BEFORE THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
1
R07-09
TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF SULFATE AND
)
(Rulemaking
-
Water)
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS WATER
)
QUALITY STANDARDS: PROPOSED
)
AMENDMENTS TO: 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.102(b)(6),
)
302.102(b)(8), 302.102(b)(l O), 302.208(g),
1
309.103(~)(3), 405 .109(b)(2)(A), 405.109(b)(2)(B),
1
406.100(d); REPEALED 35 Ill. Adm. Code 406.203,
1
PART 407; and PROPOSED NEW 35 Ill. Adm. Code
)
302 .208(h).
)
NOTICE OF FILING
To:
SEE ATTACHED SERVICE LIST
Dorothy Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
100 West Randolph Street
Suite 1 1-500
Chicago, Illinois 6060 1
Mathew Dunn
Illinois Attorney General's Office
Environmental Control Division
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, Illinois 6060 1
Please take notice that on April 9, 2007, we filed with the Office of the Clerk of the
Illinois Pollution Control Board via electronic mail the
TESTIMONY OF JAMES E. HUFF
and the
TESTIMONY OF BRIGITTE POSTEL,
a copy of which is served upon you.
Marie E. Tipsord
Hearing Officer
Illinois Pollution Control Board
100 West Randolph, Suite 1 1-500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Jonathan Furr
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, Illinois 62702- 127 1
CITGO PETROLEUM CORPORATION
By:
Jeffrey C. Fort
Elizabeth A. Leifel
Sonnenschein Nath
&
Rosenthal LLP
7800 Sears Tower
233 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606-6404
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
SERVICE LIST
I
\
Katten, Muchin
&
Zavis
525 West Monroe
Suite 1600
Chicago, IL 60601 -3693
Illinois Environmental
Regulatory Group
3 1 50 Roland Avenue
Springfield, IL 62703
Abbott Laboratories
Dept. 590, Bldg
.
P-14
1401
Sheridan Road North
Chicago, IL 60064-4000
Barnes
&
Thornburg
1 North Wacker Drive
Suite 4400
Chicago,IL 60606
Metropolitan Water
Reclamation District of
Greater Chicago
100 East Erie
Chicago,
IL 6061 1
American Bottoms RWTF
One American Bottoms
Road
Sauget, IL 62201
Wheaton Sanitary District
P.O. Box 626
Wheaton, IL 60 189
Prairie Rivers Network
809 South 5th Street
Champaign, IL 6 1820
U .S
.
Fish
&
Wildlife Service
4469-48th Avenue Court
Rock Island, IL 6 120 1
Caterpillar Inc
.
100 N.E
.
Adams Street
Peoria, IL 61629
Goodwin
&
Broms, Inc
.
400 Bruns Lane
Springfield, IL 62707
Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary
District
700 West End Avenue
Chicago
Heights,IL 604 1 1
Huff
&
Huff, Inc
.
5 12 West Burlington Avenue
Suite 100
LaGrange, IL 60525
Openlands Project
25 East Washington Street
Suite 1650
Chicago, IL 60602
Ameren Services
One Ameren Plaza
PO Box 66149
St. Louis, MO 63 166
Fox River
WRD
P .O. Box 328
Elgin, IL 60 12 1
Stateside Associates
2300 Clarendon Blvd
.
Suite 407
Arlington, VA 2220 1
Illinois Municipal League
500 E. Capitol
P.0
.
Box 5180
Springfield, IL 62705
Dept, of Commerce
&
Economic Opportunity
Small Business Office
620 East
Adarns Street, Fifth
Floor
Springfield, IL 6270 1
Exxon Mobile Oil
Corporation
1-55
&
Arsenal Road East
Channahon, IL 604 10
Admiral Environmental
Services, Inc
.
2025 South Arlington
Heights Road
Suite 103
Arlington Heights, IL
60005-
4141
Fox Metro Water
Reclamation
District
682 State Route 3 1
Oswego, IL 60543
August Mack
Environmental, Inc
.
8007 Castleton Road
Indianapolis,
IN 46250
Environmental Law
&
Policy
Center
35 E
.
Wacker
Suite 1300 Chicago, IL
60601
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
Midwest Generation
440 S
.
LaSalle Street
Suite 3500
Chicago, IL 60605
Illinois Coal Association
1480
E
.
1200th Street
Industry, IL 61440
MRRI
P .O. Box 1642
Murphysboro, IL 62966
Illinois Coal Association
P.O. Box 727
Harrisburg, IL 62946
Illinois Rural Water
Association
P .O. Box 6049
Taylorville, IL 62568
Bolten
&
Menk, Inc.
2730 Ford Street
P.O. Box 668
Ames, IA 500 10-0668
Akzo Nobel
8201 West 47th Street
P.0
.
Box 1569
McCook, IL 60525
Viper Mine
8 100 East Main Street
Williamsville, IL 62693
ExxonMobil
PO Box 874
Joliet, IL 60410
ECT
3701 NW 98th street
Gainesville, FL 32606
Illinois-American Water Co.
