ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September
20,
1973
MARQUETTE CEMENT MANUFACTURING COMPANY,
Petitioner,
vs.
)
PCB 73—115
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
Charles Line,
for Petitioner
Kenneth
J. Gumbiner, Assistant Attorney General for the EPA
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Henss)
Petitioner operates a dry process cement manufacturing
plant in Oglesby, LaSalle County,
Illinois.
IN PCB 70-23,
this Board granted Petitioner
a variance from particulate
emission regulations pending installation of a new kiln
and control equipment.
The variance was extended twice
during the construction period and expired April
6,
1973.
By March
1,
1973 Marquette had added a new precipitator to
its old no.
1 and no.
2 kilns, constructed its new no.
3 kiln
with electrostatic precipitator, and closed down eight old
kilns which had been emitting six tons of particulates per
hour.
The Petitioner had fully complied with the conditions
imposed by the Board in its Variance Orders, had apparently
brought its operation into compliance with regulations,
and
was operating the equipment during a test period.
The total
cost of
the modernization program was 16.5 million dollars,
of which 3.25 million had been spent on pollution control
equipment.
On March
1,
1973,
a fire destroyed a substantial part of
the precipitator on kiln no.
3.
Marquette now requests a
third extension of the variance for six months,
the time
required to repair the damaged precipitator.
In April, 1973 the EPA investigated the current situation
at the Oglesby plant and found 100
opacity readings from the
stack attached to kiln no.
3.
The Agency stated that Petitioner
is
a major contributor of particulates
in LaSalle County,
9
—
287
—2—
emitting 123,000 tons of particulates per year from all
point and area sources.
This amounts to 23
of the par—
ticulates
in the County.
Following its April investigation
the EPA commenced a program of air monitoring and at that
time recommended that we make no decision on the variance
request until the results of the air monitoring were known.
In April Petitioner said it was willing to or)erate
kiln no.
3 at 60
of capacity
(900 tons of feed per day)
until
the precipitator had been repaired.
When operated
at that rate, particulate emissions from kiln no.
3 are 6,500
lbs. per hour.
Petitioner said it could not serve its
customers
if it reduced operations below 60.
Kiln no.
3
produces about 12
of all Portland Cement produced by Marquette
in the United States.
The Company claimed it would
lose one
million dollars
in business and seriously damagecustorner
relations
if kiln no.
3 were completely shut down.
Acco~dTny
to Marquette
a shut-down would cause fifty employees to be
thrown out of work and would damage the economy of the Oglesby
area.
The air monitoring program conducted by the EPA involved
hi—vol air samplers and meteorological equipment placed in
Oglesby.
These revealed that when the wind blew from the plant
toward town the particulate levels
in Oglesby were dangerously
high.
Readings were recorded as high
as 4,468 micrograms per
cubic meter for a 24-hour period.
As an average, when wind
conditions were right, air samples were 600 to 900 ug/m~for
a 24—hour period.
Readings were far in excess of
the 260 ug/m3
which may be exceeded only once per year.
Negotiations between
the EPA and Marquette resulted in reduction of the feed rate
to kiln no.
3.
Finally, Marquette voluntarily shut down kiln
no.
3 on May 26,
1973.
The Agency filed an Amended Recommendation requesting that
we deny the variance.
Marquette then requested that we postpone
our decision
in order to give Marquette an opportunity to perform
tests
upon the hi-vol samples which were obtained by the Agency.
The tests were apparently to determine whether the high concen-
trations of particulates were actually emissions
from the
Marquette plant.
Petitioner said “In view of the fact that it
will take several weeks to complete these tests, Marquette
requests a continuance until July 12,
1973 before the Board
determines whether or not Marquette’s Petition for Variance
Extension should be granted.
During this period Marquette will
continue to maintain its kiln no.
3 completely shut down so that
the emissions which
the Agency found a hazard and objectionable
will not exist”.
We granted a three—week postponement and
9
—
288
—3—
subsequently granted
4
additional
delays at the request
of Petitioner Marquette.
Marquette has not submitted any additional information
to us regarding the samples or its testing program.
However,
Petitioner has had ample opportunity to obtain the information
requested and since the decision is now due we will decide
the case on the record which was presented.
The variance is granted to May 26,
1973
the date when
Marquette voluntarily shut down kiln no.
3.
We cannot
accept particulate readings at the levels found in this case,
but under all of the circumstances do not believe Marquette
should be prosecuted for emissions prior to May 26,
a period
of time when the Company was either under variance or was
cooperating with the EPA in attempts to solve its problem.
We do not grant a variance for Marquette’s operation
after May 26,
1973.
Any subsequent operations
in violation
of the Regulation or Statute are subject to prosecution.
It
seems right to us that such liability attach on
May
26,
1973
when Marquette had obviously been advised of the danger
to
citizens in
the community from continued operations
of kiln
no.
3 without the electrostatic precipitator.
After requesting delays more than ample for its testing
purposes, Marquette has chosen not to submit its test data
to us.
This leaves the Agency evidence and its inferences
unrebutted.
Our conclusion is that emissions from Marquette
when kiln no.
3
is operated without the precipitator are
napable of causing damage to the health of citizens in Oglesby.
The
Code of Federal Regulations October
23,
1971, page
20513,
in icates that concentrations of particulates in excess of
l,OUO micrograms percubic meter for a 24—hour average are
c;~iableof causing significant harm to the health of people
exposed to such readings.
According to Robert Pogrund, Associate Professor of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of
Illinois Medical Center, School of Public Health,
those
medical effects in this case could include:
increase
in
frequency and severity of respiratory diseases, bronchial
irritation, inflammation of the air passages in the lungs.
The stack attached to kiln no.
3 is low.
A higher stack
would allow for more dispersion of the particulates.
Further-
more,
the natural terrain in the area adds to the problem for
9
—
289
—4—
the
citizens
of
Oglesby.
The
stack attached to kiln no.
3
is
just
500
feet
above
sea
level
but
Oqieshy
is
about
630
feet above
sea level.
Since the stack
is below Oglcsby
ground
level,
the
particulate
readings
at
ground
level
in
Oglesby
will
be
significantly
higher
than
they
would
be
if
kiln
no.
3
had
a
higher
stack.
Marquette
has
cooperated
in
the control
of
its
emissions.
That
cooperation
and
the
fact
that
the
loss
of
the
precipitator
could
not
have
been
anticipated,
persuade
us
to
grant
a
shield
from
any
prosecution
for
the
emissions
between
tlie
fire
and
May
26,
1973.
We
must
be
absolutely
sure,
however,
that
such
dangerous
levels
of
air
contamination
do
not
continue.
Kiln
no.
3
should
not
be
operated
without
an
electrostatic
precipitator.
The
variance
will
not
extend
to
operations
subsequent
to
May
26,
1973.
ORDER
It
is
ordered
that:
Petitioner
Marquette
Cement
Manufacturing
Company
be
granted
an
extension
of
the
variance
from
particulate
regulation until May
26,
1973.
This
variance
shall not extend beyond
said date and
especially
shall not authorize the operation
of
kiln
no.
3 after May
26,
1973 without
an effective
and functioning electrostatic precipitator.
Mr.
Dumelle dissents.
I,
Christan
L.
Moffett,
Clerk of
the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby
certify
the
above
Opinion
and
Order
was
adopted
this
~
day
~
1973
by
a
vote
of
~4
to
I
c~L~
9—290