IlLINOIS PQlJ1JTI~t~1CCt~T1~E~BQT~RD

april 4, 1975

SANt~ICHCC1~4UNITY

UNIT SCHOOLS

)

District

No.

430,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PcB

74-428

~VIE2~T~L

P~IECTI~

AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINIC~4AND

ORDER OF THE BOZ½RD (by Mr. Zeitlin)

This

action was brought by

Petitioner Sandwich Camiiunity

Unit

Schools District No. 430 (District) on Nov~nber18, 1974 for a

variance

fran a sewer ban

ii~osedby the I11ir~is

Environrrental Protection Agency

(Agency), on Dec~nber

4, 1972, to allow the

opening

of a

vocational

school

in Sandwich, Illinois.

On Novanber 22, 1974, the

Pollution Control Board (Board) ordered

the District to

clarify

the cause of the ban, and

explain whether

it

was

due to an inadequate

sewer

systan or

overloading

of the

treath~nt

plant.

The District filed an airended petition on 3anuary 16, 1975,

stating

its

belief

that the sewer ban was based both on a “restriction of the transport

systEn and an overloaded

sewage

treatzrent

plant” (Am. Pet. 1)

. *

Studies

of

the sewer

systEn

have started

but have not been

cczt~leted.

Plans

for plant

expansion and ~ir~roverrent have been approved by the

Agency but lack

of

funding has

delayed

the award

of

contracts and start

of

construction.

The City of

Sandwich’s

sewage

treab~nt

plant

was designed

for a

population

equivalent of 5,000. The

designed

hydraulic

capacity

is 0.5

?~) (Rec, 9),

I~?bnthlyreports (Rec.

9) indicate

severe overloading,

both

hydraulically and biologically. For 1974, the averages for flow,

BOD, and

S. S.

were

.

712

rngd,

25 i~/l BC)) and 27 n~g/1SS. The n~axima

during the year were respectively

1.492, 29 and 29. Agency grab

sait~les

during

1974

showed

even

higher

values of 60 rr~j/l~) and

66

ir~j/1of

SS.

Armi.nia had a inaxinun

of 13 rrg/1.

*

“Pet.”: Petition (Filed NovE±er18, 1974)

“Am. Pet.”: Amended Petition

(Januaxy

16, 1975)

“Rec.”: Agency Recarmendation (February

24, 1975)

16—305

---

—2—

The Indian Valley

Vocational Center (Center),

utilized by 12

participating

school districts is scheduled to

open to students

on

August

28, 1975.

As of

February

21, 1975, contractual

docurrents had not been signed and

construction had not

begun for the

sewage

treatnent

plant ixnprov~rent;

the

Agency

est±nates

that

the plant

iiprov~rent

will

not

be accatiplished

till about September

1976.

There will therefore be an

additional

deterioration of the

Sandwich

plant effluent after the new

Center

is

connected

to the Sandwich

sewer

system. This condition

will last for about a year, since

construction

~rk on the plant

improv~ient

is

rit

likely to

start

before April, 1975.

A 16 rronth

construction period

is

assurred

by the

Agency

(Pec. 14, 15).

The

District’s claim of unreasonable hardship

is based on a

$2, 000,000

investaent which would have to remain idle. Alternatively, the District

could

spend

an additional

$25,000 “for a septic

system

or

other

private

sewage

disposal

facility which

would

be abandoned” after only a

year

‘

s

use

(Pet, 3), The

Center

is

inportant

to the educational

needs of

the

area,

and failure

to obtain a

variance

would thus

cause a

corrrnunity

hardship. See,

School

Building Carurunity

v.

EPA, PCB

71-247, 2 PCB 681

(1971);

lake County School

District #64

V.

EPA, P03

71-313,

3 P03

313

(1971).

The estimated increase

of

loading

is 5665 gpd

and

5.3 PE of SOD.

Although the increase that would result

if

the District is

permitted to

connect the Center

to the sewage plant is

negligible (less than .8

of

one percent), any increase in f1a~qon an overloaded olant causes

scxr~e

deterioration in the

final effluent.

While

the possibility of

by~

passing exists, the records

show

that this so seldom cecurrs that there

is

practically no danger of increasing the need to by-pass

as

a

result

of the

additional hydraulic loading. The additional

organic loading

will

also have a minimal

effect

on

the effluent

quality.

While the :listrict: was aware of the iiad oy of the sewaqe treatrrent.

facilities in

2972

at the start of :Lte nroject~ tin Sthtrict

did.

beiieve~

(apparently on the Isasiso:: ;Lnforsation offered. by tue City ci Sandwich)

that there would be only a few xrontfls between

the

xsrpietLon ci: tnss

project. arid the availability

of

adeguate sewage treatsr~nt~(Yrdinarily

this would

mitigate against

granting the variance.

T-Iowever,

in

providing

a ses~er connection in this instance, we concur with

the

Agency that the

resultant benefit

to

the

public outweighs

the

negligible

inpact

on the

enviromrent. We will

therefore

concur with the

Agency’s

recamnendation,

and grant

the

requested Variance.

This

Opinion

constitutes the

findings of fact

and conclusions

of

law

of the

Board in this matter.

16—306

---

—3—

ORDER

It is the

Order

of the Pollution Control

Board that a

variance

fran

the

sewer ban in~osed

on the Sandwich City sewer systen is granted to

the Sandwich Camnunity

Unit

Schools

District No. 430.

I,

~hristan

L. Ivbffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board hereby certify

that

the

atove Opinion and

Order

were adopted on

the

~4

*“

day of

_______________,

1975 by a vote of ~

to (~

~i

g

~/

Christen

L. Moffett, Cl~r1q.

Illinois Pollution

Cont~~,/Board