PROCEEDINGS
THIRD SESSION
RECONVENED IN
WORKSHOP SESSIONS
September 28, 29, 3O,
October 1,2, 197O.
Chicago, Illinois
Vol. 5,
CONFERENCE
Pollution of Lake Michigan
and Its Tributary Basin
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR . . . FEDERAL WATER QUALITY ADMINISTRATION
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WORKSHOP SESSION FOR THE THIRD SESSION OF
THE CONFERENCE IN THE MATTER OF POLLUTION
OF LAKE MICHIGAN AND ITS TRIBUTARY BASIN
IN THE STATES OF WISCONSIN, ILLINOIS,
INDIANA, AND MICHIGAN - VOLUME V
Bal Tabarin Room
Sherman House
Chicago, Illinois
October 2, 1970
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11
CONTENTS
Page
Telegrams and Letters (read by Murray Stein): 1720 - 1726
Pearl L. Pohl 1720
Robert Q. Kuehn 1720
Mrs. Ralph G. Dunlap 1722
George Graff 1724
John Chascsa 1726
Thomas E. Dustin 1723
Mrs. J. F. Voita 1760
Eileen L. Johnston 1761
Frank Pierson 1769
Arthur Pancoe 1775
Mrs. Lee Botts 1795
Lowell Gomes 1314
Edith McKee 1&L9
Hon. Abner J. Mikva
William J. Scott
John E. Bardach l£62
Hon. Robert E. Mann 1895
Joseph T. Sobota, M. D. 1923
William S. Singer 1945
Hon. Philip A. Hart (read by Murray Stein) 1950
Ted F. Miller 1954
Mrs. Louise Erickson 1957
Ron McCandlis 1962
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iii
CONTENTS, Continued
Dana Schindler 1966
Raynor F. Sturgis, Jr. 2024
Herbert P. Read 2023
Mrs. Robert A. Barber 203#
Mrs. Shirley Gruen 2039
Mrs. Mary Helen Dunlop 2042
George Brown (presented by Mary Helen Dunlop) 2043
Clyde Mathews 2047
Mrs. Miriam G. Dahl 2049
Mrs. Donald Trump 2054
Russell G. Hill 206?
John F. Wilson 2076
Carole Magnus 212#
Mrs. Edgar Wilkinson 2129
Mrs. Catherine T. Quigg 2130
Hon. Gaylord Nelson 2132
Vance Van Laanen 2133
Ted Mac Donald 2151
Sol Burstein 2159
John C. Berghoff 2160
Mary Alice McWhinnie 2164
Mrs. Sylvia Troy 2247
Seymour AItman 2248
Mrs. L. W. Bieker 2250
Mrs. Robert McKimpton 2251
Andrew J. 0'Conor 2261
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iy
CONTENTS, Continued
John Chascsa 2289
Harold B. Olin 2298
A. J. Boehm 2304
Mrs. Paul Kaefer 2305
Mrs. Robert Herlocker 2306
James Sloss 2303
2356
Michael R. Rouse 2309
Mrs. Maynard J. Seidraon 2310
2357
Lucy M. Barr 2311
Aaron S. Wolff 2312
Closing Remarks - Murray Stein 2313
Documents Received Following Conference:
Petition, Citizens of Lansing, Michigan 2324
Mrs. Richard Schnadig 2325
W. D. Mohr 2326
Adlai E. Stevenson III 2329
Grace Marie Knapp 2330
Gaylord Nelson 2333
Michigan State Chamber of Commerce 2334
F. Scammon Barry 2336
E. M. Davey 2337
Robert Dover 233#
Bradley M. Glass 2339
Ted Falls 2345
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CONTENTS, Continued
F. A. Miskimen 2350
Mrs. Maxwell McCrohon 2353
Mrs. Dan Harper 2354
Hon. Robert McClory 2355
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VI
Workshop Session for the Third Session of the
Conference in the Matter of Pollution of Lake Michigan and
Its Tributary Basin, in the States of Wisconsin, Illinois,
Indiana, and Michigan, held in the Bal Tabarin Room and the
Randolph Room of the Sherman House, Chicago, Illinois, on
Friday, October 2, 1970, at 9:00 a.m.
PRESIDING:
MURRAY STEIN, Assistant Commissioner for
Enforcement and Standards Compliance, Federal
Water Quality Administration, U.S. Department
of the Interior, Washington, B.C.
CONFEREES:
CLARENCE W. KLASSEN, Director, Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield,
Illinois.
PERRY E. MILLER, Assistant Director, Stream
Pollution Control Board, Indiana State Board
of Health, Indianapolis, Indiana.
ALTERNATE CONFEREES:
DAVID P. CURRIE, Chairman, Illinois Pollution
Control Board, Chicago, Illinois.
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vii
ALTERNATE CONFEREES, Continued:
JACOB D. DUMELLE, Member, Illinois Pollution
Control Board, Chicago, Illinois.
CARLOS FETTEROLF, Supervisor, Water Quality
Standards Appraisal, Michigan Water Resources
Commission, Lansing, Michigan.
DONALD J. MACKIE, Assistant Secretary,
Division of Environmental Protection,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Madison, Wisconsin.
R. J. SCHNEIDER, Deputy Regional Director,
Federal Water Quality Administration, U.S.
Department of Interior, Chicago, Illinois.
ROBERT P. HARTLEY, Director, Office of
Enforcement and Cooperative Programs, Federal
Water Quality Administration, U.S. Department
of Interior, Chicago, Illinois.
PARTICIPANTS:
Thomas E. Dustin, Executive Secretary, Indiana
Division, Izaak Walton League of America, Fort Wayne,
Indiana.
A. Joseph Dowd, Assistant General Counsel,
American Electric Power Service Corporation, Two Broadway,
New York, New York.
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viii
PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
0. K. Petersen, Senior Attorney, Consumers Power
Company, Jackson, Michigan.
Mrs. J. F. Voita, Oak Park, Illinois.
Eileen L0 Johnston, Wilmette, Illinois.
Frank Pierson, Spokesman, Campaign Against
Pollution, Chicago, Illinois.
Arthur Pancoe, SAVE, Campaign Against Pollution,
Glencoe, Illinois.
Mrso Lee Botts, Open Lands Project, Chicago,
Illinois.
Lowell Gomes, Senior Associate, Theodore S.
Leviton & Associates, Chicago, Illinois.
Edith M. McKee, Chief Geologist, Theodore S.
Leviton & Associates, Chicago, Illinois.
The Honorable Abner J. Mikva, u. S. House of
Representatives, Washington, D,C.
William J. Scott, Attorney General, State of
Illinois, Springfield, Illinois.
John E. Bardach, Professor of Natural Resources,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jack Hipke, Wisconsin Power and Light Company,
Madison, Wisconsin0
David Do Comey, Campaign Against Environmental
Violence, Chicago, Illinois.
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IX
PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
H. R. Thoke, Wisconsin Southeast Chapter of
Trout Unlimited.
The Honorable Robert E. Mann, Chairman, Lake
Michigan and Adjoining Land Study Commission, Chicago,
Illinois.
Joseph T. Sobota, M.D., President, TEMP,
Kalamaaoo, Michigan.
William S. Singer, Alderman, 43rd Ward, Chicago,
Illinois.
The Honorable Philip A. Hart, U. S. Senate,
Washington, B.C.
Ted F. Miller, Chairman, Elk River Drainage
Basin Council, Elk Rapids, Michigan.
Mrs. Louise Erickson, Chairman, Racine Committee
for the Natural Environment, Racine, Wisconsin.
Ron McCandlis, President, Pro-Tern, Michigan
Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen's Association, Kalamazoo,
Michigan.
Miss Dana Schindler, Manistee County Anti-
Pollution Organization, Manistee, Michigan.
Raymond F. Sturgis, Jr., Director, Illinois
Department of General Services, Springfield, Illinois.
Herbert P. Read, State Director, Indiana
Division, Izaak Walton League of America, Chesterton,
Indiana.
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PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
Mrs. Robert A. Barber, Deerfield, Illinois.
Mrs. Shirley Gruen, Wisconsin Federation of
Women's Clubs, Glendale, Wisconsin.
Mrs. Mary Helen Dunlop, Evanston, Illinois.
George Brown, Committee on Lake Michigan
Pollution, Wilmette, Illinois (presented by Mary Helen
Dunlop).
Clyde Mathews, Community Action to Reverse
Pollution, Gary, Indiana.
Mrs. Miriam G. Dahl, Izaak Walton League,
Wisconsin State Division, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Mrs. Donald Trump, Chairman, Environmental
Quality, League of Women Voters of Indiana, Valparaiso,
Indiana.
Russell G. Hill, Executive Secretary, State
Soil Conservation Committee, Lansing, Michigan.
John F. Wilson, Director, Wisconsin Ecological
Society, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Miss Carole Magnus, Secretary, Manistee County
Anti-Pollution Organization, Manistee, Michigan.
Mrs. Edgar Wilkinson, Society Against Violation
to the Environment, Highland Park, Illinois.
Mrs. Catherine T. Quigg, Barrington, Illinois.
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XI
PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
Vance Van Laanen, President, Wisconsin
Resources Conservation Council, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Ted MacDonald, West Lafayette, Indiana.
John C. Berghoff, Associate General Counsel,
Swift & Company, Chicago, Illinois.
Sol Burstein, Senior Vice President, Wisconsin
Electric Power Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Mary Alice McWhinnie, Professor, Department
of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago,
Illinois.
Ted Falls, President, Porter County Chapter,
Izaak Walton League, Wheeler, Indiana.
Seymour Altman, Commissioner, Highland Park
Environmental Control Commission, Chicago, Illinois.
Mrs. L. W. Bieker, Division Board, Indiana
Division, American Association of University Women,
Munster, Indiana.
Mrs. Robert McKimpton, Independent Citizens'
Water Pollution Research, Ind., Hammond, Indiana.
Sylvia Troy» President, Save the Dunes Council,
Munster, Indiana.
Andrew J. 0'Conor, Attorney, of the firm of
Berry and 0'Conor, Ottawa, Illinois.
John D. Harper, Director, Environmental
Parameters Research Organization, Chicago, Illinois.
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xii
PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
Harold B. Olin, AIA, Member, Board of Directors,
Lake Michigan Region Planning Council, Chicago, Illinois.
A. J, Boehra, American Fishing Tackle Manufac-
turers Association, Chicago, Illinois.
Mrs. Paul Kaefer, Citizen, Northbrook, Illinois.
Mrs. Robert Herlocker, Calumet Area Branch,
American Association of University Women, Munster, Indiana,
James Sloss, Glencoe, Illinois.
Michael R. Rouse, Waukegan, Illinois.
Mrs. Maynard J. Seidmon, Glencoe, Illinois.
Lucy M. Barr, Highland Park, Illinois.
Aaron S. Wolff, Chicago, Illinois.
Michael Sheldrick, McGraw-Hill Publications.
Mrs. Richards Schnadig, Action Acommittee,
League of Women Voters, Glencoe, Illinois.
D. W. Mohr, P.E., Benton Harbor, Michigan.
Grace Marie Knapp, Mequon, Wisconsin.
The Honorable Gaylord Nelson, U. 3. Senate,
Washington, B.C.
F. Scammon Barry, Glenview, Illinois.
E. M. Davey.
Robert Dover, Wilmette, Illinois.
Bradley M. Glass, Attorney, Chicago, Illinois.
T. A. Meskimen, Senior Engineer, American
Electric Power Service Corporation, New York, New York.
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PARTICIPANTS, Continued:
Mrs. Maxwell McCrohon, Crete, Illinois.
Mrs. Dan Harper, Crete, Illinois.
The Honorable Robert McClory, U. S. House
of Representatives, Washington, D.C,
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1720
Murray Stein
PROCEEDINGS
MR. STEIN: Let's reconvene.
We have several telegrams here,
"We believe in the present environmental crisis.
We must not court further disaster by allowing any industry
to return heated water to Lake Michigan, until it is
precisely determined what effects added heat will have on
the multiple uses for which water is used. A 3 percent
increase in cost of electrical production is negligible
in -solution of grave problems of water quality with which
we are now faced." La Budde Memorial Chapter (Women)
Izaak Walton League of America, Pearl L. Pohl, President,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I didn't know they had female chapters. I am a
member-at-large of the Izaak Walton League. I think I am
going to affiliate with one of those.
"The Milwaukee Chapter of the Izaak Walton
League of America strongly recommends that the water
temperature from water coolants used in nuclear powerplants
discharged into Lake Michigan be the same temperature as
that of the intake. Temperature extremes that vary widely
from the norm as yet have not been fully investigated as
to their effect. They could prove to be very detrimental
to all aquatic life. Therefore, until sufficient research
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Murray Stein
is available concerning the effect of the temperature
variation of the Great Lakes waters, future nuclear power-
plants should be required to maintain the present tempera-
ture level." Robert 0. Kuehn, President, Milwaukee Chapter
of the Izaak Walton League.
"I strongly support your efforts to establish
strict and enforceable thermal pollution standards to
protect the aquatic and shoreline ecology of Lake Michigan.
We must not let Lake Michigan become another Lake Erie.
"I endorse the United States Department of
Interior proposal to limit thermal discharges to a
maximum of one degree Fahrenheit higher than the natural
lake temperature.
"We must avoid irreparable damage to the ecology
of the lake. Significantly raising water temperatures
will not only kill some of the lake's fish but accelerate
the growth of undesirable bacteria.
"Power companies can construct cooling towers
to avert the warm-water problem. Toledo Edison Electric
Company plans to build a cooling tower for its powerplant
on Lake Erie. The cost of such towers is small compared
with the cost to our environment if Michigan becomes a
dead lake.
"I commend the pioneering efforts of citizens'
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Murray Stein
groups such as yours in acting in the face of substantial
opposition to protect Michigan's environmental heritage,
I have asked Ralph Purdy to give serious consideration
to your views." This is also from Senator Sander Levin.
Then, here is a letter saying: "I wish to urge
as strongly as possible the adoption by the Four-State
Conference on Lake Michigan of the strictest standard
under consideration for control of thermal pollution in
Lake Michigan: a maximum of fone degree Fahrenheit rise
over ambient at the point of discharge.'
"It is absolutely essential, if we are to pre-
serve Lake Michigan, to take the long view; in this case,
to take into consideration the long-range and cumulative
effects of returning heated water to the lake. Let us
not use Lake Michigan to death. Too often, we have said,
'We have no alternative;1 or 'It's too expensive;' or 'We
can take care of that problem later, when it arises;' and
consequently we have found irreversible damage has been
done by our lack of thoughtful care and caution — by our
negligence.
"Something can be done now to prevent thermal
pollution of Lake Michigan; The conference can adopt
the strictest standard proposed by the Department of the
Interior. Please use your influence to that end."
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1723
Murray Stein
That is from Mary Helen Dunlop of 2246 Orrington
Avenue, Evanston, Illinois.
And we do have some longer letters and statements
and with the conference's approval I would like to put
them in the record as if read and I would pass these to
the conferees and they can read these, and without objec-
tion they will be entered into the record as if read.
(The letters above referred to follow in their
entirety.)
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1724
HIGAN STATE: CHAMBER of COMMERCE:
215 S. Washington Ave., Lansing, Michigan 48933 • Phone 517/482-0657
otfic.s September 28, 1970
Mr. Murry Stein, Conference Chairman
Thermal Pollution Workshop
Sherman House
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Mr. Stein:
Enclosed you will find a copy of the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce's
Policy on Thermal Effects which was adopted by our Board of Directors
on January 21, 1970.
Please enter this into the proceedings of the Department of Interior's Thermal
Pollution Workshop currently underway in Chicago.
Sincerely, /n .
George P. Graff,
Manager, Natural Resources
GPG/sk
Enclosure
cc: Francis T. Mayo
Ralph Purdy
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1725
MICHIGAN STATE CHAMBER POLICY ON THERMAL EFFECTS
The Michigan State Chamber of Commerce has long recognized the need to
protect and enhance the quality of the environment in the State of Michigan. Cooperative
efforts of both the public and private sectors are necessary to effectively promote this
objective.
The Waters of the State of Michigan are an important segment of the environ-
ment and should be so respected. The potential effects of thermal discharges to these
waters are not fully understood. However, it is known that in some instances these
effects are detrimental to legitimate uses, while in other instances they are beneficial^
Recognizing that there are many needs and objectives in society, and. that they
cannot all be satisfied in their entirety, the State Chamber strongly recommends that
the Michigan Water Management Program, with particular reference to thermal effects,
be guided by the following principles:
1. That no single set of regulations is adaptable to all situations.
2. That the management program provide for beneficial water uses, with joint
consideration of alternative costs to society and the objective of preserving environmen-
tal quality.
3. That water quality standards regarding thermal effects adopted by the State
are consistent with the water use management program which recognizes the needs of
our society and further that Michigan industry will comply with all state standards.
4. That any use which has potential of causing significant environmental effects
be carefully monitored to determine the extent of any effects and the possible need for
corrective action.
5. That prompt corrective action be taken whenever effects detrimental to
legitimate uses are detected.
6, That thermal effects research be promoted in an effort to obtain sound data
from which intelligent judgments can be based regarding thermal discharges.
The State Chamber commends the responsible State agency's accomplishments
in the area of water quality control and pledges its continuing support and coopera-
tion in efforts to provide an improved environment and high quality water in the State
of Michigan.
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1 T2 f\
lafee Crie Cleanup Committee
, Jtttcfjigan
JOHN CHASCSA C. W. (TED) HOFFMAN
Fmident Vice President
MRS. IRENE FINCK LAWRENCE LEIBOLD
Secretory Treasurer
September 28, 1970
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
Sherman House
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, Illinois
Attention: Chairman, Murray Stein, Chief Enforcement Officer
Interior's Federal Water Duality Administration
Dear Mr. Stein:
It is indeed encouraging to learn that all types of Pollution are being
investigated by your Committee.
We have, on many occasions, heard that one type of waste after another
is responsible for the condition of our Lakes, Rivers and streams. In
some instances we have condemned the use of our waters as dumping
grounds or hiding places for unwanted waste sewage, refuse and hot water
from large Industries. However, it took our President, Richard M. Nixon
to open our eyes to the serious dangers involved in permitting Thermal
Pollution to further complicate our Environmental problems. So, if
Biscayne Bay can Become a living mass of Algae interspersed with dead
and dying marine and bird life, this could and would create a very
nauseating stench in the area, (which by the way is the location of
our Southern White House, it isn't used much, but it is there.) You
can imagine what could happen to Lake Michigan, Lake Erie or for that
matter any of our inland Lakes. Lake Michigan is the most vulnerable
though, and then Lake Erie.
Lake Michigan from Muskegon to Gary, Indiana, and then on to Chicago
is (as you know) the natural pocket with no place for the water to flow.
This area has for many years received all sorts of waste, it has been
the cause of many illnesses, much fish and wild fowl mortality, and
could become a hot bed of more of the same, if permission to use Lake
Michigan were granted to cool industrial or municipal hot water.
Why must the general Public have to accept the loss of the use of a
Public Lake, Stream or River, and be expected to pick up the tab for
cleaning up the mess when it becomes too unbearable?
There are, as you have pointed out, many ways to cool and purify water
and there are some that have not even been considered.
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1727
page 2
Mr. h. Stein
Sept. 28, 1970
Perhaps the state of Michigan's Fisheries Department are expecting to
use the warmer water to escalate the growth of the Coho that is being
planted by them, or perhaps this is a good way to get a ready cooked
meal.
Seriously, the Lake Erie Cleanup Committee supports your stand on pro-
hibiting the use of our Lakes as a depository of Thermal Pollution, or
any other form.
Knowing the area around Ludington, I would suggest that these combined
systems be used - such as an inland cooling Pond with spray and return
canals for re-use in the plant or into the Lake.
Due to unforseen circumstances I am unable to attend this conference,
but would like to take this opportunity to voice the opinion of the
Lake Erie Cleanup Committee, and the Monroe County Rod and Gun Club ,
and to thank you for this presentation.
For a better Environmental tomorrow, I remain.
Sincerely,
'John Chascsa, President
Lake Erie Cleanup Committee, Inc.
cc: Conferees: Illinois Environmental Protection Agency!
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Indiana Stream Pollution Control Board,
Michigan Water Resources Commission
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1728
T. E. Dustin
MR. STEIN: Now, I would like to, if we can,
try to have the people who are making presentations here
be as brief as possible, I know this is a public day; I
also know that almost all of you — if not all of you —
are here on your own time and volunteering your time for
this. We have many, many speakers scheduled and I would
ask you to be as brief as possible. If you have longer
statements, we will be glad to put them in the record
and when I ask for questions this will include the panel
as well as the floor.
May we have Tom Dustin first, please?
STATEMENT OF THOMAS E. DUSTIN, EXECUTIVE
SECRETARY, INDIANA DIVISION, IZAAK WALTON
LEAGUE OF AMERICA, FORT WAYNE, INDIANA
MR. DUSTIN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and
ladies and gentlemen of the Lake Michigan Enforcement
Conference. My name is Thomas E. Dustin, and I appear
as the executive secretary of the Indiana Division, Izaak
Walton League of America. Our organization includes 5,300
members in 1+6 chapters in the State of Indiana, distributed
from the Ohio River literally to the shores of Lake
Michigan. Our interest and concern are directed to all
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T. E. Dustin
phases of the natural environment, man's relationship to
that environment, and the interdependencies of all living
organisms with it,
Our history of direct interest in the Lake
Michigan environmental unit needs little preamble.
We have been reading and hearing the press
releases which have emanated from this conference since
its convening September 2&; and they are remarkably
similar to those of previous sessions — particularly
those coming from industrial spokesmen. We know the
Chairman of this conference has heard it all before, too.
To hear the polluters tell it, you would think they were
all milkmaids distributing effluents as pure as the
driven snow. Yet Lake Michigan continues on its path to
polluted uselessness.
But in the rhetoric, denials, assertions, and
carefully couched semi-scientific testimony that have
been offered, the essential questions have become obscured:
1) Are we, as a society, really serious about
our intent to save and restore Lake Michigan? If we are
— and the Izaak Walton League answers with an unqualified
"yes" to this question — then it is perfectly obvious
that we will not only have to halt the increased pollution
of the lake, but must roll back the sources which have
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T. E. Dustin
come into existence through most of this century.
Second —
2) Are we all prepared to join together in a
mighty and sustained program of active achievement, and
to share among us the cost of doing it? Again, the Izaak
Walton League's response is an unqualified "yes," Third —
3) Are we wise enough and perceptive enough to
understand the highest and most productive purposes of Lake
Michigan, and to grasp its significance in terms of all the
values and dimensions, both tangible and intangible, that
it holds for man, and for all of the other organisms which
form its community? Again, we say that our species has
this capacity for understanding, though because we have
been lazy and have pursued more superficial goals, our
general record has been one environmental atrocity after
another.
We are not here to attack devils because we
recognize that all men, institutions, and corporations are
bound together in a common web of ideas, trade, and inter-
change of energies of one description or another.
But I will say that I hope the defense of thermal
pollution reported in our local Fort Wayne newspapers, on
the part of Indiana and Michigan Electric Company, is not
a mirror image of our society's state of conscience and
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1731
1732
1733
T. E. Dustin 1734
1735
environmental awareness.
I want it fully understood that the Izaak Walton
League supports without qualification the proposal by the
Department of the Interior that thermal discharges be
limited to not more than 1 degree Fahrenheit above the
natural ambient temperature of Lake Michigan, This
principle has been thoroughly reviewed by all of the
policy-making bodies of our group, and by all of our
membership. Moreover, we see the 1 degree Fahrenheit
recommendation as a minimum goal to achieve; we support
the effluent standards for all forms of unnatural dis-
charges.
From all of the press reports and all of the
testimony we have seen regarding the effects of thermal
discharge on Lake Michigan, we observe that the utilities
— including Indiana and Michigan Electric Company and
Northern Indiana Public Service Company — have created
a phalanx essentially around the person of one zoologist
whom they have hired to justify the increased dishcarge
of waste heat to Lake Michigan.
But even if Professor J. C. Ayers is right in
some of his assumptions — and there is persuasive
testimony to indicate he doesn't know what he is talking
about — he stops far short of responding to far larger
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T. E. Dustin
questions. Much of whatever genuine field studies he under-
took were at the Charlevoix Big Rock installation of some
55 megawatts capacity — almost irrelevant to the draconian
questions we face here.
In describing the miniscule hot water plume
there, he acknowledges that organisms that may be exposed
to it have other environmental choices, since that plant
operates in a comparative thermal vacuum, uncomplicated by
other sources of heat.
Professor Ayers explains that most oxygen recharg-
ing of the lake takes place in winter, when the warmed
epilimnion disappears, and lake temperature is relatively
uniform. He makes no effort whatever to explain what happens
when a warm surface condition is perpetuated, and when there
are so many sources as to influence a significant portion
of all shallow water environments.
No one, not even Professor Ayers, can estimate
the effects over the next 30 years as the amount of waste
heat rises from a mere 30 billion B.t.u.'s an hour to over
400 billiono But it will hardly be a biological health
spa.
Few, if any, competent aquatic biologists have
stood forward to endorse his whitewash of thermal pollution
for his clients. And a great many of them fully recognize
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To E. Dustin
the detrimental effects. For the record, I have thoroughly
read the Interior Departments September 1970 publication,
"Physical and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake
Michigan,11 and find it wholly consistent with every principle
we support, and consistent with the concerns of qualified
limnologists and other biologists whose opinions we have
sought.
One such authority is Dr. John S. Bardach, of
the University of Michigan, whose testimony in connection
with NIPSCO's Michigan City construction application we
have. If that statement has not yet been made part of the
record of this conference, we request that this be done, and
will provide a copy for you on request. It is at very least
as competent as the views of Dr. Ayers and much more
independent. (See Pp. 1737a-1737o)
But there is another essential question here.
Spokesmen for the utilities have laid down a challenge to
prove that thermal pollution is injurious. I would state
to you that it is this very formula which has necessitated
this conference today, and those before it. All of those
who have preceded us as Lake Michigan polluters have made
the same case, asking that positive proof of damage be
made before the event.
I submit to you that this ploy has precisely the
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1737a
Resume of Statement for the Record by
JOHN £. BARDACH, Ph.D
At a Vublic Hearing at Michigeu City, Indiana
September 11, 1970
Before
COL. WILLIAM G. STEWART
District Engineer
Chicago District, Corps of Engineers
Department of the Army
In the Matter of
NORTHERN INDIANA PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
Application to Construct Intake and Discharge Facilities
In Lake Michigan at Michigan City, Indiana
Colonel Stewart, Ladies and Gentlemen:
My name is John S. Bardach and I reside in Ypsilanti,
Michigan. By profession I am an aquatic ecologist with more
than 20 years of teaching and research experience.
I am currently a full professor in the Department of
Wild Life and Fisheries in the School of Natural Resources and
a full professor of Zoology in the Department of Literature,
Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan in Ann
Arbor, Michigan. I was born on March 6, 1915 in Vienna, Austria
and I became a naturalized American in 1953. I was graduated
from the Real-gymnasium in Vienna, Austria in 1933. I then
attended the University of Berlin, Germany, for two years and
thereafter Queens University, Kingston, Ontario, where I
received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1946. I received a
Master of Science degree in 1948 and a Doctor of Philosophy
degree in 1949, both from the University of Wisconsin.
My present teaching duties at the University of Michigan
include a course in Functional Ichthyology concerning itself
with anatomy, physiology and behavior of fishes, and the
supervision of graduate students on physiology, ecology and
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1737b
behavior of aquatic organisms. Moreover, I am involved in
teaching Natural Resources Ecology, a course dealing with
man's influence on and management of his natural environment.
My research and publications over the last 20 years
have dealt -,~ith the entire range of ny expertise and partic-
ularly the physiology of aquatic organisms and the reactions
of aquatic organisms to man-made and man-induced changes
in lakes, streams and seas.
The following statements comprise my opinion based
upon my 20 years of experience, teaching and research in my
area of expertise.
Based upon my experience I have a scientific concern
about the added heat load to the shore waters of Lake Michigan
which would occur if electrical generating plants of the
type of Michigan City were to discharge into the lake the
waste heat in their cooling water in an unabated fashion.
My opinion that heat loading of the shore waters of
Lake Michigan would contribute, in a long range fashion, to
the deterioration of its ecology is predicated on two grounds:
1. Present knowledge of hydrographic and meteoro-
logical parameters is insufficient to make proper prognosis
of the cumulative ecological effects of several electrical
generating plants which would emit heated effluents into the
lake. Only substantial further research will furnish the basis
Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a summary of my research
experience from 1946 to the present. Attached hereto
as Exhibit B is a list of my professional experience and
honors. Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a list of publi-
cations which I have prepared or of which I have partici-
pated in the preparation.
I hold the following memberships in professional societies
AAAS (1959); Corporation Member, Bermuda
Biological Station for Research (1956); Int.
Soc. Theor. Appl. Limnology (1960); American
Institute Fish Res. Biol. (1962); American
Soc. Zool. (1949); Amer. Soc. Limnology &
Oceanography (1951); Ecol. Soc. Amer. (1958);
Amer. Fish. Soc. (1954); Sigma Xi (1949); Fellow,
International Academy of Zoology (1960); Amer.
Soc. Ichth. and Herp. (1958); N. Y. Acad. Sci.
(1966).
-2-
-------
1737c
for judgment whether thermal changes will have moderate or
pronounced effects and whether these will be more or less
gradual. Experience with other man-induced environmental
changes (deforestation and resultant stream warming, for
instance) that affected complex aquatic ecological systems
make one cc fident in predicting the. there will be changes,
many of them not beneficial. I agree with the statement
of David Ehrenfeld in "Biological Conservation/1 Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1970 that,
"Chances in water temperature affect both the
activity and energy requirements of aquatic
organisms. Oxygen requirements also change.
If the temperature rises, oxygen consumption
increases but oxygen solubility in water
declines. Many organisms have a narrow range
of temperature tolerance. At some point
lethal temperature is reached; this varies
according to the rate of change of temperature,
species of animal or plant and physiological
condition of the individual. Since a rise
of 10° C. is sufficient to double the rate of
many chemical reactions, it can readily be
understood why even a small amount of thermal
pollution is sufficient to disrupt the
organization of aquatic communities. Thermal
pollution also damages ecosystems indirectly.
Most important, it aggravates the effects of
poisons and accelerates deoxygenation processes."
One electrical generating plant will have some adverse
effect and several of them would exacerbate conditions in a more
than additive manner, due to the prevailing hydrographic con-
ditions set forth below.
Some scientists believe that heated water remains on the
surface and quickly loses heat to the atmosphere rather than
to the water. However, present knowledge of water-air heat
exchange and heat exchange between water masses in the regions
of Lake Michigan to be affected is incomplete as there is not
available information on all possible weather conditions
such as patterns along the shore under which these exchanges
would take place. Nevertheless, and especially if there are
a dozen electrical generating plants along the shoreline and if
the current? flow along this shore a they are indicated to c":>,
long term adverse effects of heating the shallow water are
likely to occur and eutrophication is likely to be accelerated.
Some of the likely changes to be enumerated below are not
solely or not even predominantly caused by temperature increases
-3-
-------
1737d
but a temperature rise contributes to them; others are
directly related to temperature rises. Like many biological
phenomena they proceed slowly at1 first, soon to increase in
geometric proportion and to become ever more difficult if not
impossible to reverse.
(2) It is my opinion that even the incomplete knowledge
about Lake Michigan which we now possess/ coupled with general
experience of ecological phenomena permit certain scientific
conclusions and opinions, as set forth below, and that make the
occurrence of long term deleterious effects of heat loading of
Lake Michigan's shore waters highly probable indeed. I am
particularly concerned, about the following long range effects,
covering two or more decades, of heated effluents from several
electrical generating plants being voided into Lake Michigan:
(a) An increase in the rate of eutrophication
of the shore waters.
(b) A worsening of conditions favorable for, if
not a Iphreat to, the survival of a very
valuable and unique fish fauna.
t
(c) A change in conditions so as to favor less
desirable fish species such as carp and
alew-ife.
•V
Discharges from electrical generating plants will cause
Lake Michigan shore wafers to be threatened by increasing
eutrophication. The cooling water discharges enter and are
restricted to coastal waters, out to but a few miles from the
shore. These lake areas also receive a substantial and
increasing load of nutrients in the form of nitrogen and
phosphorus compounds from domestic effluents and from agricultural
runoff and, according to our present knowledge, the water in them
does not mix substanti-ally with the water in the lake at large
during the fall, winter and spring; during the summer more mixing
occurs but even then it is not continuous. Consequently
fertilizing effects first and foremost occur in near-shore waters,
proceeding faster at higher than at lower temperatures.
It is my opinion.; that the shore regions of Lake Michigan
contain relatively discrete water masses which do not mix with
the waters of Lake Michigan during the year at large. This
opinion is hased upon my experience ;. s well as upon a recent
report of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration,
Great Lakes Region, phicago, Illinois, entitled "Lake Currents"
(Lake Michigan Basin),.November 1967.
-4-
-------
1737e
"Temperature records taken during the winter
of 1961 through the summer of 1964 indicate that
the following conditions occur ... The existence
of thermoclines and thermal barriers during
extended periods of the year greatly reduce mixing
of the shallower shore w.'iiers and the waters of
the hypolimnion with the main body of the lake.
Such conditions promote the build-up of persistent
pollutants discharged into isolated waters.
Because of the prolonged periods during which
such conditions can continue such build-ups can
impair the uses of the water adjacent to the
discharge points." Id. at p. 233.
