ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August 23,
1979
VILLAGE
OF
V~ESTDUNDEE,
)
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 78—1
)
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
)
Respondent.
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
Mr.
Dumelle):
Petitioner
has
requested
a
five
year
variance
from
Rule
304
of
Chapter
6:
Public
Water
Supply
to
allow
the
barium
content
in
its
water
supply
to
exceed
the
Board
standard
of
1 mg/i.
West Dundee,
a village
in Kane County which provides
drinking water
to
approximately
3,300 residents, contends
that arbitrary and unreasonable hardship would result if the
variance was denied.
One hundred percent of the needed water
is provided by Well
#1, a sandstone well with an excessive
barium content
(6 mg/l to 10
mg/l).
Well
#2,
a drift well
that contains no barium,
can provide one half of the daily
water requirement,
but presently
is used only in emergencies.
Petitioner states that no new sources
of water are available,
that water softening is economically unfeasible,
and that no
adverse health effects will result from the high barium levels.
The Agency recommends
a variance until January
1,
1981 allowing
a maximum concentration of
8
mg/i
of water.
The Board has addressed the barium standard in City of
Crystal Lake
v.
EPA, PCB 77—332
(March 29, 1979)
and Village
of Cary
v.
EPA, PCB 77—339
(May
24, 1979).
In each case the
Board followed U.S.
EPA guidelines
and granted a variance
from the barium standard with 4 mg/i set as the maximum allow-
able concentration.
The Board,
from the information given,
does not see any reason for drastically departing from the
4
mg/l
limitation.
The Board also stated in Crystal Lake and Cary that
variances must be conditioned upon ultimate compliance unless
arbitrary
or
unreasonable
hardship
can
be
shown.
In
this
case,
COm~)liaflCC
seems
to
be
technically
feasible
and
there
has
not
been
an
adequate
demonsLration
of
economic
hardship.
Petitioner
estimates
the
cost
of
installing
water
softening
facilities
at
$1
million
with
an
operational
and
maintenance cost in
excess
35—187
—2—
of 60~per 1,000 gallons.
No mention is made
of the avail-
ability of capital
funding.
The Agency states that the bond
issues could be raised without
a referendum pursuant to Ch.
24, Section 8-4—1,
Illinois Revised Statutes and that the
expense would not be
“overly burdensome”.
Although
it
is qulte possible that water softening may
not
he
economicaT
ly
feasible or medically desirable,
the
Petitioner has railed
to assess other alternatives
for com—
Pliance.
West Dundee does not discuss
the technical or
economic feasibility of blending water from Wells
#1 and #2,
nor,
consequently,
is the feasibility of water softening after
blending addressed.
Absent in the Petitioner’s variance and
the Agency’s recommendation
is an identification of the barium
compounds present
in the water.
The health effects
of the
particular barium compounds present in the water have not been
assessed.
Finally, Petitioner dismisses the Fox River as an
unsuitable source ol~ drinking water without presenting any
data on the economic and technical feasibility of eliminating
contaminants
in that water.
Petitioner has not submitted an
ultimate compliance program or satisfactorily proven hardship;
therefore,
the Board must deny the variance.
It should he pointed out that the pleadings in this case
dat:e from January and February,
1978.
Since that time a
barium
study has been completed in Illinois which studied West
Dundee.
Its findings could
be
entered
into
any
future
variance
petitions.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of facts
and conclusions
of law
in this matter.
ORDER
It
is the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board
that Petitioner’s request
for a variance from the barium
standard for drinking water
in Rule 304
of Chapter
6:
Public
Water Supply be denied.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, h~re~)certify
Opinion and Order were
the ~,L3
—
day of
1979 by a vote
hristan L.
£wloffe
lerk
Illinois Pollutio
ntrol Board
35—188