74.202

ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

December

5,

1986

IN THE MATTER OF:

)

APPLICATION

FOR

LAKE

MICHIGAN

)

PCB

86—139

PERMIT NO. 204LM FOR THE

)

U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS,

CHICAGO DISTRICT

)

ORDER OF THE BOARD

 (by B. Forcade):

On September

10,

 1986, the Illinois Department of

Transportation

 (“IDOT”) filed

 a request

 for Board concurrence on

an IDOT permit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

 Chicago

District

 (“Army”)

 for maintenance dredging of the federal

navigation channel

 at the entrance to Waukegari Harbor.

 This

concurrence is required by “an Act in relation to the regulation

of

 the rivers,

 lakes,

 and streams of the State of Illinois”

(Waterway Regulation Act),

 Ill. Rev.

 Stat. 1985,

ch.

 19, pars.

52—79.

 On September

11,

 1986,

 the Lake Michigan Federation filed

a letter of Objection.

 By Order

 of September

11,

 1986,

 the Board

set this matter for hearing

 in order

 to more fully develop the

record and allow public participation.

 Hearing was held October

 28, 1986.

 Approximately 20 members of the public were in

attendance.

 By Order of November 13,

 1986,

 the Hearing Officer

closed

 the public comment period December

1,

 1986.

 Comments were

received from the Attorney General, on behalf of the People of

Illinois,

 from the Lake Michigan Federation and from the Army.

The Board’s statutory role in permitting dredge and fill

activities

 in Lake Michigan

 is provided

 in the Waterway

Regulation Act.

 Paragraph 65 requires that:

“no

 permit

 shall

be

 issued

or

 renewed

authorizing

any

 fill

or

 deposit

of

 rock,

earth,

 sand,

or

 other material,

 or any refuse

matter

of

any

 kind

or

 description

in

 Lake

Michigan

 except

 with

the

 concurrence

of

the

Pollution Control Board,

 and no such permit

is

valid without such concurrence.”

Thus, the Illinois Department of Transportation

 (“IDOT”) and the

Board are co—permitting agencies for Lake Michigan permits.

The

Board has construed its role “to determine whether the

information

 in record demonstrates that the proposed activity

will not cause a violation of the Environmental Protection Act

 (“Act”)

 or Board regulations or adverse environmental impact.”

PCB 85—134,

 In re:

 Application

 for Lake Michigan Permit No.

 114,

Order, March 14,

 1986.

 Under this scheme,

 IDOT is

 to utilize its

expertise to assess

 a project’s impact on the configuration of

74.202

—2—

waterways and shorelines,

 and the Board

 is to utilize its

expertise to assess a project’s environmental impact.

As a co—permitting agency,

 the Board can effectively deny a

permit by not directing the Chairman to countersign.

 Since the

Board has the statutory authority to totally deny a permit if the

activity will violate the Act or regulations,

or

 if the

information before the Board is inadequate

 to make

a

determination,

the

Board

also

has

authority

grant

permit

with conditions that ensure compliance with the law.

The Army plans to dredge approximately 50,000 cubic yards

of

sediment from an area south and east of

 the Waukegan Harbor

Breakwater and directly east of the navigation channel.

 This

area was sampled

 in 1986 and analyzed for several parameters,

the

results were (Report on Sampling and Analysis, Attachment, Table

2):

Sample

1

 Sample

2

Particle Sizing Retained

on U.S. 230 Sieve

97

98

Arochlor 1254 mg/kg

dry weight basis

 0.06

Total PCB

mg/kg dry weight basis

 0.06

 0.05

Testing and analysis from 1981 in the same general area show

similar

 results (Waukegan Outer Harbor Sediment Analysis,

Attachment, Appendix A, Enviro—Test Laboratory Report, May 20,

1981).

While more detailed chemical analysis has been done on

sediments in the area

 (Analysis

 of Sediment Samples collected in

October,

 1981, Table

 4C),

 this testing was done

 in 1981,

approximately 500 and 700

 feet west of the proposed dredge

location (R.

 23).

 These sampling locations

 (CWH—Ol—8l

and

CWH—

02—81) showed levels

 of arsenic,

 chromium, copper,

 cyanide,

 lead

and zinc above

 the heavily polluted criteria and total Kjeldahl

nitrogen (TKN), ammonia nitrogen, barium and manganese above the

moderately polluted criteria

 (USEPA Region V, Guidelines

for

Pollutional Classification of Great Lakes Harbor Sediment).

No

analysis of these parameters have been reported in the area where

dredging

 is presently anticipated.

Sediments will

 be removed from the dredge

 location by clam

 shell bucket and placed on bottom dump scows with a split hull.

The scows will

 be transported into the near shore waters off Foss

Park with depths

 in the eight to ten foot range.

 The bottoms

of

the scow will be opened

 and the material will fall.

 Typically,

thousand—yard scows would be employed, so that fifty to sixty

74.203

—3—

trips would be needed

 (R. 34—35).

 This type of operation,

in

sluggish current, typically produces turbidity plumes of

 a couple

hundred feet

(R.

 37).

 The disposal area is within 500 feet of

one

 of the City of North Chicago’s Public Water Supply intakes

(R. 38).

In comments,

 the Attorney General objected

 to permit

issuance unless the permit included a monitoring program to

sample and analyze applicable water quality constituents.

The

Lake Michigan Federation urged testing of the sediments that will

be deposited near the North Chicago water

 intake.

 The Army

comments opposed monitoring,

 stating that the information

acquired would

 be inadequate

for

 a meaningful research study.