"Thermal barrier conditions during the fall,
winter and spring limit the outward extent of
effective mixing volume ... The late spring storms
and lake overturn break up the zonation due to the
thermal bar and create conditions for effective
mixing with the lake proper. However, during the
summer when the thermal bar no longer exists,
similar build-up occurs. Boundary effects,
friction and the Southern gyre are probably
responsible for the lateral transfer of water along
the shore." Id. at p. 353.
"In general the shore currents move northward
on both sides of the lake, except for periods
during the late fall, winter and early spring....
Average current speeds on the western side of the
lake range from 5 to 10 cm/sec, while those on the
eastern side range from 12 to 14 cm/sec.... Inshore
and offshore currents are quite separate from one
another." Id. at p. 179.
Indicators of the changes generally subsumed under the
term "eutrophication," and even now noticeable along certain
portions of the shores of lower Lake Michigan, are the prevalence
of algae, plankton and bottom organisms and eventually of fish
tolerant of, by virtue of their evolution, and therefore adapted
to warm oxygen-poor turbid water instead of those adapted to
cool clear oxygen-rich water. The latter conditions were those
of the Lake Michigan's geologic history and the organisms that
evolved in the Lake, or in lakes like it, are therefore
genetically fitted to them rather thin to new man-induced one~.
The biology of these fish and organisms do not permit rapid
adaptation to man-induced changes.
Specific indicators of eutrophication are: blooms of
-5-
-------
1737f
bluegreen algae, the colonization of suitable substrates by
the profusely growing green alga'Cladophora the filaments
which have known nuisance value.1 If effluents from electrical
generating plants generate stationary warm water masses for
variable periods of time it is likely that point heat sources
will accelerate localized conditions of chemical and organic
pollution and that commercially valuable cold water fishes
will disappear and be replaced by carp, suckers, alewifes and
the like. Each of these factors singly, but more so in
aggregate, decrease the value of shore property as well as
certain recreational opportunities.
The biological changes are gradual and cannot be properly
ascertained by a one, two or even three year study following
a local change such as a newly installed heated water discharge
like Michigan City Generating Station as overall climatic
fluctuations may mask their effects. However, the biological
changes gain momentum once they have begun unless the
conditions favoring them are reversed.
The deterioration of Lakes Erie and Ontario since, the
turn of the century provides reliable and relevant analogies
to the danger Lake Michigan faces from heated water. The average
water temperature of Lake Erie has risen by 2° F. since 1920,
due to heat loading, even without massive spot heat inputs such
as occur through electrical generating plants, and due to
alterations in land use. Such a rise is tantamount to displacing
the entire lake to a location 50 miles to the South. Small as
the temperature change is, it is considered a contributory factor
to the disappearance from Lake Erie of the Lake Herring, formerly
the most abundant and valuable species in the Lake. It also
favored the growth of undesirable algae in Lake Erie. Such
changes in Lake Michigan as are presently being observed suggest
that a comparable deterioration process may be already under way
in Lake Michigan.
The Great Lakes, but especially Lakes Michigan, Huron and
Superior are the home of a unique, c^Trnercially valuable species
complex of fishes, i.e., the trout and salmon, related whitefishes
and the lake trout. The numerically most abundant and commercially
and recreationally most valuable among them spawn in in-shore
or near-shore waters.
Experiments and observations at the Great Lakes Fishery
Laboratory rf the Department of Inte: ior have shown them to b 2
very sensitive to increases in water temperature, especially
during their larval and juvenile periods. Their eggs are deposited
on the bottom and their larvae must rise to the surface to gulp
air for initiating the filling of their swimbladders. Without
this one gulp they can never adjust their buoyancy. At that time
-6-
-------
1737g
they are but an inch or so in length and even if they sensed
deleterious surface temperature, they are instinctively driven
to the top where they will not be able to avoid warm water
than could kill them. Such kills might be sporadic but could
increase in frequency as patches of heated water multiply
with severcT. instead of one or two electrical generating plants
voiding heated water. The kills might also not be noticed
due to the small size and semitransparent nature of the fish
larvae. Given such conditions, the effects of the kills would
become apparent through a gradual irreversible reduction in
the number of adult fish and eventually likely lead to the
complete disappearance from Lake Michigan of a yet unpredictable
number of their species.
It is ironic, in this context, that millions of dollars
were and are spent to save these same species from the deprada-
tions of the sea lamprey and to rehabilitate them to their
former abundance when the danger to them may now be shifted to
thermal loading of the Lake from electrical generating plants.
The main difference between the two dangers is that lamprey
control necessitated costly research before it could be
implemented while the method of heat abatement of cooling waters
is well within technological research today.
The Pacific Salmon, recently introduced into Lake Michigan
is in far less direct danger from thermal change than the
species native to the Lake, inasmuch as the numbers of the
former will be replenished by artificial propagation. Only
where spawning streams or shore areas near them become heated
may direct temperature effects threaten some of their numbers.
While zones of heated water near the shore may not harm
the salmon directly, they adversely affect the fishes' recreational
potential. State of Michigan biologists believe that warm water
near the shore such as prevailed due to climatic conditions
in 1968 and 1969 kept the fish away from the shore and therefore
out of the reach of the sport fishermen's craft. Heat loading
of shore waters could well make these conditions that are
adverse to recreational salmon fishing a much more permanent
occurrence.
Some salmon which have established spawning runs in Lake
Michigan streams will enter the shore waters near them on an
instinct driven journey to their spawning grounds. It has been
the experience of Michigan fishermen that they are far less
likely to strike the fisherman's lure in warm than in cold water.
Alewives and other undesirable fish species will be
favored through lake temperature increases. Alewives are shore
spawning warm water fishes which have entered the Great Lakes
-7-
-------
1737h
inadvertently, through a man-made channel. In Lake Michigan
they live at the lower edge of their temperature range
and are very vulnerable to such cooling as occurs occasionally.
If warm water becomes available to them they seek it out,
entering into existing heated effluents in great numbers. A
warming of shore waters is likely tc favor them as are large
streams of warm water from electrical generating plants likely
to attract them. They are, however, also delicate fish, prone
to mass mortalities. Temperature conditions favoring their
numbers could well be accompanied by far greater die-offs
than have been experienced until now. Clean-up operations of
millions of alewives are indeed costly to society. Over a
twenty-year period their cost may well reach a significant
portion of that involved in installing, initially, cooling
devices for the effluents of electrical generating plants. If
ancillary losses in the tourist industry were to be included,
the total loss may well equal or exceed the costs of
installing cooling devices. In 1967 such total direct and
indirect losses due to alewife die-off was estimated at 50
million dollars on the State of Michigan shoreline alone.
I am aware that there well could be possible beneficial
consequences of heated electrical generating plant effluents,
especially in the first few years of a plant's operation, before
the deleterious effects mentioned here would have time to build
up. Pishing may improve in or near the effluent cones due to
the attraction by the warm water of certain shore fishes such
as perch, bass, pike and bluegill. These same water areas may,
incidentally, also afford ice free fishing lagoons in the winter.
V7ater might become warmer in certain places and make them more
attractive for swimming, and in the same places the swimming
season might be prolonged, at least before the build-up of
algae detracts from water contact sports. These beneficial
consequences, given continued eutrophication influences from
other sources will almost certainly be replaced over the years
with eutrophication, disappearance of native fishes and alewife
nuisance. Any assumed beneficial effects would represent a
poor interest indeed on a continuously devaluating large
environmental capital. Cooling devices for the effluents snould
be installed on all present and future electrical generating
plants discharging heated water into Lake Michigan to prevent
them from contributing to the devaluation of this capital. Later
alleviation of thermal loading through subsequent modification
of existing plants could well be more costly not only to the
power industry, but, by virtue of the nature and time course of
the changes indicated, it would also put an ever increasing
economic burden on society at large.
-8-
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17371
Research Experience
Sensory physiology, especially cheuical and temperature senses
of fishes:
1968-' pilot study of effects of thermal pollution on behavior of
bullheads.
1957-1958: Chemical senses in communication and social behavior of
fishes.
1957: Electro-olfactograms of tuna (unpublished) Cheraosensory
orientation of tuna (unpublished)
1963-1966: Research with chemical and mechanical senses of fishes
in relation to behavior.
1961-1963: Research with time-coordinated behavior and learning of
fishes (see Biographical sketch and Publications)
1961: Sabbatical Leave, study of fish physiology and behavior v?ith
Prof. Sven Dijkgraff and G, P. Baerends of Universities of
Utrecht and Groeningen, Holland, respectively. Holder of OEEC
Senior Visiting Scientist Stipend.
1953-1957: Research on temperature and tactile senses of fishes,
Resoarch and Behavior of Reef Fishes.
1946-1953: Graduate Studies, Madison, Wisconsin, under Professor
A.D. Hasler on ecology and physiology of fishes, teaching
assignment at then Iowa State Teachers College and student
research supervision (University of Iowa graduate students)
and ov?n research on limnology and ecology at Iowa Lakeside
Laboratory.
EXHIBIT A
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1737J
professional Experience and Honors
Re-introduced instruction and research in Limnology, Iowa Lakeside
Laboratory, 1950-1953.
Director, Bermuda Government Fisheries Research Program, part-time,
1954-1958.
Fisheries Advisor, Government of Cambodia, on leave of absence from
University with AID, 1953-59.
Senior Visiting Fellow in Science, O.E.E.C., at University of Utrecht
and Groningen, Holland, study of comparative physiology and
behavior, 1961.
Behavior and ecology of reef fishes, senior investigator (NSF), 1955-57.
Bermuda government - fisheries research program, program director
(government of Bermuda), 1955-56.
Temperature oensc of fishes, senior investigator (Horace H. Rackham
School of Graduate Studies), 1956-50.
Investigations of sensory structures in skin of fishes, senior
investigator (Horace H. Rackhatn School of Graduate Studies),
1958-62.
Time-coordinated behavior of fishes, senior investigator (NSF)
1962-63.
Extra-enteral food uptake by fishes, senior investigator (Michigan
Memorial-phoenix Project).
Time sense of fishes, senior investigator (NSF) 1961-62.
Coloration of Reef Fishes (Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate
Studies) 1965.
Skin senses of fishes, principal investigator (PHS Grant No. NB-
04687-01-05) (1953-1958).
Chemical Senses of Fishes, principal investigator (NIII, INDB Grant
04687-06-09) 1968-1971.
Research and Fact finding on World Status of Aquaculture for National
Council on Marine Resources and Engineering Development, 1967.
Participation National Academy of Sciences organized International
workshops: Oceanography and Fisheries Manila, 1967, Food,
Djakarta, 1968.
Consultant to Econ. Comra. Asia and Fa^ taut, U.N. Bangkok; also to
Asst. Adminiscrator for Far East U.S. AID/ Department of State,
Washington, D.C. and short terra State and Federal Assignments
dealing with physiology of aquatic organisms in relation to
water quality control.
Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (1963)
President and Co-founder: Michigan Asoociation for Conservation
Ecologists (1964)
Member Pacific Science Board, U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1957)
Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, The University of Michigan 1957,
EXHIBIT B
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1737k
BIBLIOGRAPHY - PROFESSOR JOHN E. BARDACH
A biological survey of Lake Opinlcon. Curran, H.V/., J.E.
Bardach, R. Bowman, and H. Lawler. Queen's University
Biol. Sta. Rep., Kingston, Opt., 48 p. 1947.
A preopercular tag for perch. Bardach, J.E., and E.D
LeCren.. Copeia, 1948 (3): 222-£24
Daily migrations of perch in Lake hendota, V/isconsln.
Hasler, A.D., and J.E. Bardach. "jour V.'ildl. hgt. Vol.13,
No 1: 40-51,
Lake Hendota Perch Teach School. Bardach, J.E. V/isconsin
Conserv. Bull., July 1949, pp. 11-12.
Do fish have a color vision? Bardach, J.E. Bios. 21(4):
273-275, 1950.
hicrophotography without a camera. Bardach, J.E. Sci.
News, Iowa Acad. Sci. 18(3): 7, 1950.
Changes in the yellow perch population of Lake hendota,
V/isconsin, 1916-1948. Bardach, J.E. Ecol . 1951, 32(4):
719-728.
Preliminary report on the distribution of bottom organisms
in West Lake Okojoji, Iowa. Bardach, J.E., J. Morrill,
and F . Gambony , 9 p . , 1951 .
A demonstration of the effects of water density. Bardach,
J.E. Turtox News, 31(11): 208, 1953.
Harvest and products. Lagler, K.F., and J.E. Bardach (in)
Fish and fishing in recreation and commerce. Ann Arbor,
Univ. Mich. Extension Service 14 p., 1954.
Coastal streams. Lagler, K.F., and J.E. Bardach. (In)
Fish and fishing in recreation and commerce. Ann Arbor,
Univ. hicn. Extension Service, 14 p., 1954.
Continental shelf and banks. Lagler, K.F., and J.E. Bardach.
(In) Fish and fishing in recreation and commerce. Ann Arbor,
Univ. hich. Extension Service, 8 p., 1954.
Conservation. Lagler, K.F., and J.E. Bardach. (In) Fish
and fishing in recreation and commerce. Ann Arbor, Univ.
hich. Extension Serv., 25 p., 1954.
EXHIBIT C - page 1
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1737-1
2.
The high seas. Lagler, K.F., and J.E. Bardach. (In) Fish
and fishing in recreation and commerce. Ann Arbor , Univ.
Mich. Extension Serv., 10 p.,. 1954.
Plankton Crustacea from the Thelon v;atershed. Bardach, J.E.
Can. Piel-i Nat., 68 (2): 4? -52, 1J54 .
Effects of the wind on water movements in Lake West Okojoji,
Iowa. Bardach, J.E. Proc. Iowa Acad . Sci., 6l: 450-4 57,
1954.
(Review of) The western end of Lake Erie and its ecology.
by D.H. Langlois), Bardach, J.E. Sci. Mon. 80 (l): 59-
(Review of) Etude experimental du determinisme de la
regeneration des nageoires chez les poissons teleosteens.
(by J. Buser-Lahaye) . Bardach, J.E. Progr. Fish. -Cult.
16 (4): 188-191,
Certain biological effects of theraocline shifts. Bardach,
J.E. Hydrobiologia, 7 (4): 309-324, 1955-
The opercular bone of the yellow perch, Perca_ flavescens,
as a tool for age and growth studies. Bardach, J.E.
Copeia, 1955 (2): 107-109-
(Review of) Fischkrankenheiten (by W. Schaeperclaus) .
Bardach, J.E. Copeia, 1955 (2) 155-
Bermuda Fisheries Research Program, Progress Report # 1,
Sutcliffe, V/.B., Jr., and J.E. Bardach, Bermuda Govt .
Publ., Hamilton, Bermuda, 14 p., mimeo, 1955.
Bermuda Fisheries Research Program, Progress Report #2.
Bardachj J .E . , and L.S. Mow bray . Bermuda Govt. Publ.,
Hamilton, Bermuda, 94 p., 1955-
(Review of) Margins of the Sea (by M. Burton). Bardach, J.E.
Sci. Mon., 80 (6): 383-384, 1955-
The sensitivity of the goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) to
point heat stimulation. Bardach, J.E. Amer. Nat. 90
(854): 3^9-317, 1956.
(Review of) World Sea Fisheries (by R. Morgan). -dach,
J.E. Science, 124 (3231): 1085-1086, 1956.
Field and laboratory observations on the growth of some
Bermuda reef fishes. Bardach, J.E., and D.W Menzel .
Proc. 9th Gulf Caribb. Fish Inst., (1956), pp. 106-112.
EXHIBIT C - page 2
-------
1737m
Bermuda Saga. Bardach, J.E. (In Michigan Rorecter by Staff
and students of the School of Natural Resources). Univ.
Mich. pp. 71-73, 1956. "
The senses of fishes. Bardach, J.E. Bermuda Fish. Quarterly,
1(2): 6, 1956.
Marine Fisheries and Fish Culture in the Caribbean. Bardach,
J.E. Proc. Gulf and Carlb. Fish. Inst., pp.; 132-137, 1957-
(Review of) The Galathea deep sea expedition 1950-1952, (by
A.F. Bruun et al.) . Bardach, J.E. Sci. Mow. 84 (6): 322-
323, 1957. ;. •
Behavior, sexual dichromatism, and species oT parrot fishes.
Winn, H.E., and J. E.'- Bardach. Science, 125 (3253): 885-
886, 1957-
The temperature sensitivity of some American freshwater fishes
Bardach, J.E., andR.G. BJorklund. Aiaer. Nalt.. 91 (859): 233-
251, 1957- ;.
Bermuda Fisheries Research Program, Final Report. Bardach,
J.E., with L. Smith and D.W. Henzel. 59 p., 1958.
Bermuda affair. Bardach, J.E. (in Michigan Forester by
staff and students of the School of Natural Resources).
Univ. Mich. pp. 7^-75, 1953.
The production of Exopthalmos by Androgens in two species of
teleost fish. Matty, A.J., D. Menzel and J^E. Bardach.
J. Endoc., 1958, 17, 31-4-318.
On the movements of certain Bermuda reef fishes. Bardach,
J.E. Ecol. 39 (1):139-146, 1958.
The role of the senses in the feeding of the nocturnal reef
predators Gymnothorax raorij^a and G_, vlcinus.". Bardach, J.E.,
H.E. Winn, ancTZTW. Menzel. Copeia, 1959 f2) =133-139.
The summer standing crop of fish on a shallow Bermuda reef.
Bardach, J.E. Limn, and Ocean. Vol. IV., No. 1: 77-85,
1959-
Different4al food selection by mo^ay eels and a possible
of the mucous envelope of parrot fishes in reduction of
predation. Winn, H.E., and J.E. Bardach. Ecol. Vol. 40,
(2): 296-298, 1959-
Report on fisheries in Cambodia. Bardach, J.E. Ag. Div.
USOM Cambodia, 58 p., miraeo., 1959.
EXHIBIT C - page 3
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1737n
Etude sur la peche au Carabodce . Bardach, J E. 1959,
Serv. Eaux et Forets , Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 80 p. tairaeo.
(Review of) The Open Sea: Its' Natural History (Sir Alister
Hardy). Bardach, J.E. Scl. 130(3384): 12^7, 1959-
Some acpucts of the comparative Liology of parrot fishes
at Bortr.uda. Winn, H.E., and J.E. Bardach. Zool . 45(1),
I960, 29-34.
On the transport of calcareous fragments by reef fishes.
Bardach, J.E, Science 133(3446): 98-99,
On touch receptors in fishes with special reference to the
mo ray eels ( Gymnot hor ax yicinuG and G. morin^a) . Eardach,
J.E., and L.A. Lo3v;snthai . Copeia, ~l"96l, (T) , ^2
The sensory function of modified fins of some marine fishes.
Bardach, J.E., and J. Case. Am. Zool. 2(^4): 76, 1962.
Time -coordinated pref ceding activity in fish. Davis, R.E.,
and J.E. Bardach. An. Behav. 13(1): 154-162, 1965.
Sensory capabilities of the modified fins of squirrel hake
(Urophycis chusg) and searobins ( Pr3.onptu_n carollnus and
L- gvo-i.ans) . Bardach, J.E. and J.Case. Copeia 2, 19^-206,1965,
Detergents: Effects on the chemical senses of the fish
Ictalurua natalis (le Sueur) . Eardach, J.E., M. Fujiya
and A. Holl. Science, 1^8 (3577): 1605-1607, 1965.
A comparison betv.'een the external taste sense of marine and
freshv/ater fishes. Fujiya, M., and J.E. Bardach. Bull.
Jap. Soc. Fish., 32(1): ^5-56, 1966.
Tolerance to temperature extremes: Animals. Part IV: Fishes.
Bardach, J.E., J.J. Bernstein, J.S. Hart and J.R. Brett.
Environmental Biology-, Biological Handbooks compiled ar/1
edited by P.L. Altiaan and D.S. Dittmer, Federation of
American Societies for Experimental Biology, Bsthesda,Md. ,
1966, pp. 73-80.
The chemical senses and food intake in the lov.'er vertebrates.
Bardach, J.E. Symp . on Mutr , and the Chem. Senses, Cornell
Univ., 1^66. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, '**d.,
1967, pp. 19
Investigations of external cheraoreceptors of fishes. Bardach,
J.E., M. Fujiya and A. Holl. Proc . 2nd Intern. Symp. on
Olf action and Taste, Pergamon Press, N.Y., 1967, pp. 6^7-655.
EXHIBIT C - page k
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1737o
5.
A new laboratory method for tracking aquatic animals.
Bardach, J.E,, G. Johnson and J.ll. Todd. Med. Biol. Illustr.,
1957, XVII (2): 103-111.
Orientation by taote in fish of the genus Ictalur_u_s_. Bardach,
J.E., J.H. Todd and R. Crickner. Science, 155(3757): 1276-
1278, 1967
There Is Poetry in Science. Bardach, J.E., and Alice Bloch.
Mich. Quart. Rev. VI(2), April, 1967, 107-108.
Chemical communication in social behavior of a fish, the
yellow bullhead (Ic. talurus nata1 is). Todd, J.H., J. Atema
and J.E. Bardach. Science 158(3S01): 672-673, 1967.
Bardach, J. and J, Todd, Chemical Cormmnication in Fishes, jLn_
Advances in Chetnoreception, Appleton Century Crofts, Mew York,
in Press
Bardach, J.E., Taste in Fishes, in_ Handb. of Sensory Physiology,
Jul. Springer Verl. Berlin, Heidelberg, Nex* York. L. Beidler ed.
in preparation
Bardach, J., and J. Todd. Chemische Verstaendigung bei Fischen.
UMSCHAU in Wissenschaft imd Tcchnik, Frankfurt a.M., in press.
Bardach, J.E., G. H. Johnson, and J.H. Todd. Orientation by
Bulk Messenger Sensors in Aquatic Vertebrates. Presented at
Second Conference on Planetology and Space Mission Planning.
Ann. New York. Acad. Sci., in press.
BOOKS
ICHTHYOLOGY, K.F. Lagler, J.E. Bardach and R.R. Miller, John
Wiley and Sons Inc. 545 pp., 1962.
DOWNSTREAM, A Natural History of the River. John Bardach,
Harper ant5 Row, N.Y., 278 pp., 1964.
HARVEST OF THE SEA, A Scientist Looks at the Oceans - Their
Past, Promises and Prospects. John Bardach, Harper and Row,
N.Y., 301 pp. 1968.
EXHIBIT C - page 5
-------
1733
T. E. Dustin
same validity as a demand that you prove a war yet unfought
will kill people.
I challenge them to look for themselves at Lake
Michigan and tell us that pollution does not kill.
Why should the burden of positive proof rest on
our shoulders? It is because we have always carried that
burden that Lake Michigan is in its deteriorating condition
now.
It is time those who would use our waters for
septic tanks and stewpots prove their actions will be
harmless.
They cannot make that case; and it will take more
than one hired biologist to make it for them.
Is it not time — is there not already enough
in our abominable environmental history on Lake Michigan —
to at last stand firm and say "enough"?
Let us turn back the destruction of Lake Michigan
before the fact. Once it is a fait accompli, it becomes
just another mistake of the past that we must live with
indefinitely, if we will be able to live with it at all.
Both the Federal and State Governments should by now have
seen enough of the fait accompli here not to want any more
of it.
We recognize that every special group of polluters
-------
1739
T. E. Dustin
does its own thing when appearing before these conferences*
The steel mills gave you their routine, and the chemical
companies, the refineries, the harbor interest, the Corps
of Engineers, and now the utilities, each in turn, as their
own environmentally irresponsible status quo comes under
test. But just look at Lake Michigan and where it is going.
It seems evident — and the Izaak Walton League
has been a participant in all of these matters — that
unless we s-ee and understand Lake Michigan in a larger per-
spective, we will be permanently committed to these cat-and-
dog squabbles as each new kind of defecation in the lake
comes to light. And as long as we are committed to unlimited
growth, unlimited production, unlimited consumption,
unlimited population, unlimited power, and unlimited profits
and material things of all kind, there will be little hope
that our greatest efforts can save this lake or anything
else that cannot be priced in dollars.
It seems the utilities are committed to just such
a course. They will come before you with the statement that
power capacity must double every 10 years to meet the
"demand." It is a vicious circle.
There is something fundamentally defective in
our way of doing things in the environment. We have always
operated our industrial systems open-endedly, scratching from
-------
1740
T. E* Dustin
the earth what we could use, and indiscriminately spewing
out what was not profitable to convert. We are long past
the point that this stone age attitude should have changed.
But it must change, and we must all be part of that change.
We will have to learn how to create closed systems, includ-
ing retention and conversion of waste heat.
We recognize Lake Michigan and its general
environment as a unit, not separable nor dissectable as
a pie, whose parts are doled out to the most ravenous
appetites. It is our position the whole of it is'weakened
when one part is assaulted.
It is a total resource of incalculable value to
all of the people in its watershed and far beyond that. If
we justify its impairment at one location, then it is diffi-
cult to defend at other places.
Above all, the Lake Michigan environmental unit
should be a public trust, and no one should have the right
to impair it; everyone should have the responsibility to
restore and preserve it. The cost of failure to accept and
act upon this principle will be infinitely greater than the
alternatives; and we will be committed to an endless series
of futile conferences mainly because we have not defined
and made clear that the legitimate uses of Lake Michigan
simply exclude using it as a dump for waste heat, chemicals,
-------
17U
T. E. Dustin
harbor dredgings, and all of the other spewtum of our
society. No well-considered Lake Michigan policy could
possibly include such uses.
Instead of adopting a general Lake Michigan policy,
we are continuing to be confused by smokescreen rationale
which create the aura of acceptability for further destruction
of this lake. In recognition of this perpetual problem, the
Indiana Division of the Izaak Walton League has adopted a
10-point proposed policy for Lake Michigan. We do not
pretend that it is the last word or that it is ultimate in
quality. But it is a start. Most important, it treats
Lake Michigan as an environmental unit; and we believe the
lake must eventually be seen in that light, and not as a
carcass from which chunks can be torn off at will by any
interest that wants a piece — such as the utilities now
propose, and the steel mills before them.
Proposed Policy Position
1) Prohibitions of any more landfills or altera-
tions of the natural shorelines, coupled with a total
evaluation of the social, economic and ecological qualities
of Lake Michigan.
2) Acquisition of an environmental easement along
all undeveloped portions of Lake Michigan shoreline, pending
results of the total evaluation, at which time decisions
should be made as to what portions of the easement should
-------
1742
T. E. Dustin
become permanent, and what should be expanded in the public
interest and for environmental protection.
3) Establishment of total effluent standards for
all discharges to Lake Michigan including the 1 degree
Fahrenheit above ambient proposed by the Department of the
Interior,,
4) A strict constructionist establishment and
interpretation of a nan degradation policy for both water
and air discharges in the lake context.
5) A no-discharge policy for all commercial and
industrial shipping, including on-board surveillance and
enforcement by trained interstate or Coast Guard agents,
together with complete environmental control systems and
design for all such vessels using Lake Michigan.
6) Prohibition of any dumping dredged materials
from harbors, ship canals, industrial wastes or slags, and
similar materials into any waters of Lake Michigan or its
drainage basin.
7) Special Federal and State appropriations
earmarked for sewage treatment systems in the Lake Michigan
Basin, planned for maximum cost effectiveness along lines
proposed in 1969 by the U. S. General Accounting Office.
&) A total prohibition of all persistent
pesticides in the Lake Michigan Basin.
-------
1743
T* E. Dustin
9) A general "inland development policy" which
would prevent further visual, physical or ecological
intrusion on Lake Michigan.
10) A firm policy with respect to all Lake
Michigan ports which would require nonpolluting handling
of all shipboard wastes and residues, and environmentally
designed and operated fueling, servicing and cargo trans-
ferring procedures.
Until we are all ready to proceed with a compre-
hensive policy at both the Federal and four-State levels,
and until we are ready to enforce it, we see little hope
of saving the Lake Michigan environmental unit. As long
as there are holes and vagueness in our position, they
will be exploited.
On the other hand, if a policy can be firmly
established, the kind of brush fire we are fighting today
will be diminished if not extinguished. The utilities
will, as they should, build away from these shorelines and
include all environmental factors within integrated and
closed systemso They are perfectly able to do this, or
would be able to do it, when the answer to doing it in and
on the lake is simply a flat "no,"
In closing, in the record is a letter of September
16 by Senator Vance Hartke of Indiana, which was submitted
-------
1744
T. E. Dustin
in the context of the Michigan City hearing on the NIPSGO
application,, We wish that to become a part of the record as
it is especially germane, and I will turn in to you a copy
of the statement prepared by the student Alpha Chapter of
the Izaak Walton League of Fort Wayne, which is the first
student chapter of the Izaak Walton League. We will submit
that for the record.
MR. STEIN: We will be glad to receive that
information for the record.
(The documents above referred to follow in their
entirety.)
-------
,|sf. fc, •. - ,.,-; , ><'..:,<•'.;:,;.'•*$"<*••
l'£olQtt«l William Stewart
ecHMMrrrce ON COMMON*
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20510
.September
Army Corps' of Engineers"
Imrk Street \.\ •.;. • '
hicago,
i'Dear Colonel Stewart:
•
Indications from a great many Indiana residents, especially -
northwest region of the state, provide evidence of the interest
7* I felt would be shown at the Michigan City hearing which J requested
that you hold, regarding an application by the Northern Indiana Public
5 Company to construct a flume and to discharge heated water :
Lake Michigan,
r i» me interest of not biasing the hearing, J have withheld my
until its conclusion and now desire to have the following included
ftn the record of the proceedings,' , • .
I oppose the granting of this permit and urge the Corps of
ISagitteers to encourage the applicant to consider inland sites for con-
struction of any; increased generating capacity that may be needed, ^>
opposition to. granting of the permit is based upon the following:
I,) While there are conflicting views on the effect of
» it seems clear that introduction of heat to the Water of Lake
can have nothing but a deteriorating effect. Studies which
> minimize the effect of thermal pollution appear superficial*
tittle to'consider long-term adverse effects, and fail,Id take into. '/.^
th.e"'*pro life ration of thermal sources which are already ,costtr,i« f
to the degradation of the lake,
2,} The construction of a huge power plant and,*a
.schaffe staclc'immediately adjacent to^the edge,of
•*?„
P|<|itroposeclf will create a major visual'intrusion
National Lalceshore on the west and tower
ecreational harbors and facilities lying. imrn.edfintct.y,
-------
i^CJolonel Stewart • ' -2- ' September 1&,;>19?Q
"- '-'3») State-of-the-art control of sulphur oxide discharges " . '"/•-,;
.utility plants is highly unsatisfactory, and, indeed,' such controls- '.' ' -
for existing power plants along Lake Michigan seem virtually non-
V';existent,'; Control of particulate emission is almost equally unsatis- - ; .''
•^.factory; complaints have been lodged by many interests along the ;•"
"X&ke Michigan shore, indicating unacceptable flyash fallout ami great ;
'i;eo8t"wt removing it and restoring finishes to such objects as homes , '*-
r;tod pleasure boats. There is no acceptable assurance that an additional '
y"power plant at the proposed location will reduce this costly form of
:;f pollution, . . , . :'l;-
*!;";„ " '4») Construction of the plant would be accompanied by huge
,-::>eoal and combustion products storage areas, inevitably creating an
:'fyesore, destroying the beauty of the shore areas and quite probably ' \ •
.adding to existing pollution problems of both air and water, as well as
/Increasing local noise background,
-si ' .. , '; ' 5,) Considerable erosion lias-taken place along the Lake Michigan
'"shoreline, most notably in the Beverly Shores area, and this appears to'
;/:t»e traceable to landfills at Michigan City, which interfere with the normal
.."littoral flows along the shore and to the considerable discharge- of hundreds
fj.of thousands of gallons of cooling water per minute from the existing flume.
",f'-!'" , 6» ) Jn spite of plans to prevent or minimize-chemical pollution
/aspects from power plants, nutrients and heat appear to be contributing
to accelerated growth of algae and to the continued degradation of water
"quality which is occurring in Lake Michigan. For decades. Colonel
.Stewart* our society has been at Russian roulette with our water resources,
Almost universally in the past, we have given ourselves the^benefit of the
•''doubt in deciding whether to use our shorelines and great bodies and
-''streams of water as recepticles for wastes and other unwanted by-products
,jof production processes.
:f'v- ' . /. ''- The results of this policy have ruined much of our rivers and
''streams, has polluted our Great LaKes to a point approaching uselessness .
.for recreation, commercial and sport fisheries, and for many oilier
^legitimate needs which are clearly in the public interest.
r While we have enacted far-reaching legislation, which if fully •
;implemented should begin to reverse- the destruction of our waters,
•'Including Lake Michigan, the fact is that this body of water is now in , ; :•
worse condition than it was five years ago. In. my opinion, this is . -
traceable to the fact that new abatement facilities are slow in coming,
-------
Stewart , - 3 - September 16, 1970
not planned for maximum effectiveness, niul are offset by new
sources of pollution, which arc being permitted. This is intolerable.
Even, now the areaa of Lake Michigan that arc still usable
for millions of bathers and other water recreationists are maintained . -
that way only through heavy use of chlorine and other disinfectants,
•tich $S are used at the Indiana Dunes State Park by the Department of
.Natural Resources,
*...' •.• . It is not at all alarmist to anticipate that the next significant
increase in environmental pollution could well rodurc thesc-waters
below the quality of safety and aesthetic acceptability.