Formosa Plastics
123 S .W. Washington Street
P .O. Box 27
Peoria, IL 6 1602- 13 17
Illiopolis, IL 62539
Illinois Association of
Environmental Consulting
Wastewater Agencies
and Technology
241 N
.
Fifth Street
3701 NW 98th Street
Springfield,
IL 62701
Gainsville, FL 32606
Illinois Coal Association
Illinois Coal Association
8 100
E
.
Main Street
212 S
.
Second St.
Williamsville, IL 62693
Springfield, IL 6270 1
U.S. EPA
Citgo Petroleum
Region
5 (WT-15 J)
Attn: Brigitte Postel
77 West Jackson Blvd.
13 5th Street
&
New Ave
.
Chicago, IL 60604
Lemont, IL 60439-3569
Illinois Natural History Survey
Rhodia Inc
.
607 E. Peabody Drive
1 10 1 Arnold Street
Champaign, IL 6 1 820-6970
Chicago Heights, IL 604 1 1
Farmland Foods
Farmland Foods
1220 N
.
6th Street Road
7501 N. W. Tiffany Springs
Monmouth, IL 61462
Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64 15 3
IDOT
2300 South
Dirksen Parkway
Springfield, IL 62764
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
1
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO:
1
35 111. Adm Code 302.102(b)(6), 302.102(b)(8)
)
405.109(b)(2)(A), 405.109(b)(2)(B), 406.10qd);
1
REPEALED 35 111. Adm. Code 406.203, PART 407; and
)
PROPOSED NEW 35 Ill. Adm. Code 302.208(h)
TESTIMONY OF JAMES E. HUFF, P.E.
My name
is James E. Huff, and I am Vice President and part owner of the environmental
consulting firm Huff
&
Huff, Inc. I am here today on behalf of CITGO's Lernont Refinery,
which discharges into the Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal, a Secondary Contact Waterway.
I am a registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and have been involved in Illinois water
quality issues since 1971, including the original Pollution Control Board Water Quality
Standards. I have been following closely the Agency's efforts to amend the Total Dissolved
Solids
(TDS)
and
sulfate water quality standards since 2004. Attachment 1 to my testimony is a
copy
of my education
and
experience.
The Agency's efforts to amend the water quality standards for TDS
and sulfate, which included
expanding
our knowledge on sulfate toxicity as it relates to hardness and chlorides, are to be
commended. Illinois has an opportunity to develop water quality standards based on better
science than what has historically been available that will
be protective of the designated stream
uses.
Bob Mosher and Brian Koch of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency addressed in detail
the aquatic toxicity as well as livestock watering impacts associated with higher sulfates, along
with describing the
US EPA procedure utilized to derive the General Use sulfate water quality
standard. I have reviewed the Agency's testimony and exhibits, and fully support the Agency's
proposed changes as they apply to General Use Streams.
Secondary Contact and Indigenous Aquatic Life (Secondary Contact) Standards are not currently
included
in the Agency's proposed changes to the sulfate and TDS water quality standards. I
would recommend that changes to the Secondary Contact waterways for these same constituents
be included
in this proceedings. Secondary Contact waterways are not suited for general use
activities such as
swimming. Barge transportation is a major stream use on the Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal and Des Plaines River above the 1-55 Bridge. Given the Agency's testimony in
this
Rulemaking,
there is no technical reason not to eliminate the TDS water quality standards
proposed for General use Streams to the Secondary Contact Waterways. The evidence already
presented by the Agency to support the General Use proposal certainty applies to Secondary
Contact Waterways as well.
R:\CitgoU>es Plaines River Sampling 2006V007\Teslimony JEH.doc
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
At the March 7, 2007 hearing Toby Frevert indicated that the hardness and chloride levels in the
Ship Canal and similar to the levels found in the lower Des Plaines River.
Mr. Frevert indicated
that the Agency was planning to modify all of the Secondary Contact water quality standards at
one time, and that was why the Agency was not proposing sulfate
and
TDS changes at this time.
As the Board is aware, the CITGO Lemont Refinery was granted a five-year variance
from the
TDS water quality standard
in April 2005, to allow for the discharge of additional
TDS
associated with a Wet Gas Scrubber for sulfur dioxide removal. CITGO elected to go the
variance route because of time constraints imposed by
US EPA in its Consent Order with
CITGO and the understanding the Agency's pending rule to eliminate the TDS water quality
change would eliminate the need for the variance for the entire five year period requested. I
would note
in
R06-24,
ExxonMobil's Site Specific request, the Agency noted in its Post-hearing
Comments that Conditions
3,
5, 6,7, and 10 in CITGO's variance would no longer be pertinent.
As part of
CITGO's variance conditions,
TDS
data at the 1-55 Bridge on the Des Plaines River is
being collected during the winter months. Attachment
2 presents the data collected to date. TDS
leveIs exceeded the 1,000
mg/L
from February 21 to March 7,2007.
The Agency's sulfate and TDS proposal was delayed in getting to the Board, and excludes
Secondary Contact Waterways. This has put CITGO
in a difficult position, either file for a Site
Specific Rule Change or hope that the Secondary Contact Water Quality changes will be
submitted to the Board and adopted within the next three years.
