1
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND
)
EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS FOR THE
)
R08-9
CHICAGO AREA WATERWAY SYSTEM
)
(Rulemaking – Water)
AND THE LOWER DES PLAINES RIVER:
)
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO 35 ILL.
)
Adm. Code Parts 301, 302, 303, and 304
)
NOTICE OF FILING
To:
John Therriault, Clerk
Stefanie N. Diers, Assistant Counsel
Illinois Pollution Control Board
Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency
1021 North Grand Avenue East
James R. Thompson Center
P.O. Box 19276
100 West Randolph St., Suite 11-500
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
Chicago, IL 60601
Marie Tipsord, Hearing Officer
Persons on the attached service list
Illinois Pollution Control Board
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph St, Suite 11-500
Chicago, Il 60601
Please take notice that today I filed with the office of the Clerk of the Pollution Control
Board
Prefiled Questions of the Natural Resources Defense Council to Ernest R.
Blatchley III
, a copy of which is hereby served on you.
___________________________
Ann Alexander
Dated: August 22, 2008
Ann Alexander
Senior Attorney, Midwest Program
Natural Resources Defense Council
101 North Wacker Dr., Ste. 609
Chicago, IL 60606
312-780-7427
312-663-9920 (fax)
AAlexander@nrdc.org
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Ann Alexander, the undersigned attorney, hereby certify that I have served the attached
Prefiled Questions of the Natural Resources Defense Council to Ernest R. Blatchley
III
on all parties of record (Service List attached), by depositing said documents in the
United States Mail, postage prepaid, from 227 W. Monroe, Chicago, IL 60606, before the
hour of 5:00 p.m., on this 22nd Day of August, 2008.
___________________________________________
Ann Alexander, Natural Resources Defense Council
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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Service List
Richard J. Kissel and Roy M. Harsch
Drinker, Biddle, Gardner, Carton
191 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 3700
Chicago, IL 60606-1698
Bernard Sawyer and Thomas Granto
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
6001 West Pershing Road
Cicero, IL 60650-4112
Deborah J. Williams and Stefanie N. Diers
Assistant Counsel, Division of Legal Counsel
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
1021 North Grand Avenue East
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield, IL 62794-9276
James L. Daugherty, District Manager
Thorn Creek Basin Sanitary District
700 West End Avenue
Chicago Heights, IL 60411
Kevin G. Desharnais, Thomas W. Diamond
and Thomas V. Skinner
Mayer, Brown LLP
71 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606-4637
Tracy Elzemeyer, General Counsel
American Water Company Central Region
727 Craig Road
St. Louis, MO 63141
Robert VanGyseghem
City of Geneva
1800 South Street
Geneva, IL 60134-2203
Claire Manning
Brown, Hay & Stephens LLP
700 First Mercantile Building
205 South Fifth St., P.O. Box 2459
Springfield, IL 62705-2459
Matthew J. Dunn, Chief
Office of the Attorney General
Environmental Bureau North
69 West Washington, Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60602
Katherine D. Hodge and Monica T. Rios
Hodge Dwyer Zeman
3150 Roland Avenue
P.O. Box 5776
Springfield, IL 62705-5776
Charles W. Wesselhoft and James T. Harrington
Ross & Hardies
150 North Michigan Avenue
Suite 2500
Chicago, IL 60601-7567
Margaret P. Howard
Hedinger Law Office
2601 South Fifth Street
Springfield, IL 62703
Jerry Paulsen and Cindy Skrukrud
McHenry County Defenders
132 Cass Street
Woodstock, IL 60098
Keith I. Harley and Elizabeth Schenkier
Chicago Legal Clinic, Inc.
205 West Monroe, 4
th
Floor
Chicago, IL 60606
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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William Richardson, Chief Legal Counsel
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
One Natural Resources Way
Springfield, IL 62702
Fred L. Hubbard
Attorney at Law
16 West Madison
P.O. Box 12
Danville, IL 61834
Lisa Frede
Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
2250 E. Devon Avenue
Suite 239
Des Plaines, IL 60018-4509
W.C. Blanton
Blackwell Sanders LLP
4801 Main Street
Suite 1000
Kansas City, MO 64112
Sharon Neal
Commonwealth Edison Company
125 South Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60603
Traci Barkley
Prairie Rivers Networks
1902 Fox Drive
Suite 6
Champaign, IL 61820
James Huff, Vice-President
Huff & Huff, Inc.