' "•' ' -,: to the present situation I have also become aware of the
Distressing fact that the company has already constructed major parts
jof ,a discha rge flume required by the proposed new plant. Apparently,
,1t$u.9 has been done in anticipation of routine approval of the permit
application, lam sure the Corps of Engineers is sincere in its intent
'.fcO give full consideration to the provisions of the National Environmental
'^Policy Act of 1970, and is in no way a party to any pre-liearinn conrlu- :
r informal understandings. :
'
,
Let me observe that throughout much of our environmental
it has been the burden of )ho>;e concerned with pollution to
conclusively that a proponed aeiKity will be harmful to
environment. I believi: this priiu'iple ha ,s outlived its unefulixess,
Jtf it ever had any. It should be the burden of those interests which
'proposed the- activity to demonstrate conclusively that no harm will
result from it.
L > £-
The evidence and data available with respect to the type of
activity proposed by the Northern Indiana Public Company leads me
to the conclusion that the company cannot mn°he that case, and that very
great damage will in fact be caused to all of the environmental qualities
cited'.in your notice of the September 10th lu-aring, jf this plant is per-
mitted to be built at the proposed location.
*';t ". " . Therefore, the permit application should be rejected, and the
company should be encouraged to locale inland. ,Sueh a facility should
encompass within its site; all systems needed for an* pollution control;
-------
;*;.., . r> - •;% '•> - - - - • -1748
i- ' « % *' '••"", - " .r „ >
Colonel Stewart _ _. -_4 - , September 16, 3970
Cooling pottds or other techniques', to prevent thermal pollution of
''" waters';" carefully 'planned fuel storage areas;
d a "detailed plari'for non- polluting disposal of combustion residues.
' '''.-•'•
'' ^ ' '"• "-.' '• /Sincerely,
;'. ---> - •• ' .'-•„. Vance Hartke
juj:- 1" "'"* ; * ., -f.-•","; United States Senator
i. ' ••
?»
t
-------
1749
Lake Michigan Enforcement Confernece Workshop
c/o The Sherman House
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, 11 Iinois
Attention: Mr. Murray Stein, Chairman
(Federal Water Quality Administration)
We are an organization of college students who are formally associated
with the Izzak Walton League of Americans. Some of us arranged and organized,
and all of us participated in the Earth Day seminars presented at the Fort
Wayne Regional Campus of Indiana-Purdue Universities last April. The seminars
were conducted by various University faculty members, and by members of the
Fort Wayne community, including Mayor Harold Zeis and state and federal
officials. They were we 11-attended, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., by students
from local high schools, and from the several colleges and universities in
the city, as well as by other interested persons from the Fort Wayne area.
As you may know, regional universities such as ours, are largely attended
by people who'are working to pay all or most of their own way through school.
Some are married, with families, some are veterans; virtually all are concerned
with information and education, before demonstration.
In an effort to prevent our concern for the environment from ending with
Earth Day, this group met to find ways of continuing our interest, and of
taking an active part in changing unfavorable conditions. In the end, it
was decided to affiliate with the Izzak Walton League (as Its first campus
chapter) becuase we believe our efforts can carry further through cooperation
with a respected organization whose resources of various kinds far exceed
those a smalI group can muster.
While our commitments prevent us from attending the conference, we
would like our views to be known and heard.
I
We heartily commend the three Interior Department agencies for the
responsible and forthright statements issued in their report "Physical and
Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan."
It seems unnecessary for us to point out what many at the conference
have undoubtedly discussed in detail: the incalculable resource—economic,
recreational, biological, climatological, aesthetic, spiritual—which lakes
represent.
Many avenues of investigation suggest that there is no evidence showing
the effects to be deleterious to disastrous, and extremely difficult (if
not impossible) to counteract.
The conclusion is inescapable that preventive medicine is imperative,
not only in terms of effectiveness, but also because corrective measures
are unquestionably even more costly.
-------
(2)
1750
We therefore support the view that recommends no increase in temperature
of the waters of Lake Micigan.
It
We also strongly support the search, by government and industry,
for better ways of dealing with all industrial and metropolitan wastes,
including the thermal waste discussed in the report "Feasibility of Alterna-
tive Means of Cooling for Thermal Power Plants Near Lake Michigan."
We encourage federal agencies to support actively those methods which
promise the least damage, in any way, to the environment.
While it is to be anticipated that objections to such proposals
will be raised on the basis of costs, let it be noted that cost considerations
do not, in the end, harm a company or industry as much as they harm the consumer.
It is he who ultimately pays. Ironically, this is true whether it be in
terms of higher costs for services, or in terms of a devaluated earth.
We, as present and future residents of the Fort Wayne area a community
which depends primari ly for power on the Indiana and Michigan Electric
Company—wish the Conference to know that we are not only willing to pay
more for power, but insist that we must, in order to bear our rightful
share of the responsibility for preventing further deterioration of Lake
Michigan
And, we strongly recommend that effective controls be instituted
by industry and the government for the prevention of yet another pollutant
being introduced into this lake.
Ill
We recognize that most of the ill effects of an industrialized
society were not realized or even imagined only a few decades ago. Many
practices which were acceptable in a sparsely-populated world have become
intolerable in a crowded one.
We do not blame the past. It is one of the characteristics of
mankind to be more gifted at hindsight than at foresight.
We do blame the present for remaining, in such large measure, insenstive
or callous to the dangers of our present situation.
We recommend that those in authority, in whatever sector of the nation's
activity, work for a speedy discontinuance of all current practices contributing
to the eutrophication of Lake Michigan, and that all possible measures to
be taken to reverse the process.
We heartily support the ten-point policy position of the Indiana Division,
Izzak Walton League (enclosed)
-------
(3, 1751
Reclaiming and maintaining a healthy world is going to be expensive.
It must inevitably cause changes in our present patterns of living. But
it is no longer a debatable Issue: the only alternative to making changes
is planet-wide disaster.
We accept the price. We urge you to do so, too.
Alpha Chapter
Izzak Walton League
Indiana-Purdue Regional University
Fort Wayne, Indiana 46807
2101 Coliseum Blvd. East.
-------
1752
(I) Prohibitions of any more landfills or alterations of the natural shorelines,
coupled with a total evaluation of the social, economic and ecological qualities
of Lake Michigan;
(2) Acquisition of an environmental easement along all undeveloped portions of
Lake Michigan shoreline, pending results of the total evaluation, at which time
decisions should be made as to what portions of the easement should become perma-
nent, and what should be expanded in the public interest and for environmental
p rotect i on;
(3) Establishment of t<->tal effluents standards for ALL discharges to Lake
Michigan including the 1 °F above ambient proposed by the Department of the Interior;
(4) A strict construct?onist establishment and interpretation of a non-
degredation policy for both water and air discharges in the lake context;
(5) A no-discharge policy for all commercial and industrial shipping, including
on-board surveillance and enforcement by trained interstate or Coast Guard
agents, together with complete environmental control systems and design for
all such vessels using Lake Michigan;
(6) Prohibition of any dumping dredged materials from harbors, ship canals,
industrial wastes or slags, and similar materials into any waters of Lake
Michigan or its drainage basin;
(7) Special Federal and State appropriations earmarked for sewage treatment
systems in the Lake Michigan basin, planned for maximum cost effectiveness
along lines proposed in 1969 by the U.S. General Accounting Office.
(8) A total prohibition of all persistent pesticides in the Lake Michigan
basin;
(9) A general "inland development policy" which would prevent further visual,
physical or ecological intrusion on Lake Michigan;
(10) A firm policy with respect to all Lake Michigan ports which would
require non-polluting handling of all shipboard wastes and residues, and
environmentally designed and operated fueling, servicing and cargo transferring
procedures.
-------
1753
To E. Dustin
MR, STEIN: Any comments or questions?
If not, thank, you again,
MR, DOWD: Mr, Dustin, I am Joseph Dowd. 1 am
counsel for Indiana and Michigan Electric Company,
In your statement, you refer only to the work of
Dr, Ayers, Are you aware of the testimony or the substance
of the testimony that has been presented here this week
by Doctors Pritchard, Lee, Dr, Robertson, Dr, Raney, and
Dr. Pipes?
MR, DUSTIN: I would say that Dr, Ayers, according
to the press release, seems to be the only one willing to
be quoted. At least he is the only one quoted in the Fort
Wayne press as far as we could see.
Are you aware of the testimony of Dr» Bardach?
MR. DOWD: Yes.
MR. DUSTIN: We hoped that he would be here to
handle this thing.
I would like to make a comment. I think it is
inappropriate, sir, that we should be willing to gamble
the life of Lake Michigan on the say-so of the few men
that you retained to provide these responses. There are
certainly essential facts associated with thermal pollu-
tion. I think that cannot be denied. Reduced contents
of oxygen, for example; stimulation of algal growth.
-------
1754
T. E. Dustin
These matters are not of bathtub origin, as Dr. Ayers
would like us to believe.
There is a great deal of testimony also to
indicate that Dr. Ayers is wrong in the idea that most
of the heat is dissipated to the atmosphere. It is, in
fact, mixed with the cooler water. The Department of
Interior people have suggested that possibility.
Do you have anything else?
MR. DOWD: Would it be correct to say that you
are not aware of the testimony of the scientific' witnesses
presented by Commonwealth Edison during the week?
MR. DUSTIN: We are familiar with some of the
depositions that have been filed in the Commonwealth Edison
matter, however not in the direct context of this hearing.
However, I have read Dr. Ayers1 complete testi-
mony with respect .to the Donald C. Cook plant at Bridgman
which is essentially the testimony that NIPSCO is relying
upon at the Michigan City plant.
Dr. Ayers and his associates, as far as we know,
failed to deal with the cumulative effects of thermal
pollution in this area, nor with the views of other
biologists that the inshore waters are biologically
essential for the life and health of Lake Michigan and its
source waters that would be most severely affected by
-------
1755
T. E. Dustin
thermal pollution, not only from the $0 percent of the
thermal pollution for which your particular industry is
responsible but from all other sources, too. There are
many sources of thermal pollution here in Lake Michigan and,
of course, none but a few particular plants in Indiana are
so involved.
MR. DOWD: Thank you, Mr. Dustin.
MR, DUSTIN: You are more than welcome.
MR. STEIN: Anything else?
MR, FETTEROLF: Yes. I would like to ask Mr.
Dustin a question.
In your testimony, sir, you referred twice to
problems with dissolved oxygen and algae in relation to
heated discharges.
Could you elaborate on that a little bit?
MR, DUSTIN: Yes. I believe that Dr. Donald
Mount of the Federal Water Quality Lab at Duluth has
indicated a very substantial shift from healthy diatom
food cells toward the green and the blue-green algae as
temperature shifts as little as 4 or 5 degrees upward. I
have forgotten the exact range, but something like from
&2 to $6 degrees, or something like that. It is a very
strange shift in the distribution of the different types
of algae that would be found in water. It is a simple
-------
1756
T. E. Dustin
question of physics. I don't think — if you would like
me to get into this, I am not a physicist guy, you under-
stand — that warm water simply will not dissolve as much
oxygen as cold water. I don't think that is subject to
controversy.
MR. FETTEROLF: But you don't have any evidence
that this is observed in lakes that have received heated
discharges, have you?
MR. DUSTIN: We, of course, have to rely to some
extent on biological experts for whom we have respect and
who have no reason to be influenced by other sources. Some
of these matters have been discussed for me by Dr. William
Eberly of Manchester College, who is one of this country's
leading limnologists, and I am sure that if you wish I
can obtain from him a written statement. He has done some
of his postgraduate work at Uppsala University in Sweden,
which to my understanding is the outstanding limnology
institute of the world. If you would like me to, I am
sure we can provide this for the record.
MR. FETTEROLF: I am sure the conferees would
be delighted to see it.
MR. DUSTIN: In that case, we shall provide it.
MRo STEIN: Mr. Petersen.
MR. PETERSEN: My name is 0. K. Petersen. I am
-------
1757
T. E. Dustin
an attorney for Consumers Power Company and I have one or
two short questions.
It was my understanding that Dr. Bardach may
be here today to testify.
MR. DUSTIN: We hope so.
MR. PETERSEN: Is it merely your hope or do you
have reason to believe that he will be here?
MR. DUSTIN: No, I have no information that he
will be here.
MR. STEIN: He is listed as one of the people
who want to speak.
MR. PETERSEN: Thank you.
You spoke of the Department of Interior — I
take it you are speaking of this report — the so-called
"white paper" — when you talked of the Department of
Interior report.
MR. DUSTIN: The gentleman was referring to
Interior's "white paper" on Lake Michigan, and I was
countering with the discussion of a "white paper" produced by
NIPSCO which is far less meaningful than this one.
MR. PETERSEN: Do your sources agree entirely
with the material set forth in this "white paper" as
written?
MR, DUSTIN: Well, I — let me put it this way:
-------
17 53
T. E. Dustin
We have only had that document for about 2 or 3 weeks,
give or take a little. We haven't had the opportunity to
review this with the entirety of the Academy of Science.
But if that is another desire of the conference, I am
sure we can provide an analysis. We happen to have in
Indiana a professional resource chapter. Credentials
for membership in that chapter are Ph.D. in one or more of
the life sciences. We have forty members in that chapter.
We would be pleased to present an analysis of the
Department of Interior's recommendations.
MR. PETERSEN: I am merely trying to ascertain
your positions, not what you are wanting to do in the
future, the basis for your precept.
MR. DUSTIN: If the record is open for 30 days
I am sure we can do that.
MR. PETERSEN: The basis for your precept is,
in part, this "white paper" as written, as I understand
it.
MR. DUSTIN: Yes, sir.
MR. PETERSEN: And the material as to heat
and the inshore zone and the retention of heat therein
and in the waters of Lake Michigan is part of your theory.
MR. DUSTIN: Yes, and I wouldn't want to quote
Dr. Bardach. I think we will let him speak for himself
-------
1759
T. E. Dustin
on it.
MR. PETERSEN: Thank you. I have no further
questions at this time.
MR. STEIN: Are there any other questions? If
noti thank you, Mr. Dustin.
MR. DUSTIN: Thank you.
MR. STEIN: Let me announce the schedule. The
way it looks, it is going to be a long, long day. We
have to give up this room at 6:00 o'clock, I understand, for
a dinner scheduled here. The only breaks we are going to
take will be dictated by Mrs. Hall. We may work right
through. The conferees may eat lunch at their desks. I
realize it is very important for us to get this public
testimony. I also know, as I have in the past, in making
these pleas or suggestions that you summarize what you
are going to say, that it is very difficult for people
who are not professionals to summarize, and they feel
that they have to read exactly what is in their paper,
but I ask you all to cooperate so we can get through at
a reasonable hour.
Again, I want to emphasize everyone is going to
be heard, and we are going to give everyone an opportunity
to present his views.
May we have Mrs. J. F. Voita who has a statement
-------
1760
Mrs. J. F. Voita
of Senator Ralph Smith.
STATEMENT OF MRS, J. F0 VOITA,
OAK PARK, ILLINOIS
MRS. VOITA: I would like to speak for myself
because I am teriffically interested in Lake Michigan,
but the speech that was just made, of which I only heard
a part, gives probably all of my feelings and I hope that
a great deal of consideration will be given to it.
I think that the fact that all of these wonderful organi-
zations are working toward saving Lake Michigan is proof
of how important it is. I know that Senator Percy
is doing a tremendous job also.
It seems to me that it is very foolish on the
part of power companies to talk about the cost of doing
it some other way, the right way. When you think of
what the cost will be to save or to do somthing about
Lake Michigan after we have ruined it, there is no com-
parison as far as I am concerned.
I wrote a letter to four people from Illinois.
One of them was Senator Smith. And I was very much sur-
prised and pleased this morning before I came to have a
call from Washington, D. C., saying that he was very sorry
-------
1761
Eileen L. Johnston
that he could not be present but he wanted this statement
read. This is it: "I am a co-sponsor of President
Nixon's legislation to prevent pollution of the Great
Lakes. A clean Lake Michigan is an important factor in
the maintenance of a healthy, vital economic climate in
the State of Illinois. This goal can be accomplish ^d by
strict enforcement of anti-pollution regulations. We
must have complete adequate safeguards to control pollution
and other detrimental ecological effects of our Great
Lakes." Senator Ralph Smith.
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Are there any comments or questions? If not,
thank you very much, Mrs. Voita.
May we have Eileen L. Johnston?
STATEMENT OF EILEEN L. JOHNSTON,
WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
MS. JOHNSTON: My name is Eileen L. Johnston
and my home is in Wilmette, Illinois.
Mr, Stein and conferees, thank you for the
privilege of speaking before you.
The other day, Mr. Vaughn, engineer of water
purification, city of Chicago, said that he was looking
-------
1762
Eileen L» Johnston
forward to my presentation. At that point I didn't know
whether I was going to say anything, but I thought if he
wanted me to, I would do so, so here I am.
It is going to be a sad day in Chicago when Mr.
Vaughn retires. He has been a dedicated man. And, Mr.
Stein, speaking of retiring, I think it would be very
nice if you and the conferees could send a little message
to Mr. Blucher Poole telling him how much we are going
to miss him at this table.
MR. STEIN: I miss him already,
MRS. JOHNSTON: I do, too. I miss that Hoosier
humor and twang.
MR. STEIN: You have to recognize that no one
misses him more than I do. I have worked with Mr. Poole
for the past 25 years.
MRS. JOHNSTON: I realize that.
Well, I believe that I am one of the hysterical
people that Dr. Raney was referring to the other day.
I have been on the environmental beat for sometime now
and aim thoroughly convinced that man had better take some
drastic actions to restore his environment.
May I have the privilege of introducing to the
Illinois people — Mr. Stein,"may I have the privilege
of introducing to the Illinois people, who may not
-------
1763
Eileen L. Johnston
realize that Mr. Currie is the chairman of our new
Pollution Control Board, sitting immediately to my right?
MR. CURRIE: Thank you.
MIS. JOHNSTON: In 196£ I made a statement before
this conference and stated: "We must restore all of Lake
Michigan to pure water including its tributaries. This
wonderful lake is actually one big well for the use of the
people of four States and it should be treated as such.
Who would throw sewage, chemicals, oil, heat, pesticides
down the well and expect to survive?
"No individual, Federal installation, State
installation, municipality, or industry has the right to
put anything into our source of water — the lake. Lake
Michigan is not the four-State dump for municipal and
industrial wastes, pesticides, thermal pollution, boat
wastes. Let's clean up this big well, then keep it that
way. We are making progress with legislation. With
proper enforcement and continued research we should be
able to do the job.
"The public needs education. We need a new
value put on our most valuable resource throughout the
Nation. It is going to cost us money for pure water.
Let's face it and go to work."
An article by Harlan Draeger in the Chicago
-------
1764
Eileen L. Johnston
Daily News of August 3» 1970, quoting Mr. Mayo, Mr. Dumelle,
and Mr. Miller shows clearly that we are not making progress
in the lake cleanup despite efforts of industry. Are we
wise to even consider putting more heat into the lake? Mr.
Stein, are you able at this time to give us an approximate
date for a reconvening of the Calumet Enforcement Conference?
It is long overdue, Mr. Stein?
MR. STEIN: Yes, Mrs. Johnston. I note you have
attended these things and know how they work and, again,
you know I am the Chairman of the conference and the
representative of the Secretary. The Secretary of the
Interior directs the reconvening and the calling of these
conferences. Very often he asks me to call them in my
delegated authority, but I do think that we will be in
touch with the other States and make a recommendation to
the Secretary of the Interior on that»
I have no statement now on the reconvening of
the conference. We have two things to consider: 1) We
have special problems such as this thermal problem; and
2) all of these States have busy programs, and part of
the counter-program is that we just have to keep the
conferences down so they can do their work. Just prepar-
ing for these conferences takes a tremendous amount of
staff work on the part of the State agencies and everyone
-------
1765
Eileen L. Johnston
else. We try to hold them as frequently as we think they
will do the most good, but we will take that up with the
States, and I think we can give you a judgment on that
after I have checked with the people back at the ranch in
Washington, and we will do so.
MRS. JOHNSTON: I urge other citizens to do so
because the last time this was — this was in August of
1969 and things are not very good down in that part of
the lake.
It was pointed out by this study fco Mr. Dumelle
and Mr. Mayo brought it out.
My position has not changed one bit from 196$,
so you see I do endorse the Department of the Interior
position of September 19700 It was a teriffic meeting
and I think, Mr. Stein, it might be very worthwhile to
have the highlights of that meeting published so that
people can obtain it.
I have toured the Ann Arbor laboratory and I
have observed experiments going on over there, talked
with the research men, and heard them speak at confer-
ences on research.
Mr. Frangos, I have a question for you. Last
spring I toured the Jones Island Treatment Plant in
Milwaukee, and the superintendent told me they would be
-------
1766
Eileen L, Johnston
chlorinating the effluent by the end of the year. Now,
this is October. Do you know what progress has been made?
In view of the big discussion that took place at Milwaukee,
I feel it should be brought up at this time.
MR. FRANGOS: Well, the superintendent has been
telling me — and we didn't understand that as a commitment
legally to our agency, Mrs. Johnston — but they are
proceeding along the timetable that we have established
in the State of Wisconsin0 They are not chlorinating as
of this date nor will they be chlorinating this fall.
Their schedule is for next fall.
MRS. JOHNSTON: The superintendent should not
have told me that they were going to be chlorinating by
the end of the year if that is the case.
I urge a speedup of the phosphate deadline in
sewage treatment effluent. We have the technology. In
fact it is being applied in Milwaukee. Both Mr. Vaughn's
and Mr. Dumelle's papers bring out the urgency of
immediate action.
We must keep in mind we are talking about a
very sick lake full of lead, mercury, oil, radioactive
wastes, arsenic, pesticides, nitrates, phosphates, heat,
and we just don't know the whole story. The ill effects
of any one of the pollutants might be so harmful, but
-------
176?
Eileen L. Johnston
the synergistic effect may be so ominous,
I respect Commonwealth Edison for their study
plan and for the caliber of the research men who testified
for them. Certainly no man has studied Lake Michigan more
than Dr. John Ayers, and I have always had great respect
for D:f. Ayers, They do have problems that are difficult
but that can be solved. This, of course, applies to the
other power companies around the lake. The public will,
I am sure, be willing to carry its fair share of the cost
of alternate methods to once-through cooling when it is
made fully aware of the alternative.
I realize the outcome of this conference will be
based on the judgment of extremely competent men. I
have all of the faith in the world in you conferees. I
just hope you will remember the small voice of the citizens
in your deliberations, and there is one other thing I
would like to mention, please, Mr, Stein. A lot has been
said about the heat input from other industries other than
power, and when we toured U. S, Steel down in Gary —
remember, Mr. Stein — in, I think, it was 1968 — that
brand new facility — I was really shocked and amazed
when I asked the man the temperature of the effluent and
it was 11 degrees warmer than the input.
MR. STEIN: Thank you. Are there any questions?
-------
1768
Eileen L. Johnston
You know, Mrs<> Johnston, I was surprised it was
that low considering what they ran that water through,
MRS. JOHNSTON: Really?
MR. STEIN: Sure. You saw the heat of that
steel.
MRS. JOHNSTON: Oh, yes.
MR. STEIN: And what they subjected it to.
MS. JOHNSTON: But when you think of all of the
industries down at that end of the lake, and Mr. Morton
or Mr. Schneider at the Lake Erie Conference, wasn't there
some discussion in the auditorium on the future industry
building down there for awhile?
MR. STEIN: Well, I didn't hear that. Again —
and you know you raise a question here and a lot of people
have talked about this — let me make one thing clear: I
don't think that people either in the State water pollution
control agencies or the Federal water pollution control
agencies have any authority over land utilization and I
am not sure you people would want us to have thato The
land utilization has traditionally been a local responsi-
bility. Usually the States control it, certainly not the
Federal Government, except when you are dealing with the
Federal lands, of course, but with non-Federal lands we
don't.
-------
1769
Fo Pierson
The point is, however, once a decision is made
by the local people of land utilization, we do have the
powers to assure that the environment is protected, and
this must be borne in mind * I think when people talk
to us about putting a moratorium on sites or on uses, I am
not sure they recognize 1) the limits of their authority
or 2) the implications of that kind of request, to put the
Federal Government in that type of business. I am not
sure you would like to live under that sort of Government
in this country,
MRS. JOHNSTON: Thank you.
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Frank Pierson,
STATEMENT OF FRANK PIERSON, SPOKESMAN,
CAMPAIGN AGAINST POLLUTION, CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS
MR. PIERSON: My name is Frank Pierson, I am
representing the Campaign Against Pollution here not so
much as a technician, but as a concerned citizen, conveyor
of peoples' sentiments, and so on.
We just turned in a copy of our formal technical
testimony and I won't trouble you with it here. I am here
-------
1770
F. Pierson
to stress a single point and to ask some extremely simple
questions•
The problem of thermal pollution has been discussed
throughout Chicago and the suburbs. The people of Chicago
and the suburbs, the thousands of us who constitute the
campaign against pollution and other sympathisers have come
to the following conclusions which we feel is the only
human conclusion: There must be no discharges of heat into
the lake by a power company. We won't tolerate those dis-
charges. And when I say this, I am talking about some very
worked up, very adamant people.
We pledge ourselves to be unrelenting in the
fight against heat discharges of any magnitude by the power
companies. We insist that these companies must employ
closed cooling systems and that people won't be fooled by
phony demonstration projects designed to conceal the fact
that those projects propose a thermal pollution threat.
So we ask you gentlemen for a favorable answer
and we hope that it will come soon. The longer you wait,
the more certain we become that you are dickering behind
our backs with big corporations, and we are positive
that you have the interest of big money and not the people
at heart.
That concludes what I would like to say.
-------
1771
F. Pierson
I would like to ask Chairman Stein a question,
and that is when he expects this body will make a decision
concerning the matters that are being discussed today.
MR. STEIN: Well, a lot of people have contributed
many attributes to me which I don't have, and I appreciate
being given the wonderful clairvoyance, but I can't
predict that.
We have a group of five conferees, all independent
thinkers. We have had some very complicated information
presented before us. We are not completed yet, I think
if you want to wait until the wee hours of this morning
or tomorrow,,! will be able to give you a better judgment
when this is complete and I have consulted with the other
conferees.
MR. PIERSON: Well, may I ask this: Can you
say that you will have a decision by the end of October?
MR. STEIN: Any decision that we have will
depend on actions of many people other than myself. I can't
speak for them. I will try to get a decision as rapidly as
I can. From my personal point of view, I would hope that
the conferees would be able to come up with a determination
within a couple of weeks.., I haven't spoken to them and
I have no notion of what they want to do. This is, again
— and you are asking the kind of question that people ask
-------
1772
F. Pierson
about timetables in enforcement cases and when things are
going to be done. But this depends on the determination
of third, fourth, fifth parties, and one person doesn't
handle all of the strings and is not able to make all of
these judgmentso I think my function here is to hold
everyone's nose to the grindstone to be sure that there
are no dilatory tactics used and we arrive at the decision
as rapidly as is humanly possible.
MR. PIERSON: Could I tell .my people, then, that
we could expect a decision — at least a recommendation —
from this body within, say, 2 weeks?
MR. STEIN: You can tell your people that but
please don't tell them I said it.
MR. PIERSON: Let me ask one more question:
Will this body be meeting with industry before a decision
is made other than in this hearing here?
MR. STEIN: I don't think the body will meet
with industry. Let me make another thing clear: As
a public official, and I guess maybe the others, I have
an open door in my office, and whether you or a citizen
group, industry, or anyone wants to come up and see me,
they are always welcome. I don't know that anyone wants
to come up, but I don't feel as an official we can close
the door to anyone, I think it ±e fairly clear on
-------
1773
F. Pierson
our record that when we meet in a body with people who
have an interest in pollution control, we do this in a
public manner <, I have said this again and again. We are
a public agency doing the public business in a public
manner. J£ you think that the implication is there are
going to be any private meetings, large meetings that no
one knows about, the answer is no.
MR, PIERSON: Would you do us this favor then?
If and when some of the power companies would like to get
together with you, would you invite us to those occasions
so that we can present the citizens' viewpoint?
MR. STEIN: Well, again, we don't operate, in a
sense, that way, and I have talked about this many, many
times. If you want to meet with me, I am not sure I will
invite the power companies or anyone of that kind,
I think, an essence of our society — and 1 know
your group has been here before and I have put this out
before — an essence of our society is a right of privacy.
Privacy doesn't mean secrecy, and we respect that right
of privacy of every citizen as a basic constitutional
right. And if I want to have a private meeting with my
wife or my children,, I don't think that anyone has a right
to ask to come in^. I think if any one of the group here
wants to come into my office or anyone else's office or
-------
1774
F. Pierson
just meet on a personal or other basis, we will have that
meeting. I will assure you one thing, I am sure the
other people here do this. Nothing I do officially is
governed by confidentiality or secrecy. Every public
operation we have will be fully disclosed.
MR. PIERSON: I would like to say that I think
this is a public issue and not a private one of the sort
you referred to, and I think that the people should be
represented at even the small gatherings where decisions
might, in fact, be made without our knowing it.
I presume that this wouldn't be a situation in
which you are trying to conceal some sort of negotiation.
MR. STElN: No decision is going to be made
without your knowing it or anyone's knowing it. But,
by the same token, in the ordinary conduct of any public
business I may have between, oh, I don't know maybe 10 or 15
people in the course of a day coming into my office on
special pollution problems, a lot of them spend considerable
time and expense in coming to Washington to see a public
official. Before they could get past that phalanx of
secretaries in my outside office, if I had to tell each
one of them that before I could see them, I would have
to notify someone else who might have a
-------
1775
A. Pancoe
remote interest in what they were concerned with so they all
could go to the meeting, I think we would have a sorry
kettle of fish. We just don't do business this way, and I
think you have to recognize we are operating within our
society.
Sir, I have got one more thing to say: If you
don't have confidence in your public officials and if you
don't think that we are going to represent the public
interest in all our dealings with whoever we deal with in
the best way, public or private, then it is up to the
people to get rid of us. But we have to have that mutual
faith and confidence if we are going to do business.
MR. PIERSON: We think you represent us but we
would just like to help you out a little bit.
MR0 STEIN: We appreciate it. Thank you.
May we have Arthur Pancoe?
STATEMENT OF ARTHUR PANCOE, SAVE -
CAMPAIGN AGAINST POLLUTION, GLENCOE,
ILLINOIS
MR. PANCOE: I want to thank you gentlemen for
the opportunity to testify„ My name is Arthur Pancoe, a
resident of Glencoe, Illinois. I am here as a scientific
-------
1776
A. Pancoe
director of SAVE and also Campaign Against Pollution,
I have a graduate degree from Northwestern,
and Master's from Northwestern University, and I expect to
discuss this problem from a slightly different point of
view.
The use of Lake Michigan for thermal discharge
from nuclear plants constitutes only a temporary home for
the heat. When considering the possible damage from this
discharge and realizing that the heat will in turn be dis-
persed into the atmosphere in a relatively short time, the
question arises: Why not emit the heat to the atmosphere
originally via cooling towers? Taking into account seasonal,
and shorter range temperature variations, the heat will
remain in the lake approximately 10 days on the average,
(Ref, 1) It seems ludicrous to take a chance with the
quality of the lake under such circumstances. The total
consequences of depositing large amounts of heat in the
lake cannot now be determined accurately. The probabilities
indicate that if damage does occur, it will not be apparent
until years or even decades in the future. And should
danger signs occur from the heat, could the plants in
existence even be reoriented?
The St, Louis-based Committee for Environmental
Information in March 1970 estimated that "In the year 2000
-------
1777
A. Pancoe
if power consumption continues to increase and there is no
corresponding increase in overall efficiency powerplants of
all kinds will dispose of roughly enough waste heat to raise
by 20 degrees the total volume of water which runs over the
surface of the entire United States." The committee had
more dire conclusions with regard to carbon dioxide and
radiation contamination that will result from such plants.
But these problems are not pertinent to the subject being
considered.
There are some calculable parameters that can be
of use in judging whether a risk can occur in certain areas.
It can be roughly determined that the heat input to the lake
from all plants by 1990 would be less than 1 percent of that
supplied by the sun on a clear early summer day. (Ref. 2)
This figure on a superficial basis appears to make the
entire question of thermal pollution moot0 However, if we
are sagacious about this figure and if additional aspects
of man-created heat are taken into account, our complacency
will soon disappear.
First, unlike the sun, the plants will supply
heat to the lake continuously, with no interruptions by
either darkness, cloud cover, haze, cold days, or cold
seasons of the year. Also the heat will be injected
entirely into the inshore portion of the lake at depths
-------
1773
A. Pancoe
of less than 10 meters and into an area representing less
than 8 percent of the lake's surface. Under these more
concentrated conditions the input in the area affected
will represent approximately 10 percent of the solar
generation again on a clear summer day. (Ref. 3} It is now
important to discuss a process by which this heat in the
shore areas will be concentrated, perhaps dangerously, in
the spring of the year.
During this time a phenomenon occurs which is not
unusual in lakes but particularly prevalent at times in
Lake Michigan. This is a condition in which a thermal bar
of water (i.e., water at its maximum density 4 degrees
centigrade) is established offshore forming a barrier which
allows little horizontal mixing between inshore and the much
larger offshore volume of water. This condition can last
days or even weeks.- The heat which is already concentrated
in the inshore area will be trapped and will spread out in
a thermal plume traveling great distances along the shore.
As spring proceeds and the bar moves farther offshore,
usually sometime in June, the thermal mixing of the lake
will return to normal. However, with regard to possible
biological harm, uhis intense inshore concentration of heat
occurs at precisely the most sensitive time of the year.