The Board finds merit in both of these monitoring

recommendations and

is,

 itself,

 concerned with the proposed

 fill

site’s close proximity to

 a public water supply intake.

 The Army

correctly argues that the monitoring requested by the Attorney

General

 (as modified by the Board for specificity and to include

the Lake Michigan Federation comments),

 does not constitute

a

full scale research project.

 However, this monitoring will

provide useful information

 to evaluate whether

 this project,

or

similar projects

 in the future,

 might comply with relevant water

quality standards.

 Because the specific monitoring language was

largely developed by the Board,

 the participants are allowed

until December

15,

 1986,

 to file motions for reconsideration

regarding the clarity

 of the language regarding the monitoring.

Therefore,

 the Board authorizes

 the Chairman to countersign

Lake Michigan Permit No. 204LM,

 but directs the Army Corps of

Engineers

 to comply with the following notification and

monitoring requirements

as

 a condition of that authorization:

The Army

 Corps

of

 Engineers

 shall

 notify

the

Illinois

 Attorney

 General’s

 Office

and

the

Agency

at

 least

 three

 days

 prior

to

the

commencement

of

any

 dredging

 operations

and

immediately

 following

the

 last

day

of

operations;

and

The

 Army

 Corps

of

 Engineers

 shall

 conduct

a

sampling

 program

in

 order

to

 monitor

the

impact

of

 sediment disposal

on

 water

 quality

and

to

 assure

 compliance

 with

 Lake Michigan

water

 quality

 standards.

At

 a minimum,

 this

program shall consist of the following:

a.

 Samples

 shall

 be taken within

 three

 days

prior

to

any

 disposal

of

 sediments,

on

the

 first

day

of

 disposal

of

 sediments,

after

 completion

 of approximately 50

of

disposal

of

 sediments,

 on the last day of

74-204

—4—

disposal

of

 sediments

and

 three

 days

after

the

last

day

disposal

sed i ment;

Samples

taken

prior

and

after

disposal

shall

from

the

water

column

only;

Sampling

during

disposal

sediments

shall

consist

set

three

samples

taken

from

the

following

points

—

one

sample

taken

from

the

dump

scow

of the sediment to be disposed;

2.

one

 sample

 taken

 from

the

 water

column

 immediately

 upcurrent

of

the

disposal

 site and immediately prior

to disposal; and

3.

one

 sample

 taken

 from

the

 water

column

and

in

the

 center

of

the

visible

 turbidity

 plume

 within

15

minutes of dumping of the sediment.

d.

All

ten

 samples

 taken

 from

the

 water

column

 shall

be

 taken

at

a

 depth

approximately midway

 between

 the surface

and

the

 bottom

of

the

 lake,

all

 three

sediment

 samples

 shall

be

 taken

at

a

point

 representative

of

the

 material

contained

 in the dump scow;

e.

All

 samples

 shall

be

 representative

of

the

 nature

and

 characteristics

of

the

water and/or sediments being samples;

f.

All

 water

 samples

 shall

be

 analyzed

for

the

 following

 parameters

—

 total

suspended

 solids

 (TSS),

 total

 dissolved

solids

 (TDS),

 turbidity, arsenic, barium,

chromium,

 copper,

 lead,

 manganese,

mercury,

 zinc,

 cyanide

and

 ammonia

nitrogen.

g.

All

 sediment

 samples

 shall

be

 analyzed

for the same parameters

 identified above

in item “f” for water samples except TSS,

TDS

and

 turbidity.

In

 addition,

all

sediment

 samples

 shall

be

 analyzed

for

particle

 size

 distribution.

 Specific

 attention shall

 be given

 to determination

of the percent passing through a standard

62 micron sieve

 (#230 U.S.);

74-205

—5—

h.

 All water

 and sediment samples

 taken

on

the

 first

day

of

 disposal

of

 sediments

and

on

the

 last

day

of

 disposal

of

sediments

 shall

be

 analyzed

for

phosphorous (as

 P) and total PCBs;

i.

 Samples

 shall

 also be taken

 at all three

points

 identified

in

 item

 “c”

 above

at

any time that visual inspection indicates

that

the

 composition

of

the

 sediments

being

 dredged

has

 substantially

 changed

such

 that

the

 fraction

 consisting

of

finer material

 (i.e., organic and/or silt

material

 that

 would

 pass

 through

a

standard

 62 micron

 sieve)

 would

 be ex-

pected

to

be

 greater

 than

5

on

 a dry

 weight basis;

All

 analytical

 testing

 shall

 be consis-

tent

 with

35

Ill

 Adm.

 Code

 Section

301.104;

and

k.

A

 report

 precisely

 describing

the

monitoring program developed and sampling

results

 to comply with these requirements

shall

be

 submitted

to

the

 Attorney

General’s office and the Agency within 60

days

 of the completion of disposal.

 This

report

 shall

 include analytical data for

all samples

 taken and an analysis

 of the

impact

of

 sediment

 disposal

on

 Lake

Michigan

 water

 quality

 during

 this

project.

 Additionally,

it

 shall

 include

a description

of

 the quality control

and

quality

 assurance

 programs

 operative

during

 this

 monitoring

 program

and

the

results of quality assurance checks.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

74-206

—6—

Chairman 3.D. Dumelle and Board Member John Marlin

concurred.

I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certi~that the above Order was adopted

or~

the

~

 day of

~

 1986,

 by a vote of

____________

/2~,

Dorothy

 M. dunn,

 Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

74.207