Attachment
3
presents historic sulfate water quality at the 1-55 Bridge on the Des Plaines River.
As
Mr. Frevert noted, similar levels would be expected in the Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal.
With the exception of one apparent outlier of
490
mgL
sulfate (when the TDS was only 720
mg/L) the levels have been below 120 mg/L. In R06-24, Scott Twait of the Agency testified that
the hardness in the Des Plaines River is 205 mg/L and the chlorides are 450 mg/L. Using the
proposed Agency equation as found in Section
302.208(h)(2)(A), the sulfate water quaIity
standard would be 1,138
mg/L.
The monitoring data at the 1-55 Bridge demonstrate the sulfate
levels are not only well below this proposed water quality value, but also well below the existing
500
mgL sulfate water quality standard.
The combined impact from CITGO's and
ExxonMobil's wet gas scrubbers wiIl result in the sulfate level at the 1-55 bridge increasing 29
mg/L at the 7-day, 10-year low stream flow of 970 million gallons per day. Such an increase will
not cause the sulfate to increase above the existing 500 mg/L water quality standard or the
proposed 1,138
rng/L
water quality standard.
As
Brigitte Postel from CITGO has testified, the stakeholders meeting on the proposed water
quality changes last month was contentious, and achieving consensus on other issues is going to
be
a difficult task. Sulfate and TDS were not part of the disagreements, but use attainability and
changes
in other pollutants, notably temperature, ammonia, and bacteria are very controversial.
Clearly, relying on the Secondary Contact Water Quality changes for TDS
is fraught with
uncertainty from a timing perspective, leaving CITGO with the one option, filing a Site-Specific
Rule Change request before the Board. This is not only an unnecessary cost to the
Board,
Agency, and CITGO, but also places an additional time burden on the same three groups. I am
sure there are more critical issues that can be focused upon. That the Agency desires to amend
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
the Secondary Contact Water Quality Standards only once seems like inadequate justification for
not adopting the
TDS
changes now.
As the Board
is aware, there are currently no sulfate or chloride water quality standards on the
Secondary Contact Waterways. The General Use sulfate standards are limited to waterways
having chloride levels less than 500
mg/L,
which is the General Use water quality standard for
chlorides. Attachment
4 to my testimony is recent chloride data from CITGO's water intake
from the Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal. This location is upstream fTom the CITGO outfall, and
reflects the stream quality coming from the Chicago Metropolitan Area. While there has been an
overall decline
in peak chlorides over the last decade, this past winter was particularly
challenging
from a de-icing perspective. The chloride levels stayed elevated for a longer period
of time than
in recent years. From February 19, 2007 to at least March
5,
2007 the chlorides
stayed above 500
mg/L. (This is essentially the same time frame that the
TDS
at the 1-55 Bridge
exceeded 1,000
mg/L, as presented in Attachment 2.) It is not clear from the proposed
regulations what sulfate water quality would apply during such a period
of elevated chlorides on
General Use waterways,
if the proposed General Use sulfate standard were to be adopted.
However, the Agency's draft regulations for Secondary Contact waterways has the same
equation as for General Use Waterways, but without the 500
mg/L chloride cap on the use of the
equation, as presented below:
Sulfate,
mgL
=
(1276.7
+
5.508(Hardness, mgL) -1.457(Chlorides,
mgL))
X 0.65
In sununary, the Agency's proposal is appropriate for Primary Contact waterways, with some
clarification on the standard when the chlorides exceed
500 mg/L. Adopting the above equation
for Secondary Contact waterways as
part of the R07-009 proceedings would also be appropriate,
and consistent with the Agency's intentions. Given
the delays that will undoubtedly occur in
adopting revised Secondary Contact Water Quality regulations, I would urge the Board to
eliminate the
TDS
water quality standard for Secondary Contact waterways as part of these
proceedings and adopt the above sulfate standard. If the Board is unwilling to do this for all
Secondary Contact waterways, we would ask the Board to consider the deletion of the
TDS
water quality standard as it applies to
CITGO.
This concludes my pre-filed testimony. I will be happy to address any follow-up questions.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
ATTACHMENT
1
JAMES E. HUFF, P.E.
Vice President
Expertise:
Wastewater Treatment Planning and Design
Stream
Surveys/Antidegradation Analysis
Soil
&
Groundwater Remedial Design
Experience:
Since 1980,
Mr. Huff has been vice president of Huff
&
Huff, Inc. responsible for projects pertaining to
wastewater treatment, design and operation, water quality studies, hazardous waste management,
groundwater and soil remediation, and compliance assessments.
Mr. Huff has directed 15 municipal wastewater treatment design projects. Examples of municipal design
projects are listed below:
-
Belt filter press system for aerobic digested sludge, with sludge mixer and control system.
-
Sludge storage pad with enclosure
-
Bar screen
-
Grit, washer replacement
-
Tertiary filter rehabilitation
-
Secondary1Tertiar-y high flow bypass with chlorine contact tank and flow measurement and
blending
-
Anaerobic digester supernatant treatment for ammonia removal using SBRs (1999 ACEC-IL
Engineering Excellence Merit Award project.)