(Ref. 4)
-------
1779
A. Pancoe
J. J. Resia of the Department of Biological
Sciences, Northwestern University, formulated a detailed
description of the danger to the fish population from
this phenomenon, (Ref. 5) I have attached herewith a
detail of his statement.
Another problem that bears consideration is
possible fish kills resulting from upwellings about
thermal plumes. Such kills have already been documented
with regard to fossil plants. (Consumers Power, Port
Sheldon, August 29, 1968) As discussed by Resia, fish
population will be attracted to the areas of heated dis-
charge .
It is well established that the greatest danger
to a fish population about a plume exists from temperature
drops occurring from a sudden upwelling of cold bottom water<
Therefore, the critical upper limit of discharge is governed
by this factor and not the upper lethal temperature of a
given species. The maximum acclimation temperatures for
the game fish in Lake Michigan make it doubtful if any
major heat discharge does not involve a risk. (Ref. 5)
These allowable acclimation temperatures are well, below
proposed discharge temperatures of the plants„ But, more
startling the recommended maximum discharge temperatures
are below natural maximum monthly surface temperatures.
-------
1780
A. Pancoe
(Ref. 6) Thus, safety to the fish population, from even the
proposed strong 1-degree limitation above ambient now being
considered, is negated.
More important than ambient standards is whether
any major heat discharges should be allowed. As described
earlier, large amounts of heat are continually added in the
spring of the year to a rather limited volume of water. Even
though this is accomplished by diluting the heat in large
volumes of water, the increase in lake temperature inshore
will be precisely the same as if the heat were added at a
more severe temperature originally.
At this point, I wish to digress. It is my con-
tention that the various standards being suggested for dis-
charge into the lake all provide precisely the same safety to
the lake: none at all. I want to strongly emphasize this
point if no other point in my statement. The public, in
my opinion, is being misled, and I certainly do not think,
in the case of this board, purposely, by the 1-degree stan-
dard into believing the lake is protected. I do not
think the public has been fully cognizant of the fact that
the main free ride is given by the lake itselfo There is
roughly a 15- to 25-degree temperature change between the
water at the point of intake and the outfall point during 10
months of the year. I want to strongly emphasize this
-------
1781
A. Pancoe
point, I think the 1-degree, again — not intentially by
this board — is a coverup. If I were the power company, I
could live within this 1-degree temperature standard very
easily and accomplish the exact same damage, if there be
damage to the lake.
As I pointed out earlier, I do not think that it
is even fair to put the power companies to the expense of
going through various contortions to live within this
standard. The question is: Will the heat harm the lake?
Now, I want to make a little statement here about
scientists, and this will cover all sides of the question.
MR. STEIN: Mr. Pancoe, when we put you on, you
indicated you would take 10 minutes. Are you going to
adhere to that?
MR. PANCOE: I am going to end with the statement
on this one point, because I think it is the only point I
have to add to the discussion. I don't think any scientist
either for or against this heat discharge can honestly say
that it either will or will not harm the lake.
Einstein in his later years said that his
present theories of relativity are more than likely nearer
to a correct prediction than the former Newtonian laws,
but that his laws will then be improved upon as time goes
by by other scientists.
-------
A, Pancoe
Thus, when any scientist says that he unequivo-
cally can state that there will be no damage to lakes from
heated discharges, I think this man is possibly dishonest.
I likewise feel that anyone who says that heated discharges
will definitely harm the lake is equally dishonest.
With this in mind, I think that the real
question here is: We do not know.
And with this, I want to close by stating that
I don't think that the heat should go into the lake. It
can go just as easily under less stringent standards as
under the previous 5-degree standards.
I don't think the harm comes from the temperature
the water is put in, but from the cumulative effect and
the total number of B.t.u.'s put into the lake will be
precisely the same in either case.
Thank you.
MR. STEIN-: Did I understand you, Mr. Pancoe?
Your proposal is that power companies or
industrial plants not be permitted to put any heated
water into the lake. Is that correct?
MR. PANGOE: That is my proposal.
Either the power companies should be allowed
to put the heat in or not allowed to put it in, and I
think I could show them if no one else could how to put
-------
1733
A, Pancoe
the heat in under the 1-degree standard.
MR. STEIN: Are there any other comments or
questions?
If not, thank you very much, Mr. Pancoe.
MR. PANCOE: Thank you.
(Mr. Pancoe*s presentation follows in its
entirety.)
-------
r / I i ^
I X [ j I j \^
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE _ ^ ^v ^ NORTH SHORE AFFILIATE
TO THE ""
-------
1785
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE
TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
BOX 84
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
*%&§&?*?
PAGE 2
During this time a phenomenon occurs which is not unusual in
lakes but particularly prevalent at times in Lake Michigan. This
is a condition in which a thermal bar of water, (i. e. water at its
maximum density 4°C.) is established offshore forming a barrier
which allows little horizontal mixing between inshore and the much
larger offshore volume of water. This condition can last days or
even weeks. The heat which is already concentrated in the in-
shore area will be trapped and will spread out in a thermal plume
traveling great distances along the shore. As spring proceeds and
the bar moves further offshore, usually some time in June, the
thermal mixing of the lake will return to normal. However, with
regard to possible biological harm, this intense inshore concentra-
tion of heat occurs at precisely the most sensitive time of the year.
(ref. 4)
J. J. Resia of the Department of Biological Sciences North-
western University, formulated a detailed description of the danger
to the fish population from this phenomenon, (ref. 5)
Another problem that bears consideration is possible fish
kills resulting from upwellings about thermal plumes. Such kills
have already been documented with regard to fossil plants.
(Consummers Power Port Sheldon, Aug. 29, 1968). As discussed
by Resia, fish population will be attracted to the areas of heated
discharge.
It is well established that the greatest danger to a fish population
about a plume exists from temperature drops occuring from a
sudden upwelling of cold bottom water. Therefore the critical upper
limit of discharge is governed by this factor and not the upper
lethal temperature of a given species. The maximum acclimation
temperatures for the game fish in Lake Michigan make it doubtful
if any major heat discharge does not involve a risk. (ref. 5) These
allowable acclimation temperatures are well below proposed
discharge temperatures of the plants. But, more startling the
recommended maximum discharge temperatures are below natural
maximum monthly surface temperatures, (ref. 6) Thus, safety
to the fish population, from even the proposed strong 1° limitation
above ambient now being considered, is negated.
More important than ambient standards, is whether any major
heat discharges should be allowed. As discribed earlier, large
amounts of heat are continually added in the spring of the year to
a rather limited volume of water. Even though this is accomplished
by diluting the hept in large volumes of water, the increase in lake
temperature inshore will be precisely the same as if the heat were
added at a more severe temperature originally.
Another field of concern is the effect on alge growth, (blue-
green) resulting from removing large volumes of nutrient, enriched
water from the hypolimuion (the cold bottom layer), warming the
water, returning it to epilimnion (the warmer top layer), and thus
-------
1786
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE
TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
BOX 84
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
'<&
PAGE 3
increasing the growing season in the surface waters. Additional
secondary effects possibilities are depletion of oxygen in the bottom
waters in summer, changes in species composition, numerical
relationships in lake plants, and animal populations, (ref. 7)
Clarence A. Carlson of Cornell in a paper entitled "Ecological
Impact of Nuclear - fueled Power Plants" states many other con-
siderations not mentioned.
a) Due to inefficiency of nuclear plants 60% more waste height
is released to cooling water per K. W. than fossil - fueled
plant causing great extremes of conditions via vie fossil
plants.
b) Temperature is important to aquatic organisms as a lethal,
directive, and controlling factor.
c) Increase in temperature will increase the rate of metabolism
and oxygen consumption in aquatic organisms while con-
currently decreasing the oxygen - dissoling capacity of the
water.
d) Increased temperature generally stimulates growth of taste
and odor producing organisms.
e) formation of sludge gas
f) multiplication of saprophytic bacteria and fungi
g) consumption of oxygen by putrefactive processes
h) warming of water likely to increase suseptibility of fish to
certain disease organisms and metabolic poisons.
He also states that less than 5% of the 1900 fish species found
in U. S. have been studied with respect to temperature response.
The Fishery Resource Management paper "Some Adverse
Effects of Thermal Pollution of Aquatic Ecosystems" suggests
other dangers from thermal discharge, (ref. 8)
Since means of disposing of the heat directly into the atmosphere.
are available why take any risk with the lake?
Arthur Pancoe
Scientific Director of SAVE
References
1,2,3, - C. H. Mortimer, Director, Center for Great Lakes Studies
Zion, 111. May 2, 1970
4,5,6, - See attached
7 - Alfred W. Eippen, July 3, 1970, American Society for
Advancement of Science
8 - See attached
-------
Table 3. Recommended seasonal maximum temperatures for spasming and'
depths at vhich spawning has occur'red in Lake Michigan
Specie
Season
Depth (ft. 1 T^mp^rj^u£e_(^F)_
Lake Trout
.Lake Herring
Lake White Pish
Yellow Perch
Channel Catfish
Coho Salmon
Oct. - April
Nov. - April
Nov. - April
April - May
Jan. - March
May - June
Fall
10
Streams
I/ Keller, M., 19^9« Personal communication.
£/ Kpelz, 1929.
3/ Wells, L. , 19o9- Personal coEraunication.
J/ Wells, 1968.
5/ Embody, 193!*.
6/ Unpublished data, BCF, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
7/ Price, 19^0.
o/ Unpublished data, 1IWQL, Duluth, Minnesota.
2/ Sneed, K. Personal communication.
-------
Ref. 5
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE
TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
BOX 84
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
1733
"One thing which definitely is not needed in the current debates
over effects of waste heat from nuclear power plants on Lake
Michigan is another biologist who takes the position of an advocate.
I therefore must preface my following remarks with a.brief bit
of philosophy.
With few significant exceptions, predictions of resultant harm
to the Lake's biota are honestly debatable. When specialists in
pertinent fields disagree, the issues become quite clouded and
confusing to the public. The clouds part a bit, though, if the
layman keeps two things in mind.
First, the empirical, inductive method to which modern
science is wedded never "proves" or disproves" anything. No
matter how dogmatically some scientific "truths" often are taught,
it must be remembered that at the philosophical foundation of
scientific method is a rule which says that the most an investigator
can hope to accomplish by his experimental results and interpre-
tations is to cause one hypothesis or another to seem more or less
likely to be true. Hence, competent scientists, honestly attempting
to be objective, can and often do disagree..
This brings us to the second point. The current environmental
quality crusades in general and the nuclear power plant controver-
sies in particular have seen too many scientists showing too little
regard for objectivity. Abuses of this nature seem to come from
both sides of almost every confrontation. It can be maddening
for a scientist to try to refute a less idealistic oponent's "absolute
certainties" with wishy-washy "it appears thats" and "the data
suggest thats. " Nevertheless, scientists and engineers who my-
opically pander either to their employers' vested interests on the
one hand or to crowd response on the other do service to no one
and, I fear, are going to learn that in the long run, their credibility
and that of their profession is as fragile as it is valuable.
Granted the above, I would like to describe a problem which I
feel has not yet been given any real attention by those about to decide
what can and can not be done with waste heat in Lake Michigan.
In the temperate latitudes in which we live, organisms are
forced to adjust their life cycles to the rigors of changing seasons.
Mother Nature has been very fussy about compliance, and those
species which failed to synchronize became evolutionary drop-outs.
One well-known environmental cue that is widely used by plants
and animals as a season-indicator is photoperiod, the changing
length of the day. Thus, many birds,"for exampie, are "told
when tUeir gonads should ripen, when they should mate, and when they
should fatten up and migrate by the lengthening or shortening day-
light hours.
For terrestrial organisms, as well as for those which are
found in rivers and streams (lotic environments), photoperiod
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1789
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE
TO THE
ENVIRONMENT
BOX 84
c5Cffl
PAGE 2
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
is a cue far more trustworthy than temperature. For the biota of
lakes and ponds (lentic environments), however, seasonal temper-
ature changes usually are pretty consistent (especially in large
lakes), and it is well-known that for many lentic species (notably,
fishes), water temperature plays the principal role in seasonal
synchronization.
Since the effects of thermal discharges, present and proposed,
on the overall temperatures of Lake Michigan can be considered
insignificant (which, possibly, is why Commonwealth Edison
spokesmen have mentioned them so often), and since the plumes
of heated water will be small in relation to total Lake area, it is
not immediately evident that a significant proportion of any popu-
lation in the Lake could be affected adversely.
There is more to the story, however. In the first place, the
littoral (nearshore) areas of any large body of water are by far
Ihe most biologically important. In these littoral areas, Nature
provides light and nutrients in relative abundance, and productivity
is high. Since populations always produce more offspring than
the environment can support, and since the principal limiting
factor in the survival of offspring of most aquatic animals is
food availability, natural selection has "taught" the great majority
of species to reproduce in littoral waters. Thus, these near-
shore areas, into which the nuclear plant effluents are to be
directed, see a lot more biological traffic than comparable off-
shore areas. Included in this relatively congested situation are
those fishes which are spawning, those which have been spawned,
and those predators desirous of eating spawner or spawnee.
We understand, then, that biomass is relatively large in the
general vicinity of the proposed heated effluents, but the story
goes further. Most animals have preferred temperatures. This
means that their activity is less at one temperature than at any
other. In fishes, for example, an individual's preferred tempera-
ture depends on such factors as species, previous thermal history,
age, physiological state, time of day and year, and many other things,
known and unknown, but it may be generalized that if a group of
similar fish are placed in a thermal gradient, they will tend to
congregate at their preferz'ed ternperature in a sore of "gapers'
block" effect.
I have heard the advocates of "thermal enrichment" speak
enthusiastically of fishing "hot spots" produced by power plant
discharges. Such phenomena are produced when ambient water
temperatures are below the preferred temperature of fish in the
general vicinity of a heated plume. When the fish congregate at
their preferred temperature in the gradient caused by the plume,
a fisherman's bonanza results.
But there may be a catch to this. I have already discussed
why fishes tend to be in the general vicinity of the thermal plumes,
and how they can tend to move to positions in the plumes where
temperatures are above ambient. Such situations already exist
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1790
SOCIETY
AGAINST VIOLENCE
ENVIRONMENT
BOX 84
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
•'AtVv * V* * "t-V ^LW*'*
TO THE Jt^-V&fV'* *%^'
CLxLJ LJ W
PAGE 3
on small scale in Lake Michigan. But if to these considerations
we add the proposals for a growing number of large discharges
from nuclear plants, we must conclude that greater percentages
of the Lake's fish populations would be spending greater amounts
of time at temperatures above ambient.
Besides having other, more well-known, physiological effects,
water temperature (as mentioned previously) is the principal
seasonal timer for many species of fish. In effect, progressive
changes in the ambient temperature of the Lake "tell" a fish
when to begin and complete gonadal development, when to feed,when
to migrate, and when to spawn. Thus, each species of fish is
influenced to perform some or all of these activities at a time of
the year most advantageous for survival of the population. It
must be noted that the physical characteristics of the season are
not the only reasons why timing is important. Spawning, for ex-
ample, must be performed simultaneously by the greatest possible
proportion of the population, for maximum efficiency, and the lar-
vae must latch in synchrony with the often ephemeral availability
of important food species (which also are influencpd by tempera-
ture).
Add to all of these considerations the complex, seasonally-
variable food-web interactions in the Lake, and one begins to
understand the validity of questions raised about fishes spending
time in the proposed "hot spots" rather than in waters of ambient
temperatures. The temperature a fish "likes" bears no necessary
resemblance to the temperature that is good for survival of its
population.
I have heard attempts by some to defend calefaction on the
grounds that elevated temperatures have no adverse effects on
certain aquatic animals from arctic or tropical latitudes. I have
also heard it mentioned that in certain fish culture practices,
people spend money to heat ponds to increase yield. In answer
to the latter, it should be noted that such people also have to feed
the fish in those cultures. Cultures are not ecosystems. AricTTn~
answer to both, we need only keep in mind that we are concerned
with temperate latitude fishes trying to stay alive and obtain food
in a tempeKate latitude lake.
Finally, I wish that discussions of ecological effects of waste
heat could rise above naive considerations of what is lethal to
adult fishes. There's more than one way to skin a population,
and knocking out reproduction sounds to me as though it might be
fairly effective. "
J. J. Resia
Department of Biological Sciences
Northwestern University
-------
1791
Table 2. Lethal temperatures for some Lake Michigan fishes.
STDCCICS Acclimation Temperature ' (°
Channel Catfish-
Lake Herring—
V
Lake Trout-'
Coho Salmon-
Yellow Perch
Gizzard Shad—
77
68
59
•50
77
68
50
36
68
59
73
68
59
50
111
77 Summer^-/
77 Winter^
59
50
lil
77
F) Lethal Temperature (fFj
feL .
92
91
86
82
78
79
75
61
73
73
(69)'
77
77
76
75
73
90
86
82
77
70
93
Lover
Ii3
111
32
32
Ii8
39
37
33
(3*)
(3^0
(32)
Mi
lio
38
35
32
liO
32
32
32
50
37 Hart, 1952
2/ Unpublished .Datas BCF, Ann Arbor, Michigan
3j Parenthesis denotes estimates from short term tests.
Huntsman.and Sparks, 192^.
jl/ Brett, 1952
5/ Hart, 19^7
-------
1792
Table 1. Recommended month lymaxi mum surface temperatures for heateS
discharges into Cake~Michi£an.
Lake Michigan— ... Recommended Monthly Maximum
Period Surface-Temperature (° F)— - Surface Temperature s
'Maximum
Dec.
Jan.
Feb.
March
April
May
June
July
August
Sept .
Oct.
iiov.
50
te
37
37
M
53
65
71
7^
72
65
5*
Minimum
33
32
37
32
32
36
te
^
50^
50^/
50
V2
55
50
50
50
50
55
70
85
85
85
85
70
I/ Surface te:nperatues are the 3T readings recorded at 0.0 feet.
2/ Excluding Green Bay. Surface temperature range in Green Bay in
~ June, 1963 vas 15-9 - 25.0° C and in July, 1963 2>i.3 - 17-7° C.
3_/ Fron stations less than 5 miles froa shore and avay frora river
mouths contained.in: Lake Michigan Basin Office, BT Data, 1962
end 1963 .and for vinter r.onths from Noble and Michaelis, 19^8.
"Winter temperature data from Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration, (Great Lakes - Illinois River Basin Project)
Buoy Stations."
^J Personal connunication, Mr. John Carr, EC?1, /Jin Arbor, Michigan.
-------
1793
Cons, hhl November 6, 1969
Fishery .Resource Management
SOME ADVERSE EFFECTS OF THERMAL POLLUTION ON AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
I. Through habitat changes
A. Aquatic_plants
1. Overstimulation of plant growths present.
2. Shift to less desirable plant forms.
Eg, from diatoms or greens to blue-greens.
B. Reduction -_of water body' s capacity to decompose organic wastes
1-. Increased decay -1 overutilization of dissolved oxygen in
local area, hence lowered decomposition capacity downstream.
2. Stratification isolates organic matter in anaerobic
bottom waters.
C. Increase stratification period
1. Degraded conditions for fish in hypolimnion ( protracted 0?
depletion, food consumption, etc)
2. Longer growing season in epilimnion.
II. Throuf;h_gffects on aquatic organisms themselves
Perspective: Temperature responses have been studied in less than yl° of the
approximately 1,900 specie? of North American fishes. To date virtually
all of these have been studies of mshort-term temperature effects.
1. Thermal shock (sudden)
a) Through condenser cooling cycle
b) Into or out of plume of heated water
2. Heat death (gradual)
3. Death in early life stages
o) Before hatching
b) Directly after hatching
c) Deformity -' abbreviated life span
(continued on p. 2)
-------
179^
B. Death thru indirect ecological effects of elevated temperatures
1. Accelerated metabolism + lowered 0? carrying capacity of
haemoglobin = Greater need for 0 in env't. But higher
temp -* lower 0? in water. Results:
a) Extreme cases: Asphyxia
b) Less extreme: Weakening. This, plus more direct effects
of higher temp.; can produce:
(1) Lowered resistance to toxic substances (copper,
cvanid0% insecticides, detergents, etc.)
(2) Lowered resistance to fungus or disease, plus more
rapid proliferation of many pathogens.
(3) Decreased ability to forage, escape predators, etc.
2. Disruption of food supply through changes in hatching dates
and/or growth rates.
a) Heavy mortality of food organisms hatched too early in
spring. (Example: mayflies hatched in March unlikely
to survive or reproduce.)
b) Food organisms of suitable size no longer available when
needed by predators (Example: Small walleyes heavily
dependent on larval perch.)
c) Larvae induced to move into areas not rich in plankton.
3. Interference with spawning activities of adults.
a) Block migration.
b) Fhysiol. trigger fails at too rapid rise.
c) Trigger missing if temp, never reduced?
C. Changes in species composition, through:
1. Competitive replacement by spp. more temperature tolerant
Example: ?2F. optimum for Igmth bass, not for trout
2. Competitive replacement by creating conditions more favorable
to growth and/or reproduction of other spp.
•Examples: longer growing season + higher temp, might caucc
alewives to reach spawning si'/.e at Age II instead
of III.
Longer growing season can provide opportunities for
more spawning in one season (certain spp.)
A. W. E.
-------
1795
Mrs. L. Botts
MR. STEIN: Mrs. Lee Botts.
STATEMENT OF MRS. LEE BOTTS, OPEN
LANDS PROJECT, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MRS. BOTTS: Mr. Chairman, conferees. I am Mrs.
Lee Botts representing the Open Lands Project, a private
nonprofit conservation organization with offices at 53
West Jackson here in Chicago. My chief responsibility on
the project staff is to serve as executive secretary for
the Lake Michigan Federation that has been organized as a
clearinghouse for conservation and civic groups in the
four States that border Lake Michigan.
For this conference, as for the Illinois
Pollution Control Board hearings last week, I have been
authorized by the Project Board of Directors to urge that
the Department of Interior be supported in its effort to
protect Lake Michigan from possible thermal pollution.
This position was necessarily taken without consideration
of the lengthy and sometimes detailed and factual presen-
tations made here this week in opposition to the Interior
recommendation. Yet after hearing most of the testimony
given this week and studying most of what I did not hear
in written form, I must still conclude that a strict thermal
-------
1796
Mrs. L. Botts
standard is the only means now available to assure prevention
of damage from thermal pollution. It is a danger I and
some scientists who have not been retained as consultants
to utility companies still consider the likely consequence
of use of Lake Michigan waters for once-through cooling in
the quantities required by nuclear plants and the large
fossil fuel plants now contemplated on its shores.
This conclusion has been reached not so much
because of the strength of the Interior reports issued
in defense of its proposal as because of the weakness of
the alternatives offered by those who have demonstrated
historically that their chief aim is to produce electricity
as cheaply as possible regardless of the cost in natural
resources.
Those of you who attended the Milwaukee meeting of
this enforcement conference last March will remember my
complaint then that the Federal Water Quality Administration
was a paper tiger in the way it confronted, that is, failed
to confront the need for a thermal standard. I am in
sympathy with the power companies who have been allowed to
proceed with the building of their very expensive plants
without the guidance of a definitive standard applicable
to the whole lake and who are now confronted with the
tiger that is somewhat erratically but nevertheless charging
-------
1797
Mrs. L. Botts
at lasto
Even so, I am glad the tiger is here. I am even
more in sympathy with the public that is still being con-
fronted with the need for a decision without conclusive
scientific evidence and with conflicting and contradictory
assertions about the issues from scientists and other
technical consultants whose appearance here is financed
by vested interests seeking a standard that will impose
as little restriction as possible on their activities.
In speaking here I have three purposes: One is
to point out some of the contradictions and unresolved issues
that have been raised in the previous days of this conference,
and the second is to make available some pertinent expert
knowledge from independent sources in the public interest.
Finally, following these independent presentations I wish
to make a proposal for an alternative means of achieving
protection of the lake from thermal pollution which, if
accepted by the power companies, might indeed make it
possible to have our power and keep our lake safe, too.
1. The first question I would like to raise is
whether there is any contradiction in arguing that the
power companies only wish to produce electricity as
cheaply as possible in terms of direct costs for the benefit
of a public that is presumed to consider electricity
-------
1793
Mrs. L. Botts
paramount in maintenance of "the good life," and then denying
that public's right to question this purpose by terming it
hysterical. Surely neither Dr. Edward Raney, in his professed
regard for human ecology (undefined), nor Mr. Brandt of
Consumers Power Company, in his labeling of an unconvinced
public as hysterical, would deny that it is the public, one
way or another, that will ultimately pay the cost of whatever
decision is made by this conference.
I submit that the first duty of this conference,
the Department of Interior and the power companies is to
carry oat the public's desire„ As a member of the public,
I applaud the Department of Interior for acknowledging that
I would prefer to pay a bit more for my electricity each
month to make certain that my lake remains free of thermal
pollution. I trust that those who would use the lake to
produce power would not deny that it is my lake and my
neighbor's lake and that of my fellow citizens in Illinois,
Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin rather than the property
of corporate interests whether they produce power, steel
or paper pulp. This brings me to my next question.
2. All the discussion by scientists representing
utility interests this week has concerned demonstrating that
no damage would be done to the lake in terms of its present
condition, as if that condition were satisfactory for all
-------
1799
Mrs. L. Botts
purposes, except for a few complaints that thermal dis-
charges were receiving unfair attention when other sources
of pollution are more culpable. I would point out that the
members of the public who are most concerned with avoiding
all possibility of thermal pollution are for the most part
the same persons who would seek to correct the damage being
done by other means, such as overloading with sewage, chemi-
cal wastes and so forth. Further, I would point out that our
concern with the condition of the lake has been generated not
by our fellow, if you will, hysterical citizens but by your
fellow scientists and technical experts.
Here in this very conference we have heard a
report from Jacob Dumelle suggesting that the quantity of
phosphates in the lake has been greatly underestimated.
Repeatedly in public hearings and on other occasions
ever since the Stoermer-Yang report on "Plankton Diatom
Assemblages in Lake Michigan" was released last spring, I
have cited their conclusions in explaining my own fears about
the future of the lake. As I said before the Illinois Board
last week, Stoermer and Yang state that the changes that have
already occurred in the population of planktonic plants and
animals indicates that the decisions made in the next 10
years or less will determine whether the life now in Lake
Michigan will become more like the present life in Lake Erie.
-------
1SOO
Mrs. L. Botts
I have never heard this conclusion refuted.
Indeed I have never heard any part of the Stoermer-Yang study
disputed, unlike the controversies that have raged around
some of the scientific reports made by consultants to the
power companies. Not only lay members of the public but
other scientists, some of whom fortunately have undertaken
to interpret the situation for the public, are worried. I
would like to read briefly from an article prepared by Dr.
William Beecher, director of the Chicago Academy of
Sciences and member of the Open Lands Board, for the new
publication "Illinois Environment." The title is "An
Ecologist Looks at Water," and he says:
"I saw Lake Erie the year before it died. With
Dr. Paul Ehrlich and Dr. Joseph Gamin, both then on my
staff, I visited Middle Island to collect for an experiment
on miteborne diseases a quantity of the watersnakes that
live on that limestone island .».. At Middle Island more
than once we saw the big snakes swimming in from the open
lake with mud-puppies in their mouths, the amphibians known
to comparative anatomy students as Necturus. It was a minor
part of the food chain. I relate this because the following
year the snakes were not there. The mud-puppies had died
off, mayflies had ceased to hatch and the whole food-chain
of western Lake Erie had collapsed. The end had come with
-------
1301
Mrs. L. Botts
stunning suddenness — and all we had noted was an unusually
large amount of algae along the shores and in the small bays!
"Of course it could happen to Lake Michigan! The
clear, cold waters, teeming with splendid fish, noted by
Marquette and Joliet, are already clouded by the algal slime
that betrays a last-ditch attempt of the ecosystem to replenish
the oxygen used up by bacteria in combatting pollution. ...
"Lake Michigan has two basins, separated by a high
ridge that runs between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Grand Haven,
Michigan. The longshore currents come down the west shore
past Chicago and then tend to swirl around in the toe of the
lake, trapped by the ridge. Sediments produced and deposited
by industry in this lower or southern lake basin tend to
accumulate on the bottom, perhaps to be periodically brought
into the surface waters in the spring and fall overturns of
the lake, due to warming and cooling of the top layers. In
the fall of 1964 this may have happened. I announced that
Lake Michigan had become a Killer lake when several of us
found 10,000 gulls and 2,500 loons dead on the Illinois,
Indiana, and Michigan shores. The cause of the deaths of
these very tough birds was never determined but the mayflies
have ceased to hatch out of Lake Michigan, and last year
there was a die-off of inud-puppiec, some picked up on Oak
Street beach0 The warning flags are uo and I remember how
-------
1302
Mrs. L. Botts
quickly Lake Erie turned the corner! But Lake Erie is part
of a broad river of lakes and can be cleaned up by flow-
through once pollution stops. Lake Michigan is a cul-de-sac
and the canal would be ineffective in saving its life if it
turns for the worse.1*
It is unfortuante for the utilities, but the fact
remains that they seek to use a lake that already needs
restoration in large areas, which brings me to my third
point o
3. Repeatedly testimony has been given this week
that damage to water quality by existing thermal plumes
cannot be demonstrated, with the Waukegan plume most
frequently cited. My question has to do with the fact that
this discussion has been in terms of the present condition
of the lake in that area where relatively little life as
evidenced by fish or other biological signs can be found,
apparently either inside the plume or outside it. No one
has attempted to assess the possible past role of heat in
relation, say, to the input from the North Shore Sanitary
District in bringing the lake to its present state there.
When I have asked whether anyone has compared the
present ecological state to a previous one, I have been
told there is no baseline data available from, say, 25 or 45
years ago or longer. All I know is that formerly there was
-------
1303
Mrs. L. Botts
a much greater commercial fishery out of Waukegan Harbor
than now and that this past summer almost all of the beaches
in the area were closed to the public as unsafe. It is con-
tradictory to say that the future effects of heat will be
studied without attempting to assess its possible past role,
My fourth point also has to do with difficulties of
field studies.
4. I have heard many references this week to the
difficulty of making judgments based on laboratory findings
without field experiences to confirm them. I have also
heard this week Dr. Donald Pritchard's descriptions of
possible diffusion systems based on calculations derived
from mathematical modeling and the assertion that Dr.
Pritchard has proved that with a properly designed diffusion
system based on results of his calculations only a small
fraction of the lake's area will be affected by thermal
discharges from the nuclear plants.
Is it not contradictory to reject some laboratory
findings of potential thermal pollution and accept Dr.
Pritchard's mathematical proofs of protection for most of
the lake with his mathematically-tested diffusion system?
And, considering the public ownership of the lake already
discussed above, who will have the authority to impound even
the very small areas Dr. Pritchard says will be needed,
-------
Mrs. L. Botts
99 acres at Zion possibly, provided his calculations are
substantiated in application? Finally, when and how will
actual field tests be made of the system he proposes, to
determine whether, in fact, it is mechanically feasible and
the required engineering is achievable in Lake Michigan where
it would be needed? In short, is it not contradictory to
reject some laboratory predictions and accept others?
I have another quarrel with Dr. Pritchard, which
constitutes my next point.
5. Dr. Pritchard asserts that the money required
to build cooling towers would be better spent for, for example,
sewage treatment plants. Is he suggesting to Commonwealth
Edison that the money this company would have to spend at
Zibn to avoid discharge of heat be made available to the
North Shore Sanitary District already mentioned? Certainly
the need is there, and if this kind of tradeoff — a term I
learned in studying power production issues — is possible,
then I believe the public might find it worth considering.
Unfortunately, our past experience leads to
believe that the money Commonwealth Edison saves by not
building cooling towers will be put to use by the company
for its own purposes unless, as already has happened in
Illinois, some public body like the Illinois Commerce
Commission directs otherwise. I am among those who regrets
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ISO 5
Mrs. L. Botts
that we do not have a public body with the power to give
such directives in the present case, and remain convinced
that a strict thermal standard is the only means available
to protect the lake.
Still another question has been raised by Dr.
Pritchard's presentation.
6. If Dr. Pritchard's recommendation for a
discharge system proves reliable, then how will the public
be assured that the best possible system will be used on
all nuclear plants discharging into the lake? I am submit-
ting to you with this statement an updated fact sheet on the
existing and proposed Lake Michigan nuclear plants on which
the variations in discharge systems is apparent.
The only instance in which a design of a discharge
structure has been substantially changed to my knowledge is
at the Donald C0 Cook plant near Bridgman, Michigan, where
the point of discharge was moved from 150 feet offshore
to 1,200 feet. There the change resulted from public
protest to the Corps of Engineers about possible erosion
damage, not from the company's concern with Lake Michigan.
Indeed, it is the Corps of Engineers that grants
permits to build discharge structures, and under its new
policy of implementation of the National Policy Act,
presumably applications for any new plants would be
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1306
Mrs. L. Botts
submitted to the Department of Interior and FWQA for review.
But what about these five plants where the discharge
structures are already under construction or are already
completed? Under what authority will they be required to
make changes? The Corps of Engineers has observers here,
but is not participating. Are we to assume that the power
companies will voluntarily initiate needed action?
I became interested in the methods of discharge
myself when I observed about a year ago that at the Point
Beach plant in Wisconsin the cooling water would be dis-
charged at the shore on the surface, in accordance with the
theory that Dr. John Ayers espouses about the means for
achieving most rapid dispersal of the heat into the water.
