ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November
    22,
    1974
    LAKE PATTERSON FISHING CLUB,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 74—341
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Dr. Odell)
    On September 20,
    1974,
    the Lake Patterson Fishing Club
    (Club)
    filed a Petition For Variance with the Pollution Control Board
    (Board).
    The Club desired to apply four pounds of the fish toxicant,
    antimycin,
    to the shoreline area of Lake Patterson at
    a point
    opposite its spiliway.
    The purpose of the application was to reduce
    the number of small fish in the lake.
    The Club hoped to apply the
    chemical in October 1974 or April 1975, depending upon the pH of
    water in the lake.
    The Petitioner alleged that it had arranged
    for a biologist from the Illinois Department of Conservation to
    supervise administration of the toxicant.
    The Club intended to
    leave the dead fish in the lake,
    since the lake water is not used
    for human consumption.
    Lake Patterson
    is located in Clay County
    two miles east of LaClede, Illinois.
    The Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency)
    filed its
    Recommendation on October
    22,
    1974.
    Subject to certain conditions,
    the Agency recommended that the varianoe be granted.
    The Agency
    indicated that relief was sought from Rule 203(h)
    of the Water
    Pollution Regulations
    (Chapter Three).
    Rule 203(h)
    provides that
    “any substance toxic to aquatic life shall not exceed one—tenth of
    the 48-hour median tolerance limit for native fish or fish food
    organisms.”
    The Club leases the lake from the Illinois Central
    Railroad, which has authorized the application of antimycin.
    The
    74-acre lake contains ninety-three million gallons of water.
    From
    the spillway, water
    is discharged into an unnamed tributary which
    flows into Dismal Creek.
    Approximately ten miles downstream, there
    occurs the confluence of Dismal Creek and the Little Wabash River.
    The Village of Louisville draws its public water supply from the
    Wabash River approximately thirty miles downstream from the Lake
    Patterson spillway.
    The Agency believed that should any antimyci~n
    flow to the intake point of the Village public water supply,
    “ally
    trace of fish toxicant present at this point would be miniscule.”
    The Agency confirmed the allegations found in the Club’s Petition.
    We grant the variance.
    We agree with the Agency that the dead
    fish need to be cleaned up, and we have so ordered.
    Although the
    facts presented leave many questions unanswered, our past experience
    with antimycin convinces us that the program here can be safely
    carried out.
    See City of Jacksonville
    v. Environmental Protection
    Agency PCB 74-92,
    _____
    PCB
    _______
    (September 19, 1974).
    Our
    14
    —
    529
    —2—
    decision to permit application of antimycin is based on the
    toxicant’s
    selectivity,
    its rapid degradation rate,
    and the
    limited harm that other members of the food chain would experience
    should they ingest any of the water or fish killed.
    In light of
    the benefit to certain members of the community and the minimal
    risk caused by proper toxicant administration,
    we believe it
    would be an unreasonable hardship to deny the variance in this
    case.
    This constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions of law
    of the Board.
    ORDER
    The Lake Patterson Fishing Club
    is granted a Variance from
    Rule 203(h)
    of Chapter Three to enable it to make one application
    of four pounds of antimycin concentrate to the shore line of
    Patterson Lake during the six months immediately after the date
    of this Order, subject to the following conditions:
    (a)
    Petitioner shall close Patterson Lake and the lake’s
    surrounding land area to all primary and secondary contact uses,
    including but not limited to swimming, boating, fishing, and
    camping during the period of administration of the fish toxicant
    and until such time as a fingerling rainbow trout or fingerling
    bluegill will survive 48 hours of exposure in livecars.
    (b)
    Petitioner shall carry out a method of disposal of the
    dead fish
    (other than allowing the dead fish to remain in the lake)
    acceptable
    to the Agency.
    (c)
    The application of the fish toxicant to Patterson Lake
    shall be made under the direct, on-site supervision of
    a fishery
    biologist from the Illinois Department of Conservation.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby cert4~ythat the above Opinion and Order was
    a4opted on the~
    day of
    ____________,
    1974,
    by
    a vote of
    14—530

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