ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
December 5,
1972
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
vs.
)
PCB 71—364
VILLAGE OF AUGUSTA, DENNIS FOOD
COMPANY, a subsidiary of Modern
Foods,
Inc.,
and DENNIS
CHICKEN
)
PRODUCTS CO.,
INC.,
Respondents.
Delbert Haschemeyer, Assistant Attorney General for the EPA
Samuel J.
Naylor, Attorney for Village of Augusta
Charles A.
Scholz, Attorney for Dennis Food Company and Dennis
Chicken Products Co.,
Inc.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Henss)
The Environmental Protection Agency has charged that Respondent
Dennis Food Company and Dennis Chicken Products Co.,
Inc. have
caused or allowed the discharge of grease from a packing plant so
as to cause water pollution in violation of the Environmental Protection
Act, Section
12 (a).
It is also charged that the Village of Augusta
operated its sewage treatment plant so as to allow the discharge of
grease into
a tributary of Williams Creek;
that the Village has pro-
vided inadequate maintenance of its sewage treatment facility re-
sulting in
a strong odor and air pollution in violation of EPA Section
9(a);
and that the Village has failed to make reports
to the EPA
regarding the operation of its sewage treatment plant.
The Village of Augusta has a decreasing population
(822 in the
last Federal Census) and is said to be economically depressed.
Re-
spondent Dennis Food Company is the only industry in town, employs
about 140 people and is the major economic base of the community.
This Company dates back to
a, time about 40 years ago when Oren Dennis
started to process and pack chicken on a modest scale.
The business
grew to gross annual sales of about $4,000,000.
The family business
became incorporated as Dennis Chicken Products,
Inc. and many years
later in January 1970,
that Corporation sold all of its assets to
Dennis Food CQmpany,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Modern Foods,
Inc.
Both Chicken Products Company,
Inc. and Dennis Food Company, a sub-
sidiary, are named as Respondents.
In the process of preparing and canning chicken products grease’
is deposited on the floor of the plant and is subsequently removed
by washing.
This grease~-watermixture at temperatures
up to 170°F.
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was for years discharged from the plant to
a small unnamed creek
which empties
into Williams Creek about
2
1/2 miles downstream.
In
1954 the Village installed
a public sewer system and Dennis
connected to that system.
(The Dennis plant is a major source of
the revenue needed to pay for the revenue bonds used to finance the
sewer system.)
Tthe
sewage treatment system could not handle all of
the industrial waste coming from the Dennis plant, and therefore
Dennis installed a grease trap in the public street near the plant
in an attempt
to reduce the amount of grease flowing to the sewage
treatment plant.
Dennis maintained the grease trap and periodically
removed the grease and solids in order
to avoid the discharge of
large quantities
of industrial waste into the sewer eystem.
The
grease was sold for 3~a lb.
This installation was ineffective.
Inspections during 1969 and
1970 still revealed grease in the sewage plant Imhoff tank,
the
sewage lagoon and along the banks and on the bottom of the stream
below the sewage treatment plant outfall.
The grease varied in
thickness from 12”
at the inlet to 6”
at the dutlets of the Imhoff
tank in March 1970.
In November 1970 the sewage treatment effluent
was tested for fecal coliform at 400,000 per 100 ml.
(standard 2,000
per 100 ml.)
Sometime in 1971 the chicken processing company installed
a
DeLavel Separator within the plant to separate fat from broth in
the cooking process.
This fat is then sold for l5~a lb.
This was
an internal process which did hot reduce the amount of grease being
discharged down floor drains from the washing of equipment and floor.
On two occasions Dennis Company consulted with engir~eeringfirms
for the design of facilities
to eliminate substantially all of the
grease from entering the public sewer system.
The Company, however,
has not actually installed any such equipment.
Inspections by the
EPA during 1971 revealed:
Raw sewage bypassing the lift station, and
fecal coliform at bypass 2,900,000 per 100 ml
(January); pump station
clogged with grease, odors at sewage treatment plant
(March);
sewage
treatment plant effluent green in color and containing grease.
Fecal
coliform 5,100 per 100 ml.
Thick
layer of grease covering Imhoff tank,
odor strong and extremely nauseating
(April); liquid bypassing the
lift station.
Fecal coliform 4,600,000 per 100 ml.
Grease ball
accumulation
in lagoon.
Sharp rancid odor from Imhoff tank
(May).
The record shows that Dennis provides a pump truck for removing
congealed grease and solids from the grease trap in the street.
How-
ever,
the equipment has been inoperable on
a number of occasions
thereby increasing the amount of grease which passes into the force
mains and lift station.
The water-grease mixture entering the grease
trap is so hot that much grease passes through the trap as a liquid
and into the force main where it eventually cools and deposits on the
inside of the pipe and lift station.
One witness testified that the
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6” mains were gradually restricted because of grease to the point
where only a 1” opening remained.