Yet I knew that at Zion the discharge would be diffused
700 feet offshore under water in accordance with the theory
now advanced by Dr. Pritchard. When I asked the represen-
tative from the Wisconsin Power and Electric Company about
the difference, especially since the plants are both on the
same side of the lake although 200 miles or so apart, and
had been built by the same company, Sargent-Lundy, he talked
for 10 minutes and then said, "I guess I haven't answered
your question, and I have to say we don't know, that we are
proceeding according to our best judgment.11
Well, I will have to say that I think it is
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Mrs. L. Botts
contradictory to reject the right of the Department of
Interior to proceed according to its best judgment and
still retain the right to proceed in that fashion as the
prerogative of power companies. This discussion of the
possible need for change in plant design brings me to the
next point.
7. Is it not contradictory to assert the
impossibility and the economic hardship involved in changing
plant design during construction but before the plant is
being operated, and yet to assert that it will be feasible and
the power companies are willing to suffer the financial loss
involved in adding cooling facilities later, provided, of
course, it becomes necessary owing to proved damage to the
lake? This leads me to yet another question.
8. How and by whom will the damage be determined?
By consultants to the power companies? I am afraid that
will be unacceptable to those concerned about the possi-
bility of damage. By the State agencies? But we are already
confronted with the difficulty of separating the interests
of at least some State agencies and the power companies.
By the Federal Water Quality Administration? I suppose
the outcome of this conference will indicate whether and
the extent to which the paper tiger has indeed changed its
stripes. This question of authority to make assessments
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1303
Mrs. L. Botts
brings me to point number nine.
9. We have heard this week of Dr. Edward Raney's
conclusion that with judicious placement, a large number of
nuclear plants could be operated on the shores of the lake
without danger, yet Dr. Raney did not tell us his criteria for
judging the sites nor who would do the judging for future
sites much less who will review the existing sites. That
brings us back to the question of whether the power com-
panies will agree to change existing sites if they prove
unwise, and I am afraid the answer is obvious.
One specific criterion has been mentioned this
week and that is that thermal discharge plumes should not
overlap. In one existing case on the lake it has always
been a matter of concern to the conservationists that the
relationships of the Point Beach and Kewaunee plants only
5 miles apart on the same bay have not been assessed. Who
will determine now whether their plumes will overlap and
assure us that something will be done about it if they do?
The question of assurance brings me to point number ten.
10. Mr. Kopper of the Indiana and Michigan
Power Company spoke of his company's assurance that no
injury will befall Lake Michigan and of their efforts not
to intrude on the environment through use of paint of a
particular color and proper design of the building.
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1809
Mrs. L. Botts
Unfortunately for the public's peace of mind,
this is the company that installed a coffer dam that started
an erosion process the company's own geological consultant,
Dr. Jack Hough of the University of Michigan, said in an
open hearing would extend 20 miles down the shoreline unless
stopped. Still more unfortunately for those particular
members of the public whose property was directly affected,
they had to resort to a lawsuit to secure replenishment of
sand on their beaches.
I believe one of those property owners is present
today and I will leave it to him to tell you whether he
thinks sand-colored paint and low-lying buildings provide
adequate environmental protection at the Donald C. Cook site.
11. My last point in this series concerns a most
fundamental assertion that has been made repeatedly by
various spokesmen this week, and that is the statement that
the addition of heat from the nuclear plants might prove,
or some say would prove, beneficial to the lake. Exactly
what is meant by beneficial has not been clearly defined.
If it means that there will be even less trout
and salmon and more carp, I question how many members of
the public will agree, even if they can catch carp all
winter near powerplant outfalls.
If it means an increase in total biomass, as
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1810
Mrs. L. Botts
asserted by Dr. Mary McWhinnie before the Illinois Board
last week, how does this equate with a denial that the
additional heat will accelerate eutrophication, when the
first stage of advancing eutrophication is just such an
increase in the total quantity of living matter in a body
of water?
Another suggestion has been made by Dr. Fred Lee
that addition of heat to the water might increase its
capacity to deal with pollution by increasing the rate of
chemical reactions. Apart from the fact that I am confused
as to how this increase is going to take place if Dr.
Pritchard is correct, shouldn't it be possible to confirm
this assertion by the finding of improved water quality
near existing outfalls? Yet we are told there is no dis-
cernible difference within a plume and outside it.
In conclusion of this part of my statement, I
believe it must be obvious by now that at least as many if
not more questions have been raised for me by this week's
workshop as have been answered concerning thermal discharges
and Lake Michigan. In view of all the contradictory
assertions, is it wonder the public is confused if not
hysterical?
There is one point on which I find myself in
agreement with the power companies and their consultants
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l&Ll
MrSo L. Botts
who have appeared this week, as well as Dr. Philip Gustafson
of Argonne National Laboratory and others, and that is on
the lack of information about existing thermal discharges.
It has seemed to me that not only are more facts
needed about effects of existing powerplants but that we
also need the judgment of independent scientists who are
qualified to advise us to their opinion about the probable
long-term results of using Lake Michigan for seven or more
large nuclear plants. Finally, I believe that for the public
to make its decision about its willingness to bear the
greater direct costs engendered*by avoiding use of the lake
as a heat sink,advice is also needed by independent experts
about the cost of using cooling devices relative to the
benefits obtained,. Thus I am happy to be able to introduce
two sources of independent information,,
The first is Miss Edith McKee, a consulting
geologist, who has interrupted an almost completed study
of Traverse Bay to describe here the effects she has observed
of operation of the Big Rock Point nuclear plant there.
Her background and qualifications will be described by
Lowell Gomes, a member of the consulting firm with which
Miss McKee is associated.
The second is Dr. John Bardach, a distinguished
aquatic biologist of the University of Michigan, who has
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1S12
Mrs. Lo Botts
come from Ann Arbor to serve as a consultant to the public.
A third person, Dr. John Langura, an economist, who
had intended to make a presentation on the costs of cooling
devices relative to the means of the companies to provide
them, has had to go out of town to attend a funeral. His
presentation will be filed with you as soon as he returns.
I have been supplied with an abstract of an
article by Dr. Beeton from the University of Wisconsin,
and copies have been given to the conferees. Dr. Beeton
sent this material at our request because of the points
that had been raised during this week on whether there was
any difference between the inshore and offshore waters of
the lake, and I will read a one-paragraph abstract of the
same. (See Pp. lSl2a-l&L2f)
"Significance to the eutrophication problem of
inshore-offshore differences in nutrients and the
planktonic diatoms of Lake Michigan.
"Many engineering studies dealing with water
supply, disposal of sewage, waste heat, and industrial
waste have been based upon the assumption that the entire
volume of Lake Michigan was available for dispersion and
dilution of the pollutants. Recent studies have indicated,
however, that inshore waters in most areas of the lake proper
have different concentrations of phosphorus, nitrogen, and
-------
SUBMISSION OF PAPER
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY, INC.
33rd Annual Meeting
University of Rliode Island
August 26 - 29, 1970
NAME
Beeton
Ruth
Holland
First
Initial
Last
CO-AUTHORS (If appropriate) A. M. Beeton
ORGANIZATION Center for Great Lakes Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
ADDRESS
Milwaukee. Wisconsin 53201
TITLE OF PAPER: Significance to the eutrophication problem of inshore-offshore differences
in nutrients and the planktonic diatoms of Lake Michigan. ^^^
i
ABSTRACT (Approximately 200 Informative words. Use attached sheet if necessary)!
Many engineering studies dealing with water supply, disposal of sewage,
waste heat, and industrial waste have been based upon the assumption that the
entire volume of Lake Michigan was available for dispersion and dilution of the pollutants-
Recent studies have indicated, however, that inshore waters in most a**eas of the
lake proper have different concentrations of phosphorus, nitrogen and Silica from
offshore areas. These inshore and offshore differences in the distribution and con-
centration of nutrients are reflected in the distribution and abundance of planktonic
diatoms and in the species composition of the Melosiras. The present study was
undertaken to further document inshore and offshore differences. Samples were
obtained by car ferry on a transect which ran across Lake Michigan and Green
Bay from Frankfort, Michigan, to Menominee, Wisconsin. The new data substantiated
earlier findings, and indicated in addition that there were differences between inshore
and offshore waters in Green Bay.
»ge3ted Division;
Environmental Enrichment
Deteriorating Environment
Natural Environments
Other
DEADLINE: May 15, 1970
MAIL TO:
Projection Requirements;
Vl/4" x 4"
Overhead Viewer
Dr. I. E. Wallen
Office of Environmental Science
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C. 20560
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OFF MILWAUKEE
OFF LUDINGTON
I8l2b
27 May, 1970
415
Fragiloria crotonensis
Tabellaria flocculoso
Stephanodiscus hantzschii
MAP
MILWAUKEE
Pig. 1. Example of inshore-offshore differences in distribution of three species of diatoms in
Lake Michigan. Inshore samples were taken 3 miles off Ludington and Milwaukee, offshore sampling
locations were greater than 10 miles from shore (from paper by R. Holland Beeton and A.M. Beeton,
presented at 33rd annual meeting of the American Society of Limnology & Oceanography, Kingston,
R.I., Aug. 1970)
-------
OFF MILWAUKEE
OFF LUDINGTON
8001
I8l2c
STATIONS
,-ig. 2. inshore-offshore differences in concentrations of silica, total Phosphorus and non-
I^S3ffiSSf±'^^
of Limnology and Oceanography, Kingston, R.I.-, Aug.
-------
Made in United Stales of America
nU'*! tioiu LIMNUI.O(;V ANp OcicANCXMiAi'i
Vol. 13, No. 3, July 1068
pp. 5S5-557
CORRELATION OF MELOSIRA SPECIES WITH TROPHIC CONDITIONS IN
LAKE MICHIGANI
Certain species of the diatom genus
Melosira have been associated with differ-
ent trophic conditions, that is, the degree
of available nutrient supply. Hustedt
(1945) has called Melosira granulata (Ehr.)
Ralfs the planktonic diatom most charac-
teristic of eutrophic waters in Europe.
Melosira granulata and, to a less marked
extent, Melosira ambigua (Grun.) O. Mtil-
ler characterize strongly eutrophic bodies
of water in Britain (Lund 1962fl). Melosira
bintlerana Kiitz. has become one of the
predominant diatom species in western
Lake Erie in the past 30 years (Hohn 1968),
while the waters of Lake Erie have under-
gone accelerated eutrophication during the
same time (Beeton, in press). Melosira
islandica O. Muller is the dominant diatom
in Great Slave Lake, which is considered
oligotrophic (Rawson 1956; Lund 1962b).
The distribution of these species in certain
regions of Lake Michigan appears also to
be correlated with trophic conditions.
METHOD
A Van Dorn sampler was used to collect
219 samples at 2, 5, and 10 m from five
regions in Lake Michigan and southern
Green Bay (Holland, in prep.). The di-
atoms were cleaned with nitric acid. After
most of the acid had boiled off, the mix-
ture was diluted and passed through a
0.45-/i membrane filter. Diatoms were ex-
amined at 970 X under phase contrast from
a portion of dried filter made transparent
with immersion oil. Each complete valve
was counted as one-half diatom frustule,
DISTRIBUTION OF MELOSIRA SPECIES
The species association in southern
Green Bay was markedly different from
^^Contribution No. ijjfr Center for Great Lakes
Studies, University of \Vfscnnsin-Mi1waiikeo.
those of the regions sampled in Lake Mich-
igan itself (Fig. 1). The flora of Green
Bay was characterized by species that have
been associated with eutrophic conditions:
large numbers of M. granulata and sec-
ondarily, M. ambigua and M. binderana.
Although M. Islandica occurred only occa-
sionally in the waters of Green Bay, this
species was the dominant form in Lake
Michigan near the western shore and in
the open lake areas. It was a codominant
with M. ambigua near the eastern shore.
Melosira granulata and M. binderana were
seldom found in the lake.
COLLATERAL DATA
Collateral data from the five sampling
areas provide a comparison of relative
trophic differences. Average diatom con-
centrations were higher in Green Bay than
in the lake (Table 1). Diatoms were more
abundant in the ncarshore areas of the lake
than in the offshore areas, but numbers
were about one-third greater at inshore
Michigan than at inshore Wisconsin.
Total and partlculate phosphorus were
considerably higher in Green Bay than in
the lake, while average nitrate-N levels in
the bay were almost three times lower
(Table 1), and at times were not detect-
able (Allen 1966). Presumably most of the
nitrogen was tied up in the plankton and
little remained as nitrate. Beeton (in press)
has established that southern Green Bay is
a eutrophic area. Average values for total
and particulate phosphorus near the Michi-
gan shore were much lower than those in
Green Bay, but were higher than those of
the other areas of the lake. Nitrate-N lev-
els in waters of inshore Michigan were
higher than those in Green Bay hut lower
than nitrate-N levels in other areas of
the lake.
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656
NOTES AND COMMENT
' » Melnsira ambigun
——— Mnlor.irg (underarm
—-.— Melosira granulate
___ MelOEira islandico
Fio, 1. Sampling location* and abundance of predominant species of Melosira (frustulea/ml) in
wnithern Green Bay and Lake Michigan, April into November 1065.
TABUI 1, Avtnge poneentratiant of phoiphartu, nitrate, and total diatom*, April into November 1085,
and oaU volume and total btomau (tn parentheses) of predominant speciet of Meloiira at ((me* of peak
abundance in touthern Green Bay and Lake Michigan, (Value* of phosphorus and nitrate in pvb from
Allen J00fl; diatamt in fniittiles/ml; cell volume in n's total species biomasi in n'/ml. A = absent or
uncommon)
Tcrta] P
Dtemlved P
Particuthta P
Nitrote-N
Dlatomi
Af, fwibigittf
MI fc
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I8l2f
NOTES AND COMMENT
557
TROPHIC SIGNIFICANCE
The distribution of species of Melosira
appears to reflect trophic levels: eutrophic
conditions in Green Bay, oligotrophic con-
ditions in offshore waters and waters near
the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan,
and intermediate conditions near the Mich-
igan shore.
The size of the standing crop of Melosira
in the different areas (Fig. 1) supports
the above conclusions. Eutrophication
generally favors the development of large
numbers of cells as well as the occurrence
of large forms or colonies (Findenegg
1965). Although M. islandica at times had
a greater cell volume than the forms which
have been associated with eutrophy, the
greater combined numbers of the latter in
Green Bay produced a significantly greater
total biomass there (Table 1). Thus, the
total biomass of Melosira was greatest in
Green Bay, least along the western shore
and in the open lake, and intermediate
near the eastern shore.
Nalewajko (1966) reported a similar
phenomenon of differences in diatom spe-
cies among regions in Lake Ontario. Melo-
sira islandica was a predominant species of
the central lake, while Stephanodiscus
tennis predominated in coastal areas, sug-
gesting differences in trophic levels be-
tween inshore and offshore waters.
RUTH E. HOLLAND"
Center for Great Lake Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,
Mihvaukee 53201.
REFERENCES
ALLEN, H. E. 1066. Variations in phosphorus
and nitrate in Lake Michigan and Green Bay,
1063. Paper, Oth Conf. Great Lakes Res.,
Chicago, 111., March 1066.
BEETON, A. M. In Press. Changes in the envi-
ronment and biota of the Great Lakes. Proc.
Intern. Symp. Eutrophication, Natl, Acad.
Sci.
FINDKNECG, I. 1065. Relationship between
standing crop and primary productivity.
Mem. 1st. Idrobiol, 181 fiuppl, 271-089.
HOHN, M. H. 1068, Majpr changes in the
plankton diatom flora of the Bass Island
region of western Lake Erie, 1038-1065,
Paper, llth Conf. Great Lakes Res., Mil*
waukee, Wise., 18-20 April 1068.
HUSTEDT, F. 1045. Pie Diatomeenflora nord-
deutscher Seen mit besonderer Berticksicht-
igung des holsteinischen Seengebiets. Arch,
Hydrobiol., 41« 302-414.
LUND, J. W. G. 1062o. Phytoplankton from
somo lakes in northern Saskatchewan and
from Great Slave Lake. Can. J. Botany, 401
1400-1514.
. 1062b. The periodicity of Meloiira (•-
landica O. Mull, in Great Slave Lake. J,
Fisheries Reg. Board Can., 19i 801-504.
NALEWAJKO, C. 1066. Composition of phyto-
plankton in surface waters of Lake Ontario,
J. Fisheries Res. Board Can.. 231 1715-1705.
RAWSON, D. S. 1056. Algal indicators of trophic
lake types. Limnol. Oceanog., li 18-25,
"Mrs. Alfred M. Bee ton.
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1313
Mrs. L. Botts
silica from offshore areas. These inshore and offshore
differences in the distribution and concentration of
nutrients are reflected in the distribution and abundance
of planktonic diatoms and in the species composition of
the Melosiras. The present study was undertaken to
further document inshore and offshore differences. Samples
were obtained by car ferry on a transect which ran across
Lake Michigan and Green Bay from Frankfort, Michigan, to
Menominee, Wisconsin. The new data substantiated earlier
findings, and indicated in addition that there were
differences between inshore and offshore waters in Green
Bay."
We are grateful to Dr. Beeton for making this
information available to the public interest.
Now, I would like to introduce Dr. Gomes, who
will introduce Miss McKee, who has slides and materials
relative to her findings in Little Traverse Bay.
Then, with your permission, I would like to
read into the record Dr. Bardach's recommendation, a
statement he made regarding the potential for heat input
to Lake Michigan and Dr. Bardach himself is present to
answer questions about his statement.
Mr. Gomes.
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1814
L. Gomes
STATEMENT OF LOWELL GOMES, SENIOR
ASSOCIATE, THEODORE S. LEVITON &
ASSOCIATES, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MR. .GOMES: .1 am Lowell Gomes. I am a Senior
Associate with the firm of Theodore S. Leviton & Associates,
at 203 South LaSalle Street, Chicago. One of my projects
has been to coordinate our firm's various research efforts
concerning Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes, and
I am here to present my firm's general viewpoint on the
thermal standard question. Miss Edith McKee, our Chief
Geologist, will present the specific findings to date,
following my presentation.
We are in favor of a responsibly moderate approach
to this problem. We realize that the importance of keeping
the lake as an unspoiled natural resource must be balanced
with the necessity of increased power generation by non-
fossil fuel means, both to ensure adequate power and to
reduce air pollution.
We maintain that, because of the exigencies of
the situation, we must take a very practical approach: one
that utilizes to the fullest any existing hard information
on the lake from whatever source obtainable. It would be
nice if we had great amounts of scientifically exact data
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1815
L. Gomes
stretching back decades, covering all parameters measuring
lake quality. We don't have this data, at least for the
most part. But this does not mean that no information
exists; rather it indicates that we must look more deeply
and more broadly than we have.
Our research shows that it is grossly misleading
to speak of the lake as a whole; it is only slightly less
deceiving to divide the lake up into "the open lake" and
"the inshore lake." We maintain that the ecological and
environmental effects of discharging heated water at any
particular site can be accurately assessed only by complete
study of the site in question. It is dangerous to attach
unmerited significance to results of isolated laboratory
study or to conclude with any degree of finality from one
or two studies of existing thermal intrusions that such
interference is not dangerous to the Iake0 Models and
laboratory studies eliminate many variables that exist in
nature; studies conducted at other sites are bound to
involve variances which may make the conclusions inapplicable
to other sites.
Cross-disciplinary efforts are necessary to help
eliminate the effects of insufficient data and of conclusions
based on studies which exclude important parameters. We
have attempted to do this by taking a hard geological look
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1316
L. Gomes
at the whole lake in general, and at Little Traverse Bay
in particular.
There has been considerable testimony on
biological, biochemical and meteorological aspects of the
thermal problem, but very little has been mentioned of the
geological impact, a gap we will attempt to plug. Beyond
this, we have interviewed responsible long-time residents of
the Little Traverse Bay area and have questioned them con-
cerning changes they have noticed. While a beach-side
resident may not be a qualified biologist, he certainly is
competent to observe when the water washing up on his
land was clean, when he first noticed significant algae
growth, or when he no longer was able to see the bottom.
With no conclusive historical scientific data in this area,
we cannot ignore this sort of observation without violating
our responsibilities to preserve the lake as a natural
resource.
Our research on the lake generally, and on Little
Traverse Bay in particular, enables us to reach some
tentative conclusions which lead to the following recom-
mendations:
1. That 1-year studies of any heated discharges
are not sufficient to detect significant trends, even
locally, that will predict long-term effects on the quality
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1&L7
L. Gomes
of the lake.
2. That it is not prudent to assume that we can
permit heated discharges to approach the projected 19^0
levels, without risk of serious effects.
3. That the number of powerplants allowed to
use lake water for once-through cooling must be severely
limited until long-term studies are completed on existing
plants•
4, That long-term or perhaps perpetual studies are
needed at each site to monitor and determine effects of
thermal discharge on the ecology and the environment. These
studies should be made by governmental and other agencies
as well as by the power companies.
5. That such studies should be cross-disciplinary
and that they should be of a scope and depth which will
allow the gathering of data from all available sources.
6. That more extensive work in several scientific
disciplines, including lake geology, should be incorporated
into site location studies and planning.
7» That any harmful effects of thermal discharges
may be significantly lessened by consideration of geological
factors. This would be primarily of use before site con-
struction.
30 That a 1-, 3-» or 5-degree temperature
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L» Gomes
standard would not necessarily be sufficient to protect
the lakei as well as presenting enforcement problems.
9o That the standards pertinent now are necessarily
qualitative rather than quantitative; thus the laws promul-
gating these standards should be framed to implement this
idea of quality-oriented standards. The measured effects
must be legally interpreted in each case.
10. That if new powerplants are allowed to come
onstream, they may do so only with the written and legally
enforceable understanding that they may be required to alter
or terminate their usage of lake water for once-through
cooling if sufficient harmful effects are detected.
The specific research on the lake in general and
Little Traverse Bay in particular will be presented by Edith
M. McKee, Certified Professional Geologist, and the Chief
Geologist with Leviton & Associates. Miss McKee has an
unique, varied and in-depth knowledge of Lake Michigan
gained over 27 years of professional and personal experience
with the lake that gives her a valuable overview of scientific
knowledge tempered with great personal involvement, A back-
ground brief is attached to the outline of her presentation.
I would add here that her presentation is printed only in
outline form due to the shortage of time available to
formulate this information; Miss McKee only returned from
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1819
E. M. McKee
her research at Little Traverse Bay this Tuesday. Although
the Little Traverse Bay study is not finished, several new
factors will be presented from the study that previously have
not been adequately considered.
Miss McKee.
STATEMENT OF EDITH M0 McKEE, CHIEF
GEOLOGIST, THEODORE S. LEVITON &
ASSOCIATES, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MISS McKEE: I am Edith M. McKee. I am a geologist
with 27 years of diversified professional experience with the
U0S.G.S. and industry in inshore and offshore, surface and
subsurface exploration and development programs in the
United States and foreign areas.
Since 195$, I have worked as a consulting geologist,
currently acting as chief geologist for Leviton & Associates
of Chicago. The Illinois Geological Society has certified
me as a qualified professional geologist. The American
Institute of Professional Geologists has awarded me the title
of certified professional geologist, based on detailed
examination of academic training, specialized training,
geological experience, and ethical conduct.
My area of special interest is the integrated
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1820
E. M. McKee
mapping of surface and subsurface geological structures,
tectonics, stratigraphy, georaorphology, and paleogeomorphology
as they relate to mineral accumulations and land use. Water
is a mineral and an erosional depositional force and within
the geological area of concern.
The Chicago area has been my family base for several
generations. Since the 1890's, family vacations have been
spent in Bay View, Michigan, located on Little Traverse Bay
at the far northern end of Lake Michigan. Petoskey, on this
large map at the head of the room, is located on Little
Traverse Bay. Bay View is one mile east — a short walk.
While not a member of the 1890 vacationers, I
have had a long established interest in the entire lake.
Since 1932, however, I have been intimately familiar with
the waters of Little Traverse Bay as a distance swimmer,
boater, fisherman, and summer resident. Since 1938, I have
known the Little Traverse Bay shores, basin, and waters as
a trained geologist. Except for the summers of 1947» when
I was working for Shell Oil in Texas, and 1950, 1952, and
1953» when I was working for Aramco in Saudi Arabia, I
have been able to visit Little Traverse Bay for at least
short periods each year since 1932.
Since 1967, I have been engaged in an ongoing
program to map in detail the bottom terrain and associated
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1821
E. M. McKee
geology of the Great Lakes. Lake Michigan was the first
lake study. This summer has been spent studying Little
Traverse Bay and the north basin of Lake Michigan. Indeed
I was called off the U.S. lake survey's research vessel,
Shenahen, this week to attend this meeting and will have
to complete the survey late this month as the snow falls
out there along with the temperatures.
Water quality — last Saturday I was out, we got
two stations and had to come back in. We were standing
on our ears. Sleet was coming down at the same time.
Water quality, currents, ecological and geological data
obtained since June 1970 are relevant to the thermal
pollution concerns of this meeting. In fact, I feel a
little bit of an outsider having visited and worked with
the site of the only nuclear plant operating on Lake
Michigan0
The only place in Lake Michigan where the effects
of the thermal plume from a nuclear powerplant can be
studied is Little Traverse Bay at the far north end of
the lake. The Big Rock nuclear plant is located northeast
of Charlevoix on Big Rock Point which makes an abrupt
eastward trend of the shoreline to form the southern shore
of Little Traverse Bay. This bay extends eastward for
14 miles.
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1322
E. M. McKee
East-flowing surface currents carry the thermal
plume from the Big Rock nuclear plant along the south
shore toward the head of the bay.
There has been an unfortunate attitude that
Little Traverse Bay is too small and the water is too cold
to afford critical data concerning lake circulation and
water quality. This is not a valid assumption.
Both Little Traverse Bay and the south basin of
Lake Michigan are partially enclosed basins with consider-
able-topographic relief and similar geologic formations.
Both have well established currents throughout the water
column going at different directions. Both are scheduled
to receive slightly more than one and a half million gallons
of heated water for each square mile of surface water every
day from nuclear powerplants.
Little Traverse Bay has been receiving this
heat input since 1963> and negative changes in the water
quality appear to be accelerating since 1964*
Now, to get down to the presentation of the
geological materials developed since 196? and including
the work done this summer, we will start the slides here
and I will quickly talk, trying to go as fast as possible
here.
When I took these pictures to Earth Day programs
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1323
E. M. McKee
at a number of high schools in this area, the question was
always asked: How many years ago did you take a picture
like that? The water at the north end of the lake is still
blue on a bright summer day. Inshore it is cloudy. There
is algae beginning to come in, but you can still see the
beautiful picture.
If you would please run these through —
apparently this isn't working — if you would please run
these though at a steady rate of about a second per —
this is the offshore picture.
Now, this series of maps is called paleogeo-
morphic. It shows the entire development of the Great
Lakes region. This is part of the 196? study that covers
600 million years of development of the Great Lakes area.
Each one of the maps in this series extends from north of
Lake Superior to south of Tennessee; from Iowa to the
eastern seaboard, New Jersey.
How do we put these together? We still have
today in the world active volcanoes pouring out lavas.
This is a picture of a lava field in the Belgian Congo.
This is a recent crater in the Philippine
Islands. We can go to places — geologists can — and
know what happened even that long ago0
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E. M. McKee
The waters came and the waters went. For most
of this time, this part of the new continent has been
covered by a shallow warm salt sea.
This is in the Persian Gulf where we have sand
spits built up. The same thing we can find in the subsurface
now in this area.
Gradually the Michigan Basin, of which most of
the lakes except Superior are evolved, was surrounded by
the coral.
As they go through, you can see there is a change
in the water — I mean the sea and land relationships.
Gradually the seas drained off. We had enormous rapid
chemical erosion, physical erosion, because there were no
plants on the land surface. We have the same thing today
in the desert areas in the middle east.
This series is taken over in SaudJ Arabia, but
it is the same type of terrain which I can map in the
subsurface, and all of these have importance on the whole
economic program, the whole use of this region.
After about 300 million years of this rapid
erosion, we had developed a circular pattern with the
center of the Michigan Basin about Saginaw. The hard
rocks stood up as ridges around the edge; the soft rocks
had been eroded. It was at this time that the major basins
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E, M. McKee
for the Great Lakes came into existence. It is this type
of topography, subaerially eroded, that we are finding in
all of the Great Lakes. In many places, it is covered by
modern sediments, post glacial sediments. I believe Dr.
Collinson talked about that sometime at this meeting.
It was on top of that topography that the
glaciers came down. It did not scour the basin.
We will now go on up to the lake again. It is
always fun to get offshore. In order to know the lake
basin, in order to know the amount of water in the lake
basin, you have to know in detail the shape of that basin.
There is onshore geology; there is offshore geology.
Now, this is a picture of the bottom of Lake
Michigan, which has been developed through this on-going
study done in cooperation with Dr. J. L. Hough at the
University of Michigan.
The Mid-Lake High is a 200-foot barrier rising
from the bottom dividing the north basin from the south
basino The area of the south basin is very much restricted.
It goes down to better than 500 feet on the south end but
nonetheless it is comparatively small. The Mid-Lake High
has a 200-foot vertical cliff on the north side. The
darker colors indicate the deeper waters.
As you can see, the deepest hole goes up southwest
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E. M. McKee
of Frankfort.
This is an enlarged portion of the Mid-Lake High
which in the Chicago area is particularly important because
this is the big barrier that controls the curents within
the south end of the lake and, even as we will see later,
controls the surface currents.
And this is up at Bay View. The cliff here is
Traverse limestone. It is exactly the same geological
formation. It looks exactly the same — because we had a
submarine and went down and looked at it — as the western
cliffs of the Mid-Lake High off Milwaukee. It reacts in
the same way.
This is called a fence diagram. It was con-
structed from the oil well records in Michigan; the water
well records in Wisconsin. We had dredged the samples0 We
knew bedrock outcrops in the bottom of the lake. This is
the first time that we have been able to project accurate —
well, with reasonable accuracy — the geology beneath the
lake basin. This is of importance because of the input of
ground water at some of the contacts that we will see later.
This is a bedrock geology superimposed on the
topography of the lake. We will be interested in the
yellow-green, at the moment, which is the Traverse forma-
tion, and the blue-green outside of this. Little Traverse
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132?
E. M. McKee
is up at the extreme end, just above the legend. It is at
about a third across the bay that we have this contact
between the yellow-green — the Detroit River — and the
blue-green. It is along this contact that we have a series
of artesian wells input of water 39 to 41 degrees instigat-
ing and carrying out year-round west-flowing bottom currents,
We have the same juxtaposition of geological
formations off of Milwaukee. We have the Detroit River
formation recognized onshore. We have the Traverse forma-
tion in the Mid-L^ke high. It has not yet been determined
if there is ground water input along that to increase the
current flow or not0
Back up in the north country again. This is the
head of the bay in the sag between these two geological
formations. The sand has moved in — dune sand* It is
very permeable. Any building back there where they have
had septic tanks, the drainage has been directly into the
bay. That is now controlled.
At the far southeast corner of the bay for many
years there was a cannery, and I remember that distinctly
because, as a swimmer, I would head over towards Harbor
Point which was 3-and-a-half miles away, and as I would be
swimming along, I would know where the currents were; I
would know where I would suddenly be swimming in 70-degree
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E. M. McKee
water and suddenly down to 40-degree — you know that»
There is no doubt when you hit it.
This is a picture of Harbor Springs, one of the
best natural harbors on the lake. It has been developed
along this geological contact between the Traverse and the
Detroit River. There are springs in this harbor. It has
deep enough water to take — well — some of the largest
boats that come in.
This is one of the big cement boats that took
shelter in there this summer.
Right off Harbor Point, the currents flow eastward
into the bay so strongly that they keep the point cut
sharply, but there is a bottom current that flows so strongly
to the west that it takes out the fishing nets.
All of the weather in Little Traverse Bay comes
from the west. There are a few days when it will come from
the east, but that is most unusual. You will remember that
Big Rock Point is located approximately 14 miles west of
where this pier is.
The plume from Big Rock is held quite close to the
shore and moves along at a good rate. When we get a storm
such as this was a few weeks ago, it stirs up the bottom,
but it also tears up the algal growth that has come in.
When I knew the bay as, say, just a swimmer, until
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E. M. McKee
the early sixties, there was no algal growth on the rocks.
There was no algal growth on the bottom. Now, when waves
come over on the dock, there is so much vegetation,algae
that has been torn up that the dock itself is green. You
can rake up the piles of algae.
Just a few years ago, as I say, about 1962, the
waters were clear, such as this. You could see down 50
feet very easily.
This summer, only twice have I been able to see
the bottom off the Bay View dock. If we had the lights off
I think you could see that there, is enough algae contained
within the shore waves this summer so that it looks like
a vegetable soup. This growth of algae has been noted by
people familiar with the area, one of them being — I
don't quote everybody that I talked with up there, but I
will quote Edison Tanner, who is a real estate salesman
up thereo He lives directly on the bay about 2 miles west
of here toward Petoskey and toward the nuclear plant. He
moved there in 1962. At that time, there was no growth
on the bottom. In 1969 —
MR. FETTEROLF: Excuse me a moment. Where were
these photographs taken?
MISS McKEE: Little Traverse Bay.
MR. FETTEROLF: Where?
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1330
E. M. McKee
MISS McKEEs At Bay View, Michigan. The dock I
have been showing is the dock at Bay View, Michigan, which
incidentally —
MR. FETTEROLF: Which is downcurrent from
Petoskey?
