ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL 13Oi-~RD

October 10, l97~

CITY OF MOUNT OLIVE

PCB 72-333

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

OPINION OF THE BOARD

(by

Mr. Dumelle)

The City of Mount Olive (population 2, 289) filed a letter dated

August

1972 with the Board requesting a variance to use copper sulfate

in treating their water supply in order to control algae. On August 15

the Board entered a preliminary order enumerating four items of needed

information and requesting that they be provided by September 8 otherwise

the petition would be subject to dismissal.

The petitioner has never supplied the requested information even today

- -

a month tater

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and we would be justified in dismissing the petition. The

Agency, however, has filed on September 20 an excellent and detailed

recommendation giving most of the information we sought and we could

utilize this material in consideration of this variance by not being insistent

upon procedural purity.

The Agency’s recommendation

(p.

2) states “Petitioner has during the

past twelve years treated each reservoir two or three times during the

warm weather months; first in early April and last in late July.

Thus

it would appear that the petition is moot and we dismiss it as such,

We would note, however, that the petitioner in August asked for relief

and that this date does not correspond to the Agency’s July cutoff. It is

now October in any case and ample time remains until next April to re-

examine the situation.

It seems evident from the number of incomplete petitions being filed

by water supply operators that inadequate attention has been given by the

Agency to informing them of the factual material that must he supplied

for a variance as well as the burden of proof which they bear. The Act

and the Board’s Procedural Rules suell out these requirements as well as

numerous Board decisions.

-2-

The Agency recommendation appears to contain an error in giving the

depth of the “Old City Reservoir” as 143 feet. Few places in Illinois

would have this great a depth because of our flat topography. In addition,

the water capacity and acreage listed indicate that the correct depth is

probably 14. 3 feet.

While the paper by Mr. G. E. Margrave of the Agency is helpful it does

not explore all of the alternatives listed in the Board’s opinions of August 8,

1972 (PCB 72-168, 203, and 225) and August 15, 1972 (PCB 72-277, 289). We

urge that these other possibilities be investigated prior to January 1973 when

new variance applications for the Spring and Summer algae season will be

forthcoming. Again, the assistance of the research facilities of the Institute

for Environmental Quality is suggested.

The petition is dismissed as moot.

It is so ordered.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board,

hereby certify the above Opinion was adopted on the

,‘~ ‘

day of October,

1972 byavoteof

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Christan L. MoffetL~erk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

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654