ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

April

24,

1975

COVES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 75—114

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

OPINION

AND

ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Dr. Odell)

On March

11,

1975,

the Coves Property Owners Association

filed

a Request For Variance with the Illinois Pollution Control

Board

(Board). Petitioner

sought

a variance

to enable

it

to

apply the fish toxicant, Fintrol concentrate

(antimycin

A)

,

to

Lake

of the Coves

in amounts

in excess of the limits

in Rule

203

(h)

of

the Water Pollution Regulations

(Chapter

3)

.

Rule

203 (h)

provides

that:

“Any substance

toxic

to aquatic life shall not

exceed one-tenth of the 48-hour median tolerance

limit

(48—hr ILm)

for native fish or essential

fish

food organisms.”

Lake of the Coves, which

is owned by the Coves Property

Association,

is an artificial

impoundment of water proximate to

Witt and Penny Roads

in Sections 26 and 27, T.

42N.,

R.9E,

in

South Barrington, Cook County,

Illinois,

Lake of the Coves occupies

81.5 surface acres and contains 546.1 acre-feet of water. This

is

not a public

water

supply. Petitioner

is seeking a variance so that

it can make one application of 1.0 to 1.5 ppb of antimycin A to the

Lake in order to selectively remove small bluegill, black crappie,

and green sunfish which are allegedly over-abundant in the

Lake

and

which need to be thinned in order to provide better fishing

in

the

Lake.

If

Petitioner

is granted

a variance, the fish toxicant is to

be administered by a Fishery Biologist from the Illinois

Department

of Conservation,

Petitioner alleged that after treatment of the

Lake with antimycin A, potassium permanganate

(K Mn 04) will be

applied

to the Lake~sdischarge in order to detoxify the antimycin

A, thereby preventing the occurrence

of any fish kills downstream

from Lake of the Coves.

The

Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

filed

its Recommendation on April

10,

1975.

The Agency reported that Lake

of the Coves discharges continuously through

a culvert into a 19-

acre lake which

is also owned by the Coves Property Owners Associa-

tion.

The 19-acre lake then discharges

into Poplar Creek, which

is

tributary

to the Fox River.

None of these

is used for public water

---

—2—

supply.

The Agency recommends that the Petitioner be granted

a

variance from Rule 203(h)

of Chapter

3, subject to certain con-

ditions.

On

April

16,

1975, Petitioner filed

a motion for an

expedited decision

in this case.

The Fishery Biologist

“has re-

commended that the antimycin A be applied

to The Lake

of the Coves

in late April, prior

to the hatching of bass,” rather than

in May,

1975,

as indicated

in

the original Request For Variance,

Petitioner

alleged that

“if

the chemical

is not applied

in late April,

an

entire year will

be lost, because we would not want

to kill

the

bass which would hatch, in May.”

We grant Petitioner~s motion, al-

though

its Request For Variance

should have been filed earlier

to

insure action by the Board

in April.

We grant the variance,

subject

to conditions suggested by

the Agency.

Variances have been granted

in cases similar

to this

to correct imbalance

in fish population.

See c~~ac~i~lie

v.Environmental

Protection Agency PCB 74-92,

13 PCB

631

(September

19,

1974)

and

atterso~~is~1inClub v. Environmental Pro-

tection Agency PCB 74-341,

14

?CB 529

(November

22,

1974).

The use

of antimycin A permits differential killing of undesirable

fish

populations; does not harm indigenous plants,

insects,

or animals;

and

is biodegradable

to non—toxic form within several days.

In the

light of

the characteristics

of antimycin

A,

the precautions

to

be used

in applying

the fish toxicant and

in disposing

of the dead

fish, and

the interests

of fishing

in the area,

it would be

an un-

reasonable hardship to deny the variance

in this

case.

This

Opinion

constitutes the

findings

of fact and

con-

clusions

of law of the

Board.

ORDER

IT IS THE ORDER of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board that:

1.

Petitioner~s motion

for an expedited decision

in

this case is granted.

2.

The Coves Property Owners Association

is hereby grant-

ed a variance from Rule 203(h)

of Chapter

3 to make one applica-

tion of 1.0

to 1.5 ppb of antimycin A to Lake of the Coves

at

any

time from the adoption of this Order until May 31,

1975, provided

the following conditions are carried out:

(a)

The application of the antimycin A sha~l be done

by a Department

of Conservation Fishery Biologist.

(b)

The detoxifier,

potassium permanganate

shall be

applied to the Lake~sdischarge by a Department

of Conservation Fishery Biologist to assure that

no environmental harm occurs downstream

from

Lake of

the Coves.

16—492

---

—3—

(c) The Lake shall be closed for all use

and

the

Lake shall be posted against

any

use after

the application of the antimycin A until such

time as fingerling rainbow trout or fingerling

bluegill survives 48-hours exposure in live

cars.

(d) The antimycin-killed fish shall immediately

disposal.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify

that

the above Opinion and Order w s adopted

on thei~)(tf, day of

___________,

1975, by a vote of

if

to

11—493