MISS McKEE: That is right. It is east of
Petoskey 1 mile. And, incidentally, the dock which is
shown on the current U. S. Lake Survey charts went out with
a magnificent form in 1927. The current dock at Bay View
was built in 1934-1935 and I am not sure if this indicates
that — the Lake Survey and Corps of Engineers have not
been in there since — but if you try to dock at the old
dock, you are going to have to go about 20 feet down.
MR. STEIN: May I reiterate that I have at
least 37 more speakers listed, and we want to hear every-
one. So I ask you and everyone who speaks to recognize
time is limited and to give consideration to those people
who are waiting to follow you.
MISS McKEE: I will try to go as quickly as
possible.
This summer, I have been gathering information —
I have seen the water quality — as I am a geologist, I am
not a biologist — but this summer, the University of
Michigan ship, Inland Seas, has been based at Harbor Springs.
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1831
E. M. McKee
They have had a full series of biological tests they have
been making off Nine Mile Point, which is a few miles east
of the Big Rock plant. Also the Corps of Engineers Lake
Survey research vessel Shenahan has been based at Mackinaw
City making a 2-week run around the north end of the lake,
making water quality studies. They also have a station off
Big Rock and possibly Nine Mile, and it is this ship which
is coming into Little Traverse to make my own surveys
there.
I have pinpointed where the very cold bottom
waters come in through the bay. It climbs naturally out
towards the big lake in a westward flowing current
naturally. There are compensatory east-flowing mid-depth
and surface currents which take the warmth from Big Rock
directly along the shore.
Fishermen again.
I will quickly go through a lot of these.
There was, for the first time that has been
recorded,actual scientific work going on in the bay this
summer.
This, going in with the currents and showing
how they follow the bottom topography, ties in with the
study of Lake Superior I did last summer.
Here again is the bottom topography,, This is
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1332
E. M. McKee
why six geological provinces were noted.
Now, this is taken from a drift bottle study
made at Marquette University, and the currents which were
indicated here followed the topography, the bottom
topography very much indeed, very closely. I won't go
into how these things are made, but they are very well
documented.
We will now come down to the currents in the
entire Lake Michigan area. These are the currents without
topography. As you will see, there is a division about
Milwaukee. These are the bottom currents. These currents
have been adopted directly from government reports.
We will now put the same current patterns over
the bottom topography. It is easy to see how the Mad-Lake
high, the 200-foot barrier, influenced the very bottom
currents, the mid-depth currents, and even the surface
currents. They are all put together here and they all
tend to have a general pattern.
We have our air pollution, and fading away into
the sunset, as any good travelogue does, at the moment.
But this is accurate scientific work available
in Little Traverse Bay, in other areas. It can be docu-
mented — the changes that have occurred since 1963 — whon
the Big Rock plant went into operation.
Thank you.
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1333
E. M. McKee
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Miss McKee.
MR. CURRIE: May I ask a question, Mr. Chairman?
MR. STEIN: Well, I don't know. Mrs. Botts, do
you want to handle this? Do you want questions now or
after you complete your presentation?
MRS. BOTTS: Mr. Stein, I have spoken to Dr.
Bardach, and he is willing to let the public officials —
you told us were waiting to speak — speak now. He would
be glad to do that, and then he would go ahead with his
presentation.
As to whether Miss McKee answer questions now
or later, it makes no difference to us. I will leave that
to youo
MR. STEIN: We will take the questions from Miss
McKee.
MR. CURRIE: Miss McKee, have you found any
evidence of harm caused by heat inputs in Little Traverse
Bay?
MISS McKEE: There has been decided erosion of
water quality in Little Traverse Bay.
The visibility has dropped to nil. Most of the
summer — only twice this summer have I been able to see
the bottom clearly from the Bay View dock, and it would
be only about 12 feet down.
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1334
E. M. McKee
This has been remarked upon by boaters, by
fishermen, by long-time residents. There has been one
thing about the distinctive qualities of the Big Rock plant
put into a chart, I believe prepared by Open Lands — if
I am not in error — that the Big Rock had the coldest
waters of the lake.
This summer I have kept temperature records of
Little Traverse Bay June, July, and August, and from July
they have been consistently and even up to nine points
higher than the temperatures reported here at Chicago.
For the first time, this summer the waters got up to 75.
As I say, usually up there if the water hits 6$ it was good
swimming. At 70, it felt too warm; and this year, it was
over 70 for the entire month of August. Whether this is
due to the plume or not, it hasn't been coordinated in
with the biological and water quality studies. But there
are indications that there has been definite and acceler-
ating degradation of the water.
MR. CURRIE: I think my problem is, as you
recognize, one of causation* There are many areas of
the lake in which considerable degradation has occurred,
and a number of different paranefcers of water quality have
changed, and I wonder if there is any way that we can move
along toward identifying which of the changes is responsible
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1335
E. M. McKee
or which group of changes is responsible for the changes
we see.
Do you know, for example, that nutrient content
of the water is unchanged and the only change has been
heat and therefore there is a causal relationship between
heat and degradation?
MISS McKEE: The input of sewage effluent has
been cut. In 196 5» the Bay View summer resort, by order
of the government, stopped its own sewage plant and
switched into the treatment plant in Petoskey. There have
been several other resorts which have done the same thing
so that the sewage input has been cut. There has been a
comparatively stable population. There are no farms and
no, say, kept lawns or parks along the lake that would
add to the fertilizer input. The streams are comparatively
shallow which go into the lake because of the pitch and
slope of the geological formations which are responsible
for the bay being where it is. The color of Bear Creek
which comes in at Petoskey is a deep brown; that is tannic
acid from the cedar swamps, but even that is a very short
rate. The only major change that we have been able to
recognize since the early sixties in the way of downgrading
the water is the heat input.
MR» CURRIE: And you say that phosphate and other
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1836
E. M. McKee
nutrient inputs to the bay have been decreasing. Is it
also true that phosphate concentrations in the bay itself
have been decreasing? I take it that as long as you keep
putting any new nutrients in there is a possibility that
concentrations will continue to increase even though the
rate of input has decreased.
MISS McKEE: That I do not know. I have been
working with the geology. I am leaving the water quality
up to the Lake Survey people whose job it is.
MR. CURRIE: Do you know whether the water
quality problems are worse within the plume from the Big
Rock plant than elsewhere in the bay?
MISS McKEE: Unfortunately you caught me with
my plume down! That is part of the work which has to be
done when I get back up there. As a matter of fact, I was
scheduled to be mapping on Tuesday, instead of coming
down here.
MR. CURRIE: Does the study that you are under-
taking have biologists factored into it?
MISS McKEE: I am told it can.tie in with the
biological studies done this summer by the University of
Michigan, and they had the Inland Seas based at Harbor
Springs from May through August.
MR0 CURRIE: Thank you very much. I think that
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E. M. McKee
this kind of study which you are undertaking is exactly what
we need to help us with this kind of very difficult decision,
MISS McKEE: Well, that is one of the big points
that we make —that we have to have cross-discipline
studies. You can't have it just from the biological, just
from the geological, just from industry, just from city
point of view,
MR. FETTEROLF: Miss McKee, I too have been very
fortunate in having had a great deal of experience in Little
Traverse Bay. We had a summer home at Wequetonsing prior
to World War II, and it was my intrigue with the water at
that time that led me to become a biologist.
Now, I would like to ask you if you have traced
the heat input from the Big Rock plant along the shoreline
of Lake Michigan?
MISS McKEE: I have taken some temperature
readings, but not as complete as it will be after I have
had the Shenahan in, which is equipped with electronic
equipment of all sorts including the electronic thermo-
graph.
MR. FETTEROLF: What is the draft of that boat,
ma'am?
MIG3 McKEE: The Shenahan, I think, is 4 feet.
MR. FETTEROLF: I hope you'will be able to get
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E. M. McKee
into shore close enough to measure plume. We have done
extensive work in that area both prior to the construction
of the plant and after in relation to radiation monitoring,
and we have mapped the plume on many occasions. We do not
find sensible heat beyond a mile from the plant along the
very inshore areas. We do note Cladophora and green algae
growing on the rocks occasionally in the area of the plume,
but we relate this more to the fact that the plant has an
on-site water treatment facility than to the addition of
heat.
As far as collecting Cladophora for radiation
sampling in the area of Big Rock, we find it extremely
difficult and we are forced to go to the spits of land on
which the gulls perch and fertilize the lake, and that is
the only place we find Cladophora.
Now, I agree entirely that the clarity of the
water in Little Traverse Bay has decreased tremendously
over the years0 I believe that we would relate this to the
discharge of treated sewage from Petoskey and from Harbor
Springso Both of these wastewater treatment plants are
under order from the Water Resources Commission to cut
their phosphate loadings in accordance with this inter-
state conference's decree.
MISS McKEE: Good. I know both Petoskey and
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E. M. McKee
Harbor Springs are in the throes of putting in new sewer
systems to take care of all of the communities, summer
and winter, on both sides of the lake. But this is the
type of input where the geologists and the biologists and
the physical chemists, physicians, etc. should get
together and discuss it.
MR. FETTEROLF: I think you would find that long-
term temperature records for the bay would be available from
the water intakes of the communities around the bay.
MISS McKEE: Good. You are the first one who has
known that. I have been asking this summer at every com-
munity and nobody has known of any records that have been
kept.
MR. STEIN: Are there any further questions of
Miss McKee?
Thank you, Miss McKee. I knew you were my kind
of biologist-- the kind that would be possibly caught with
their plume down! I knew that when I read your bibliog-
raphy. Anyone who has written an article entitled, "Are
All these Dry Holes Necessary" is great!
At this time, we would like to hear from
Congressman Mikva,
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Hon. A. J. Mikva
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE ABNER J.
MIKVA, U. S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D. C.
MR. MIKVA: Mr. Chairman, members of the panel,
I would like to strongly urge you to follow the Department
of Interior recommendation that "... no significant dis-
charge of waste heat into Lake Michigan should be
permitted." The great lake is not and should never be
considered an industrial dumping ground.
If there is any single issue before this four-
State enforcement conference, it is not whether industry
must pay more or less for stopping its pollution but
whether, in the future, the lake itself will be used
primarily for the profit and exploitation of industry
or whether it will remain a great natural resource of
the people.
The people who live along its shores will quickly
tell you that Lake Michigan is their lake. They swim in
it, boat in it, sun bathe on its shores, fish in it, drink
its water,, At least they used to be able to do all those
things. Its presence has given their residential neighbor-
hoods a distinctive quality. If the temperature of the
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1341-1843
Hon. A. J0 Mikva
lake rises and the death of the lake accelerates and the
salmon leave and the lake trout go away and the beaches
become clogged with dead alewives and algae and the bacteria
count in the drinking water rise, then the quality of life
for the people along its shores will change. A Chicago on
the bank of a dead lake is a different Chicago, and probably
a dead Chicago.
Our Government must begin to care about the
quality of life of its individual citizens as much as it
cares about the prosperity of its corporate giants. This
conference is a good place for that caring to begin.
Experts have been produced by both sides arguing
for or against the damaging effects of heated discharge
water on the life of the lake. No definite answers have
been found. Commonwealth Edison has argued that heated
wastewater will damage plant and marine life but the
damage will be minimal. Environmentalists, on the other
hand, have argued that heated water discharge from nuclear
powerplants will do irreparable injury.
Dr. Wesley 0. Pipes, professor of civil engineer-
ing and biological sciences at Northwestern University,
has informed me that he believes it would be impossible to
find any group of scientists qualified to carry out a study
of thermal pollution who would also be completely objective
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Hon. A. J. Mikva
about the interpretation of the data due to the present
public concern and polarization about water pollution.
Last weekend a biologist testifying before the Illinois
Pollution Control Board argued that more data on thermal
pollution would be needed before "realistic and meaningful
limits" could be set on heated water discharges.
When expert confusion abounds in such situations
involving the public good and the quality of life, then
government agencies should err, if err they must, on the
side of the people, and place on polluters the burden of
proving beyond any doubt that their discharges will cause
no injury. Indeed the watchword ought to be: not in the
lake unless you can prove beyooa a reasonable doubt that
it will not adversely affect the lake.
I am not an expert on the technical aspects of
thermal pollution. I represent the interests of the people
in my congressional district along the shore of Lake
Michigan. Last winter a number of my constituents brought
to my attention Commonwealth Edison's questionable use of
the Pipes and Beer study of thermal discharge from the
utility's Waukegan powerplant. I understand that the study
is being referred to in the present controversey. The
study, conducted by Wesley 0. Pipes and Mr. Lawrence P»
Beer, has been labeled by the power company as a preliminary
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1345
Hon. A. J. Mikva
environmental investigation which proved that the Zion
Station discharge would have no detrimental effect on the
lake, and I suggest that it proved no such thing.
According to Professor Pipes, his study states
simply that, "... there is no indication of any deleterious
environmental effects due to the Waukegan Station discharge
...." The Waukegan Station, however, is hardly comparable
to the Zion Station in both size and power production.
In a letter to me, Professor Pipes disagreed
with Commonwealth Edison's use of his study and assured
me that it "... does not provide scientific assurances
that no harm will be done to Lake Michigan by discharge
from Zion Station." It was, he added, ",.. an extremely
short term study."
It is my understanding that the data for the
study was gathered on J days in April 1968. The man who
supervised the gill net catches for the study, Mr. Bruce
Munch, Director, Northeast District, Division of Fisheries,
Illinois Department of Conservative, has informed me that
he believes that any conclusions drawn from the study's
gill net catches would h;..•/? very little ecological
significance. I understand from conversations with Mr.
Munch that the fi:;h caught in the gill netting were
simply attracted to the location by the warm water and
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Hon. A. J. Mikva
that there was no way to determine how long they had been
in the heated water or whether it was harmful to them or
not.
To a layman like myself, Professor Pipes' and
Mr. Munch*s reservations about the conclusions drawn from
the study by the power company make its current use as a
backstopping outrageous. I was sorry to learn that
Commonwealth Edison is still referring to it to buttress
their argument that the Zion Station discharge will, not be
harmful. The argument is not true.
The formula that we are dealing with here is very
simple. If there is any possibility that heated water dis-
charge will damage the lake then the discharge of heated
water must be restricted. Feasible and economically
reasonable alternatives such as cooling ponds and towers
exist to do so. Unless these alternatives are used, not
only will we accelerate the eutrophication of the lake, but
we will open the flood gate for the accelerated industrial
and commercial exploitation of the lake as wello
A basic policy decision on the use of the lake
must be made. Gentlemen, in making that decision, I hope
you will keep in mind that in the long run no one will
really profit from a dead lake, not even Commonwealth
Edison or its power customers.
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Hon. A. J, Mikva
Mr. Chairman, I said I make myself feel as though
"I saw this picture before.*1
I am sure this discussion about whether the
steel companies should dump their wastes into the lake
was like the discussion you hear from some of the new
mothers at the present time — that just because there is no
proof as yet that birth control pills will not do any harm,
this is not assurance that they will not do any harm. Maybe
at the time that U. S. and some of the steel giants built
their plants there wasn't any proof. But we have proof
now, and it is to the sorrow of all of the people on the
lake that there wasn't some far-sighted public officials
at that time who said, "Not in the lake unless you can prove
it won't do any harm."
Thank you for your time. (Applause)
I would be glad to answer any questions but I
suspect I will be caught with more down that the previous
speaker! But go ahead.
MR. STEIN: Are there any questions of Congress-
man Mikva? I guess not. You have been very persuasive.
MR. MIKVA: I hope so.
MR. STEIN: Thank you very much.
May we hear from Attorney General William
Scott?
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W. J. Scott
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM J. SCOTT, ATTORNEY
GENERAL, STATE OF ILLINOIS, SPRINGFIELD,
ILLINOIS
MR. SCOTT: Mr. Chairman, gentlemen. For the
most part of this past week, you have been listening to
the hired spokesmen of the polluters, the great corpora-
tions, the electric companies, the municipalities and
others who are using Lake Michigan as a free sewer.
As an attorney general of the State of Illinois,
I am here to seek equal time for the people who are the
victims of the polluters —the 30 million citizens of
the four States that you people represent who are depend-
ing on you and have entrusted you with the responsibility
of preserving their environment.
Now, during the previous days of testimony,
we have heard scientists and representatives tell us in
effect that they don't know what is going to happen when
they pour billions of gallons of heated water into Lake
Michigan. They have said, in effect, give us 4 or 5 years
of lenient standards so that we can determine what will
happen. They have asked you people who are entrusted with
preserving Lake Michigan for the millions of unborn
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W. J. Scott
generations to give them 4 or 5 years of using Lake
Michigan as a test tube. They further said that if some-
thing goes wrong they will pay for it. They have said,
in effect, that if something goes wrong we will pay for
it; go out and buy a new lake. They have said, in effect,
that it is scientifically feasible to recirculate. but it
is going to cost millions of dollars^. Qf course, they
have added to it, on top of it,"We have already gone ahead
and located some of our plants in places where it may be
physically impossible to build cooling towers or to
recirculate.
Now, I submit to you that on one side we have
private corporations that have been granted a monopoly
to sell electricity in a given area. On the other side,
we have citizens of your States who have entrusted you
with preserving their environment. And the main question
before this conference is: Where is the burden of proof
going to be? Is the burden of proof going to be on the
people that want to use the lake as a free sewer, or is the
burden of proof going to be on the citizens that you
represent? I submit to you that the answer is fairly
obvious —that if we are going to do our job of repre-
senting our constituents that we have to insist on the
strictest possible standards; that we have to say. wherever
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W. J. Scott
scientifically feasible, that we use the high scientific
knowledge available to preserve the environment; that we
have to say,wherever there is a question of doubt, the doubt
has to be resolved in the benefit of the people that are
going to depend on Lake Michigan for their drinking supply,
for their recreation,and perhaps for their very health and
lives.
So the real question that you have to determine
is: Where does the burden of proof fall? Because nobody
can tell you what is going to happen when they start
recirculating the lake through dozens and perhaps as many
as a hundred atomic reactors. Nobody has been able to tell
us that. They refer to examples. Congressman Mikva mentioned
the thermal pollution from the plant at Waukegan. I submit
to you that last summer the public health official for
Lake County, Illinois, where the Waukegan plant is located,
ordered the closing of every beach in Lake County. Now, we
don't know what the cause of that was. We don't know
specifically where the major causes were. But we do know
that the pollution came from the municipal sewerage; it
came from U. S. Steel; it came from Commonwealth Edison;
and it came from Abbott Laboratories. The combined factors
resulted in the loss of those beaches to the people of
that county.
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W. J. Scott
I think that it is very clear that you people have
the responsibility of insisting on the highest standards
possible . I am hearily in accord with the Federal report
which says that there should not be any significant discharge
into Lake Michigan. In fact, I think that wherever it is
scientifically feasible, the word "significant discharge "
should be interpreted to mean none whatsoever.
It is going to cost money; we realise that. But
nobody can put a price tag on an aesthetic Lake Michigan.
Our tourism, our boating industries, our fishing industries,
our recreational industries are all dependent on that Iake0
But more than that, the lives of the 30 million
people in the four States that have designated you and that
pay your salaries to protect their environment are depending
on you to set standards that will do that. I am here to
urge you that wherever scientifically feasible, you insist
that the water be recirculated rather than just utilized
as a free sewer.
Thank you. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Thank you very much for your presentation.
May we go back to Mrs. Botts?
MRS. BOTTS: I would like to say that a statement
has been mailed to me. The postal service didn't cooperate
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Mrs. L. Botts
in getting it here in time. I will have to submit it into
the record later. Dr. Frank Hooper, a biologist at the
University of Michigan, will give you his predictions about
the possible effects of heat on the future of Lake Michigan,
(The statement of Dr. Frank F. Hooper follows in
its entirety.)
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1853
Statement of Frank F. Hooper
Professor of Fisheries and Zoology
Regarding thermal inputs into Lake Michigan
My name is Frank F. Hooper; I am a professor in the School
of Natural Resources, The University of Michigan. I teach a
course in aquatic ecology. My specialty is water quality and
lirnclcgy and my graduate students and I have r.ade substantial
research contributions in this area. Formerly I was employed by
the State of Michigan as an aquatic biologist* In this capacity
on several occasions I served as a consultant for the Michigan
V/ater Resources Commission regarding pollution problems in the
State of Michigan. I have ser\red as an aquatic ecologist for the
Atorrdc Energy Commission a&d in this position I have advised tueia
on vratcr quality and liinnological matters (additional credential.?
are attached).
I do not favor further licensing of power plants requiring
cooling water on Lake Michigan until the appropriate regulatory
agency has set limits for the annual and seasonal thermal inputs
into this lake. Such limits must be set with the reasonable ex-
pectation that they will protect existing fish stocks and in-
vertebrates and that they will preserve existing aesthetic features
of this resource.
Limits, standards or criteria used in regulating heat as well
as any other pollutant must be set on the basis of the concentration
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-2-
the pollutant ultimately makes in the receiving water and not
upon the concentration of the substance or condition (i.e. tempera-
ture) in the effluent discharge. Only in this way is it possible
for agencies to regulate or protect a resource. There is an abun-
dance of evidence in the history of water pollution control on
major river systems which substantiates this principle for regulation
and administration of water use.
In the case of heated effluents entering a largo lake such as
Lake Michigan, limits set upon the temperatures in individual plumes
should not be used as a control over thermal effects upon biological
systems. Since 2 or more adjacent plumes may merge and form an in-
shore water mass that retains its identity for considerable periods
of time and have serious biological effects, it is essential that
limits be set upon total heat input into inshore waters.
Inshore water masses heated by the thermal discharges in the
spring may have serious biological effects upon fish spawning, re-
production of invertebrates and upon the growth rate of plankton.
Integration of all of these changes in the system uay ultimately
completely alter food chains so that an entirely different community
of animals and plants is produced.
With large thermal discharges algal blooms in the spring and
early summer might be anticipated. Environmental perturbations of
this sort bring about decreases in diversity of the flora and fauna
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-3-
and lead to high densities of a few species and create nuisances
as far as recreational uses are concerned. I would envision that
during the spring and early summer months many of the recreational
facilities along the shoreline would be jeopardized by the inputs
from a number of nuclear installations or other sources of hot
water.
Thermal limits should be established for specific sections of
Lake Michigan since the shoreline varies widely in its biological
characteristics and upon its capacity for production o"~ various
species of plants and invertebrates. Standards set in this manner
would then allow thermal inputs up to a prescribed maximum at which
time further cooling water discharges must be brought to ambient
lake temperature. Regulated in this way, it should be possible to
avoid adverse ecological changes.
With relatively little effort and using only existing data it
should be possible to arrive at useful estimates of thermal liwits
which should be set for various sections of Lake Michigan shoreline.
Although all of the desirable data are not at hand (and may never be)
given the best available expertise the regulatory agency can at the
present time arrive at safe and conservative approximations for ther-
mal loading. Such limits or standards must be subject to revision
as additional data are provided. However, at this stage it is im-
portant that resource standards be established since such action will
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-4-
clearly define the principle upon which future decisions can be
expected.
The map of projected or proposed nuclear power plants generat-
ing on Lake Michigan shoreline is exceedingly impressive. The
anticipated power needs for Michigan and adjacent states can only
lead one to believe that many major installations will be constructed
in the future. Thus it is essential to establish appropriate regu-
latory criteria at this time.
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13^37
Frank F. Hooper, Professor of Fisheries and Zoology.
University of California, 1939. A.B.
University of Minnesota, 1948. Ph.D.
University of Chicago, 1942-43 (meteorology).
Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, 1957.
Teaching Assistant Zoology, University of Minnesota, 1940-42,
1946-48.
Air Force Weather Officer, Alaska, 1942-46.
Instructor, University of Michigan, 1948-52.
Biologist, Institute for Fisheries Research, 1952-1962; 1964-65.
Aquatic Ecologist, Division of Biology § Medicine, U.S. Atomic
Energy Commission, 1962-63, 1966.
Biologist in Charge, Institute for Fisheries Research, 1965-66.
Professor of Fisheries, School of Natural Resources and Professor of
Zoology, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, 1966-
Present.
Treasurer of American Microscopical Society, 1953-56.
Executive Committee, American Society of Limnology § Oceanography,
1957-1960.
President, American "Society of Limnology and Oceanography, 1966.
Associate Editor of Journal of Wildlife Management, 1959-1961,
Associate Editor of Transactions of the American Fisheries
Society, 1964-1968.
Associate Editor of Ecology, 1970-present.
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1358
September 24, 1069
Publications by Frank F. H
Hooper, Frank F. 1947. Plankton collections fzoa the Yukon and
Mackenzie River systeas. Trans. Ar,er. Hicr. Soc., LXVX(l): 74-84.
_ ___ 1948. Th3 effect ox debris root (z-otenone) upon plankton
and bottom fauns organisms of a small Minnesota lake. Proc.
Minnascta Acad. Sci., 16: 29-32.
___ 1949. Age analysis of a population o£ the gsaeiurid fish
Sshi lbegjgs^_ so 1 lis_ (Herasia). Copsia, April 15(1): 34-3S.
1951. Litaaologieal features of a Minnesota seepage lake.
The AffiSTiesn MidXassd Naturalist, 46(2): 462-481.
_ 1952. Ravie;-,'. Lisnolegy by Paul S. Kolch, second edition.
McGra* Hill Book Co.. New York, 538 p., SO tigs. Ccpeia. 4: 285.
_ 1DS3. Revise. Fisjidsg-sp.taSs of Linaolcgy by Frans Ruttner,
edition,) 19S2;" English translation by D.G. Fycy and F.E.J.
'
Fry. Univ. cf 'TGi-sato Pirsss, Toi.-oaso, 19SS: XI * 242 p., 51 figs.,
Copsis., No. S: 195-196.
________ r __ ____, Robsz.^ C. Ball. sii-J Hcwasd A. Tanner. 1S53. An
~" iw the artificial ci3?£ul£.tioa of a small Michigan lalie, Trsas.
Asaar. Fish. Soc., 82(1952): 222-241.
^^^.^ _____ » sj?.d AJ.fired i>S. Elliott. 1&53. Rsisase of inorganic phosphorus
flrova extracts of laJ;s jsad by protosos. Trans. Aassy. ^"ic^. Soc.,
LXXIS(S): 276-281.
____ 1954. Liirnolsgical features of Weber Lal;es Chsbcy^an Ctnisty,
Michigan . Psp. Mich. Acad. Sci.s XXXIX (1953): 223-240.
Lagisr, Karl F., and Fra?& F. Koc-p&r. 1SS4. Fish production In inland
waters. Univ. of Michigan E;:ten?.ion Service., Teieccarss Syllabus,
srit ,1S Fis'n an.d Fishing is Recv^sticn £ad Cc^sssree } 6 p.
Hccpsi*4 P.P., K:d A. Be Ccck, Jr. 19£50 Chsr.fic-rl control of subniorgad
water weeds with scrlito ivi'ssnite. Midi. Dapt. Cons., Fish Div.
Penphlet No. 16, M&i-ch, 6 p.
Hoops? , F.F. 1SSS. Eradication o£ fish by ehssiieal treatssnt. Mich.
Dspt. Ccns., Fish Div. Per^hlet Ho. 19, Decsn-bc-T, 6 p.
Koopar, Frsjik F. 1356. SDKS cho^lca.1 and r.o:-.*phopot2'3.c charactsristics
of scitthsra Miehigar. IE!;SS. Pap,, Mich'. Acad. S^i., XLi'(19SS):
109-130.
/jidsi'son, Richs.i'd 0., ar.tl Fran'c ?e Hac-por. 19S6. Saasonal abv-v^dajics
and production of Httical bott<::3 fir^ia in a scathorn Michigm
lake. Trnns. Asis?. Mic~. Soc.s LXXXV(3>: 2SD-2TO.
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1859
Ball, R.C., and F.F. liocpe?. 19S6. Edited translation by Michael
Ovchyanyk of "Byiisiriies of the total benthie bicsass in ths
p?cfundsl of Lake Bsloie" by E,V. Borutsky, Proc. Kossiao Linrso-
logical Station of the KydroMSteoyalcgical Service of U.S.S.R.
22(1939): 1S6-213. Repre&jcs-d by Mich. Dopt, Cons., 26 p. plus
illustrations.
Hocpsr, Frank F. 1357. Vegetation control problems in wildlife habitats-
fish. Proc. 13th North Centi'sl Wse-d Control Conference: 24-25.
Hoopa?, F.F., end A.3. Ccck, Jr. IS57. Chasici-l ccnti'ol of sub«-3rged
w&tey ws&ds with scdiua c?s&nit:@. Mich. Dipt. Cons., Fish Div.
Psnphlet Ho. 16 (Revision of 1935 publicytic3i)9 July,, 6 p.,
1 fig.
, Frcssk F., aid Alfred R. Gssssda. 1337. The use of Toxsphcri*
as £ fish poisoa. H'ans. tass.% Fish. Soc., -S5(195S): 1CG-190.
?, F.F. 1958. Eradication of algss v/ith ch'Smcals. Mich. Dept.
Corss., Fish Div. Paaphlet No. 25 s Fobruniy, 5 p., 1 fig.
Kospsrp Fs-ssi!< F. 1SS8. Review. Giaids to fisliss of K&w K
by Willis® J. Koster. Asasv. Inst. Biol. Sci. Bull. 8:29.
Bsatty, Lse D, „ and Fran!? F.^Moopsi-. 1958. Bsnthie associatic^s of
Sugar loaf Laks, Pap. Mich. Asai. Sci., .XLIII: 89-106,
, K.G., snd Frank F. Hoops?. 195S. Tosr-phsse (Chlorinated
Csoplieaa) as a saSective fish poises. Prog. Fish-Cult. , 20:
- ISO.
sr, Frenk F. 1959. Review. A treatise of (en) liruioSogy, by
G. Evelyn Kutchinson.- J. Wildl. Mgrat., 2S:
1958. Popalatioa ccatrol by chemicals snd seis i'e^iiltir.
p^oblstns. Tysins. 2nd Saieinar on Bioltgici^.i Frcbloas i>3 i'/at&r
Poliuticn, U.S, Public Sfeelth Son'., R&by^t A. Teft. Scsiitc-^-y
Enginesring Cesi
1959. Use of the nowoy organic insectici
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I860
Knight, Mlsn, Robert C. Ball, r.rsd Frrtnk ?. Hooper. 1952. Scss
eat ira^es of wis-asy production vatc-s in Michigan ponds.
Midi. Acad. Sci., XLVII(19S1): 2J9-233.
Schalske, C7.ai5.-e L. , Frcnk F. Koopsr, and E.J. flaercl. 19-52.
R3St3oas3s c£ f- snsri lake to chslatec* is.*£ili-
yit^ri Tr-^-Af &«-• n-s^'ri Cf-f ^t'iffi- t •«»'?,? 7%
£,^ltAOj». ii-'-^i^^'a
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1861
-4-
Sohacki, Leonard P., Robert C. Ball and Frank F. Hooper. 1969.
Some ecological changes in ponds from sodium arsenite and
copper sulfate. Michigan Academician (Papers of the
Michigan Academy of Science Arts and Letters), 1:149-162.
Bahr, Thomas G., Robert C. Ball and Frank F. Hooper. 1969.
Arsenic 74 Metabolism in an aquatic ecosystem. Michigan
Academician (Papers of the Michigan Academy of Science
Arts and Letters), 1:163-174.
Hooper, F. F. 1969. Eutrophication Indices and their relation
to other Indices of Ecosystem change . In Eutrophication:
Causes, consequences and corrections. Proceedings of a
Symposium, Nat. Acad. of Sciences, Washington 1969.
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1862
J0 E. Bardach
MRS. BOTTS: At this time, I would like to
introduce Dr. John Bardach who, as I mentioned before, is
a distinguished aquatic ecologist, who has consented to
appear as a consultant to the public.
Dr. Bardach.
STATEMENT OF JOHN E. BARDACH, PROFESSOR
OF NATURAL RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF
MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
DR. BARDACH: Mr. Stein, conferees, ladies and
gentlemen. I am John Bardach, and I am a professor of
natural resources at a reasonably well known educational
institution.
My credentials are attached to the statement
which the conferees have in their hands. I would like
to add that I came here paying for my part of the jet
emissions that are added to the skies over Lake Michigan
and that I am extremely concerned from a long-range point
of view over what is happening. (See Pp, 1737i-17?*7o)
I would like to preface my remarks by saying
that on my flight today I paid for insurance for a rather
unlikely contingency, namely that my airplane would drop
down. We are concerned here with what insurance we should
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J. E. Bardach
pay for another contingency, a contingency that in my
scientific opinion is far more likely to occur, namely the
galloping eutrophication of Lake Michigan if heat is permitted
to be discharged in an unabated fashion as is now planned
over the next 20 or 30 years or so.
I think the key word here is "eutrophication,"
because from it follow all other consequences.
It has been though not completely but reasonably
well established that during crucial periods of the year
— that is in the spring and in the fall — the shore waters
of Lake Michigan form a rather discrete entity. Now, why
are those crucial periods?
The spring is a crucial period because in it
unfold the succession of algal species. If the heat regime
is altered upwards, we will have undesirable algae early
and we will have different successions of algae, as has
been demonstrated in some cases in smaller lakes and as is
apparent now even in some shore regions of Lake Michigan.
Let me add that it is not a question of heat being the main
or the only culprit. We all know this. It is a complex
situation in which effluents may hold the limiting factors
for eutrophication, but in which heat unquestionably — if
these factors are present — speeds the biological
processes.
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J. E. Bardach
The other crucial period is in the fall where
there is an equally discrete segregation of water in the
shore regions. In the fall, a rather unique set of fishes,
the whitefishes, come to spawn, and they come to spawn in
the shore areas. They spawn only if the water temperature
goes down at a certain rate. We do not know what this rate
is, but we do know that the water temperature has to become
lowered at a certain rate and reach a certain lower tempera-
ture for these fishes to spawn at all.
