ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September 19, 1974

CITY OF JACKSONVILLE,

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB 74—92

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondent.

James R.

Reilly, Jr., attorney for Petitioner.

John Rein, attorney for Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Dr.

Odell)

On March 14,

1974,

the City of Jacksonville

(City)

filed

a Petition for Variance with the Illinois Pollution Control

Board

(Board).

Petitioner sought relief from Rule 203(h)

of

Chapter Three:

Water Pollution Regulations of Illinois

(Chapter

Three).

Petitioner wishes to apply the fish toxicant, antimycin,

(trade name Fintrol-5)

to the water of Lake Jacksonville for the

purpose of poisoning the undesirable gizzard shad,

small sunfish,

and carp which have overpopulated the lake, resulting in a sharp

decline in the numbers and quality of game fish.

On April 4,

1974,

the Environmental Protection Agency

(Agency)

moved that the Petition be dismissed for inadequacy or that the

City file an amended petition.

The interim Order of the Board on

April 18 directed that the City of Jacksonville submit additional

information.

An Amended Petition for Variance was received on

April 25,

1974.

This Petition resolved the questions contained in

the Agency’s April

4 Motion.

The Agency responded to the April

25

Petition by filing another Recommendation on May 28,

1974, and

introduced issues of fact not raised in its April

4 Motion.

The

Agency recommended that the Amended Petition be denied or dismissed

until the Petitioner could answer these new issues of fact.

On June

20,

1974, the Board ruled that a hearing was the best method for

resolving the unanswered questions.

A hearing took place August

7,

1974,

in Jacksonville, Illinois.

The Petitioner called three witnesses and introduced seven exhibits

into evidence.

The Agency cross examined the witnesses but deferred

any comment on the exhibits until it had enough time to examine the

documents.

During the course of the hearing, the City agreed to

13—

631

---

-2

car_y ou’

safeguard procedures listed by the Agency in paragraph

18 or a

.,

M~y28, 1974

Recommendation (R.5

24).

A biologist

who ..e~ifted f~rt’e P~t’tjonerstated

that

Lake Jacksonville

was ~opulat

by an overaburdance of shad

CR.7).

An application

of rintro1-~las

oeen

used at neighboring Beaver

Dam

Lake

CR.9,

31)

aid

rumsrous otner locations with

good

results

CR.

15).

One

app

icatioa

of

Fintrol-5

should

bring

about

a

permanent

improvement

ia

the

Li

I

population

‘R

15).

Fishery

Biologists

with

the

Detartnen’

of

Conservation

are

willing

to

apply

the

Fintrol-5

to

insure

hat

t

is

used

properly

CR.l3

22).

Fintrol-5

is

not

toxic

-o cattl

CR

)

the

0

5

opo

to

be

applied will only affect the

sit)

.‘

?

la:ger sports fish

‘R.20)

-

~or

‘~

c arovides a

back-

‘p

water

st~pplyfor

t’ze

ty

(R

‘~

)

TI e

Utility

Superintendent

indicated

that

the

City

c

ad

rot

need

any

water

from

Lake

Jacksonville

during

the

cons

,

~-rter or following spring

‘R.25, 26’.

Local groups nave

‘

ned

-

Save-tie-Lake Committee and all favor treatang the lake

vith

F:

trol—S

R.27).

Organizations

working

on

the

Committee

in-

ciuie

campiig

and

boating

groups,

a

fishing

club,

girl

scouts,

and

‘h~4—1

Cl

I

‘1.27).

Phe

lake

is

heavily

used

by

the

community;

no

t

ens

~~yo°ed

the

grant

of

a

variance

‘1

33)

e r

exlibits

entered

tnto

evidence

report

researcn

d

e

‘-

c.’i

~

r

~

fla

s”bmitted

data

inc’

‘ded

a’

ab:

he

‘

r

‘la

f

Fsntrol—5

.~.96

).

vu

.te

t

xscology

of

Z~ntimycin

:963..

habit

lx’

-

t

ycii

PcL

~

tudies•

fl—Administration

o

a a

c.

*4 with

A’itimycin

to

Rats

and

r

~

1

6.

k4

b-

-

~i’

ci..

Por.ctty

Studies:

3-Administration

-

3

shed

sith

Antimycin

to

Dogs

and

~

~‘

l)o).

I

tibit

&

Bibliograpny of

Antimycin.

flhsøit

6

-

Antimycin

As

a

Management

and

Sampling

Pool

1974

T~xhibit

7

-

roxicity

of

Potassium

Permanganate

to

Fish

md

Its

Detoxification

of

Antimycin

Cl971).

The

seven

exhibits

prompted

Agency

response

on

August

22,

.974

The

\gency

took

issue

with

many

of

the

scientific

findings

contained

in

the

exhibits

•

The

Agency

felt

that

the

data

were

.iot

only

incomplete

and

unreliable,

but

also

that

the

results

were

biased.

While

we

agree

with

many

of

the

Agency’s

comments,

the

data

do

establish

that:

1.

various

species

of

fish

are

differentially

killed

at

specified

concentrations.

The

size

of

fish,

water

temperature,

and

pH

water

also

influence

the

effectiveness

of

antamycin.

‘

Aquatic

plant

and insects,

tadpo.es,

frogs,

salamanders

-

‘rtIes.

and

water

snakes

do

not

appear

to

be

harmed

Lv

concentrations

of

the

cnemical

nhich

are

used

to

electively

bill

some

1

—63

---

3.