-
Conversion from chlorine to sodium hypochlorite disinfection
-
Conversion of wet weather storage facilities to store-treat basins, with effluent disinfection
-
In-stream high purity oxygen injection into effluent and receiving stream for increasing stream D.0
-
Excess Flow Treatment for new CSO.
Mr. Huff is currently the Project Manager for preparation of a Facilities Plan for the Village of
Barrington,
that is evaluating the change in sludge quantity for future nutrient removal options and the need to upgrade
to Class
A sludge. Mr. Huff has also conducted several CSO studies including Nine Minimum Controls,
O&M Plans, and Water Quality Impact Studies. Two novel in-stream aeration systems, using high-purity
oxygen on a shallow Illinois stream, were designed by the
firm, and have operated successfully for over
twenty years. Mr. Huff has also completed two value engineering projects, one on an expanded wastewater
treatment plant and the other for a excess flow holding tank in the sewer system.
He has also designed cluster wastewater treatment systems with subsurface discharge for seven residential
developers/country clubs, an outdoor event facility, and a temple. These systems are typically 10,000 to
20,000 gpd, utilizing two
SBRs, computer controlled, followed by a large leach field. These unique
systems are permitted under the IDPH under a unique experimental use permit provision.
Mr. Huff has designed industrial wastewater treatment plants ranging in size
fi-om less than one thousand
gallons per day to eight million gallons per day. He has assisted two petroleum refineries with nitrification
issues and evaluated the impact an industrial user's sodium sulfate discharge would have on the POTW,
including the anaerobic sludge process. Currently Mr. Huff is the Project Manager on a Treatablility Study
evaluating another industrial discharger's proposed sodium sulfate discharge will have on an Indiana
POTW. Mr. Huff has worked in a variety of industries on wastewater projects, including: petroleum
refineries, cosmetics, foundries, plating, printed circuit boards, organic chemical, pharmaceutical
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
-
Sequential batch reactors (SBRs) for BOD51COD reduction at pharmaceutical plant
-
Replacement of a rotary drum pre-coat Nter with a belt filter press for cosmetic wastewater
-
Side stream SBR for nitrification on meat packing three-stage lagoon
-
Breakpoint chlorination for ammonia removal at chemical plant and also a meat packer
-
Land application, with winter lagoon at chemical plant
-
Copper removal from printed circuit board facility using sodium borohydride
-
Integrated settling basin sludge drylng beds at foundry
On the Fox River,
Mr. Huff was project manager for a group of municipal dischargers on a project to
collect
and analyze weekly water quality samples along the river, its tributaries, and outfalls at over
30
locations to establish a better database on un-ionized ammonia levels. Mr. Huff has directed fish, mussel,
benthic, and water quality surveys for municipal, storm water, and industrial discharges located on the
following waterways: Beaver Creek, Cedar Creek, Deep Run, Flint Creek, Mississippi River,
ThornCreek,
North Kent Creek, Tyler Creek, Kiswaukee River, Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal, and Casey Fork Creek,
and has completed antidegradation studies as pact of
many
of these studies. Thermal studies,
mixing
zone
studies,
and multi-part dfiser designs have been completed for a variety of clients. A thermal study on the
Illinois River
is on-going.
Since 2004,
Mr. Huff has been the lead consultant for
NIPC
(now CMAP) to review FPA requests for
consistency with the Commission's Water Quality Management Plan. To date,
Mr. Huff has completed
over 50
FPA requests, including the Facilities Plan associated with these. Antidegradation
and
nutrients
have
been two major issues on many of these applications. Mr.
Huff
serves on theIllinois Nutrient Technical
Advisory
Committee, representing the American Council of Engineering Companies
-
Illinois (ACEC-IL).
Mr. Huff has been involved in eleven site specific rule changes and adjusted standards in Illinois. These
studies have included ammonia, D.O.,
BOD5, TSS, TDS, and sulfates.
From 1987 through 1990,
Mr. Huff was a part-time faculty member, teaching the senior levelenvironmental
courses
in the Civil Engineering Department at JIT-West in Wheaton, Illinois.
From 1976 to 1980,
Mr. Huff was Manager of Environmental Affairs for Akzo Nobel Chemicals, a
diversified industrial chemical manufacturer. At Akzo,
Mr. Huff was responsible for all environmental
activities at eight plants located throughout the United States and Canada. Technical work included
extensive biological and chemical treatability studies
as
well as designing new facilities, including two
wastewater pretreatment facilities,
a land application system, and
an
incinerator system.
Previously,
Mr. Huff was an Associate Environmental Engineer in the Chemical Engineering Section at IIT
Research Institute (IITRI). Much of
this
work involved advanced wastewater treatment development,
including applying a combination of
ozoneNV treatment of cyanide, PCB's,
RDX, HMX,
and
TNT
and the
use of catalytic oxidation of cyanide using powdered activated (carbon impregnated with copper in
refinery
activated sludge units. At Mobil Oil's Joliet Refhery Mr. Huff was employed as an Advanced
Environmental Engineer during the construction and start-up of the largest grassroots refinery ever
constructed.
