ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

February

8,

1990

VILLAGE OF MALTA,

Petitioner,

PCB 89—130

(Variance)

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY

Respondent.

DISSENTING OPINION

(by J.D.

Dumelle,

B.

Forcade and M. Nardulli):

Radium

in drinking water

is

a source of

ionizing radiation

to the tissue of persons who ingest

it.

If a single cell

is

affected and becomes cancerous and

if the body’s defenses do not

eliminate

the incipient

tumor

then cancer will occur.

On January

17, 1990 the Chicago Sun—Times carried an

editorial titled ~Radiation

risks prove

real1.

The first

paragraph states:

The

latest findings on the health risks

of

being exposed

to low levels of

radiation are

not encouraging.

A National Academy of

Sciences panel recently concluded

that the

health risks of being exposed

to low—level

radiation have been badly understated.

The

risk of cancer,

for example,

is three

to

four

times higher

than previously estimated

a

decade ago

by the academy.

It seems quite possible that when the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency re—evaluates its drinking water standard for

radium

it may well tighten the standard instead of loosening

it.

A denial

of the lifting

of restricted status would mean that

additional persons would not

be subjected

to water containing

radium in excess of

the present Federal standard which

is now

apparently

3—4

times more dangerous then was thought.

Jacob

D.

Dumelle

Board Member

3-

Board Member

Board Member

---

—2—

I, Dorothy

M. Gunn,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify

that the above Dis~entingOpinion was

entered on the

/~‘~—

day of

~

,

1990.

/‘-

othy

Illinois

Ut

on Control Board

I fl8—5~