915 Harger Road, Suite 330
Oak Brook, IL 60523
Georgie Vlahos
Naval Training Center
2601A Paul Jones Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-2845
Cathy Hudzik
City of Chicago, Mayor’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
121 North LaSalle Street
City Hall – Room 406
Chicago, IL 60602
Dennis L. Duffield
Director of Public Works & Utilities
City of Joliet, Department of Public Works & Utilities
921 E. Washington Street
Joliet, IL 60431
Irwin Polls
Ecological Monitoring and Assessment
3206 Maple Leaf Drive
Glenview, IL 60025
Ann Alexander, Senior Attorney
Natural Resources Defense Council
101 North Wacker Drive, Suite 609
Chicago, IL 60606
Marc Miller, Senior Policy Advisor
Jamie S. Caston, Policy Advisor
Office of Lt. Governor Pat Quinn
Room 414 State House
Springfield, IL 62706
Beth Steinhorn
2021 Timberbrook
Springfield, IL 62702
Frederick D. Keady, P.E., President
Vermillion Coal Company
1979 Johns Drive
Glenview, IL 60025
Dr. Thomas J. Murphy
DePaul University
2325 N. Clifton Street
Chicago, IL 60614
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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Susan M. Franzetti
Nijman Franzetti LLP
10 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 3600
Chicago, IL 60603
Marie Tipsord, Hearing Officer
John Therriault, Assistant Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
100 West Randoph, Suite 11-500
Chicago, IL 60601-7447
Vicky McKinley
Evanston Environmental Board
223 Grey Avenue
Evanston, IL 60202
Stacy Myers-Glen
Openlands
25 East Washington, Suite 1650
Chicago, IL 60602
Albert Ettinger, Senior Staff Attorney, and Jessica Dexter
Environmental Law and Policy Center
35 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 1300
Chicago, IL 60601
Susan Hedman and Andrew Armstrong, Environmental Counsel
Environnmental Bureau
Office of the Illinois Attorney General
69 West Washington, Suite 1800
Chicago, IL 60602
Tom Muth
Fox Metro Water Reclamation District
682 State Route 31
Oswego, IL 60543
Kenneth W. Liss
Andrews Environmental Engineering
3300 Ginger Creek Drive
Springfield, IL 62711
Jack Darin
Sierra Club, Illinois Chapter
70 E. Lake Street, Suite 1500
Chicago, IL 60601-7447
Bob Carter
Bloomington Normal Water Reclamation District
P.O. Box 3307
Bloomington, IL 61702-3307
Kay Anderson
American Bottoms RWTF
One American Bottoms Road
Sauget, IL 62201
Ronald M. Hill and Margaret T. Conway
Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
100 East Erie Street, Room 301
Chicago, IL 60611
Kristy A.N. Bulleit and Brent Fewell
Hunton & Williams LLC
1900 K. Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
Frederic P. Andes, Carolyn S. Hesse and David T. Ballard
Barnes & Thornburg LLP
One North Wacker Drive, Suite 4400
Chicago, IL 60606
Jeffrey C. Fort and Ariel Tescher
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP
7800 Sears Tower
233 S. Wacker drive
Chicago, IL 60606-6404
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS AND
)
EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS FOR THE
)
R08-9
CHICAGO AREA WATERWAY SYSTEM
)
(Rulemaking – Water)
AND THE LOWER DES PLAINES RIVER:
)
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO 35 ILL.
)
Adm. Code Parts 301, 302, 303, and 304
)
PREFILED QUESTIONS OF NATURAL RESOURCES
DEFENSE COUNCIL TO ERNEST R. BLATCHLEY III
The Natural Resources Defense Council hereby files questions to Ernest R.
Blatchley III:
1. Do you have formal training in microbiology?
2. Regarding the statement on page 3 of your summary testimony that “for some
common pathogens, analytical methods for measurement of their concentration do
not exist or are difficult to perform” – is this a reason indicator bacteria are
commonly used to estimate pathogen concentrations? Would you agree that
indicator bacteria can be a good indicator of the presence of at least some types of
pathogens?
3. Is it possible to apply levels of disinfection that kill both the indicators
and
some
or most microbial pathogens?