Mr. Huff was responsible for wastewater training, permitting start-up, and techcal support as
well as for water supply, solid waste, and noise abatement issues at the refinery from 197 1 to 1973.
Membership
Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies
American Council of Engineering Companies
-
IL
Environmental Committee 1999
-
2005
Chairman-June 2000-2004
Board of Directors
-
2005-2007
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
Water Environment Federation Member
Illinois Water Environment Federation
National Water Well Association
Licenses:
Registered Professional Engineer,
Illinois and New Jersey
Class
2 Wastewater Operator-Illinois
Class
K Industrial Wastewater Operator-Illinois
Education:
1966-
1970
Honors:
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
B
.S
.
in Chemical Engineering
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
M.S
.E. in Environmental Engineering
University of Chicago
Graduate School of Business. Part time
Omega Chi Epsilon
(Chem Engr. Honorary)
President's Academic
Award
Graduated with Distinction
Fellowship
from the Federal Water Quality
Adrnin.
Thesis:
"Destabilizing Soluble Oil Emulsions Using Polymers
with Activated
Carbon," Major Professor, Dr. James E. Etzel
Selected Pa~ers:
"Ozone-U.V. Treatment of TNT Wastewater,"
E.G.
Fochtman and J.E. Huff, International Ozone Institute
Conference, Montreal, May 1975.
"Characterization of Sensory Properties: Qualitative, Threshold, and Supra-Threshold," J.B. Huff and A.
Dravnieks, American Water Works Assoc.
Seminar,
Minneapolis, MN, June 1975.
"Control
of Rendering Plant Odors by Wet Scrubbers: Results of Plant Tests,"
R.H.
Snow,
J.E. Huff, and W.
Boehme,
AIPCA
Conference Boston, MA, June 1975.
"Alternative Cyanide Standards
in Illinois, a Cost-Benefit Analysis," L.L. Huff and J.E. Huff, 31 st AnnualPurdue
Industrial Waste Conference, Lafayette, IN, May 1976.
"Cyanide Removal from
Refrnery Wastewaters Using Powdered Activated Carbon," J.E. Huff, J.M. Bigger, and
E.G. Fochtman, American Chemical Society Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, March 1977. Published in
Carbon Adsorption Handbook, P.N. Cheremisinoff and F. Ellerbusch, Eds., AM Arbor Science Publishers, Inc.,
1978.
"Industrial Discharge and/or Pretreatment of Fats, Oils and Grease," J.E. Huff and E.F. Harp, Eighth Engineering
Foundation Conference on Environmental Engineering, Pacific Grove, CA, February
1978.
"A Review of Cyanide of Refinery Wastewaters," R.G. Kunz, J.E. Huff, and J.P. Casey, Third Annual Conference
of Treatment and Disposal of Industrial Wastewater and Residues, Houston, TX,
April
1978. Published as:
"Refinery Cyanides: A Regulatory Dilemma,"
Hvdrocarbon Processing, pp 98- 102, January 1978.
"Treatment of
High Strength Fatty Arnines Wastewater
-
A
Case History," J.E. Huff and
C.M.
Muchmore, 52nd
Conference
-
Water Pollution Control Federation, Houston, TX, October 1979. Published WCF, Vol. 54, No.
I, pp 94-1 02, January 1982.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
"A Proposal to Repeal the Illinois Pollution Control Board's Construction Permit Water Regulations," J.H. Russell
and
J.E. Huff, Chicapo Bar Record, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp 122- 136, Nov.-Dec., 1980.
"Measurement of Water Pollu
tion Benefits
-
Do
We
Have the Option?" L.L. Huff, J.E. Huff, and N.B. Herlevson,
IL
Water Pollution Control Assn 3rd Annual Conference, Naperville, IL, May 1983.
"Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Supplementing Oxygen in a Shallow Illinois Stream,"
J.E. Huff and
J.P.
Browning,
IL
Water Pollution Control Assn 6th Annual Meeting, Naperville,
IL,
May 7, 1985.
"Technical and Economic Feasibility of a Central Recovery Facility for Electroplating Wastes in Cook County,
IL," J.E.
Huff and L.L.
Huff,
1986 Governor's Conference on Science and Technology in Illinois, Rosemont,
IL,
Sept. 3, 1986.
"Biomonitoring/Bioassay,"
J,E.
Huff, Federation of Environmental Technologists Seminar, Harvey,
IL,
December
11,1989.
"Storm Water Discharges,"
J.E. Huff, Federation of Environmental Technologists Environment '90 Seminar,
Milwaukee,
WI,
March 7, 1990.
"Engineering Aspects of Individual Wastewater System Design,"
J.E. Huff, 22nd Annual Northern Illinois Onsite
Wastewater Contractors Workshop, St. Charles,
IL,
February 27, 1995.
"Cleaning Up Contaminated Property
inIllinois," J.W. Watson and J.E.
