ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    May
    29,
    1974
    GEORGE RODIS,
    Petitioner,
    V.
    )
    74—84
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,)
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Dr. Odell)
    Mr. George Rodis filed a Petition for Variance with the
    Pollution Control Board
    (Board)
    on March
    4,
    1974, seeking relief
    from our sewer ban Order
    7 set down in League of Women Voters
    v.
    North Shore Sanitary District
    (League)
    #70—7,
    1 PCB 369
    (March 31,
    1971)..
    In 1973, Petitioner purchased a vacant lot at 2426
    N.
    Butrick Street in Waukegan,
    Illinois with the intention of erect-
    ing a new home on the property.
    Mr. Rodis~spresent home——also
    located in Waukegan--is
    a two-bedroom,
    single-family dwelling
    occupied by him and his wife, three children, and Petitioner~s
    80-year old mother.
    The Board, in its Interim Order of March
    7, 1974,
    requested
    additional information regarding the adequacy of the present sewer
    on Butrick Street.
    An April
    1 response indicated that the sewer
    was presently hydraulically overloaded, but that improvements
    were
    to
    be made in the near fut~re.
    The City of Waukegan advertised
    f
    or
    bids on March
    28, and April
    24 had been, set for the opening
    of bids.
    The sewer improvement to be installed will adequately
    handle additional effluent, including that from a home which Mr.
    Rodis wants to build.
    Completion of the improvements was expected
    some time in the spring of 1975.
    The Environmental Protection Agency
    (EPA)
    filed its Recommenda-
    tion on May 20, 1974.
    In its investigation,
    EPA discovered that
    the contract for the sewer would be let on May
    6 with completion
    scheduled for early June 1975.
    However, EPA recommended that the
    Variance
    be
    denied
    in
    that:
    1.
    Sufficient hardship has not been proven.
    2.
    Alternative methods
    of treatment,
    such as septic
    tanks, have not been investigated.
    3.
    Several Board cases, including Bill Lawler v. Environmental
    Protection Agency #71—209,
    2 PCB 557
    (September
    30,
    1971),
    established precedents
    to rule out the grant of a variance
    here.
    12—447
    —2—
    We grant the Variance.
    The unreasonable hardship test of
    Section 35 of the Environmental Protection Act
    (Act)
    has been met.
    When Petitioner moves into his new home,
    the sewer improvements
    will be practically completed.
    In cases such as this,
    Petitioner
    need not explore other methods of sewage disposal as a condition
    to the grant of Variance.
    To install
    a device such as a septic
    tank for a short period of time and then connect to the newly
    completed sewer would be an unreasonable waste of money and
    materials.
    Finally, this case is distinguishable from Lawler v.
    Environmental Protection Agency,
    #71-209,.in that the sewer improve-
    ment, which will solve the problem in the instant case,
    is already
    being implemented and should be completed
    in 1975 soon after
    Mr. Rodis could complete his new house.
    ORDER
    Petitioner is hereby granted a Variance from our Order
    7 of
    League of Women Voters v. Environmental Protection Agency,
    #70-7,
    and may connect into the Butrick Street sewer in order to build his
    new home at 2426 N. Butrick, Waukegan, Illinois.
    IT
    IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Christan
    L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certi,fy that the above Opinion and Order was
    adopted on the ~9~day
    of
    (Y)
    1974, by a vote of
    -~
    to p
    Christan L. Mofr~, Clerk
    12—448

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