ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April 10, 1975
CITY OF BREESE,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 73—209
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Dumelle):
The City of Breese
(Breese)
filed a variance petition
on May 21,
1973 seeking relief from the appropriate particulate
standards.
We interpret this as
a request for variance from
Rule 2-2.53 of the Rules and Regulations Governing the
Control of Air Pollution and from Pollution Control Board
Regulations, Chapter
2, Part II, Rule 203(g) (1) (B).
A
motion for continuance was granted on August 10,
1973 and an
amended petition seeking the same relief was filed on September
11,
1973.
Breese waived the statutory 90-day decision
period on July
13,
1973.
One day of hearing was held on
December 18,
1973.
Breese operates an electric power generating station
located in the City of Breese, Clinton County,
Illinois,
The station has four generating units with
a total operating
capacity of 6,650 kw.
Two diesel units can produce a combined
total of 3,900 kw.
The remaining 2,750 kw are supplied by
two coal-fired boilers, which are the subject of this variance
petition.
Breese initially applied for operating permits from the
Environmental Protection Agency for the
two coal-fired
boilers on January
23,
1973.
Revised applications were
submitted March 27,
1973.
On April
25, 1973 the Agency
refused to grant the permits on the grounds that neither
boiler has adequate emission control devices to control
excessive particulate emissions.
Data submitted by the Agency
(Amended Recommendation,
p.
2)
and stipulated to by Breese
(R.
88)
indicate the
following for the coal—fired boilers:
16.~34~
—2—
Boiler No.
1
Boiler No.
2
Generating Rate
(MW)
0.75
2.0
Fuel Type
Coal
Coal
Ash Content
10
10
Sulfur Content
2.86
2.86
BTtJ Value Per Pound
11,300 BTU
11,300
BTtJ
Stack Height
75(A)
75(B)
Collection Device
None
None
Stack Particulate Standard 2-2.53
0.8
0.8
Stack Particulate Emissions
lb/b6 BTU
2.14
2.14
May 1975 Particulate Standard
0.2
0.2
SO2 Standard lb/b6 BTU
6.0
6.0
Calculated SO2 Emissions lb/b6 BTU
4.88
4.88
As can be seen from the above chart, neither of the coal-
fired units has any particulate controls.
The emissions
from these boilers drastically exceed the allowable standard
for particulates of 0.8 lb/lOb BTU.
At hearing Breese indicated it planned to expand the
diesel engine generating capacity of its power plant in the
range of 3,000 to 5,000 kw.
The system peak load in 1973
was 5,000 kw.
Anticipated peak loads through 1980 were
estimated between 6,900 and 8,900 kw.
Breese requested a
variance for Boiler No.
1
(750 kw) until such time as the
new diesel engine was installed (expected in late 1974).
It
requested a variance for Boiler No.
2
(2,000 kw) until
a
favorable decision from the Federal Power Commission
(FPC)
(Docket No. E-75l2) allowed interconnection with the Illinois
Power Company,
at which time it would also retire Boiler No.
2.
If the FPC decides unfavorably, or if rates established
under a favorable decision are economically undesirable to
the City,
Breese intends to operate Boiler No.
2 until
conversion to oil burners can be accomplished.
Such conversion
was estimated to require five months from the FPC decision
date, with actual installation made during non—sununer months.
On October
31, 1973 the Agency filed an amended recommendation
to deny the variance petition.
It felt that retirement of
Boiler No.
1 was contingent on the completion of the new
diesel generator, on locating adequate supplies of diesel
fuel oil and on the maintenance of a reserve generating
capacity adequate to protect against forced outages.
It
also felt plans for Boiler No.
2 were too tenuous.
It
pointed out that the interconnection case has been before
the FPC since May,
1972 and that there is no indication a
decision is imminent.
Moreover,
it objected that Breese had
not developed any specifications or schedule for the contingent
conversion of Boiler No.
2 failing an interconnection agreement,
nor had Breese indicated that it had located a sufficient
fuel oil supply to operate the converted unit.
16—342
—3—
With respect to the proposed interconnection with
Illinois Power, petitioner’s request is similar tO that in
City of Highland v. EPA, PCB 73-288,
13 PCB 167 (July
25,
1974)
and City of Carlyle v.EPA,
PCB 73-264
(January 16, 1975),
in which the Board dismissed variance petitions, and the
compliance plan in the enforcement case decided today,
EPA v. City of Peru,
PCB 73-516.
All of these cities are
co-petitioners in the proceeding before the FPC to seek an
interconnection ruling.
We reject this proposal as an
inadequate compliance plan.
We cannot grant variances on
contingent possibilities.
Moreover, we find that our order
of February 14, 1974 seeking additional information on the
current status of contract offered by Illinois Power Company
was inadequately answered by Breese,
in a letter filed March
25,
1974,
which stated only that such an offer was under
consideration and negotiation was moving forward in
a favorable
manner.
In response to the same Board order Breese stated that
it had awarded a contract for the furnishing and installation
of a new 5,000 kw duel fuel engine to augment existing
equipment. However,
no completion schedule or evidence of
sufficient fuel commitments was indicated.
At hearing the
Superintendent of Utilities for the City of Breese testified
that the city’s oil supply rested on a verbal agreement,
with supplies
based on a month to month allocation
(R.
64).
He also testified that in the event the oil necessary to
maintain its oil burners was unobtainable, there would be no
other alternative than to use a boiler
(R.
70).
The consulting
engineer which prepared the variance petition could not
forecast what the oil availability would be for the city
(R.
54)
The Board recognizes that compliance programs based on
additional utilization of fuel oil are tenuous becauseof
availability difficulties.
The city’s new 5,000 kw engine
would seem adequate to replace both coal-fired boilers,
effectively eliminating the need for variances.
Breese,
however, indicated in its petition, and at hearing,
that it
intended to retire only Boiler No.
1 and to retain Boiler
No.
2 on stand-by in case of engine breakdown and for carrying
a portion of the system load after 1976-1979.
Although
Breese does not state the contract completion date,
it did
suggest in its petition, before the contract was awarded,
an
estimated completion during the latter part of 1974.
We are
willing to grant a retroactive variance,
for Boiler No.
1,
based on this adequate compliance plan,
from January
1,
1974
to December 31,
1974.
Since the compliance plan intended
the continuing use of Boiler No.
2, however, we refuse to
extend such a variance
(and its resultant immunity from
prosecution)
to this latter boiler.
Stand-by operation of
Boiler No.
2 would result in continued violation of the
16—343
—4—
appropriate particulate standards.
Breese has presented no
ambient air quality data which reflect the effect of its
emissions in excess of allowable limits.
Nor has Breese
presented a case of economic hardship which would demonstrate
an arbitrary or unreasonable hardship if required to comply
with the existing,
or future standards.
ORDER
The City of Breese is hereby granted a variance for its
electric power generating Boiler No.
1 from Rule 2-2.53 of
the Rules and Regulations Governing the Control of Air
Pollution from January
1,
1974 to December
31,
1974.
Variance
is denied without prejudice as regards Boiler No.
2.
IT IS
SO ORDERED,
I,
Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control
Board,
hereby
certify
the
above Opinion
and
Order
were
ado
ted on the J~day
of
April,
1975 by
a vote
of
Illinois Pollution
ntrol Board
16
—
344