ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROl, BOARfl
    July 7,
    1995
    IN THE MATTER OF:
    )
    PETITION OF ACME STEEL
    COMPANY
    )
    AS 94-8
    AND
    LTV STEEL COMPANY FROM
    )
    (Adjusted Standard-
    35 ILL.
    ADM. CODE 302.211
    )
    Water/NPDES)
    DISSENTING OPINION
    (by J. Theodore Meyer):
    I dissent from the majority’s granting an adjusted standard
    from 35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 302.211 to Acme Steel Company
    (Acme) and
    LTV Steel Company (LTV).
    The majority’s opinion would allow
    additional discharges into the Calumet River.
    I am familiar with the history of the Calumet River because
    I moored
    a boat at 135th Street and Cottage Grove from 1958 to
    1961 and I currently reside in the
    area.
    Over the past years,
    I
    observed the adverse effects contaminated discharged materials
    from steel manufacturing plants and other businesses had on the
    river.
    Boating down the river in the early 1960’s,
    I could see
    that decades of contamination destroyed the river’s ecosystem and
    living organisms.
    Driving by the Calumet River today,
    I see the many
    improvements due to private and governmental environmental
    efforts.
    Close environmental monitoring has dramatically made
    the Calumet River into a life-sustaining waterway.
    Carp,
    buffalo, and bullhead fish once gone from the river, are now
    fished from the river banks.
    Environmental efforts that lead to
    the resurgence of fishing are remarkable accomplishments because
    it has been over
    a half—century since people have fished in the
    Calumet River.
    However, despite these improvements, the cleanup or the
    Calumet River is far from completed.
    A half mile away from the
    locks just after the “Acme Bend”, the water noticeably changes
    for the worse.
    The water after “Acme Bend” is the same water
    that flowed from Lake Michigan into the Calumet River from the
    locks.
    The river water from the locks has similar qualities as
    the lake water.
    Discharges from the plant make a discernible
    difference in the Calumet River’s water quality.
    I recognize
    that there are other contributors to the pollution in the Calumet
    River, but the difference between river water before “Acme Bend”
    and river water atter it
    is like day and night.
    The majority’s decision granting an adjusted standard to
    Acme and LTV
    abrogates environmental standards that the
    legislator established to protect the water quality of our
    rivers.
    Today’s decision may potentially reverse the
    environmental efforts that have revitalized the Calumet River
    into
    a 1if9—~u~tainingwE~terway.
    For these reasons,
    I respectfully dissent.
    J. ~heocIoreMeyer
    Board Member
    I, Dorothy M.
    Gunn,
    Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereb
    certify that t e above dissenting opinion
    as filed
    on the
    _________
    day of
    ~
    1995.
    /~L,_~A~/
    Dorothy N. Gun
    Clerk’
    Illinois Poll,~( on Control Board

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