ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
August 1,
1974
CITY OF EFFINGHAM
PCB 74~l86
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY)
OPINION AND ORPER OF THE BOARD
(by Dr~ Odell)
On May
2.1, 1974,
the City of Effingham filed with the
PollOtion Control Board
(Board)
a Petition for Variance from
die 203(f)
of. the Water Pollution Regu1at~ons (Chapter 3)~
Rule 203(f)
of Chapter
3 states,
in pertinent part,
that the
concentration of copper in any water of the State may not exceed
0~02mg/i.
Effingham wants to treat its 64~milliongallon public
water supply reservoir with copper sulfate to control excess
algae growth which occurs during the warm summer months~Effingham
alleges that there have been no adverse effects from the use of
copper sulfate as an algicide in their reservoir during the summers
since 1947.
Alternative aigicides are less desirable than copper
sulfate
On May 23, the Board issued an interim Order requesting
additional information within
35 days relative to copper levels
in the raw water intake actually achieved under the previous
Variance
~
PCB
73~39i,
Octoter
18,
isi3~.
On June 7,
1974,
the Board received information from the
City of Effingham that
(a)
although they received a Variance
(PCB 73~39i) for the use of copper sulfate in the summer of
1973,
this treatment was not used and
(b)
they
“have no information on
the resultant concentration of copper with treatments previous to
l973~
The Environmental Frotection Agency
(Agency)
filed its
Recommendation on July
8, l974~ “Petitioner~soperator states
that because of the lateness of the petition
(filed with the
Agency
September
7,
1973)
and
the
resulting
Board
order,
Petitioner
did not make any copper sulfate treatment during l973~ Therefore,
Petitioner has ro special copper measurements for review~ The
Agency has in its file~~
s
tire following copper measurements taken in
conjunction with other water analyses from the Petitionerth water
supply.
They are
as follows:
Date
Sampling
Copper
collected
point
Sample type
concentration
4.30.73
Finished
Monthly bacterial
0.01 mg/i
5.30.73
Raw
Monthly bacterial
0.06 mg/i
8,13.73
Raw
Complete mineral
0.08 mg/i
8.13.73
Finished
Complete mineral
0.0
mg,’l
8.21.73
Raw
Monthly bacterial
0.18 mg/i
8.21.73
Raw
Monthly bacterial
0.15 mg/l
9.25.73
Raw
Monthly bacterial
0.15 mg/i
In light of Petitioner’s allegation that no copper sulfate treat—
ment occurred during the 1973 season,
the Agency finds the copper
concentiation levels reported for August 21,
1973, and September 25,
1973, smewhat puzzling.
The most likely implication of these
measurements is that Petitioner did,
in fact,
treat the reservoir
prior to receiving a variance,
although the Agency does not have
any further evidence on this point.
While
the
Agency is concerned
about the possibility of an infraction by Petitioner,
it does not
feel that an implication of such an infraction is sufficient to
warrant
the
adverse results from denial of Petitioner’s present
request for a copper sulfate variance.u
The Agency recommends that
the Variance be granted, subject to certain conditions.
The Board notes the irregular copper values in August and
September,
1973, and urges Petitioner to monitor copper concentra-
tions more carefully.
The Board will grant this Variance because
(a)
copper sulfate is the best available treatment for excess algae,
(b)
no short term adverse environmental effects will result if the
treatment is properly made, and
(c) it will be beneficial
to the
public interest.
ORDER
IT IS THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board that:
Variance is granted from Rule 203(f) of the Water Pollution
Regulations
(Chapter 3)
to permit exceeding the water quality
standard for copper of 0.02 mg/i when treating with copper sulfate
for algae control in the water supply reservoir during the summer
of 1974.
This Variance is subject to the following conditions:
a.
The copper sulfate treatment shall be limited to
one treatment per month for the months of June
through October, 1974.
13
—
278
—3—
b.
The copper sulfate dosage shall not exceed 300
pounds per treatment.
c.
Copper concentrations at the raw water intake
to the treatment plant should never exceed
the 1.0 milligram per liter; and
d1
Copper concentrations in the reservoir shall be
measured immediately prior to and after each
copper sulfate treatment and the results of the
measurements shall be submitted to the Agency
on a monthly basis.
e.
Petitioner shall measure copper concentrations
at the raw water intake during times of copper
sulfate application and keep those measurements
on file for Agency review.
I,, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the abo~eOpinion
and
Order was
adopted on the
~
day of
,1974, by
a vote of
____
to
~stanL.Mett