4. What is the alternative to the use of coliform bacteria as an indicator of
disinfection effectiveness?
5. Regarding the statement in your summary testimony at 3 that “use of coliform as
an indicator organism provides potentially misleading information regarding the
performance of disinfection systems” -- do you mean by that that it can provide
false reassurance of safety?
6. Regarding the statement in your summary of conclusions, conclusion no. 1, that
“coliform bacteria are poor indicators of the effectiveness of disinfection systems.
Relative to most microbial pathogens, coliform bacteria are sensitive to
disinfectant exposure, and as a result conditions that accomplish effective
inactivation of coliform bacteria will not necessarily translate to effective control
of microbial pathogens” -- Do you mean that the level of disinfection that yields a
low concentration of viable coliform bacteria will in no instance result in any
reduction in microbial pathogens?
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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7. Regarding your statement your summary of conclusions, conclusion no. 2, that
disinfection systems that have demonstrated “reliable, effective control of
microbial pathogens” call for roughly an order of magnitude greater disinfectant
exposure than would be required to comply with the proposed 400 cfu/100 ml
standard” –
a. Is your concern that the standard proposed by IEPA is insufficient to
achieve the highest level of bacteria inactivation?
b. If MWRD were to install a UV disinfection system to meet the 400
cfu/100 ml standard, what would they have to do to upgrade it to meet the
“reliable, effective” level of control demonstrated in other systems?
8. Regarding your further statement in conclusion no. 2 that “The response of the
bacterial community to the post-disinfection environment will be influenced by
bacterial repair, recovery, and re-growth; collectively, these processes may yield
diminished water quality relative to a situation in which disinfection is not
practiced” –
a. Do all pathogenic bacteria exhibit the same response to chlorine
disinfectant as fecal coliforms?
b. If you used a higher level of chlorine disinfection, would you expect there
to be a change in the ability of the microorgansisms to repair and regrow?
c. Do your findings in this study apply to viruses and protozoa, or just fecal
coliform bacteria?
d. Regarding Table 3 in your study –
i. Were fecal coliform levels in the disinfected effluent at t = 144
generally higher or lower than the levels prior to disinfection (i.e.,
prior to t = 0)?
ii. What did the change in fecal coliform concentration as a function
of time from t=0 through t=144 hours look like?
9. Regarding your statement in your summary of conclusions, conclusion no. 3, that
“in many developed countries, wastewater disinfection is not practiced, and it
appears that the frequency of disease transmission associated with water contact is
not substantially different that [sic] in the U.S., where wastewater disinfection is
common” –
a. Can you cite specific countries and statistics to back up this statement?
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
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b. Do you have information regarding the popularity of various water
recreation activities in these countries relative to the US?
10. In your summary of conclusions, conclusion no. 4, you state that “Irrespective of
any measures that are used to control microbial inputs to the CAWS from
municipal wastewater treatment facilities, inputs from other sources (e.g., CSOs
and non-point sources) will remain.” Is this statement true with respect to wet
weather conditions? Do you have any basis to believe it is true with respect to dry
weather conditions?
11. Regarding your statement in the conclusion to the study you co-authored and
published January, 2007 that “in situations where direct human contact is likely or
when ingestion of indigenous microorganisms in a near-outfall area is likely, it
appears that disinfection of municipal wastewater may yield some direct benefits”
--
a. Is this statement referring to “conventional disinfection” as you have
defined it?
b. Do you have any reason to believe that people are not engaging in water
recreation near the CAWS outfalls?
c. Do you have any reason to believe that these recreators do not
occasionally ingest water in the course of their activities?
12. Regarding the further statement in the conclusion of your study that “In applying
any disinfectant, it is critical to strike a balance between minimizing risks
associated with microbial pathogens and those associated with disinfection
byproducts and related (chemical) toxicological issues” -- does UV disinfection
create a significant level of disinfection byproducts?
13. How prevalent would you say disinfection is in wastewater treatment?
a. What if any major municipalities in the nation besides Chicago are you
aware of that are not either currently disinfecting their effluent, or under
orders to begin doing so?
b. Would you think it fair to say that most Illinois communities other than
Chicago disinfect their effluent for at least part of the year?
c. What method of disinfection is most common?
d. What other methods are used?
Electronic Filing - Received, Clerk's Office, August 22, 2008
