ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

March

28,

1974

CITY OF SILVIS,

Petitioner,

)

 PCB 74—88

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE

BOARD

 (by Mr. Henss)

City of Silvis requests variance from Order No.

 10 of

Environmental Protection Agency vs. City of Silvis,

 PCB 71-157.

Order No.

 10 prohibited the Cities of Silvis and East Moline

from constructing any new sewers or any source of waste that

would flow to their waste treatment facilities.

 The Cities

Were also prohibited under Order No.

 10 from increasing the

strength or concentration of the influent to the waste treat-

ment facility unless permitted to do so by “variance or otherwise”.

Petitioner now seeks permission

 to connect about 120 lots

~o its present sewer system.

 The residential area of concern

 located on 13th and 14th Streets

 in the Silvis Heights Addition

and on 15th Street in the Edgewood Addition.

 George

 0. Barr

school is located in this area.

At present, Silvis provides only primary treatment of its

sewage prior to discharging the waste to the Rock River.

Raw

sewage is sometimes discharged to the river.

 On June 22, 1971

the Environmental Protection Agency filed a Complaint against

 Silvis charging that the sewage was inadequately treated and

was polluting the Rock River.

 The Pollution Control Board held

that Silvis “was and has been for some time in violation of the

Environmental Protection Act.”

 because of its pollutional discharge

(PCB 71—157).

Petitioner has been under

 a sewer connection ban for over

4 1/2 years.

 The first ban was imposed by the Sanitary Water

Board in August 1969.

 However, the sewage treatment today

is

much

the same as it was when the ban was first imposed.

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The City now asks us

 to act as ouickly as possible on the

variance petition because there has been an outbreak of infectious

hepatitis and the situation is “critical”.

 From December 1973

through February 1974 at least

 7 children attending Barr school

were found to have infectious hepatitis.

 A parent of

 a child

attending Barr school also contracted the disease.

 Our decision

today comes just

 21 days

 after the City petitioned for a variance

and under the law could not have been made earlier.

 (EPA Section

 37.)

The affidavit of Fred Siebenmann,

 Jr., Administrator of

the Division of Environmental Health,

 Rock Island County Health

Department was submitted in support ~f the variance petition.

 In a survey conducted during July and August 1973 Siebenmann

found that almost 40

 of the on—site septic systems were visibly

discharging effluent in yards and down natural or man—made

drainage ways with no room available for making new septic fields.

It was not positively proved that the standing sewage had caused

the hepatitis outbreak, but Siebenmann said the fact that the

children “live in or near unsewered neighborhoods strongly

suggests sewage origin”.

 He said the “highly concentrated effluent

has all of the potential for spreading enteric diseases and in--

fectious hepatitis”.

In City of Silvis vs. EPA,

 PCB 72-141,

 this Board allowed

Petitioner a variance from Order No.

 10 in order to connect

23

homes under circumstances similar to those presented in the instant

case.

 In PCB 72-141 Siebenrnann testified as to the conditions

he

had observed near the 23 homes:

 “Given the right sequence of

events, we can have an enteric disease outbreak, probably hepatitis;

~ou

 have to have someone in the neighborhood with

 a disease and

in

 a system that

 is now functioning in order for the organisms

to

get into the effluent on the surface of the ground but it is

ty~icaIand normal for the children in this neighborhood...to

frequent the shores of the stream and play there,

 so the potential

(exists)

 for the children as well as these adults

who

 frequent the

shores of the stream

 to get a disease.”

 it now appears that the

pc~ntial has been realized.

The Agency recommends granting

this

 variance subject to

certain

conditions.

its

Recommendation

the

Agency

stated.

“that

the

immediate

consideration

 human

welfare

must

over—ride

any

ccnsideration

for

the

environment

 and water quality of the

~ock Piver.”

 ~e concur.

 However, the Agency points out that

OfliV

 7~of the

120

 lots are presently improved.

 Again the

sir’iiarity between this case and PCB 72-141 is obse~ved.

