ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December 13, 1979

VILLAGE OF ARLINGTON HEIGHTS,

Petitioner,

PCB 79~132

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by Dr. Satchell):

This matter comes before the Board upon a petition

for

variance filed on June 29, 1979 by the Village

of Arlington

Heights,

The petition requests a variance from Rule

304(0)

(1) (b)

of Chapter 6: Public Water Supplies to permit

water with a gross

alpha emission rate in excess of 15 pCi/l until January 1,

1981.

Several pleadings were filed by both Petitioner and the Environ~

mental Protection Agency (Agency).

The Agency recommendation

was

filed on October 24, 1979, No hearings were held.

The Village of Arlington Heights (Village) is a home rule

municipality located in northwestern Cook County, Illinois

and

has a population of approximately 72,000 residents,

The

Village

has its own public water supply system serving approximately

69,000 people from its deep well system.

The Village maintains a

complete public water distribution system including wells,

pumps

and distribution

facilities,

Petitioner has an ongoing program

of extending the public water supply system throughout the

corp~

orate limits of the Village and any portions annexed, A

water

system is provided to residential,

commercial, industrial

and

other users within the Village and charges as established by

ordinance are made,

The Agency sample analyses indicate that the radiological

content of Petitioner~s wate~r supply may be in

excess of

the

15

pCi/l standard,

It is necessary to monitor further to

measure

radium

226

and radium 228, Since these tests

are

very

expensive

the Agency waits to analyze quarterly composite samples

at one

time (Agency letter of July 30, 1979), Thus it takes a

minimum

of nine months to do the analyses.

The state maintains

the only

available laboratories,

Consequently, more detailed

information

is not yet available,

37~13

---

Because

of the

radiological activity in the water supply

source

in

excess

of

the standard the Agency has withheld those

permits

for

extension of

the

water supply system for which appli-

cation was made after May

1, 1979 to

service either new or existing

developments, Petitioner asserts that not extending the water

system would inhibit the future development of the Village, includ-

ing projects presently under way and would result

in

millions of

dollars of

loss to the developers and a substantial loss of po-

tential tax

base to the community,

Petitioner further asserts that

not extending

the public water

supply system would cause great

hardship

to the citizens of the Village, to

property owners and

developers engaged in approved projects,

The basic

means

of complying

with the regulations

is either

to dilute the water from the deep well

aquifers with shallow water

or surface water,

or

to treat

the water from the deep wells~ Pet-

itioner

has been trying to obtain Lake Michigan water

to supplement

the source

of supply from the deep

well aquifers for twenty

years~

Petitioner

is presently actively participating

in

the DAMP

Water

Commission and in SHARE

+ 3

Consortium to obtain water

either from

the City

of

Chicago or the City of Evanston,

Through these efforts

Petitioner anticipates

that Lake

Michigan water will be delivered

to the community on or before January 1,

1983,

This

target date

is subject to financing and

cooperation of other communities

in-

volved in the

joint undertaking for

the

supply

of

Lake Michigan

water, When the Village

receives its allocation

it

will be in a

position

to commence dilution of

existing ground water supply~

The alternative to dilution is the treatment

of the eleven

individual well sites, Petitioner

estimates a cost of at least

$500,000 at each site, After the community receives Lake Michigan

water only four well sites are to be maintained in active services

If necessary these could be treated, The Agency does not agree

with Petitioner~s cost estimate, The Agency estimates a

cost

of

$150,000 to $400,000 for each individual site, The total estimate

for thirteen sites is $4,200,000, The record is not clear whether

there are eleven (Pet, 3) or thirteen (Rec, 2) well sites,

These

costs assume:

1, All wells must receive treatment;

2. A zeolite removal facility will be constructed at each

well site; and

3. Raw water radium 226 and 228 is less than or equal

to

7,5 pCi/l,

37~-14

---

Treatment methods to remove radiological contamination are

either zeolite softening or lime softening. The Agency would

not

oppose zeolite softening if the discharge can be handled by the

sewage treatment plant. If the discharge cannot be so handled,

lime softening might be required with costs substantially higher

than those estimated by the Agency.

Petitioner notes that no formal assessment of the effects of

the variance on the environment has been made; however, Petitioner

feels that the variance will not cause harm to the environment or

the citizens of Arlington Heights. The Agency recommendation

states that gross alpha particle activity is a non—threshold car-

cinogen and poses a delayed threat to human health, usually from

chronic ingestion over a long period of time,

The

Agency

believes

that continuing the exposure to alpha radiation for a few more

years would not pose a significant health hazard to the

users

of

Petitioner~s public water supply. Analyses in the record indicate

a dè minimus violation

of the gross alpha standard:

PARAMETER

DATE OF SAMPLING

RADIOLOGICAL

ASSAY

Gross Alpha

March 29, 1979

19.1

±

4.18 pCi/l

Gross Alpha

July 2, 1979

14,5

±

3.92

pCi/i

Until more analytical ~results

are obtained,

it would seem ~re—

mature to propose interim standards,

During the period of the proposed variance Petitioner ~will

continue its efforts to obtain water to dilute the existing

well

water, Petitioner will work with the Agency to determine if other

additional steps will be necessary in order to comply. Based upon

these determinations Petitioner will engage outside consultants to

make recommendations as to the possibility

and practicality

of

using other techniques to comply. If necessary the Village will

petition the Illinois Department of Transportation

to increase

allocation of Lake Michigan water so as to reduce the

need

for

dilution of deep well water and thereby reduce the need for

ex-

penditure for other equipment.

Under Section 1416 of the United States Safe Drinking Water

Act (Public Law 93—523), a variance could be granted to Petitioner

until January 1, 1983 as a public water supply joining a

regional

system. The Agency doubts Petitioner~s ability to be in

compliance

by January 1, 1981, considering

the legal difficulties

encountered

by Petitioner in its past and present attempts to obtain additional

water. The Agency does not believe Petitioner will be able to meet

---

the January

1, 1983 deadline

for regional systems. The Agency

further

believes the January 1, 1983 deadline will probably be

extended. The Agency is of the opinion that Petitioner should

be

able

to comply with Rule 304(C) (1) (b) within a reasonably

short time after January

1,

1983 and thus recommends the grant

of a variance to that date.

The Board finds that Petitioner would suffer an arbitrary and

unreasonable hardship if

denied this

variance. The costs of treat-

ment

by either Petitioner~s or the Agency~s estimates for immediate

compliance are very high. The risk

to

public health is low. It is

probable

that Petitioner can achieve compliance by joining a re-

gional water system in the not too distant future. Achieving com-

pliance in this manner would render useless the treatment equipment

added to wells that would no longer be in use. The Board will

grant

Petitioner a variance from Rule 304(C) (1) (b) of Chapter 6

until January

1,

1981. The Board

is reluctant

to extend the var-

iance beyond this time because

of the

very limited analytical data

presented herein.

This

Opinion constitutes the Board~s findings of fact and

conclusions

of

law

in this matter.

ORDER

It is the Order of the Pollution

Control Board that the

Village of Arlington Heights

is

granted a variance from the

15 pCi/i limit for

gross

alpha

particle activity listed in Rule

304(C) (1) (b)

of

Chapter 6:

Public

Water Supplies until Janu-

ary 1,

1981.

Mr. Jacob D. Dumelle dissents.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of

the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby

cert~ify the above Opinion

and Order were adopted on

theJ~~day of~~

1979 by a vote

of~~j.

Christan L. Moffe