ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March 19, 1982
CENTRAL ILLINOIS PUBLIC SERVICE
)
COMPANY,
Petitioner,
PCB 77—158
V.
)
PCB 78—100
CONSOLIDATED
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Respondent.
MR.
T. KENT COCHRAN, SORLING, NORTHRUP, MANNA, CULLEN AND
COCHRAN, LTD., APPEARED ON BEHALF OF PETITIONER.
MR. DAVID L. RIESER,
ATTORNEY, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT~
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by I. Goodman):
This matter is before the Board upon a consolidation of two
petitions filed by Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS)
with respect to a cooling lake adjacent to CIPS~Coffeen power
station known as Coffeen Lake.
PCB 77—158 is
a petition filed by
CIPS pursuant to Rule 203(i)(10) of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
of the Board~sRegulations and PCB 78—100 is
a petition pursuant
to Rule 203(i)(5)
of the same Chapter.
Rule 203(i)(10) concerns
the application by the Board of individual thermal standards for
cooling lakes and Rule 203(i)(5) requires a one—time showing by
a power station that
it has not caused nor can reasonably
be
expected to cause significant ecological harm to its cooling lake.
Hearings were held
in
these matters; no citizens testified nor
did the Board receive any public comment.
On May 31,
1977, CIPS filed its petition pursuant to Rule
203(i)(lO) requesting that the Board establish specific thermal
standards for Coffeen Lake.
Hearings were held on the petition
at which CIPS presented evidence supporting the specific thermal
standards for Coffeen Lake including a thermal demonstration
pursuant
to
Rule 203(i)(10)(dd).
The Illinois Environmental
Protection agency (Agency) appeared
as
Respondent at the hearings.
On April
27,
1978, the Board entered its Order
in
PCB 77—158
which, in effect, gave CIPS their requested specific discharge
limitation on an interim basis.
At the end
of
three
years, CIPS
was ordered to present additional evidence pursuant to Rule
203(i)(10)
at which time the Board would determine whether or
not to make the specific limitations permanent.
45—5
15
2
Subsequent to the hearings noted above, but prior to the
entry of
the
Board Order, CIPS filed its petition for hearing
under Rule 203(i)(5), PCB 78-100, to demonstrate that
CIPS,
as
an
owner
of a source of heated effluent, has not
and
could
not
reasonably
be
expected
to
cause
significant
ecological
damage
to
the
receiving
waters.
On
August
3,
1978,
the
Board entered
an
Order
consolidating
PCB
77-158
and
PCB
78—100.
On April 22,
1981, CIPS filed its Motion to Open Hearing
and
take additional
testimony
and
documentary
evidence
pursuant
to
the
Board’ s
Order
and
requesting
the
interim
thermal
limits
set
by
the
Board’s
Order
be
extende,d
until
final resolution of CIPS’s Rule 203(i)(10)
petition.
Having
determined
that,
based upon
historical
data,
a
modi-
fication
of
the
interim
limitations
would
be
required,
CIPS
filed
an amended petition under Rule 203(i)(lO) on November 17, 1981.
The amended petition requested specific thermal standards signi-
ficantly
higher
than
those interim limitations previously granted
by
the Board.
On November 30, 1981, an additional hearing was
held
at
which
a
number
of
individuals
testified and additional
documents
were
submitted.
The
Agency,
while
generally
agreeing
that
an
had
carried
its
burden
under
Rules
203(i)(5)
and
203(i) (10),
expressed’
some
reservations
concerning
the
precise
language
of
the
proposed
specific
thermal
limitations
and
ques-
tioning
their
year-round
application.
In
addition,
the
Agency
requested
that
the
Board
require
CIPS
to
report
the
generating
levels
of
Coffeen
Power
Station.
Following
discussions
between
CIPS
and the Agendy concerning the latter’s reservations, CIPS,
on
February
5, 1982, filed
a Motion to Amend Petition in which
a slightly modified version of the previously
requested
specific
thermal limitations was proposed in response to the Agency’s
express
reservations.
Pursuant
to
the
April
27,
1978
Board
Order
in
PCB
77-158,
CIPS
hired
the
Illinois
Natural
History
Survey
to
perform
a
study
of
whether
Coffeen
Lake
is
capable
of
supporting
a
viable
fishery,
the
only
major
issue
left
to
be
resolved
under
the
Board’ s
previous
Order.
