ILLINOIS

POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September

24,

1981

IN THE MATTER OF:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO RULE 203.1

)

R78—7

OF THE WATER POLLUTION

)

CONTROL REGULATIONS

Prc~j~osedRule,

First Notice.

PROPOSED OPINION OF THE BOARD

(by

N.E.Werner):

This Opinion supports the Order entered herein on September

3,

1981,

directing initiation of the first notice period in this matter.

General Motors Corporation

(“GM”) operates a foundry in Danville,

Illinois

(“foundry”) which produces about 1,500 tons per day of iron

castings for the automotive industry.

The foundry has an industrial

wastewater discharge at outfall 002 which flows through an unnamed

ditch to the Vermilion River.

GM must currently meet the Board’s water

quality limit of a maximum concentration of 1.4 milligrams per liter

(“mg/i”)

of fluoride at the point of its discharge into the unnamed

ditch.

GM ordinarily can meet the current 1.4 mg/i fluoride standard

except in the presence of high background river levels of fluoride

resulting from upstream dischargers

such as municipalities.

The high

background river levels of fluoride are entirely beyond GM’s control.

GM’s proposed site—specific amendment to Rule 203.1 of the Board’s

Water Pollution Regulations would allow fluoride levels in the unnamed

ditch into which the foundry discharges

(and subsequently amended to

include the downstream segment of the Vermilion River to the Indiana

state

line) of up to

5 mg/i of fluoride

(rather than the present

standard of 1.4 mg/i of fluoride).

The record indicates that such a change in the Board’s Water

Pollution Regulations will have no adverse environmental impact on

water quality and will not injure aquatic

life,

fish,

or people.

On August

23,

1978, GM filed its initial regulatory proposal

which requested that the Board amend Rule 203.1 of Chapter 3:

Water Pollution Regulations (“Chapter 3”),

On October 18,

1980,

GM amended its original proposal.

On March

4,

1981,

GM filed a

revised amendment to its regulatory proposal.

Hearings on the merits of the regulatory proposal were held on

November 28,

1978 in Danville,

Illinois and on February

7,

1979 in

Chicago,

Illinois.

After the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources

(“Institute”) submitted an economic impact study

(IINR Document 80—05)

to the Board, economic impact hearings were conducted on June 30,

1980

in Danville and on August

4,

1980 in Chicago.

43~-421

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—2—

At

the

first

merit

hearing,

Mr.

A.

Robert

Jones,

GM’s

environmenta

coordinator,

testified

that:

(1)

the

presently

used

calcite

limestone

contains

only

minute

amounts

of

fluoride

which

occasional ly

surface

in

the

water;

(2)

no

increase

in

the

existing

fluoride

discharge

levels

at outfall 002 will

occur;

(3)

the

shallow,

unnamed

ditch

that

is

located

entirely

on

GM’s

property is knee—deep at its maximum point

and

is

far

too

shallow,

narrow,

and

winding

for

any

recreational

purposes;

(4)

the

possible

installation

of

a

pipe

fran

outfall

002

running

directly

into

the

Vermilion

River

is

not

a

workable

alternative

because

of

its

prohibitive

cost;

(5)

no

environmental harm will occur,

and

(6)

GM

makes

an

enormous

economic

contribution

to

the

Illinois

economy by providing jobs for Illinois workers, purchases from various

Illinois suppliers, and

tax

revenue for Illinois government.

(R. 15—49).

The

substantial

economic

role

that

GM’s

foundry plays

in

Danville

was brought out by

Mr.

Jones’

testimony.

In

1977,

the

average

number

of employees on the

foundry’s

payroll at Danville was 2,310 people

and

the total payroll was $48,000,000

.

have families and dependents).

The foundry spent $71,200,000 in 1977

on

goods

and

services

purchased

from

Danville

area

suppliers

and

local

Danville

firms.

Moreover,

GM also pays property

taxes,

sales

taxes,

income

taxes,

and

numerous

other

taxes

which

provide

local,

state,

and

federal

governments

with

revenues

to

fund

extensive

governmental

programs

and

services

•

In

addition

to

benefiting

the

local Danville community and

providing

an

economic

base

for

the

Danville

economy,

General

Motor’s

foundry

was

a

‘substantial

factor’

in

the

$520,200,000

contribution

by

GM to the economy of the

State

of Illinois in 1977.

(R. 27).

Dr. James

E. Etzel, P.M. of Purdue University then testified that:

(1) no alternative

process

materials

or

treatment

methods

are

tech-

nically

feasible or economically reasonable;

(2) ‘meeting a fluoride

level

of

1.4

mg/l

is

impossible’

because

of

the

high

fluoride

levels

that sometimes occur in the intake

water

of the Vermilion River, and

(3) actual environmental damage ‘from production of chemicals used

in fluoride removal and by sludges resulting from the removal’ would

be greater than any potential harm from the original fluoride.

(R. 65—127; Grp.

ftc. K).

At the second merit hearing, Dr. Michael B. Bender, Ph.D.,

stated that

two

research studies conducted by his environmental

firm

demonstrated that a 5 mg/l fluoride concentration would not

harm any aquatic life in the unnamed ditch and the Vermilion River.

(R.

173—204;

Mx. N).

Dr. William F. Sigler, Ph.D., a fisheries biologist, then

demonstrated that the proposed 5 mg/l standard for fluoride would not

be injurious to fish or people.

(R. 254).

The few, small, warm—water

fish to be found in the ditch are less sensitive to fluoride than

larger, cold—water fish, and the high calcium and magnesium levels tn

the ditch substantially reduce any conceivable fluoride toxicity.

(R. 234—295; Grp.

43—422

---

—3—

At the first economic impact hearing,

the authors of the

institute’s economic

impact study answered various questions pertain-

ing to the study.

At the second economic impact hearing, GM presented testimony

in support of a suggested amendment, developed at the request of

the Agency, which requested that the 5 mg/i fluor:de standard

be

applied to the downstream segment of the Vermilion River as well as

the unnamed ditch.

The length of the downstream river segment is

about

5 to

8 stream miles

(i.e., from the confluence of the

ditch with the Vermilion River down to the Indiana state

line).

Mr. Jones,

Dr. Etzel,

and Dr.

Sigler all indicated that their

prior

testimony pertaining to the unnamed ditch was totally applicable to

the downstream river segment in question and stated that. no adverse

environmental impact on water quality or aquatic life would occur.

(Ex.

J,

0, and P).

Dr.

Etzel stressed the obvious fact that there would

be added dilution of the Vermilion River downstream below the confluence

with the unnamed ditch and fluoride levels would thus he lowered.

In evaluating the proposed change in Chapter 3, the Board notes

that the record clearly indicates that allowing fluoride levels in the

shallow, unnamed ditch and downstream segment of the Vermilion River of

up to

5 mg/i

(rather than the present standard of 1.4 mg/i of fluoride)

will have no adverse environmental impact on water quality and will not

injure aquatic

life,

fish, or people.

Accordingly, the Board

will grant

GM’s requested site—specific amendment to the Board’s Water Pollution

Regulations.

I,

christan

L. Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Boaçd, hereby certify that the above Opinion was adopted on the

~j’~

day of

~

____

,

1981 by a vote of

4-0

Illinois Pollut.

Board

43—423