ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April
8,
1976
LAKE CHAUTAUQUA H~i~EOWNERS
)
ASSOCIATION,
Petitioners,
v.
)
PCB 75—461
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Zeitlin):
This matter is before the Board on a Petition for Variance
filed December 5,
1976, by Petitioners Lake Chautauqua Homeowners
Association
(Association).
Pursuant to an Interim Order of the
Board entered December 11,
1975,
the Association filed additional
information to supplement its Petition.
The Recommendation of the
Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency) was filed on March
8,
1976.
No hearing was held in this matter.
Lake Chautauqua
is a
73
acre
man-made lake built as part of
the Lake Chautauqua subdivision in Jackson County, Illinois, the
nearest town being Murphysboro,
approximately
3 miles away.
The
lake
is wholly owned by Petitioners.
Petitioners state that the lake has extensive areas of shallow,
weed producing waters
in which swimming or fishing is
“aesthetically
displeasing.”
To control the weed problem, Petitioners propose to:
1.
Add
“triple super phosphate” fertilizer, which will
promote large surface algae blooms,
shading out the weeds.
2.
Add copper sulfate
“as
needed”
in a super saturated
solution to the
6 acre swimming area of the lake.
In its Recommendation the Agency points out several salient
points which are omitted from the Petition:
a.
The source cited by Petitioners in support
of the above plan recommends a rate of application
for the fertilizer about six times greater than that
contemplated by Petitioners.
21—97
—2—
b.
Because of wind and wave action, and the
magnitude of the algae blooms which will be promoted,
very large applications of copper sulfate might be
required to prevent contamination of the swimming
area.
c.
The source cited by Petitioners
states
that,
“this method of control
is not usually recorn—
mended for the watershed type of pond in Illinois.”
Aquatic Weeds
-
Their Identification and Control,
Ill.
Dept.
of Conservation, quoted in Agency Recom-
mendation,
at
3.
d.
Since Petitioners do not plan to contain
the water which has been fertilized to the lake,
extensive downstream phosphorus pollution
(4-5
applications totaling 5,200
to 6,500
lbs.) may be
expected.
Based on the points raised in the Agency’s Recommendation,
we
agree
that Petitioners have not borne the required burden of proof.
The Record before us fails
to show that the “aesthetic” hardship
claimed by Petitioners outweighs the likelihood of significant
environmental damage.
In
fact,
the Record fails to even show that
the actions proposed by Petitioners would achieve the weed control
on Lake Chautauqua which Petitioners seek.
The
Petition must be
dismissed without prejudice.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
IT IS THE ORDER OF THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD that the
Petition for Variance in this matter be dismissed without prejudice.
I, Christan L. Moffett,
Clerk
of
the Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby certify the above
Opinion
and Order we e
adopted on the
day
of
~
~L976, by
a vote of
~
~
1~.
~ioffett/~4~erk
UlnoLs
Pollution
~rol
Board
21—98