The
evidence
indicates
that
Coffeen
Lake
supports
a
diverse
fishery
consisting
of
a
total
of
twenty-
two
species
and
which
is
comparable
to
other
central
Illinois
reservoirs.
Coffeen
Lake
supports
an
abundance
of
fish
second
only
to
Lake
Shelbeyville
in
a
group
of
200
Midwestern
and
Mid-
southern
reservoirs
studied
•
The
Coffeen
Lake
fishery
appears
to
be
in
good
condition
with
the
exception
of
the
stunted
con-
dition
of
blue
gills,
a
condition
common
to
reservoirs
and
probably
caused
by
too
great
a
population
for
the
existing
food
supply.
The
lack
of
significant
fish
kills
over
the
years
at
Coffeen
Lake
indicates
that
adequate
moderate
temperature
refuge
areas
exist
to
enable
the
fish
population
to
survive
the
short-term,
high-temperature
conditions
that
exist
during
late
summer months.
45—516
3
Since the installation of wastewater treatment facilities and
practices in 1979,
the aquatic environment of Coffeen Lake has
experienced
a significant improvement.
Cadmium, chromium, cop-
per, mercury and nickel have showed moderate to strong decreas-
ing trends,
and no measurable
lead was detected
in the final
year of the study.
In its brief,
the Agency agreed that Coffeen Lake continues
to sustain a viable fishery.
The testimony and the evidence adduced at the hearing
indicates that
C1PS
has carried its burden with respect to Rule
203(i)(5).
The
study addresses the criteria of Rule 203(i)(5)
and both the author of the study and the Agency agree that
coffeen Power Station has not caused nor can be reasonably
expected to cause significant ecological harm to Coffeen Lake.
After considering the records
in both PCB 77—158 and PCB 78—100,
the Board concludes that CIPS has met its burden under both
Rules 203(i)(5) and 203(i)(l0).
It remains now for the Board
to determine the specific thermal limitations to be associated
with the thermal discharge to Coffeen Lake.
The Agency~sreservations with regard to the specific
thermal
limitations requested by CIPS address
a concern by the
Agency that CIPS might increase its operating levels so that
the proposed limitations would be a year-round situation in-
stead of the “worst case” type scenario they purport to address.
CIPS responds that this concern ignores the basic principles of
the operation of a power station, but nevertheless has agreed to
modify its proposed limitations to address the Agency~sreserva-
tions.
cIPS latest proposal requests that thermal discharges
to Coffeen Lake be limited so as to not result in a temperature
measured at the outside edge of the mixing zone in Coffeen Lake
which exceeds 105 degrees Fahrenheit as
a monthly average for
June through September, and 112 degrees Fahrenheit as a maximum
for more than three percent of the hours in that period and ex-
ceeds 89 degrees Fahrenheit with a monthly average for October
through May,
and
94 degrees Fahrenheit as a maximum for more
than two percent of the hours during that period.
The Board
finds that although the requested specific thermal limitations
may be more specific than required for a cooling lake,
there is
nothing fundamentally wrong with the limitations as requested
and that the record fully supports the allegation that the
limits will result in compliance with Rule 203(i)(l0),
The
Board shall therefore grant the limitations requested by CIPS
for Coffeen Lake contained in the February 5,
1982 amended
petition.
This Opinion constitutes a finding of facts and conclusions
of the law of the Board in this matter,
45-~517
4
ORDER
It
is
the Order of the Pollution Control Board that Central
Illinois Public Service Company
is in compliance with Rule 203(i)(5)
of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution for its facility at Coffeen Power
Station.
The thermal discharge to Coffeen Lake from the Central
Illinois Public
Service
Company~s Coffeen
Power
Station
shall
not
result in a temperature,
measured at the outside edge of the
mixing zone
in Coffeen Lake, which:
1.
Exceeds 105 degrees Fahrenheit as a monthly average from
June through September,
and
112 degrees Fahrenheit as a
maximum for more than three percent of the hours during
that same period.
2.
Exceeds 89 degrees Fahrenheit
as
a monthly average from
October through May,
and
94 degrees Fahrenheit as a maxi-
mum for more
than
two
percent
of
the
hours
during
that
same period.
I,
Christan L,
Moffett,
Clerk
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board,
here7by certify
that
~he above Opinion and Order was adopted
on the
If”
day of
~
1982 by a vote of
~Y~-()
Christan L, Moff~
Illinois Polluti
Board
45~518