The Dennis Company has failed to comply with
a Village ordinance
requiring that manholes be installed to facilitate observations and
sampling of discharges and has failed to furnish samples of the dis-
charge as also required by ordinance.
For several years the sewage treatment system was not operated
efficiently by Village personnel.
The superintendent failed to take
appropriate action to reduce the heavy grease accumulation with the
result that the pumps would become clogged and inoperative.
He
failed to make required reports
to the EPA.
The Village had trouble
finding an employee to replace its sewage treatment plant operator
but has now hired
a new superintendent who is vigorously trying to
clean the sewage treatment plant and upgrade the entire system.
For the past year the Dennis Food Company has been making plans
to install a Flotation System of Grease Removal to be purchased from
the Carborundum Company.
The cost of this entire system is estimated
to be about $48,000 and it is intended to reduce the quantity of
grease entering the sewer from the Dennis plant.
The Environmental
Protection Agency has issued a permit for the installation
of the
equipment.
However,
the Modern Foods,
Inc. Board of Directors has
not made the final decision for the installation
of the equipment.
The Village of Augusta does not approve of the proposed install-
ation since it does not comply with Village Ordinance 327.
The Village
desires the complete elimination of the overflow line from the grease
trap so as to eliminate all possibility of discharges to the sewer
system without adequate treatment.
The Village would also like to
have manholes installed for observing and metering the waste and for
flushing the lines out when necessary.
We conclude from the evidence that Dennis Food Company,
a subsidiary
of Modern Foods,
Inc.
and Dennis Chicken Products Co.,
Inc. have
caused the discharge of grease so as to cause or tend to cause water
pollution in Illinois in violation of Section 12(a)
of the Environmental
Protection Act.
The violations have been of long standing.
A sub-
stantial monetary penalty is appropriate in addition to our Order
requiring the installation of equipment to curtail the problem.
We
therefore order the two Dennis corporations
to jointly pay a monetary
penalty of $5,000 and to• cease and desist from the violations which
have been proven in this case.
We further order Dennis Food Co.,
a
subsidiary of Modern Foods,
Inc.
to install
.the p~roposedFlotation
System of Grease Removal in compliance with the EPA permit and
Village of Augusta Ordinance 327.
We further find that the Village of Augusta has been derelict in
its duty by failing to file the necessary reports with the EPA
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regarding the operation of the sewage treatment plant and by failure
~o maintain the equipment at said plant in good working order.
We
commend the Village and its current sewage treatment plant superin-
tendent for making an aggressive effort at this time to bring the
sewage treatment system into good working order.
However,
for past
violations we believe the Village should pay a monetary penalty of
~2OO and of course we shall order the Village to cease and desist
from those violations.
We suggest that the Village of Augusta provide
~4r.Rittenhouse,
its current superintendent, with the training
necessary for him to become a certified operator.
ORDER
It is ordered that:
1.
Respondents Village of Augusta, Dennis Chicken Products
Co.,
Inc. and Dennis Food Company,
a subsidiary of
Modern Foods Inc. cease and desist from the violations
of the Environmental Protection Act and our Rules and
Regulations which had been found to exist in this
Opinion.
2.
That Dennis Food Company,
a subsidiary of Modern Foods
Inc. and Dennis Chicken Products Co.,
Inc.
jointlyand severally
pay to the State of Illinois by January
15, 1973 the
sum of $5,000 as a penalty for the violations found in
this proceeding.
Penalty payment by certified check
or money order payable to the State of Illinois shall
be made to:
Fiscal Services Division,
Illinois EPA,
2200 Churchill Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62706.
3.
That Dennis Food Company, a subsidiary of Modern Foods,
Inc. shall install the proposed Flotation System of
Grease Removal in such
a manner as to comply with the
EPA permit and Ordinance 327 of the Village of Augusta
as soon as possible but no later than six months from
the date of the Order in this
case.
4.
That Dennis Food Company immediately establish
a daily
monitoring system for its present grease traps and for
the proposed pretreatment facility and submit monthly
reports
to the EPA detailing the monitoring and operation
of the facilities and the progress toward installation
of the proposed Flotation System of Grease Removal.
5.
That Respondent Dennis Food Company, a subsidiary of
Modern Foods Inc. post with the EPA in form satisfactory
to the Agency a Performance Bond in the amount of $40,000.
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5.
Rest’ondent
Vi1la~e
of
~uqusta shall pay to the
state
of Illinois by January 15,
1973 the sum of S200
as
a
~enaltv
Sor the violations found in this pro—
ceedin~.
Penalty
payment
by
certified check or money
order
~avable
to
the State of Illinois shall be made
to:
Pi~cal Services Division,
Illinois EPA,
2200
o:-~rchil1:rive,
Scrinafield,
Illinois
62706.
I,Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Eo~rd,
hereby
certify the above Opinion and Order was adopted this
~
day
of
December,
1972 by a vote of
~
to
~
Christan L. Moffett, C
k
Illinois Pollutior. Con
ol Board
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.
.