3, Rule 104 defines sewer as
“a pipe or conduit for carrying
either wastewater or land runoff or both”.
Rule 104 also expressly
excepts sewers from the definition of “waters”,
while adding the
proviso that natural or otherwise protected waters shall not be
considered sewers.
The Regulations thus make specific allowance for a conduit
20— 386
—3--
that transports wastewater so long as that conduit is not also
a “natural water”.
Conduit
is defined in Webster’s Third New Inter-
national Dictionary
(unabridged) (1966),
as
“a natural or artificial
channel through which water or other fluid passes or is conveyed”.
The subject ditch is
a natural channel through which wastewater
is
conveyed directly to the Illinois River and which
is not a natural
accumulation of water.
The Board therefore finds the designation
“sewer”
is appropriate for the ditch which
is the subject of this
case.
The Board has previously determined that cases such as the
one presently before
us must be decided upon the facts of each
particular
case.
Allied Chemical Corporation
v.
EPA, PCB 73-382,
Alton Box Board Company
v. EPA, PCB 73-140, EPA v. Allied Chemical
Company,
PCB 72—109,
and EPA v. Koppers Company, PCB 70-49.
It
is
the opinion of the Board that in Quaker’s particular case the effluent
flow shall be considered
as being discharged directly to the Illinois
River.
However,
this determination
is based upon the facts and condi-
tions existing at the time of this Order.
The ditch and effluent
water
in question shall not be used for any recreational, domestic
animal watering,
or irrigation purposes and the land surrounding the
ditch shall remain closed to the general public.
Any change
in the
character or substance
of the ditch or
its effluent flow shall be
cause
for review of the Board’s determination as to the status of the
ditch.
This Opinion constitutes the finding of fact and conclusions of
law of the Board.
ORDER
It
is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
The effluent discharge of Quaker Oats Company’s Pekin,
Illinois,
facility shall be subject to the limitations of Rule
404(b)
of Chapter
3 of the Illinois Pollution Control Boa~rd
Rules and Regulations and Quaker’s operating permit issued by
the Environmental Protection Agency
for this facility shall be
modified in a manner not inconsistent with the foregoing Opinion
and Order.
Mr. Young abstained.
20—387
—4—
I,
Christan L.
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Boarçl,3hereby certify
he above Opinion and Order were adopted on the
“__day of
,
1976 by a vote of
.3-a
I
Christan L.
Noffett,
rk
Illinois Pollution C
ol Board
20—388