Now, it is quite possible that regionally or for
that matter locally these conditions will be so altered that
the spawning of whitefishes will be inhibited. Recently
we have introduced salmon into Lake Michigan. They are
doing very well. It is possible regionally, again, locally
that the temperature changes, if permitted to occur in an
unabated fashion, will affect some of the biological
characteristics of the salmon.
I will give you an example. The conversion
efficiency, that is the efficiency with which the salmon
converts food into its flesh, declines from 32 to 22 percent
as the temperature goes up from 56 to 6? degrees Fahrenheit.
There are many other such influences that are temperature-
conditioned or temperature-influenced. I am not telling
you anything new if I say that there are very many of them
we do not know.
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J. E. Bardach
I was in Switzerland this spring, where I grew up,
and in the last 30 years a very beautiful lake, Lake Zurich,
in which I used to swim as a boy, has undergone irreversible
changes. It is now a rather nasty soup. When I talked to
some of my friends in Switzerland they said, "What are you
going to do with your Great Lakes? We understand that some
changes have already occurred." — And I think that the
Stoermer-Yang diatom studies indicate this. — "Are you
going to stop what we didn't stop?"
I said, "I don't know. I hope we will."
Let me stress: The effects of eutrophication,
including the partial effects of heat, are cumulative and
not lineal. They start slowly, accelerate, and accelerate
very fast once they have started to do so. In fact, a
before-and-after study done at a plant site several years
after the plant has started putting heat into the lake
may tell you nothing or so little that you can't make any
predictions from it. Natural variations may mask these
effects, but it is not difficult to assess that the
contribution to the heat load of the lake from a large
number of plants in the southern end would have a cumulative
effect that works in a synergistic fashion with the enrich-
ment. There is nothing naturally good or bad about either
a trout, a salmon or a whitefish as opposed to a perch,
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J. E. Bardach
carp, sucker, or alewife lake.
These are sociocultural values but I think that
we have stated them.
Lake Michigan is a unique environment. There
isn't another one in the world. And we said that we would
rather have a lake trout, whitefish, and salmon lake.
If we do not want to wake up — not "we," but perhaps your
children and some of the young people in the audience —
if we do not want to wake up in the year 2020 reading in
the newspaper that there was a severe carp die-off in the
shore waters of southern Lake Michigan because of nocturnal
oxygen depletion, if we are to keep a unique natural environ-
ment as little changed as possible, we must as a society,
as one of the many things we do, take measures to hold to
an absolute minimum the heat discharges to the shore waters
of Lake Michigan. Whatever the technical means by which we
do this, these are open to discussion, but there is no
question about the fact that unabated discharge of heat
into Lake Michigan will have the effects predicated on
analogies by many biologists.
In fact, even if we do abate heat discharges, we
may not have much of a chance. It may already be too late.
Eutrophication is like a disease. It has an incubation
period. It starts rather slowly and then it becomes
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J. E. Bardach
galloping. But if we don't try now to do something about
this one factor which we are here to consider and discuss,
we do throw away much of our chance to keep Lake Michigan
as it is now or perhaps even improved.
Thank you, (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Dr. Bardach.
Are there any questions?
MR. CURRIE: les, Mr. Chairman.
MR, STEIN: Yes.
MR. CURRIE: Did I gather, Dr. Bardach, that one
of the things you said was that whatever adverse effects heat
discharges may have on the biology of Lake Michigan are
likely not to be reversible? We had statements from several
industry witnesses the other day that if there were chances
in the biology of Lake Michigan due to heat discharges they
were likely to be reversible. I take it you disagree,
DR. BARDACH: No, I didn't say any such thing.
I did not say they were irreversible. They are? in fact,
reversible or very likely to be so. But what is the ti.ie
frame? We are now in 1970. By 2000, I understand, the heat
load should be from various sources and not only the power
companies, about 10 times what it is now. At the same time
it seems doubtful to me that by then we will have cleaned
up all our effluents.
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J. E. Bardach
The changes of exit ro phi cat ion are reversible, but
I think Lake Michigan is a case where these changes are
likely to go slowly because of the sinking effects of the
lake.
MR. CURRIE: And this is true of whatever part of
eutrophication is caused by heat as well as whatever part
of it is caused by too much nutrient, in your opinion?
MR. BARDACH: I would think so.
MR. STEIN: I think this is a very important
point and I want to see if I understand it.
If I understand what you are saying, you are
saying that perhaps the total effect of eutrophication can
be reversible in a very long-range time frame. I think that
is what we know generally about eutrophication. But I
think what Mr. Currie was referring to is that, even in the
short range, if we had heat in the lake and that proved
to be harmful, this is just transitory. By removing that
heat, the effect of that heat would be dissipated maybe
in a season or two, and we wouldn't have to wait for this
long-time recovery in order to reverse eutrophication. We
know how long that is, having tried to reverse eutrophication
in other bodies of water.
DR. BARDACH: Well, these are hypothetical
situations, Mr. Stein. Let us assume that we go along as
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J. E. Bardach
we are going now, and in 19#5 we say, "Okay, enough.
Tomorrow no more heat into Lake Michigan."
Are you asking me how fast the reversal of
eutrophication would be?
MR. STEIN: What I am saying — I am trying to
split this into two questions. I believe I have read
enough of the literature, been in enough conferences, par-
ticipated in enough meetings and discussions to know how
difficult it is to reverse eutrophication. I think that
the point that Mr. Currie raised is a closer one here.
That is, if we stop heat say by 1975 if there proves to
be damage, by stopping that heat we will not have
accelerated eutrophication on our hands because of that
heat. We will not have to wait for that slow process of
reversal if it ever is to come. But once we stop the heat,
the effects of that heat or any damage it may have caused
will immediately disappear. The heat wouldn't have
caused any damage at all, except in the sense that it is
going to have a transitory impact on the lake.
DR. BARDACH: Well, I am going to make a guess.
That is all I can do. It would still take a number of
years. I don't know how many. But if you could pinpoint the
effects; if you could abstract the effects of heat
and take the effects of heat singly, and nobody can do this
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J. E, Bardach
now — it would still take a number of years — and I
don 't know how many — before the aftermath of these effects
or the conditions to which these effects have given rise
would disappear.
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Are there any other comments?
MR. FETTEROLF: Dr. Bardaeh, I think you are
basing your premise on if a large segment of the shore
waters of Lake Michigan were warm.
Now, if you had a plume from a single plant and
for some 3 or k miles down shore from there you had increases
in algal growth possibly due to added heat, and then you
ceased that input of heat, would the reversal then take
several years or a short time?
DR. BARDACH: It would take a shorter time;
probably not several years. But — well, let me day again:
My concern is for the year 2000 and the year 2050.
MR. STEIN: Are there any other comments or ques-
tions?
MR. CURRIE: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
MR. STEIN: Yes, Mr. Currie.
MR. CURRIE: I think I might be helped a little
along this road, Dr. Bardach, if you could give us a more
precise indication of the way in which heat increases
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J, E. Bardach
eutrophication. We have heard from several people on this
subject, and I have been trying to get it straight and I am
not sure I have it. I think we have been told so far that
heat inputs will not increase the total mass of algae present
at any given time in the lake. Would that square with your
opinion?
DR. BARDACH: Well, again, you see, you are
trying to divide something that is hard to divide. But
let me say this: Assuming that you have all signs of
algal growth early during the year because of changed heat
characteristics of the inshore waters, you would have for
that particular alga a longer time to multiply than you
would otherwise have. So you would, at this point, increase
the total amount of algae that are present as opposed to
the amount of algae that would have been present had no
heat been discharged.
MR. CURRIE: Yes, I think that is an important
point, and that helps me a good deal.
Is that change one that would be irreversible?
I would think that the next year, if the temperature of
the lake were reduced, that then you would not duplicate
that condition, is that right?
DR. BARDACH: Locally — well, if you talk now
about one plant and you stopped completely heat discharge
-------
J. E. Bardach
from that plant, the next year you would, of course, not
duplicate that condition, but that does not mean that in
that particular year you would have no algae at all.
MR. CURRIE: Dr. Bardach, have you conducted
studies on the effect of heat on eutrophication in Lake
Michigan or in comparable waters?
DR. BARDACH: I have not conducted studies on
heat effects on eutrophication in Lake Michigan, but I have
done some studies on comparable waters. The unfortunate
thing is that there are no comparable waters, and there
are no even slightly comparable waters on which such studies
have been conducted. All such studies have been conducted
on smaller bodies of water.
The only analogy we have — and there again they
are unfortunately rather incomplete cause-and-effect —
for what they are worth — data on Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario, And Lake Erie and Lake Ontario have deteriorated.
In Lake Erie, the change in average lake tempera-
tures since — I think it was — around the 1920's by only
2 degrees Fahrenheit is suspected — you see, you are sort
of extrapolating backwards — is suspected to have caused
the demise of the lake herring and related fishes which
were living at that time at the extreme range of their
temperature tolerance, and that this gradual warming has
-------
J. E. Bardach
been tantamount to displacing Lake Erie 50 miles to the
South.
Unfortunately the studies of heat effects on
eutrophication and the studies specifically of heat on
fishes and other aquatic organisms are relatively scarce.
There are some — for instance, I would like to know —
the statement has been made that young fishes of this
peculiar and specific species complex that we have in Lake
Michigan may be particularly vulnerable during the early
part of their lives to heat loading.
Now, there are lots of things we don't know about
them. For instance, we don't know whether all of them or
only some of them have to come to the surface to gulp air
to fill their swim lungs„ If we knew this we might be
able to make a somewhat better prediction, given hypothetical
situations, of surface temperatures.
Let me add one other thing: I am not concerned
about fish kills as such. Well, no, it would be wrong to
say I am not concerned; of course, I am. But I am not
as concerned about the 5»000 fishes that die because some
powerplant shut off its effluents and the fishes were sub-
jected to a cold shock, say, or the reverse. I am much
more concerned about the very slow and gradual effects.
I have done or my students and I have done some studies
-------
1374
J. E. Bardach
on the effects of raising the temperature in the fishes'
environment close to its lethal temperature. We have
looked at what does this do to the animal's behavior? We
have studied the most heat-tolerant fishes — fishes that
one day may abound in Lake Michigan, And we have found that
as you get past the comfort zone of these fishes, their
behavior becomes quite different; they become very much more
aggressive to one another; they cover much larger distances
in search for food and comfort. They may, in fact, be
very much disturbed in their reproductive behavior.
Now, that is something that will have effects
that go over 4, 5, 6, 7 years or longer, and eventually
their numbers in the lake or a body of water are reduced,
None died, or nobody died earlier than they should have.
But he or she was adversely influenced.
MR, STEIN: Are there any other questions from
the panel or —
Mr. Petersen.
MR. PETERSEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Dr. Bardach, as I understand what you have said,
you are concerned principally with the effects of heat
over the long range.
Dr0 Bardach, would that be properly interpreted
to mean that it would not appear that the effects of any
-------
1375
Jo E. Bardach
one plant would be noticed in Lake Michigan?
DR. BARDACH: In answering this, let me say that
I have great sympathy with the power industry in one
respect: They have been subjected to a lack of guidelines
from public quarters, quite understandably so.
Now, one plant may or may not have a local
effect. That is all I can say.
MR. PETERSEN: You wouldn't expect one plant to
have by itself an effect on all of Lake Michigan in the
manner in which you have described,in what you have had to
say today?
DR. BARDACH: I think it only fair to say no.
MR. PETERSEN: Do you theorize that the presently
existing plants are having that effect?
DR. BARDACH: They unquestionably contribute to
eutrophication; to what degree, I am not prepared to say0
Let me be quite frank with you. It may be that this effect
is so small that it is very hard, if not impossible, to
detect.
MR. PETERSEN: In this regard, you are relying,
as I understand, on the idea of a separate and unmixing
body of — what was it? — shore waters?
DR. BARDACH: Yes.
MR. PETERSEN: What do you mean by shore water?
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1376
J. E. Bardach
DR, BARDACH: I mean water to a depth of about 10
meters, which during certain parts of the year, as set
forth in several publications — one of them "The Lake
Currents in the Lake Michigan Basin," by the Federal Water
Pollution Control Administration Great Lakes Region,
November 196?, and again in this publication, "Physical
and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat," as pointed out
there, because of specific thermal effects on the water,
there is a thermal barrier that prevents the mixing during
certain parts of the year. I am not sure to what extent
the duration of these separations has really been determined
accurately. But let it suffice to say that they are part
of the year, and I think they are not part of the year,
the spring and the fall, where these thermal barriers exist,
that would separate out about 10 percent of the lake water
from the rest of the lake.
MR. PETERSEN: Does this thermal barrier keep the
mixing of the lake totally or is it merely a partial bar
to mixing?
DR. BARDACH: During the time it exists?
MR. PETERSEN: I presume — you said it is not a
continuous phenomenon.
DR. BARDACH: No, when the bar is removed, there
is mixing with — well, in the summer, there is mixing
-------
J. E. Bardach
with the epilimnion, and if the bar does not exist, during
turnover times, then there is mixing in the entire lake.
MR. PETERSEN: My question was: Does the bar
prevent mixing between the inshore and the offshore part of
the lake totally or is it only a partial bar to mixing
during the time that it exists?
DR. BARDACH: From what I know about the matter,
it does prevent effective mixing.
MR. PETERSEN: Now, doctor, have you performed
any studies in relation to the thermal bar in Lake Michigan?
DR. BARDACH: I said from what I know.
MR. PETERSEN: Are you familiar with the study
which Dr. Pritchard described when he was here, wherein he
noted not less nr^ing but greater mixing over the thermal
bar were difficult studies?
DR. BARDACH: I wasn't here when Dr. Pritchard
presented his testimony.
MR. PETERSEN: You were not aware of that?
DR. BARDACH: I was not aware of that.
MR. PETERSEN: Could that in any way have any
change ?
DR. BARDACH: Yes, certainly,, If this were found,
if this were ascertained, certainly,,
MR. PETERSEN: As I understand it, you have done
-------
J. E. Bardach
no studies within any existing thermal plumes.
DR. BARDACH: I have done tank studies with
thermal plumes, again on the behavior of fishes.
MR. PETERSEN: What kind of studies?
DR. BARDACH: Tank.
MR. PETERSEN; Ah! But not within —
DR. BARDACH: No, I have not studied thermal
plumes within Lake Michigan.
MR. PETERSEN: All right. You have no reason to
believe that fish will swim into the thermal plumes and
remain there to the point that they are killed or hurt?
DR. BARDACH: Sometimes yes; sometimes no.
MR» PETERSEN: Sometimes you believe they will
swim in and be killed?
DR. BARDACH: Sometimes I believe they may well
be, if not killed, so affected that they do not recover or
are susceptible to other either disease or environmental
factors that may befall them after they have had either a
heat or cold shock.
MR. PETERSEN: Ah! From shock, you are speaking?
DR. BARDACH: Yes. Well, I think you have to
separate. There are unquestionably instances where it may
happen that the fish are actually killed, not immediately
but within — you see, a fish doesn't die like this —
-------
J. E. Bardach
(Dr. Bardach snapped his fingers) — it is affected and it
may be a few hours later that it gives up the ghost.
But in other cases it may get a heat or a cold
shock and may die even 2 or 3 weeks later, and it is very
difficult to say that this was it. Certainly in the lake
I can only make this study under highly controlled condi-
tions.
MRo PETERSEN: It is my understanding that you
reached this present theory at least 2 months ago.
DR. BARDACH: Which present theory?
MR. PETERSEN: The present theory which you have.
DR. BARDACH: I have many theories.
MR. PETERSEN: The theory of damage to Lake
Michigan from thermal effects that you have enumerated to
this audience today,,
DR0 BARDACH: No, I wouldn't say this, Mr.
Petersen. I wouldn't say this. I have been concerned
about the effects of eutrophication on Lake Michigan for
quite awhile. When I helped Consumers Power Company
to design the before-and-after study for their Palisades
plant, I stated in the document that I presented to Consumers
Power Company that I am very concerned with possible eutro-
phication effects — synergistic eutrophication effects of
effluents and heat.
-------
J. E. Bardach
MR, PETERSEN: In this regard, doctor, has
Consumers Power Company asked you for the scientific basis
of your conclusions?
DR, BARDACH: Consumers Power Company has, at
this time, accepted my suggestions to conduct a study.
Consumers Power is to be congratulated for having initiated
and being in the process of conducting this study,, Later
— that was several years ago — as I have continued this,
I have become more concerned, and my concern has reached
somewhat greater proportions than it had when I designed or
helped to design this study for Consumers Power Company.
Consumers Power has asked me, at this point, to
be good enough and tell them what kind of study they should
conduct — well, how can I put it? — to foretell
with as much confidence as possible the effects of the
Palisades plant. I am in the process of thinking about
how this might be done.
MR. PETERSEN: And has the fact that you have
performed work for Consumers Power Company prevented you
from speaking your mind today or any other day in Indiana
or elsewhere?
DR. BARDACH: It has not.
MR. PETERSEN: Thank you, Dr. Bardach.
MR. STEIN: Any other comments or questions?
-------
J. E. Bardach
Dr. Bardach, will you wait?
MR. HIPKE: My name is Jack Hipke, Wisconsin Power
and Light Company.
First question: You say that eutrophication is
discrete in the spring and fall in small lakes. V/here does
this heat come from?
DR. BARDACH: Eutrophication can occur without
additional heat sources, and does occur without additional
heat sources, and I have never slid that the heat that will
be put into Lake Michigan causes eutrophication.
MR. HIPKE: Okay. Question number two: Are the
fish that you have mentioned in your study in the conversion
of food able to make a choice in temperature?
DR. BARDACH: Are they able to make a choice in
temperature in the experimental situation?
MR. HIPKE: Correct.
DR. BARDACH: No, they are not, because such a
study would be impossible to perform.
MR. HIPKE: Isn't it possible, then, that fish
in actual surroundings could make a temperature choice and
thereTors there won't be a depletion in the weight of the
"ish due to the conversion of food?
DR. BARDACH: It is certainly possible. But
let us assume that the salmon has no particular desire to
-------
1832
J. E. Bardach
go to some particular place. If he does so, and if, in
fact, it could consciously ascertain that his conversion
is adversely affected, it is likely that he would choose,
but the fish doesn't know whether he is in — what his
conversion efficiency is.
MR. HIPKE: Question number three: You mentioned
oxygen depletion in the year 2020, I believe.
DR. BARDACH: Yes.
MR. HIPKE: Was this in reference to the area of
the plume?
DR. BARDACH: No, it had no particular reference.
This was a very hypothetical situation, in reference to
almost anyplace in southern Lake Michigan. And let me add:
It may well be that you have this contingency even if you
have no waste heat.
MR. HIPKE: Okay. Thank you, doctor.
MR. STEIN: Are there any other comments or
questions?
MR. COMEY: I am David D. Comey, representing
Campaign Against Environmental Violence.
Dr. Bardach, you mentioned that certain fish have
to go up to the surface in order to fill their air
bladders very early in their Iife0 Could you describe a
little bit more what that mechanism is and what it would
-------
J. E. Bardach
moan if on further knowledge it turns out that many species
have to accomplish this function?
DR. BARDACH: Yes. Fish use their air bladders
or gas bladders to assume weight or density equal to that
of the water. That makes it easier for them to remain at
a particular depth level. They have to expend less muscular
energy to do so0
There are essentially two kinds of fishes: Fishes
that have a duct to the esophagus from their gas bladders,
and those fishes that have not.
In either case, much of the exchange of gas in
the swim bladder — that takes place through special tissues
that secrete gases from the blood.
But to begin with, when the fish first hatches,
very many species, in order to stimulate that tissue to
perform, hsve to take one small gulp of air, and that
small gulp of air, of course, has to be taken at the sur-
face. Now, there are, again, hypothetical situationso
Let us assume that a small hatch of these fishes came to
the surface. They are small fishes, not very well able to
move and swim along, and they are carried by surface currents
into ex n area of very much higher temperature — say 5 or 6
degrees higher than the one in which they were immediately
before. As they cannot navigate very well at that stage,
-------
1334
J, E. Bardach
they might be trapped there, and thus either die or be so
affected that they don't survive the next few weeks. It
is indeed likely that those places are rather small, if
they exist at all. But if I look at the perimeter of
southern Lake Michigan and the powerplants that are planned
there or may undergo modification to make them somewhat
larger, I think that these areas may become somewhat more
extensive and may depress the survival success of these
species. We do not know to what extent, but the possi-
bility certainly exists.
MR. COMEY: Mr. Petersen, counsel for Consumers
Power Company, asked you a question about a study concern-
ing some dye-testing currents. Are you familiar with
another study done by Gabriel Csanady at the University of
Waterloo several years ago indicating that dyes run through
the condenser of a nuclear powerplant on Lake Huron tended
to hug the shore for many miles and not disperse? Are you
familiar with that study?
DR. BARDACH: No, I am not.
MR. COMEY: Well, let me go to another question
then0 You are familiar with the food chains of salmonids
in Lake Michigan and other cold water lakes?
DR. BARDACH: Yes.
MR. COMEY: Would you say that benthic organisms
-------
J. E. Bardach
that would be entrained at a condenser intake located
approximately 3»000 to 4»000 feet from shore would survive a
100 percent Delta T in the condenser of 25 to 28 to 30
degrees Fahrenheit?
DR. BARDACH: I doubt it.
MR. COMEY: Do you think Mysis Relicta, for
example, would survive such a thermal shock?
DR. BARDACH: Mysis Relicta happens to be a very
cold-loving crustaceon, and I am not aware of any tempera-
ture tolerance or thermal shock studies that have been done
on Mysis Relicta. It would be my guess that they would be
very seriously affected.
MR. COMEY: Is the zone in which most of these
intake pipes are located which are out there in order to
get at least 25 feet or 35 feet of depth for the Corps of
Engineering navigational purposes — are they located in
a zone of high biological production from benthic organisms
and other elements in the fish food chain? Is that a zone
of greater productivity than the immediate inshore zone?
DR0 BARDACH: By and large, yes. But I think
you would have to really look at each particular plant
intake before you could make any general pronouncements.
MR. COMEY: One last question and that is: Are
fish attracted to a warm—water discharge?
-------
1386
J. E. Bardach
DR. BARDACH: Oh, yes.
MR. COMEY: Do they have a tendency to prefer
water that is, say, just a few degrees below the level at
which they tend to exhibit the characteristics that you
have earlier described? In other words, are they like
butterflies in the sense that they go towards light when
perhaps if they knew better they shouldn't?
DR. BARDACH: Well, some fishes do. I would
suspect that some of the fishes we are most concerned with
might not. Some studies have been done at Lake Me'.ndota
where there is a very, very strong discharge of heated
water, and bluegills, carp, yellow bass, apparently were
attracted to the outflow, and they were attracted to the
outflow in part because in the outflow zone there happened
to be more food at certain times of the year.
Let me say here that I am convinced — and I said
so in a number of statements that I have made — that there
are beneficial effects on fishes. You have got to make your
choice. What is it you want to fish for?
Let me please add one more thing. There is a
possibility in heat abatement to turn heat into a rather
beneficial contingency„ It would be possible, ladies and
gentlemen, with 100 cubic feet per second of equithermal
waters — that is water that has the year-round a temperature
-------
1887
J. E. Bardach
about 1? to 1$ degrees centigrade — to raise in an intensive
fashion a million pound of trout. So there are possibilities
here.
MR. COMEY: Do you know of any present powerplant
that plans to use that —
DR. BARDACH: I do know of several powerplants
that use heat, One is the Long Island Heat and Power,
which uses it for oyster-growing. J> nd there are several
powerplants — many in Russia — that do this. Experiments
have been conducted with growing fish in heated effluents
in Hindustan, in Scotland, where it was possible to speed
the rate of growth of perch and sole to maturation and legal
size to 1 year as opposed to 3 years in the Irish Sea.
MR. COMEY: Yes, I believe the New York Depart-
ment of Conservation plans such a fish hatchery at the
Bell Station on Lake Cayuga, but the Bell Station did not
materialize.
DR. BARDACH: Well, there is a problem here, Mr.
Comey, and that is that the amounts of heated water are
so great that only a part of it could adequately be
accommodated in an economically sound enterprise.
MR. COMEY: Thank you very much.
MR. THOKE: My name is H. Thoke. I am a
representative of the State of Wisconsin Southeast Chapter
-------
J. Eo Bardach
of Trout Unlimited.
This question is related to a question from the
representative from Wisconsin Electric Power Company
regarding choice of the fish going to a warmer or a colder
area of a plume. What effect would a heated plume have
on the migrating instinct of the trout and salmon that are
presently in the lake? Would it deter them for accomplish-
ing the migrating instinct to go up the stream to spawn?
DR. BARDACH: You are asking me a very difficult
question. Under certain conditions, it is possible that it
might. It depends at what stage of their migration they
encounter this heated water.
MR. THOKE: Obviously the thing I am trying to
point out here is that there is another approach to, I think,
the direction the question was directed, and I will just
leave it there.
DR, BARDACH: Yes. Well, I think that one thing,
gentlemen, if you may permit me to say so — one thing that
these questions brought out is that there is a heck of a
lot we don't know.
MR0 STEIN: Go ahead.
MR. PETERSEN: 0. K. Petersen again.
You were asked a question about benthic organisms
entrained in water coming through a plant. Do you envision
-------
J. E. Bardach
many benthic organisms being entrained in water moving at
one-half of a foot per second?
DR. BARDACH: I couldn't answer that question,
Mr. Petersen.
Mo PETERSEN: Would you expect benthic organisms
so entrained and if hurt, damaged, or killed, to signifi-
cantly affect the benthic population in the area of a steam
electric generating plant?
DR. BARDACH: It would depend — well, probably
it would not have, but let me add one other thing. It may
be that if there is a benthic organism so entrained, and
if it is spewed out again and it is half dead, it may still
be eaten by a fish. But I don't think that these are
really — well, these are questions directed at me as a
physiologist and I can only hedge because, as you notice,
we just haven't got the data, and I can give you best guesses.
But let me repeat: The concern is one about
synergistic overall long-range effects.
MR. PETERSEN: And, doctor, you haven't yet
replied to Consumer Power Company's request for the back-
ground on your theories, have you?
DR. BARDACH: Would you like me to tell you here
what I wrote to Mr. Brandt?
MR. PETERSEN: I have seen the letter which you
-------
1390
J. E. Bardach
wrote to Mr. Brandt.
DR. BARDAGH: Well, I am trying to do so as fast
as I possibly can , Mr. Petersen, it may well be — it
may well be that I have to throw up my hands, not that I
cannot help you, but that I cannot help you to satisfy you.
It may well be — (Applause) — it may well be that we
have to mount these studies in a somewhat different way.
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Are there any other comments or questions?
Well, thank you very much, Dr. Bardach.
Mrs. Botts, are you ready to conclude?
MRS. BOTTS: Very sorry our presentation has
taken so long, and I am aware that there are people waiting,
My conclusion will be quite brief.
It should be obvious that the expert witnesses
you have just heard have not appeared here in support of
a particular point of view. I myself believe that is why
their participation in this procedure is all the more
important,and I wish to express the gratitude of the Lake
Michigan Federation and the Open Lands Project to them.
Earlier I stated that I would conclude by making
a proposal for an alterrv: tive of protecting the lake to
adoption of the Department of Interior proposal to prohibit
discharge of heat into Lake Michigan. Before discussing
-------
Mrs. L. Botts
it, I would like to make clear that in the absence of any
other alternative, the Open Lands Project will continue to
support the Department of Interior recommendation.
My proposal is to establish a new means of siting
powerplants, based on public participation through review
by hearings in the early stages of the process, and with
enforcement powers lodged with an interstate agency estab-
lished for the purpose. Policy for the agency would be
determined by an advisory commission representing various
sectors of the public, the power industry, and State and
local governments.
The first step toward establishment of this new
system would be development of criteria to serve as guide-
lines for the following processes:
1. The location of powerplants.
2. The operation of powerplants.
3. Means of evaluating environmental effects
of operation of powerplants.
4. Definition of conditions under which power-
plant operations would be suspended temporarily and/or
permanently.
A good start toward development of criteria may
have been made in this enforcement conference, where thanks
to the brashness of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the
-------
1392
Mrs. L. Botts
issues are at last out on the table. Perhaps the process
could be carried further by a roundtable conference in
which the scientists would be free to challenge each other
and members of the public free to challenge them.
I am certain the Lake Michigan Federation advisory
council would welcome an opportunity to join with Common-
wealth Edison, other power companies, and the staffs of the
various Interior agencies in planning and carrying out such
a conference.
When it met, I do not think there would be any
disagreement that the first task would be to define the
research needed and to set a timetable for its accomplish-
ment.
Parallel with establishment of criteria, the
States around the lake would have to enact their own legis-
lation in support of the interstate siting commission, and
approval of Congress would have to be obtained.
Obviously, this is a very cursory discussion of
a complex process, but it is offered here to demonstrate
that conservationists object to the way powerplants have
been sited in the past, not to their being sited at all.
I believe this conference has demonstrated the urgency
of arriving at a decision on the question of whether the
existing nuclear plants should be permitted to operate as
-------
1393
Mrs. L. Botts
constructed.
Because of the time that would be required to
carry out my proposal, even if adopted, I see no alternative
except interim acceptance of a prohibition against dis-
charge of heat into the lake, and soon, in the interests
of power as well as the lake.
If at this point the power industry continues to
refuse to accept the public desire for prevention of thermal
pollution, then it should be recognized that responsibility
for any future of failure of power supplies rests with the
industry that refuses to fulfill its function rather than
to change the way it carries that function out.
Thank you.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Botts. (Applause)
Mrs. Botts, you suggest a procedure where we have
a forum for scientists to confront each other, and to be
questioned by the public. I have been here for a week and
I think that is what has been happening. This is a
rhetorical question you don't have to answer. Also I
wonder, Mrs. Botts, if you have ever checked — because
this is one of my fields of specialty — on how long it
has taken us in the past from the idea of a reception to
get an interstate agency established in any field in water.
MRS. BOTTS: I am aware of that.
-------
1894
EXISTING AND PROPOSED NUCLE-AR POWER PLANTS QN LAKE MICHIGAN
FACT SHEET September, 1970
Plant Name,
Location
Company
Capacity,
Megawatts
Cooling Water, *
Gallons /Day
Intake
Discharge
Maximum
Temperature
Elpyat.inn
Construction
Permit Date
Scheduled
Ooeration
Engineer-
Architect
Reactor
Contractor
Unique
Environmental
Factors
Ci- *ent
Sta.uS
Zion
2 units
Zion, 111.
Common-
wealth
Edison _,_.,
1085
each unit
1 billion
each unit
2600 ft.
offshore
760 ft.
offshore
19.6
degrees
December
1968
1972
1973
Sargent-
Lundy
Westing-
house
Multiport
diffuser
discharge,
small
site
Much pub-
lic opposi-
tion, 2
lawsuits
pending
Donald Cook
2 units
Bridgman,
Michigan
Indiana &
Michigan
Power Cg^
1054
1060
1 billion
each unit
2200 ft.
offshore
1200 ft.
offshore
21 degrees
March
1969
1972
American
Electric
Service
Corp.
Westing-
house
Shore
erosion
problem,
Harbor
permit
soueht
Discharge
distance
increased,
1 lawsuit
pending on
erosion
damage
Point Beach
2 units
Two Creeks
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Electric &
Wis-jyiich.
497
each imtt
500 millioi
each unit
1750 ft.
offshore
150 ft.
offshore
19.3
degrees
July
1967
1970
1971
Bechtel
Corp.
Westing-
house
Five
miles
from
Kewaunee
Interven-
tion filed
to oppose
operating
license
Palisades
1 unit
South Haven
Michigan
Consumers
Power
Co.
700
700
million
3500 ft.
offshore
Canal to.
Lake
28 degrees
March
1967
Spring,
1970
Bechtel
Corp.
Combustion
Engineering
Highest
discharge
temperature
on lake
Intervention
hearing
underway
since June
Kewaunee
1 unit
Kewaunee
Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Public
527
520
million
1600 ft.
offshore
220 ft.
offshore
19.2
degrees
August
1972
Bailly
1 ,~,
1 unit
Burns
Harbor. Ind.
Indiana
Public
Service Co.
657
660
million
No permit
application
Big Rock
lunit
Charlevoix,
Michigan
Consumers
Power
Co.
75
70
_jmiUion. .
1600 ft.
offshore
No permit Canal
application > to lake
About
20 degrees
20 degrees
Announced j 1960
Feb., 1070 I
1976
Pioneer j
Service & Sargent-
Engineering Lundy
Westing-
house <
Five j
miles !
from
Two Creeks
On
schedule '
1
|
General
Electric
Inside
Nat'l Park,
warmest
intake
water
Capacity
increased,
public oppo-
sition befor<
constructior
1962
Bechtel
Corp.
General
Electric
Smallest
nuclear
plant on
lake,
coldest
water _
Experi-
mental and
only operat-
! ing reactor
on lake
* All the nuclear plants now being planned for Lake Michigan are of the pressurized water reactor type
and are designed to use once-through cooling techniques, except the Big Rock and Bailly boiling
water plants.
This fact sheet has been prepared by the Open Lands Project, 53 W. Jackson, Chicago, Illinois 60604.
-------
1395
Hon. R. E. Mann
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
May we hear now from State Representative Robert
E. Mann?
STATEMENT OF STATE REPRESENTATIVE ROBERT
E. MANN, CHAIRMAN, LAKE MICHIGAN AND AD-
JOINING LAND STUDY COMMISSION, CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS
MR. MANN: Chairman Stein and other conferees.
