ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September 18, 1975

SKYWAY REALTY,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 75—249

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by Mr. Dumelle):

The Petitioner, Skyway Realty, filed a petition for a

sewer connection variance, which was received by the Illinois

Pollution Control Board (Board) on June 23, 1975. Petitioner

(Skyway) seeks a variance from Rule 951(a) of Chapter 3:

Water Pollution Pegulations of Illinois, to connect four (4)

single family dwellings to the Village of Lansing sewer

system. This system is currently under a sewer ban imposed

by the Environmental Protection Agency (Agency) pursuant to

Section 39 of the En7ironmental Protection Act I1.Rev.

Stat.,1971,Ch.111 )/2,Sect.1039, and Rule 962(a) of Chapter

3: Water Regulations. The ban resulted from an organic

overload of the Lansing Treatment Plant. Skyway’s initial

petition was inadequate. Pursuant to a Board Order, Skyway

filed an amended petition on July 16, 1975. An Agency

Recommendation was received on July 31, 1975. No hearing

was held.

Skyway response in its Amended Petition was inadequate

and incorrect. The Board’s Order of June 30, 1975, required

Skyway to provide among other things, a statement of the

biological condition of the receiving stream. Skyway, in

its amended petition, merely advanced a simple assertion

that the receiving stream,

“...

Is not polluted, has no

septic condition and no smell.” This is not correct. The

receiving stream is the Little Calumet. A comprehensive

biological survey of the Little Calumet conducted by the

Agency on October 12, 1973, upstream and downstream of the

Lansing outfall indicated a generally degraded stream

condition. The A~ency indicates that this survey remains

typical of curren’~stream conditions.

18— 570

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—2—

Skyway has failed to demonstrate that denial of a

variance would create an unreasonable hardship. The Board

is required when ruling on a variance, to balance environmental

impact against hardship to the Petitioner. The Agency

admits in its Recommendation that the grant of a variance

here would have a minimal impact on the Little Calumet.

However, the Agency also indicates this stream is already in

poor condition. For its part, Skyway started construction

of the homes in question in 1974, after being denied a sewer

connection permit. Skyway thus proceeded with full knowledge

of the sewer ban. Skyway now claims that the denial of a

variance will irn,*~osea hardship by forcing it to evade the

ban by construct~nga separate sewer line from each home to

the existing sewer at a cost of $3000.

This course of action may be open to Skyway, but it has

not shown that this cost is an unreasonable hardship.

Moreover, the ability to evade a regulation is no justification

for the granting of

d

variance.

Finally, any hardship here would be wholly self-imposed.

The impending Septeiroer, 1975, diversion of the Lansing flow

to the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago

will eliminate t1~eorganic overload situation which necessitated

the ban and thus permit additional connections to the Lansing

system. A delay for the short period of time remaining

until the diversion will negate any need for Skyway to

construct individual sewer lines.

This Opinion cDnstitutes the Board’s findings of fact

and conclusions of law.

ORDER

The Board hereby denies Skyway Realty a variance from

Rule 951(a) of Ch~ipter3: Water Pollution Regulations of

Illinois.

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

Control Board, hereoy certify the above Opnion and Order

were adopted on the

~

day o

1975 by a

vote of

,~3-~

.

Illinois Pollution ntrol Board

18

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