In

~-~‘c°

 72~14lSilvis sought the connection

of

 6 unimproved lots

in

sdciition

to

the

 23 improved lots.

As

 did in PCB 72-141,

e shall permit connections

 to be provided for only those lots that

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 T~2:

—3—

are presently rleveloped.~

 Clearly the additional

 44 lots are not

creating any health problems and to allow connections for those

 lots would only encourage their development thereby aggravating

an already much too serious problem.

The sewage problems

 in Silvis have existed too long.

The

community was slow in addressing these problems, but in recent

years, the upgrading of the Silvis sewer system has been compli-

cated by “regionalization”.

 In PCB 71-157 the Board approved a

plan for Silvis

 to complete construction of an interceptor main

to the East £4oline facility by the date when the City of East

Moline completes

 the construction of its new and larger regional

treatment facilities.

 Originally this completion date was to have

been December 31,

 1973.

 Since that Order,

 a number of events have

occurred including the impoundment of sewage treatment plant con-

struction funds by President Nixon.

 Further aggravating this

problem was the enactment of

 a provision in the Federal Water

Pollution Control Act of

 1972 stating that any inuncipality which

starts construction before receiving a Federal grant is barred

from any reimbursement from the Federal Government.

In response

 to these events the Board postponed until

December 31,

 1974 the reauirement to meet effluent standards for

any discharger

 to the waters of the State who is or will be eligible

for a construction grant.

 (Rule 409, Water Pollution Control Regu-

lations).

Construction of the East Moline facility is proceeding but,

 according to the Agency,

 the contractor states that the new East

Moline facility will not be equipped to rece~iveany flow from

Silvis before December

1,

 1974.

 Silvi~cannot wait for the inter-

ceptor connection to be completed.

 The health hazard is too great.

We shall allow

 a variance for the connection of only the 76

 lots

upon which homes and septic systems now exist.

As

 a condition of

 this variance we will require Silvis to

closely oversee the installation of any additional septic systems.

Septic systems which will become a health hazard are not to be

installed.

 Both the Board and the Agency are required by law “to

establish

 a unified, statewide program... to restore, protect,

and

enhance the quality of the environment.

.“

 Environmental

 Protection

Act, Section

 2(b)

 The ban on sewer connection has been

 a useful

tool in carrying out this legislative purpose in those communities

which for one reason or another, have been unable to upgrade an

inadequate sewage treatment facility or have been faced with unusual

economic growth leading to an overloading of the treatment facilitic

The intent of the ban is

 to cause an upgrading of sewage treatment

The installation of septic systems

 as a method of complying with

the ban might not serve this purpose.

 The EPA recommends

 that

construction of residences utilizing septic systems be prohibi

72’~

—4—

where soil

 conriitions,

 lot size and housing density indicate that

septic systems will he inadequate.

 Such a prohibition is appro-

priate

 in this case.

 Statements regarding adequacy of the septic

systems shall be made by the Division of Environmental Health,

Rock Island County Health Department.

ORDER

It

 is the Order of the Pollution uontrol Board that the

City

 of Silvis be granted a variance from Order No.

 10 of

Environmental Protection Agency vs. City of Silvis, PCB 71—157

for the purpose of allowing sewer connections for 76 improved

lots,

 as shown

 (in yellow color)

 in Petitioner’s application

for variance, Exhibit C.

 This variance is subject to the

following conditions

1.

 City of Silvis shall prohibit future development

of residences

 utilizing septic systems where

soil conditions, lot size,

 and housing density

indicate that a septic system will be inadequate.

Prior to permitting construction of residences

which will utilize septic systems,

 the City shall

obtain

 a statement from the Administrator of the

Division of Environmental Health, Rock Island

County Health Department,

 that the septic system

will meet accepted public health standards.

2.

 City of Silvis shall, within 180 days from the

date of this Order,

 complete the planning process

preliminaries necessary for the securing of

Federal and State funds to finance the connection

with the East Moline sewage treatment plant.

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

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order was adopte~

this

~

 day of

L_.

 1974 by

 a vote of

to

C

~..

)

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