ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August 9,
1973
C—W ENTERPRISES,
INC.,
Petitioner,
vs.
)
PCB 73—205
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
Clarence A. Darrow, Attorney for Petitioner
John Marco, Acting Director for the EPA
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Henss)
Petitioner C—W Enterprises,
Inc. operates a 49-bed inter-
mediate care nursing home in East Moline, Illinois and proposes
to expand its facility to
a total of
97 beds.
In EPA vs. Silvis,
PCB 71—157,
this Board ordered:
‘The Cities of Silvis and East Moline shall not
permit the construction of any new sewers or other
source of waste to their facilities,
or any in-
crease in the strength or concentration of waste
discharged to their facilities unless permitted
to do
so,
either by variance or otherwise.”
C-W
Enterprises seeks
a variance from that Order for the purpose
of increasing its nursing home capacity by
48 beds.
The East Moline Sewage Treatment plant
is
a primary treatment
facility, which discharges chlorinated effluent directly to the
Mississippi River.
Although the plant has a design average flow
of 2.5 MGD and a design peak flow of 7.5 MGD the pipe between the
plants flume and the primary settling tank has a hydraulic capacity
of approximately 4.5 MGD.
Consequently,
any flow in excess of
about 4.5 MGD is bypassed without primary treatment or chlorination
directly to the Mississippi River.
According to the EPA, recent East Moline Monthly Operation
Reports show that the plant has received flows in excess of 4.5
NGD over
a consecutive 3-month period.
Presumably, during those
times raw sewage has entered the Mississippi River.
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Due to the enormousdilution ratio provided by the Mississippi
River, the EPA has found no demonstrable river degradation re-
sulting from the East Moline treatment plant effluent.
The Agency
believes that the granting of this variance would cause no
appreciable adverse effect on the River.
It was noted, however,
that the East Moline drinking water intake location is
less than
two miles downstream of the East Moline sewage treatment plant
outfall.
The plant’s effluent consistently tests high for BOD and
suspended solids.
East Moline has been granted a variance from
Rule 404(b) (i)--BOD and suspended solids-—until February 27,
1974.
This variance is subject to extension until December 27,
1975,
the proposed completion date for a secondary treatment plant.
The plan is to provide an 11.1 MGD secondary treatment facility
to serve the communities of East Moline,
Silvis,
Carbon Cliff
and Hampton.
The EPA has recommended denial of the variance requested by
C-W Enterprises.
Denial would probably prevent Petitioner from
constructing the proposed nursing home addition until the end of
December 1975.
C-W Enterprises states that the nursing home addition is
needed for two reasons:
to satisfy a tremendous need for more
nursing beds and to make the nursing home more profitable for
C-W Enterprises.
The care facility was completed and opened in December 1972.
By February 15, 1973
it was completely full and since that date
the waiting list has grown longer.
The original intention was to
increase the capacity in the second year of operation.
Petitioner’s
decision to increase capacity after just six months of operation
is apparently the result of high demand for nursing beds in the
area.
Petitioner’s desire to increase its profits
is understandable
but would not be sufficient
in itself for the grant of a variance.
If Petitioner’s profits were the only issue we would not hesitate
to deny the variance and inform the Company that it must delay its
expansion until the regional sewage treatment system has been
completed.
However, correspondence from the Illinois Department of Public
Aid and the Illinois Department of Public Health indicate that
there is a need for additional nursing care facilities
in Rock
Island County.
The Rock Island County Superintendent for the
S
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Department of Public Aid stated that there was a need for nursing
beds and that she would like to see the East Moline Care Center
expand its facility.
In May 1973 the Planning and Construction
Section of the Division of Health Facilities, Illinois Department
of Public Health, calculated that the Rock Island—Moline service
area,
which includes East Moline,
is in need of an additional
71
nursing care beds and 256 sheltered care beds.
Petitioners claim that the total of all raw materials and
contaminants
to be processed and disposed by the existing facility
and
the
proposed addition would be
a maximum of
50 gallons per
minute.
The Agency believes that the figure would be less than
that estimated by the Petitioner.
We
believe that the needs of the community are best served
in this instance by allowing the variance.
On balance,
the need
for additional nursing beds outweighs the effects of a rather
minimal additional loading on the East Moline treatment system.
The variance is granted because its denial would cause an undue
hardship upon persons in the community who are in need of this
additional facility.
We
recommend that Petitioner explore ways
to minimize its discharge to the East Moline sewage system pending
completion of the secondary treatment plant.
ORDER
It
is ordered that Petitioner C-W Enterprises,
Inc.
is
granted
a variance from Order No.
10 of Environmental Protection
Agency vs.
City of Silvis,
PCB 71-157 for the purpose of con-
structing additional sewers or increasing the strength or concen-
tration of waste discharged. to the East Moline sewage system in
the construction of
a
48 bed addition
t.
its existing care center.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify
tiie above Opinion and Order was adopted
this
~
day of August,
1973 by a vote of
~
to
0
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/
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