Antimycin degrades rapidly in lakes and streams,

usually within

4 to

7

days.

4,

Administration of fish-killing concentrations of

antimycin to mallards, pheasants,

pigeons, quail,

chickens, mice, rats,

guinea pigs, dogs, and lambs

has not produced harmful effects, but some of these

data are not as applicable or definitive

as is

desirable,

5,

Skin and eye irritation is caused by improper con~

tact with antimycin.

Exhibit

6 is

a recent

(1974) paper which includes useful

information concerning antimycin,

including its properties, mode of

action, and proposed degradation mechanism,

This paper, entitled

“Antimycin as,a Management and Sampling Tool,” by M,E, Antonioni

and P.C.

Bauman of the University of Wisconsin, was presented May

2-4,

1974,

in Aviemore,

Scotland,

at the FAO Symposium on Methodology

for the Survey, Monitoring and Appraisal of Fishery Resources in

Lakes and Large Rivers.

The degradation mechanism of antimycin and

components proposed in this paper are as follows:

C28H4009

+

H2O—~C11H14O5N2

+

C16H2804

±

HCOOH

Antimycin

Water

Antimycic

Neutral

Formic

acid

fragment

acid

(One mole of formic acid per mole of antimycin)

Since the proposed breakdown components~of antimycin listed in

Exhibit

6 were

(a)

submitted after the Agency Recommendation of

May 28, and

(b)

give the latest information on this subject, we

shall omit from our Order the Agency~ssuggested condition

(a) (iii)

on this point.

We grant the Variance.

First, the questions we raised in our

Interim Order have been satisfactorily answered and additional

information has been supplied.

We acknowledge that the exhibits

are incomplete in some respects, but feel that it would be an un~

reasonable burden to demand the Petitioner

to carry out costly

research to answer the myriad of questions that can be raised.

If

this fish-killing procedure were as yet untried, we would demand

greater scientific assurance.

Second,

the procedure provides an

opportunity for environmental improvement and offers a promise of

utility to segments of the community.

While some risks exist,

they appear small in proportion to the possible benefit,

Third,

reasonable safeguards will be implemented during the fish kill.

Fourth,

it is the best available method of restoring the ecological

balance to the lake,

This constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions of law

of the Board.

13~—633

---

—4—

ORDER

Petitioner

is hereby granted a Variance from Rule

203(h) of

Chapter Three to enable it to apply Fintrol-5 in Lake Jacksonville

once during the fall of 1974.

This Variance is subject to the

following conditions:

“a)

That all necessary precautions be taken to protect

Lake Jacksonville

as a public water supply, including but not

limited to the following:

(i)

That the valve which wquld allow draining

the water from Lake Jacksonville to the water-

shed serving Lake Mauvaise Terre should be closed

and locked, and the waterworks superintendent

should be provided with the only key

to the lock;

(ii)

That water from Lake Jacksonville not be

used as a source of water until it meets the

recommendations of the supplier of the chemical,

Ayerst Laboratories.

These recommendations are

as follows:

“Treated waters must not be used

for drinking by man or animals, or for crop

irrigation, until fingerling rainbow trout or

fingerling bluegill survive

48 hours exposure

in livecars”

(iii)

Omitted as explained in the Opinion.

(iv)

That the water level in Lake Jacksonville

be lowered at least two feet,

and in any event,

to such level as is necessary to contain all

storm waters which may be received over a period

of at least fourteen days.

Such

a precaution

must be taken to prevent the discharge of poisoned

waters from Lake Jacksonville.

(v)

That should poisoned waters be discharged

either to Lake Mauvaise Terre, Sandy Creek or

any other waterway, all necessary steps will be

taken by Petitioner

to neutralize the poison so

that it

is no longer toxic to man or animals;

“b)

That all necessary safety precautions be taken to protect

those persons handling and administering the subject toxicant;

‘c)

That Lake Jacksonville be closed for all primary and

secondary contact uses,

including but not limited to swimming,

boating, and camping, for the fourteen day period during and after

administration of the subject toxicant, and until fingerling rainbow

trout or fingerling bluegill survive 48 hours exposure in livecars;

“d)

That all necessary precautions be taken to protect cattle

and other mammals and amphibians which may use Lake Jacksonville as

a source of drinking water;

13— 634

---

—5—

“e)

That all necessary precautions be taken to ensure the

water quality of Lake Jacksonville, Lake Mauvaise Terre, Sandy

Creek and any other waterway which may potentially be affected;

“f)

That Petitioner obtain the necessary equipment and man-

power to remove dead fish and have such equipment and manpower

available for as long a period of time as necessary to completely

remove all dead fish.

The removal operation should proceed under

Petitioner’s direct and active supervision;

“g)

That dead fish be deposited into enclosed container—

type trucks and transported to

a sanitary landfill in the vicinity;

“h)

That Petitioner comply with all other statements made in

its petition and accompanying reports and its amended petition re-

garding administration of the toxicant;

“i)

That Petitioner report to the Agency the results of the

subject administration of fish toxicant within thirty-five days

of the completion

of the operation.”

j)

That treatment shall be made under the direct, on-site

supervision of Fishery Biologists of the Department of Conservation.

The City shall notify the Agency 10 days in advance of tho treatment

so that they may observe the treatment if they care to.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

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

Board, hereby certify

t at the above Opinion and Order was adopted

on the

f~fM

day of

______________,

1974, by a vote of

..~

to ~

Christan L. M

ett