Huff,
Midwest Environmental Corporate
Counsel Association, September 18, 1997.
"Total
Maximum
Daily Loadings (TMDL) and Ammonia Conditions in the Fox River Waterway," J.
E.
Huff and
S.
D. LaDieu, Illinois Water '98 Conference, Urbana, IL,
Nov.
16, 1998.
"The Illinois Ammonia Water Quality Standards: Effluent Implications
&
Strategies for Compliance," L.R.
Cunningham
&
J. E. Huff, Illinois Water '98 Conference, Urbana,
IL,
Nov. 16, 1998.
"Impact
of a High Sulfate and TDS Industrial Discharge on Municipal Wastewater Treatment," J.L. Daugherty,
J.E. Huff,
S.D.
LaDieu, and D. March, WEFTEC 2000, Anaheim, CA, October 17,2000.
"Phase
II
Storm Water Regulations
-
Compliance Strategies For The Gas
TransmissionlDistribution
Industry,"
J.E.
Huff, American Gas Association 2003 Operations Conference, Orlando, Florida, April 28,2003.
"Endocrine Disruptors or Better Living Through Chemistry"
Iliinois Association of Wastewater Agencies Fall
Meeting, Bloomington,
IL,
November 14,2003.
"Emulsified Zero-Valent
Iron: AnEmerging Remediation Technology"
J,
E. Huff, Association of Environmental
&
Engineering Geologists-North Central Section, February 20, 2007.
"Permitting Wastewater Treatment Plant Expansions
in Northeast Illinois in the 21' Century", J.E.
Huff,
28"
Annual Illinois Water Environment Association Conference, Bloomington,
L,
March 6, 2007.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
A'ITACHMENT
2
DES
PLAINES
RIVER TDS
SAMPLING
1-55
Bridge
Total Dissolved Solids,
Date
mg/L
1 1/21/06
590
Page
1
of
2
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
ATTACHMENT 2
DES PLAINES RIVER TDS SAMPLING
1-55
Bridge
Total Dissolved Solids,
Date
mg/L
0212 1/07
1000
02/23/07
1100
02/26/07
1200
02/28/07
1300
03/02/07
1200
03/05/07
1100
03/07/07
1100
03/09/07
980
031 12/07
1000
03/14/07
1000
03/16/07
870
03/19/07
790
03/22/07
790
03/26/07
700
03/28/07
720
03/29/07
690
03/30/07
740
Average
762
Maximum
1300
Page
2
of
2
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
ATTACHMENT 3
Des Plaines River
at
the
1-55
Bridge
Sulfate and
TDS
Data
Date Sampled
M/28/05
03109105
0311 1/05
03/15/05
03nZO5
03n5/05
04/01/05
04/05/05
w/1 2/05
04/28/05
05/03/05
0511 0105
0511 9/05
05/24/05
0513 1/05
06/07/05
0611 4/05
om1105
06f28105
07/05/05
0711 2/05
0711 9/05
08/02/05
08/10/05
08/17/05
08/23/05
0813 1/05
0911 3/05
09/2OI05
09/28/05
10/04/05
10/11/05
101 19/05
10/28/05
ll/01/05
11/09/05
1 1/17/05
3 1/21/05
1 1/30105
12/06/05
32/13/05
12120105
12n8105
01/04/06
01110106
01/19/06
01/24/06
01/31/06
02/07/06
02/14/06
02/21/06
02/28/06
03/09/06
03113106
03122/06
0411 3/06
0411 8/06
04/25/06
DOWNSTREAM RIVER WATER
Total Dilved
Suliate
(m&)
Sollds(mglL)
95
800
99
840
95
903
92
900
98
860
100
890
95
770
69
750
100
760
76
730
490
720
96
760
120
610
65
610
67
630
96
700
67
510
77
540
9
1
520
100
520
62
510
69
480
62
410
56
440
47
430
53
400
94
400
48
340
54
300
5 1
360
48
290
57
3 80
40
470
62
500
88
460
98
480
89
530
81
570
110
480
89
590
90
620
100
870
100
790
100
880
100
900
110
740
92
720
100
840
100
780
110
800
120
840
95
760
95
720
89
700
84
700
l 10
650
93
520
100
550
Average
92
630
Maximum
490
900
Source:
PCB R06.24.
Exhibit
6A
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
ATTACHIUENT
4
CITGO WAlXR
INTAKE
2007 CHLORIDE
AND
TDS
RESULTS
Chloride,
Total Dissolved
Date
mg1-L
Solids,
m&
01/01/07
174
689
Average
333
916
Maximum
734
1656
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
BEFORE THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
IN THE MATTER OF:
TRIENNIAL REVIEW OF SULFATE AND
TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS WATER
QUALITY STANDARDS: PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS TO: 35
Ill. Adm. Code 302.102(b)(6),
302.102(b)(8), 302.102(b)(l O), 302.208(g),
309.103(~)(3), 405 .109(b)(2)(A), 405.109(b)(2)(B),
406.100(d); REPEALED 35 Ill. Adm. Code 406.203,
PART 407; and PROPOSED NEW 35
Ill. Adm. Code
302
.208(h).
