ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    December
    20,
    1973
    K.
    B.
    NAUM.ANN,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    PC3
    73-353
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    OPINION
    AND
    ORDER OF
    THE
    BOARD
    (by Mr.
    Seaman)
    On August
    21,
    1973,
    Petitioner,
    K.
    B.
    Naumann,
    a resident
    of Gurnee,
    County
    of Lake,
    Illinois,
    filed his request for variance.
    Petitioner seeks
    relief from Order
    ~7 of League of Women Votersv.
    North Shore Sanitary District,
    (PCB 70—7,
    12,
    13 and
    14)
    in order
    to obtain
    a sewer connection permit
    for
    a single-family
    residence presently
    in
    the final
    stages of construction
    at 421 Hawthorne
    Street,
    in
    Gurnee,
    Illinois.
    No hearing was held
    in this matter.
    The proposed sewer connection would be tributary
    to the Clavey Road sewage treatment plant
    of the
    North Shore
    Sanitary District.
    Data extracted from
    the District!s
    Monthly Operation Reports
    to the
    Agency discloses the following with respect
    to the
    effluent qualities oroduced
    and the average flows
    treated
    at the Clavey Road sewage treatment plant:
    CLAVEY ROAD SEWAGE TREATMENT
    PLANT
    MONTHLY
    OPERATION
    REPORTS
    Ave.
    Suspended
    Flow
    BOD
    Solids
    Month
    (MCD)
    (mg/i)
    (mq/1)
    Jan/73
    7.56
    18
    17
    Feb/73
    6.87
    33
    20
    Mar/73
    9.21
    35
    21
    Apr/73
    10.31
    28
    22
    May/73
    8.19
    30
    31
    Jun/73
    7.64
    23
    20
    Jul/73
    6.34
    19
    23
    Aug/73
    6.33
    11
    13
    Sep/73
    6.72
    7
    18
    10
    *
    431
    —2—
    Although the Clavey Road plant is being upgraded
    to
    10 MCD,
    a diversion program currently underway
    will add 3.0 MCD to this plant.
    A further expansion
    to 18 MGD is expected to be completed in March of 1974.
    The standards of effluent quality set in North Shore
    Sanitary v. Environmental Protection Agency
    (PCB
    71-343)
    are
    20 mg/i BOD and
    25 mg/i of suspended solids.
    Petit.i.~her’sbusiness
    is the construction of homes.
    Petitioner states that he builds,
    on the average,
    one
    home per year.
    The building permit for the subject
    residence was issued March
    24,
    1973, allegedly in anticipation
    that sewer permits would soon be released.
    Petitioner
    states that without a sewer connection
    permit he will not only be unable to market his product,
    but will also
    lose considerable interest on a heavy
    investment.
    Petitioner submits the following information
    as regards the amount invested:
    $
    6,750
    -
    for the land
    3 ,656
    —
    for water
    rijain extens.~on
    20,000
    -
    for material and labor to date
    (approx)
    Petitioner argues that “under normal circumstances”
    a contract sale would have been possible, and a $16,000
    payment at this point would have leen realized.
    Instead,
    he is incurring an 8
    interest loss.
    Only the Pollution Control Board can make the decision
    as to when additional sewer connection permits will be
    released to the area in question.
    Predictions by either
    District or municipal officials as
    to when additional
    permits would be released by the Board cannot be relied
    on by builders,
    and it was
    an error in judgment for Petitioner
    to do
    so.
    However, even though Petitioner~srather severe
    financial hardship is,
    to an extent, self-imposed, we are
    disposed to grant the variance requested.
    The situation
    at the Clavey Road plant shows definite improvement.
    We have allowed
    a condominium developer to obtain sewer
    ban variances
    for the sale of developed condominium units
    (Exchange
    National
    Bank
    &
    Katz-Weiss
    Construction
    Corporation
    v.
    Environmental Protection Agency,
    (PCB 73—15).
    We have also
    10
    *
    432
    —3—
    allowed
    a developer
    to obtain sewer ban variances for
    resale of property that would add 910 population equivalent
    to the system (Mid-City Developers v.
    Environmental
    Protection Agency, PCB 72-274).
    The Board finds that Petitioner
    is suffering an
    unreasonable hardship under Order
    #7 of the League of Wmen
    Voters v. North Shore Sanitary District.
    This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and
    conclusions of law of the Board.
    ORDER
    IT
    IS THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board
    that Petitioner,
    K.
    B. Naumann, be granted variance
    for sanitary sewer connection for the single-family
    residence located at 421 Hawthorne Street,
    Curnee,
    Illinois.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Christan
    L. Moffett,
    Clerk of the Illinois
    Pollution Control Board, certify that the above Opinion
    and Order was adopted on the
    ~
    day of
    ~
    1973 by a vote of
    ~
    to
    ~
    In ~
    10
    *
    433

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