1
)
R07-09
(Rulemaking
-
Water)
1
1
)
)
TESTIMONY OF BRIGITTE POSTEL
I.
BACKGROUND
My name is Brigitte Postel. I have been employed by CITGO Petroleum Corporation
("CITGO") for the past 3 years. I have worked at the Lemont Refinery since October 2003. At
Lemont Refinery, I have held the position of Environmental Engineer, Water Coordinator.
I
received
a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
and a Masters of Science in Environmental Engineering from Lamar University, Beaumont
Texas.
Prior to my time at Lemont Refinery, I held various environmental positions in the
pharmaceutical, chemical and power industries.
11.
GENERAL REFINERY INFORMATION
CITGO operates its Lemont Refinery at 135'" and New Avenue in Will County, Illinois.
The Refinery was constructed during the period 1967 through 1970. It became operational in
late fall of 1969.
Currently, the average daily production is 168,626 barrels per day. The
Refinery employs approximately 530 people.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
Approximately twenty-five different products are produced at the Refinery, including
gasolines, turbine fuels, diesel fuels, furnace oils, petroleum coke and various specialty naphthas
which can be manufactured into many intermediate products, including antifreeze, dacron,
detergent, industrial alcohols, plastics and synthetic rubber. Ninety percent of the Refinery's
output goes into making gasolines, diesel fuels, home heating oils and turbine fuels for use in
Illinois
and throughout the Midwest.
The Refinery draws from and discharges to the Chicago Sanitary
&
Ship Canal
("Canal"). The Refinery takes approximately 4.0 million gallons
of water daily from the Canal,
and discharges approximately 3.8 million gallons to the Canal, the difference being cooling
tower evaporation and steam losses. The wastewater effluent contains dissolved solids derived
from compounds present in crude oil that are removed from the crude by various Refinery
operations, as well as concentrating the TDS present in the intake water from the Canal from the
evaporation cooling.
The Refinery operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
("NPDES") permit (No. IL
0001589), issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
("IEPA"). The NPDES permit became effective September 1, 1994.
CITGO filed a timely
NPDES renewal application in 1997, and a renewed NPDES permit was issued on July 28,2006.
The NPDES permit includes
outfall 001 at the Refinery at river mile 296.5 on the Canal
(Latitude
41 "38'58", Longitude 88O03'3 1").
111.
CITGO'S POSITION ON AGENCY'S PROPOSED RULEMAKING
The purpose of my testimony today is two-fold: to support the requested rule change by
the Agency and to request that the Board also extend the changes pertaining to TDS, and sulfates
to Lemont Refinery.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
The refinery has been in operation since 1969. Until recently, however, we did not have
occasion to be concerned with the total dissolved solids component of our effluent. Until the
most recent NPDES permit was issued last year,
CITGO's NPDES permits had not limited the
discharge for TDS.
TDS has become an issue for the refinery due to the agreement that CITGO reached with
U.S. EPA and the states of Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Georgia to substantially reduce
the sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions from several facilities, including Lemont refinery.
Due to the discharge from the Wet Gas Scrubber, that is a key component of an emission control
project, we found that increased levels of TDS would be discharged. As we were developing the
project, we also learned that due to TDS levels in the lower Des Plaines river near the 1-55
Bridge, that IEPA would not issue a construction permit for that project.
Treatment for TDS in the wastewater stream was neither technically feasible nor
economically reasonable. Deep well injection was not an option, according to information we
obtained from the Agency. Technologies for removing sodium sulfate from a dilute aqueous
stream are limited. Electrodialysis has never been applied in the chemical or refinery industries
on the scale required at the Refinery. Biological sulfate reduction is theoretically possible, but
this will not reduce the overall TDS concentration merely by replacing the sulfate ions with
carbonate ions. The concentration of sodium sulfate is too high for reverse osmosis, as scaling
problems would develop. The sole technology potentially available is evaporation, an energy
intensive approach, which will result in increased carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.
This technology would result in a capital cost on the order of $7,000,000 and operating costs,
including depreciation, of $1,000,000 per year, assuming that the Refinery has sufficient steam
capacity, and that a new boiler is not required.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
This situation led to us researching the TDS water quality issues. We learned of efforts
by IEPA to
eliminate the existing TDS water quality standard
-
for both general use and
secondary contact waters.
Thus, CITGO began following the TDS rulemaking since its
inception. CITGO was in attendance at the first shareholders meeting which took place in
Springfield in the Spring of 2004. In July 2004, CITGO contacted Linda Holst of U.S. EPA
Region
5 to advise U.S. EPA that the TDS water quality standard change affected more than just
the Illinois coal industry. In August 2004, Dave Soucec, of
INHS, was contacted by CITGO to
discuss the timeframe for the additional toxicity testing Region
5 required before they would
approve the proposed TDS rule change. It was determined that the requested data would take six
months to a year to generate and be approved by Region
5. Also, throughout the summer of
2004, Bob Mosher was contacted by CITGO to discuss the proposed TDS rule change and the
potential impacts to projects required in a pending consent decree. We learned that the rule
change to remove the TDS standard was proceeding, but it became clear, even two years ago that
it would not happen in a timely manner for the Lemont Refinery.
Given the obligations imposed on CITGO by,
inter
alia,
U.S. EPA and Illinois, the only
viable option to allow the construction schedule to proceed was to file a variance.
On October
6, 2004, CITGOYs consent decree was lodged. One requirement, installation
of air pollution control equipment by December 2007, would result in a scrubber wastewater
stream with elevated TDS. With the proposed TDS rule change, a variance would not be
required; however, in discussions with Bob Mosher, it was evident that the
rule change would
not be promulgated before a construction permit for the scrubber facilities was needed to meet
the
timeline outlined in the consent decree. Subsequently, on November 8, 2004, CITGO filed a
petition for a variance from TDS water quality standards. On December 21, 2004 a construction
permit for a purge treatment unit was submitted to the agency.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
On April 2005, the Board granted a five-year TDS variance to CITGO. CITGO
Petroleum Corporation and PDV Midwest Refining, LLC
v. IEPA, PCB 05-85. On May 1,2006,
IEPA granted a construction permit for the purge treatment unit. CITGO has been proceeding to
install the equipment required under the consent decree and the construction permit. That project
is on schedule. We have also been collecting the water quality data as required by the variance.
Jim Huff will include that data as part of his testimony.
On May 2, 2006, CITGO attended a stakeholder meeting convened by IEPA to discuss
changes to the sulfate, TDS and mixing zone regulations. It was at this time that CITGO learned
of a significant change to the previously proposed TDS rule change. Secondary contact TDS
water quality standards would remain intact, and the general use
TDS water quality standard
would be eliminated. Secondary contact TDS water quality standards would be a component
of a DRAFT Use Attainability Analysis ("UAA") proposal. In the UAA proposal, TDS for
secondary contact waters would also be eliminated.
CITGO has made multiple written requests to IEPA to amend the secondary contact TDS
standard concurrently with the general use TDS standard. The agency has responded that the
secondary contact TDS standard will be addressed during the UAA process. It is apparent that
the UAA process is experiencing delays. At a March 20, 2007 Stakeholder Advisory meeting,
there was muchcontroversy surrounding the definition of "attainability" and water
quality criteria such as ammonia, dissolved oxygen, temperature and bacteria. Elimination of
the TDS water quality standard was not commented on by industry, environmental groups or
U.S. EPA. To
CITGOYs knowledge, TDS has never been raised as an issue during UAA
discussions.
Moreover, we understand that the only point source permitted dischargers into secondary
contact waters who are adversely affected by the TDS water quality standard [either in general
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
use waters or in the secondary contact waters] are the CITGO Lemont refinery, and the Exxon-
Mobil Joliet refinery. We base this conclusion on several conversations with Agency staff, and a
review of the Board's dockets. The Board recently granted site-specific relief to Exxon-Mobil
[whom we would note had a much longer construction schedule for its wet gas scrubber and
hence had the time to pursue rulemaking].
In the Matter 08 Revisions to Water Quality
Standards for Total Dissolved Solids in the Lower Des Plaines River for ExxonMobil Oil
Corporation: Proposed
35
Ill. Adm. Code
303.445, PCB R06-024 (Feb. 15, 2007). CITGO did
not have that amount of time under our consent decree.
CITGO does not agree that the UAA process is the only correct avenue to amend the
secondary contact TDS water quality standard. We see no reason why the Board cannot amend
the secondary contact TDS standard at the same time as general use waterways, at least as it
pertains to CITGO, and any other discharger adversely affected by the present standards.
If the secondary contact TDS standard is not amended during this proceeding, CITGO
may be compelled to begin the process of a site-specific rulemaking, similar to the recent
rulemaking granted ExxonMobil. Such a proceeding would repeat the same testimony and
evidence as presented in this proceeding; we fail to see why such duplication is necessary.
V.
CONCLUSIONS
The information which justified the deletion of the TDS standard in general use
waters applies equally to secondary contact waters such as the Lemont Refinery's
receiving waters.
The UAA proceeding is not the only appropriate avenue for removing the TDS
standard for secondary contact waters. Due to the delays that have occurred in the
UAA proceeding,
CITGO's obligations under its consent decree may come due
before the UAA proceeding materializes into a final rule.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
We urge the Board to recognize that removal of the TDS standard for secondary
contact waters is consistent with the Agency's proposal to remove the TDS standard
for General Use waters by eliminating the TDS standard for secondary contact waters
in this proceeding, to the extent applicable to the CITGO refinery.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
The undersigned, an attorney, certify that I have served upon the individuals named on the
attached Notice of Filing and Service List true and correct copies of the
TESTIMONY OF JAMES E.
HUFF
and the
TESTIMONY OF BRIGITTE POSTEL,
via First Class Mail, postage prepaid on April
9, 2007.
Electronic Filing, Received, Clerk's Office, April 9, 2007