I am appearing before you today as chairman of the Lake
Michigan and Adjoining Land Study Commission of the State
of Illinois to urge that you adopt the 1-degree Fahrenheit
thermal standard recently recommended by the U. S0 Depart-
ment of the Interior and that you do everything within
your power to see that your respective State water pollu-
tion control agencies or State legislatures make this stan-
dard enforceable under your State law. The opportunity to
adopt a thermal standard which will protect Lake Michigan
is a rare if not unique opportunity for this conference.
Hopefully no serious irreversible damage has yet occurred
in Lake Michigan because of past and present discharges of
heat. Action now can protect the lake from the very real
prospect of future damage.
-------
1896
Hon, R. E. Mann
All too often in the past the attitude of the
people who had the power to preserve the lake has been either
to wait until damage has occurred before acting or to take
action without knowing it would solve expected problems.
To date, two Federal-State conferences have been
convened to deal with pollution of Lake Michigan. There
should never have been any need to call these conferences.
If action had been taken in time, the pollution of the lake
would never have occurred. Let me be more specific.
The first conference which dealt with Lake
Michigan was convened in March of 196$. This conference
which centered on the Calumet area took two basic steps to
abate the pollution which was reported in a United States
Public Health Service document published a year earlier.
First, it adopted water quality criteria for the lake and
surrounding waterways; second, it adopted requirements for
improvements in the waste treatment methods of municipalities
and industries, setting deadlines for completion of these
improvements.
On first glance this sounds fine. But the
standards specified only how bad we would let lake water
become, not how much polluters would be allowed to dump
into the lake. And the schedules for waste treatment
improvement have often been laxly enforced.
-------
1S97
Hon. R. E. Mann
As could have been expected, in August 1969» a
preliminary report of a technical committee which had been
appointed to "assess ,.. the results obtained by conference
actions and determine whether further action by the con-
ference would be required by the conferees to achieve
satisfactory water quality in the conference area, ..."
concluded that in general, water quality in the conference
area was still unsatisfactory based on sampling data taken
between August 1966 and March 1969.
The point is that long ago we knew our lake was
deteriorating yet the Federal-State enforcement conferences
took a circuitous route to meet the problem, without sig-
nificantly bettering the situation. These conferences
didn't go to the heart of the problem. They didn't regulate
how much junk could go into the lake by adopting effluent
standards. As a result of not adopting such standards we
are at this late date, according to State of Indiana
authorities, subjecting our lake to the following punish-
ment in that State alone:
513,36$ pounds of suspended solids per day
115,316 pounds of oil per day
12,&2& pounds of cyanide per month.
Let me cite another example of the laxity which
I think has pervaded these conferences in the past. In
-------
Hon. R. E. Mann
April 1964 a report of the United States Public Health
Service suggested that although algal growths in the
Calumet area were not as dense as in other areas of the
lake, this may have been due to the presence of toxic sub-
stances which inhibited algal growth despite the high
nutrient content of the water in the south end of Lake
Michigan. At the first session of the Two-State Conference
in 1965» Mr. Hyman Gerstein of the Chicago Water Department
stated that one of the most alarming features of the
pollution picture was the indication of accelerated Lake
Michigan eutrophication. He reported that nutrient levels
had increased and that algal growths of nuisance propor-
tions had occurred. Yet the conference made no reference
in its recommendations to nutrient problems. In fact,
by only requiring secondary treatment for municipal sewage,
the conference virtually assured that phosphorus, which is
perhaps the key nutrient to be controlled in preventing
eutrophication, would continue to enter the lake in signi-
ficant amounts. Only in 196$, when the Four-State Confer-
ence was convened did eutrophication receive significant
consideration And that action may have been not only too
late but too little. Mr, Jacob Dumelle, formerly with
the Federal Water Quality Administration and now a mcnbnr
of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, has recently
-------
1899
Hon. R. E. Mann
stated that original estimates of Lake Michigan phosphorus
input may have been too low. This raises the question of
whether the 80 percent removal standard adopted by this
conference is sufficient to retard eutrophication of our
Iake0
I realize I have strayed from the precise topic
of your deliberations today. I felt it was necessary,
however, to graphically demonstrate that you as conferees
have some amends to make to the citizens of the States you
represent. I can suggest no better way than by taking
strong action to retard, if not eliminate, the heat loading
that is currently plaguing and planned for our lake.
The Lake Michigan and Adjoining Land Study
Commission has formally recommended the adoption of the
proposed 1-degree Fahrenheit standard. This was done after
a serious review of the available literature which left
no doubt in our minds that deleterious effects were quite
likely to result from gross thermal inputs into Lake
Michigan, that the technology to avoid this danger was
available and that no better method existed to spur
development of alternative and nonpolluting sources of
power. I am submitting for your consideration a copy of
the brief we prepared to support these conclusions.
I must add one caution. The 1-degree Fahrenheit
-------
1900
Hon. R. E. Mann
standard will be meaningless if powerplants are allowed to
be constructed in such a way that tremendous amounts of
heat will continue to pour into the lake through dilution
by merely increasing the amount of cooling water used in
the plant. I trust that such a safeguard will be made part
of your recommendationo
I want to pause just a moment to say something
about the Zion plant. When the Illinois Pollution — when
the permit was granted to the Zion plant, it was granted
for the purpose of construction only; no commitment was made
to Commonwealth Edison that they could operate. Now, when
Commonwealth Edison, through its paid mercenary experts,
testifies and implies that only one plant will do no damage
to Lake Michigan, it is ignoring the realities of Illinois
politics.
I have been in the Illinois General Assembly for
& years. I know from bitter experience how effective and
pervasive the special interests of this State are. If
you permit Zion to operate without fully putting the burden
of showing that no damage, no degradation to the lake will
take place, then you will not be able to stop a ring of
powerplants around this lake.
I hope I don't sound dogmatic on it; I hope I
sound bitter, because it is from experience of 8 years on
-------
1901
Hon. R. E. Mann
the Illinois General Assembly, and I am saying this pointedly
to my constituents.
Chairman Currie, I know, has already demonstrated,
I think, great expertise in his new role, but I want to
share that one piece of experience that I have had as a
member of the Illinois General Assembly.
I think Commonwealth Edison, I think this con-
ference, I think State Representative Bob Mann, I think
everybody else concerned with the lake owes accountability
to the people of this State.
That lake is held in trust for the people of the
State of Illinois, and I would hope that one of the resolu-
tions which would come out of this conference is that
Commonwealth Edison ought to be put on notice that the
fact that they have invested millions of dollars into that
plant has nothing to do with the welfare of the State of
Illinois or with that lake. If they have made a mistake,
that is their problem; that is not our problem. (Applause)
In closing, let me state a principle that I think
should be the guidepost in your deliberations. Our natural
resources are a public trust precariously held in your
hands in this instance. As our trustee, you must demand
that those who propose to tamper with the lake prove
beyond any reasonable doubt that no deleterious consequences
-------
1902
R. E. Mann
will result from their actions. After the delays of the
past, nothing less than this is acceptable.
And I would add just one thing, Chairman Stein.
I have not meant to go into the gunnysack with regard to
past actions. These are over and past. But I think that
all of us can learn from the bitter experience from the
past and realize that the time is reached where we must
now have no — no further degradation of our land. Thank
you very much. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you. Are there any comments
or questions?
Mr. Mann, I would like to ask you one question,
if you would wait —
MR. MANN: Yes, sir.
MR. STEIN: — just for a second.
MR. MANN: Yes, sir.
MR. STEIN: I would like to get your views on
that since you have had experience with this. As I under-
stand it — and I have heard this sometimes before in other
areas of the country — that you indicate that when these
plants were built, and particularly the Zion plant, the
construction — the plant was built and now you are faced
with operation. Is that correct?
MR. MANN: Yes, sir0
-------
1903
R. E. Mann
MR. STEIN: In light of that, what do you think
of the proposal that we heard from the power industries
that we permit them to discharge heated water into the lake
and after a couple of years if you find it is doing damage
to take corrective action?
MR. MANN: I don't like it because I don't believe
it.
MR. STEIN: Are there any other comments or
questions? If not, thank you very much, Mr. Mann.
MR, MANN: Thank you, sir.
MR. STEIN: Several of the people have submitted
statements for the record, and without objection, I would
like to put them in as if read: Charles D. Sigwart, Student
Council on Pollution and Environment; Robert A. Butler,
President of Rosemary Beech Association; and Dr. C, H.
Mortimer, Director, Center for Great Lakes Studies.
We try to accommodate everyone, but I think we
have come to the point where our reporter just has to have
a break, and we are going to have a five-minute recess.
(Short recess.)
(The statements above referred to follow in
their entirety,,)
-------
1904
Statement on Thermal Pollution Oct. 2,1970
Charles D. Sigwart B.S. engineering, MIT 196?
currently a PhD candidate Northwestern University, Dept.
of Biological Sciences
representing! Student Council on Pollution and Environment (SCOPE),
an advisory committee to the Dept. of the Interior; and
Northwestern Students for a Better Environment (NSBE).
The current growth rate in energy production and in energy use
per capita will probably continue. Inevitably a large part of the
energy is transferred to the environment as waste heat. In view of
this trend we must seriously consider the precedents we are setting.
We must not view only the effects of single sources of thermal effluents
today but must consider the total effects as the thermal load on our
lake doubles redoubles with coming decades. Current practice favors
applying the thermal load to nearshore waters which are the biologically
most productive areas of our lake. If we continue the effect on
Lake Michigan will be substantial. At a minimum, even small changes
in temperature can cause large shifts in the relative numbers of
various species of fish. It is not pertinent to argue relative merits
of particular species, but it takes only small changes to disrupt
the reproductive cycle of some species or to eliminate their food
supply(l)(2). Another serious problem is that the nutrient levels
in nearshore waters are approaching the levels found in Lake Erie
and increases in temperature will tend to encourage excessive algal
growth{3)» These nearshore waters do not freely exchange with
the rest of the lake due to the longshore currents and the periodic
development of the thermal bar(4).
In view of the complexity of the problems we cannot hope for a
simple standard which will protect the lake into the forseeable future.
Therefore we reccomend thatt
A. In granting permits to discharge thermal effluents it should be
incumbant upon the applicant to show adequate reason to believe that
his discharge vrill not cause ecological damage.
B. and that Thermal discharges should not be allowed in nearshore
waters.including plumes swept there by currents, which exceed one
degree Fahrenheit.
C. Larger, temperature differences from ambient might be tolerated
provided (A.) is satisfied and it is shown that heated water does not
reach nearshore waters.
The need to protect the most biologically active waters is
pointed up by the various reccomendations of the National Technical
Advisory Committee on Water Quality Criteria in 1968 of a 3°F.
standard for lakes and a 1.5°F. standard for estuaries in summer(5)*
particularly where spawning areas are involved.
These reccomendations are made with due consideration that there
are technically feasible alternatives to reduce the thermal load on
Lake Michigan which are economically feasible(6).
(1.) Mackenthun, Ike Practice' of Water Pollution Biology, FWPCA, 1969,p.l9ff
(2) Physical & Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan, Bur.
Commercial Fisheries, Great Lakes Fishery Lab, Sept. 1970, p.7-18
(3) ibid. p.78
(1*) ibid. p.21-22
(5) National Technical Advisory Committee, Water Quality Criteria. 1968
FWPCA P.33,P.42,p.70
(6) Feasibility of Alternative Means of Cooling for Thermal Power Plants
Near Lake Micniffgn" l''WQA August,1 i"9~7"0~
-------
2 WO t0
Mr. Chairman: -<£, /, -
/cy ^ X_ t_£
My name is Robert Butler and as President of the Rosemary Beach
Association I am representing that group at this conference. The Rosemary
Beach A ssociation is comprised of 33 families who live immediately north
of the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman, Michigan. We are very
much disturbed by the gigantic enterprise that is being developed next door.
And in particular, we fear the consequences of thermal pollution since, ac-
cording to present plans, millions of gallons of heated water will be dis-
charged daily approximately 1100 feet from the shoreline. Prevailing winds
in the summer will bring this plume of hot water directly to our beach. A
prolific growth of undesirable forms of algae would render our recreational
facilities completely unsuitable. Moreover, should the duration of ice form-
ation in winter be shortened, our beach would be subjected to devasting
erosion from the winter storms. On more general and important terms,
we are gravely apprehensive about the future of the lake as a viable natural
resource to be enjoyed and admired.
What will happen if the power companies are permitted to discharge
hot water into the lake and our fears become a reality? A representative
from the Michigan Water Resources Commission had a suggestion. At a
public hearing before the Army Corps of Engineers in Bridgman, Michigan
last year exclaimed: "If you have a case, take it to court. " But it would be
A
absurd to believe that our group with its most modest financial resources
could counter successfully a giant such as the American Electric Power
Company. Because of the complexity of the problem, legal action on our
-------
part would be enormously expensive. We simply could not afford such an
undertaking. Furthermore, we were distressed to hear this advice from
an official of a state agency formed ostensibly to protect the public interests.
This is why we feel the desperate need for a governmental board comprised
of dispassionate experts in ecology; a board empowered to act decisively
to protect our natural resources. To permit the power companies to in-
crease the rate of eutrophication of Lake Michigan for purely economic
reasons would constitute a stark betrayal of public trust.
Respectfully submitted,
f^ & r<~^
Robert Butler, President
Rosemary Beach Association
Stevensville, Michigan
-------
190?
Lake Michigan Beach Zone V. aters:
Vjriatio/is in Temperature Arising
from Natural Causes
by
C. H. Mortimer, Director
Center for Great Lakes Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
September 1970
A Contribution to discussion of the Report by the U. S. Department
of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service (September 1970), "Physical
and Ecological Effects of V. aste Heat on Lake Michigan", presented
at the Third Session of the Federal-State Enforcement Conference
on Pollution of Lake Michigan, 28-29 September 1970, Chicago,
Illinois.
-------
1908
Lake Michigan Beach Zone V< aters: Variations in Temperature Arising
from Natural Causes
Contribution* to discussion of the Report by the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Fish & Wildlife Service (September 1970), "Physical and ideological Effects of
Uaste Heat on Lake Michigan", presented at the 3rd Session of the Federal-
State enforcement Conference on Pollution of Lake Michigan, 28-29 September
1970, Chicago, Illinois.
*by
C. H. Mortimer, Director
Center for Great Lakes Studies
University of U isconsin — Milwaukee
Milwaukee, V>isconsin 53201
Introduction
Seventeen years ago, on my first visit to this country, I began looking
for clues to Lake Michigan water movements in the temperature records of
municipal water intakes. Because of the large volume flow, the temperature
of the raw water taken into the plant is virtually the same as that at the intake
point, typically some 50 ft below the lake surface and some 5000 ft offshore,
i.e., just outside the "beach water zone" defined in the above Report. I was
astonished at the large and often rapid temperature fluctuations at the intakes
in summer, apparently related to motion of the thermocline. I also discovered
that, when the thermocline remained for several days near intake depth,
wave-like fluctuations were seen (example in Fig. 1). These led to a study of
internal waves, which continues today.
If the intake temperatures are plotted on a less open time scale than
in Fig. 1, and stations on opposite sides of the lake are compared (Fig. 2),
large, irregular fluctuations are apparent, and these are often out of phase
across the lake. This behaviour indicatps motion of the whole basin,
involving an upwelling on one shore (producing low intake temperatures) and
a "downwelling" on the other shore (producing high intake temperatures).
-------
1909
One of the principal questions before this Conference concerns
"thermal stresses" which may arise in inshore waters of Lake Michigan from
the expanding requirements of the power industry and other municipal and
industrial users. The purpose of the present note, therefore, is to describe
the natural background against which the anticipated "stress" must be
examined; and a memorandum was prepared for the Conference before the
recent receipt of the above Report. As that Report gives background infor-
mation on the annual thermal regime of Lake Michigan, that portion I have
therefore omitted. But I find that, presumably because of space restrictions,
the Report does not treat the natural variability of temperature in more than
a paragraph (p. 11) and in a greatly smoothed annual diagram (Fig. 6, "beach
zone water temperatures"). The present shortened note may, therefore,
serve a useful purpose in drawing attention to the conspicuous variability
during summer and also by making the point that the Chicago water intake
(used in the preparation of Rept. Fig. 6) shows much less summer variability
than do intakes situated along the middle reaches of the basin.
Coastal Upwelling
The cause of the major fluctuations in intake temperature—upwelling
induced by wind stress combined with the influence of the earth's rotation—is
well illustrated by comparison of Figs. 2 and 3. By a fortunate coincidence,
the Fig. 3 multi-ship survey was carried out, on 9 August 1955, just after
two days of strong wind from the north* had brought about massive upwelling
along the greater part of the eastern shore. On 7 August there were sharp
rises and falls of temperature at intakes on the western and eastern shores,
respectively. At Milwaukee and Racine, for example, Fig. 2. shows a rise
of 15nF in 12 hours, with an even greater rate of fall in temperature (20°F in
6 hrs) at intakes on the eastern shore. As Fig. 2 is based on 6-hr means,
t Ayers et_al. 1958.
*The Lak~e appears to be particularly sensitive to winds veering
from west to north, see mortimer 1963.
-------
1910
the actual temperature changes must nave been more rapid than the figure
indicates.
The order of magnitude of commonly occurring rates of temperature
change can better be assessed in Fig. 4, in which the intake temperatures
are plotted, for the months of July and September 1963, as hourly readings,
or hourly means derived from thermograph records. The greatest
variability and the greatest rates of rise and fall were again found at the
eastern intakes: Ludington, iviuskegon, and South haven, where rates of fall
of 8°F per hour were not uncommon, while the rates of rise at these intakes
were generally less. At the corresponding western intakes—from waukegan
northward--the rates of rise and fall were consistently less than on the
eastern shore, values of 3QF per hour being typical. The variability at
the southern end of the basin--Chic ago and Michigan City--was considerably
less than that further north.
The general conclusion is that temperature variability in beach zone
waters is greatest at stations in the middle reaches of the lake (there are no
intakes north of Jttostok) and least at Chicago. In general, the rates of
temperature rise and fall are highest on the eastern shore, where also
the highest maximum temperatures are attained (and maintained for longer),
for example, reaching a 1963 maximum of 75°F at Muskegon and Michigan
City. During 1955 (Fig. 2) the temperature maxima were 80° F at
iViuskegon and 82°F at benton harbor and iviichigan City, maxima during
1955 at intakes along the western shore were some 8°F lower. There is
considerable variation from year to year* both in timing and dur^ion of
upwelling periods (compare, for example, Figs. 2 and 4); but the high
summer variability with rapid temperature changes is a persistent feature
representing a randomly-occurring thermal stress to organisms in the
beach zone waters. The occurrence of this stress is as unpredictable as
*I have assembled 20 years of summer records with the kind help
of "pen friends" in various municipal filtrations plant.
-------
1911
the occurrence of the wind systems which cause the upwellings. Vvith the
sediment disturbance and high turbidity which follow onshore winds on long
stretches of Lake Michigan shoreline, and with winter icing and the wide
summer temperature range here described, the beach zone waters of Lake
iviichigan represent a biologically unfavourable environment and one in which
the bottom fauna is generally relatively sparse.
The controlling influence of Lake-wide motions on inshore tempera-
tures is confirmed by comparison between the intake temperatures illus-
trated in Fig. 4 and the cross-Lake temperature distributions illustrated for
selected railroad ferry crossings from Milwaukee to Muskegon in Figs. 5,
6, and 7 (from Mortimer 1968). The upwelling and downwelling zones
occupy, typically, near-shore strips of order 10 km width. Further offshore
the influence of (near-inertial) internal waves is dominant. That the wave
pattern is not confined to the cross-Lake section is demonstrated by Fig. 8,
which shows not only western upwelling on two sections (compare
Milwaukee and fcheboygan intake temperatures for 29 July in Fig. 4), but
also (portions of) wave patterns in the N-S longitudinal section.
Up to this point, this note has dealt in facts relating to natural
variations in Lake Michigan inshore temperatures. In conclusion, I offer
a few
Comments prompted by a first reading of the report
Tae neport makes tae commonly ueld assumption that power
generation, now doubling approximately every decade, will continue to do
so until the year 2000, i.e., an eight-fold increase over the 1970 figure.
The Federal Power Commission, however, has not yet forecast beyond
1990. My own rough estimates up to that date (see Tables in appendix)
are not at variance with those in the Report. They indicate that the Lake-
wide effects will be small (for example, the only important Lake-wide
effect appears to be that, by 1990, the water loss would increase by not
-------
1912
5
more than 2% above natural evaporation, representing also about 2% of the
mean Lake discharge), but that the main thermal effects will be concentrated
locally. The crucial unanswered question is: "How locally?"
As the Report emphasizes, the added heat must pass through near-
shore water before complete dissipation in offshore regions; and turbulent
diffusion is usually the principal transport mechanism. The rates of
turbulent diffusion will largely control the residence time of the added
heat in the beach water zone. In appendix Table II this zone is defined as that
bounded by the 10 m (33 ft) contour. A guess at a possible mean residence
time of 10 days for the heat added to this zone yields an increase of 0.66*C
above "ambient" averaged over the whole of the zone. The use, if any, of
such an estimate is to indicate an order of magnitude only. The residence
times and the amounts of heat added will vary greatly between one region
of the beach water zone and another.
The greatest and most serious unknown is the magnitude and the
variability, in space and time, of the eddy diffusion coefficients. That
variation is certainly extremely wide; and this makes realistic modelling
an almost intractable task. For example, we may visualize two extremes:
one, case (a), in which an upwelling movement, of the kind described in this
note, removes the whole inshore water mass from many miles of coastline
in a few hours (see Fig. 3); and another, case (b), in which diffusion rates
are low during a temporary minimum in inshore current activity, or during
the early stages of a developing thermal bar.* Case (b) is, of course, the
*The mechanism of the thermal bar, with a brief account of the his-
torical development of the concept, is outlined in the appendix and Fig. 9.
V< hile it is likely to be an important factor in thermal loading of the Great
Lakes, the thermal bar should not be looked upon as a nearly complete barrier
to heat transfer (as the Report appears to suggest on p. 22). V^hile the "bar"
temporarily impedes horizontal mixing between the water masses on either
side of it, there is continual mass (and heat) transport toward the convergence,
and a downward transport of the mixed water mass to deepe4 regions of the
lake is maintained (see Fig. 9b). It would be useful to have a rate comparison
between the vertical transport in the thermal bar and horizontal transport by
turbulence when the bar is not present.
-------
1913
6
critical one for thermal loading; but, with present knowledge, prediction of
its frequency or probable duration is highly unreliable.
In view of the difficulties outlined above, the Report cautiously
assumes the worst case, thereby maximizing the "thermal stress" in the
beach water zone.* The Report also attempts, again with proper caution,
to list all the harmful ecological effects which present knowledge suggests
might occur. Some of the suggestions on the list are necessarily specula-
tive; but equally speculative advantages of added heat have not been con-
sidered (for example, enhancement of the capacity of the Lake for self-
purification from the polluting wastes, which today pose a much more
serious threat to the Lake's ecological health than do thermal additions).
]Viy principal disappointment with the Report is that while it
catalogs what might happen, it has not sought evidence (or recommended
research to discover) what in fact has happened to the ecology of the Lake
near the cooling water outfalls of existing large power plants. Some of
these plants, of size-order comparable to the planned nuclear plants,
present us with ready-made full-scale experiments which have been
running for years. In view of present uncertainties and ignorance (both
physical and biological) this is an opportunity which should not be passed by.
A thorough study near such plants could lead most directly to realistic
assessment of safe thermal limits, to criteria for siting new power
stations well away from biologically sensitive areas, and to a well-informed
public value judgment on this issue.
*Its companion Report, U.S. Dept. of Interior (August 1970),
"Feasibility of Alternative Means of Cooling for Thermal Power Plants
near Lake Michigan" does not examine the possibility of piping the
effluent two miles or more offshore to reduce thermal stress in the beach
zone and to achieve better entrainment and dispersal. This possibility
may also be worth considering in future for municipal sewage plant and
storm water outfalls, which in favourable circumstances might be com-
bined with power station outfalls.
-------
- 1914
7
The public is already paying heavily, in one way or another, for
an astonishing multiplicity of research effort on "thermal pollution".
Nevertheless, I would:
Recommend that an integrated effort be made to answer, through ade-
quately planned and adequately equipped studies carried out on a year-
round basis at selected existing Great Lakes power plants, the following
questions: "What variations are there in patterns of heat dispersal in the
Lake ?" and "What influence have these patterns had on Lake ecology ?"
An answer to the first question will involve descriptions of the currents
and the turbulent regime under different weather and Lake conditions,
based not only on the dispersal of heat, but perhaps also on the dispersal
of more conservative (chemical) properties, for example, the chloride
input from major rivers, or controlled artificial additions. (For example,
Dr. Ayers'studies of dispersal of river water in the Lake indicate, I
understand, a comparatively high rate of turbulent dispersal.) An
answer to the second question will involve control studies in regions not
influenced by thermal addition. If this (applied) research program is
adequately conceived to answer the above two questions, then it will
also teach us a great deal we need to know about Lake Michigan.
C. H. Mortimer
24 ^mber 1970
References
Ayers, J.D., D. C. Chandler, G.H. Lauff, C.F. Powers, &E.B.Henson
1958. Currents and water masses of Lake Michigan. Univ. Michigan,
Great Lakes Res.Div., Publ No. 3, 169 p.
Mortimer, C. H. 1963. Frontiers in physical limnology with particular
reference to long waves in rotating basins. Proc. 6th Conf. Great
Lakes Res. ,Univ. Michigan, Great Lakes Res.Div., Pub.No. 10:49-45.
Mortimer, C. H. 1968. Internal waves and associated currents observed
in Lake Michigan during the summer of 1963. Univ. Wisconsin-
Milwaukee, Center for Great Lakes Studies, Spec.Rept. No. 1,
144 p.
-------
1915
APPENDIX
Tables I and n and Note on the "Thermal Bar" presented
at the 2nd Annual Four-State Conference "Power Production and
Protection of the Lake", sponsored by the Open Lands Project, at
Zion, Illinois, 2 May 1970 (also embodied in a memorandum pre-
pared for the Argonne National Laboratory entitled: "Electric
Power Stations on Lake Michigan: A Simple Approach to Assess-
ment of Physical Effects on the Lake", March 1970). Line 4
(power to be dissipated, 109 BTU's/hr) has been added for compari-
son with Table 8, p. 29, of the U.S.Dept. Int. 1970 Report.
Lake Michigan: Estimated thermal influence of electric power
generation for the years 1970-1990, I.
Units
Estimated electric power generated lo9 w(e)
Assumed overall efficiency
Power to be dissipated
Power to be dissipated 10s
Daily equivalents: (i) Heat*
(ii) Area and volume of "slab"
of cooling water, 1 m thick
raised in temperature by 10° C
%
109 w(h)
BTU's/hr
1013g-cals
km2
1012cm3
1970
n
i
30
16
54
33
1975
14
33
28
95
58
1980
20
35
37
126
76
1990
50
40
75
255
154
w(e) = watts of generated electric power; w(h) = watts dissipated
as heat.
*109w(h) = 103 Mw(h) = 2.06 x 1013 g-cal/day = 3.415 x 109 BTU's/hr.
8
-------
Lake Michigan: Estimated thermal influence of electric power
generation for the years 1970-1990, II.
1916
Power to be dissipated (cf. Table I)
Daily equivalent heat input
(i) whole lake surface
(5.81 x 1014cma)
(ii) inshore strip of depth
< 10m*
Temperature rises, assum-
ing 10-day storage:
(i) whole lake volume
(4.78 x 1013cm3)
(ii) inshore strip of depth
< 10m (2.3xlOI3cm3)
Equivalent evaporation(per year)
(i) volume
(ii) decrease in whole lake
level
(iii) percentage of mean out-
flow (46 x 103 cfs)
(iv) percentage of natural
annual evaporation (26 in)
Unit
109w(h)
g-cal/cm2
g-cal/cm2
°C
°C
1014cm3/yr
cm/yr
%
%
1970 1975 1980 1990
16 28 37 75
0.57 1.0 1.3 2.6
7 12.5 16 33
.0007 .0012 .0016 .0032
.14 .25 .33 .66
2.0 3.6 4.7 9.5
0.34 0.62 0.81 1.63
2.3
2.5
* 8% of whole lake surface
^assuming all heat dissipation is through evaporation (590 g-cal/cm3 at 10°C)
-------
1917
The Thermal Bar
The thermal bar convergence will probably turn out to be an important fea-
ture of the annual temperature cycle and nearshore circulation in all very large
temperate lakes. It arises because, in such lakes, the inshore shallow waters
cool off more quickly in the early winter and warm up more quickly in spring
than do the deeper offshore waters. Thus, in late December and early January
in Lake Michigan , inshore waters have cooled below the temperature of maxi -
mum density (4*C) while the offshore well-mixed deep waters still remain
slightly above that temperature. Forel (1895) was the first to observe (in the
Lake of Geneva, Switzerland; see his schematic representation in Fig. 9a) that,
in the mixing zone between the inshore and offshore water masses, the mixture
(at maximum temperature near 4"C) is denser than either of the component water
masses; and it consequently sinks. The conversity of the curve relating tem-
perature and density of pure water, with a maximum at 4°C, shows why this
should be so.
The sinking mixed water mass is replaced by surface convergence of more in-
shore and offshore water, leading to continued mixing and sinking. This conver-
gence mechanism, recognized by Tikhomirov (1963) both in spring and early win-
ter in Lake Ladoga (Fig.9b), acts as a temporary thermal barrier to horizontal
exchange between nearshore and offshore water masses. The thermal bar is
most strongly developed in spring and early summer and forms a sharp division
between stratified water with high surface temperatures inshore and unstratified
water below 4*C in the deep offshore regions.
As spring heating continues, the thermal bar moves progressive o!fchore
until stratification is established right across the Lake (Fig.9c, after Rodge»s,
1966). A similar sequence of events during spring will probably be found in Lake
Michigan, first in the southern half and later in the northern half of the basin;
and Fig.9d (Church, 1945) probably represents the aftermath of a thermal bar in
the northern half of the Lake.
Currents induced by the thermal bar have components parallel to the shore-
line and normal to the shoreline (i.e., toward the convergence); and there are
also (smaller) descending currents in the convergence (Huang, 1969).
-------
References (Thermal Bar)
Church, P. E. 1954. The annual temperature cycle of Lake Michigan
(n): Spring warming and summer stationary period, 1942. Misc.
Rept. No. 18, Inst. Meteorology, Univ. Chicago (Univ.Chicago
Press).
Forel, F. A. 1895. Lac Ldman. Monographie Limnologique, Vol. 2
(Paris), 651 p.
Huang, C. K. 1969. The thermal current structure in Lake Michigan,
a theoretical and observational model study. Univ. Michigan,
Great Lakes Res. Div., Spec.Rept. No. 43 .
Rodgers, G. K. 1966. The thermal bar in Lake Ontario, spring 1965
and winter 1965-66. Proc. 9th Conf. Great Lakes Res., Univ.
Michigan, Great Lakes Res.Div., Pub. No. 15: 369-374.
Tikhomirov, A. I. 1963. The thermal bar in Lake Ladoga. Bull.
(Izvestiya), All-Union Geogr.Soc., 95_: 134-142 (Amer. Geophys.
Union Translation, Soviet Hydrol., Collected Papers No. 2).
Legend to the following Figure 9. The Thermal Bar: (a) in winter in
Lac Leman (Forel, 1895); (b) in spring and winter in Lake
Ladoga (Tikhomirov, 1963); (c) formation and development in Lake
Ontario (after Rodgers, 1966); (d) aftermath of a thermal bar in
June in northern Lake Michigan (Church, 1945).
[ Fig. 9b is attributed to Tikhomirov in S. V. Kalesnik's book
"Lake Ladoga," Leningrad, 1968.]
-------
1919
-a
w c
C ?H
TO 0)
£',
O
Jj
bfl
C. C
rt 0
o. o o;
S §^
"I « 13
til
0) !H I
Q)
.
o
0
o
M
«
QC
-------
1920
i I I i i i i i i i i i i i i
LUDINGTON
A J s '>
''»?, A • \
-_,/_>U-\^/' 1'.^
DATE OF FiG. 3 CRUISE
Fig. 2. Temperatures, °F, at the following municipal water intakes (July to Sep-
tember 1965): Two Rivers, Wis.(35); Ludington, Mich. (45); Milwaukee,
Wis.(55); Muskegon, Mich. (50); Racine, Wis.(29); Michigan City, Ind.
(38). The numbers in brackets indicate the depth of the intake in feet belov;
the lake surface. The above graphs represent 6-hr mean temperatures,
prepared from thermograph records or from other readings, except for
Two Rivers and Ludington, tor which only daily readings were available.
-------
SURFACE TEMPERATURE
°C
SYNOPTIC 3ZI
9 AUGUST 1955
1921
Fig. 3. Lake Michigan surface temperature, °C, S August 1955, based on a
multi-ship survey (Ayersj^tjil. 1958). The corresponding temperatures
at the coastal water intakes are shown in Fig. 2.
-------
1922
Figure 4.
-------
kilometres from Milwaukee breakwater
1923
120 127
Fig. 5. Lake Michigan 1963: Distribution of temperature, °C, in the Milwaukee
Muskegon section (selected from a series obtained on railroad ferry
crossings, Mortimer 1968), Run. No. 164, 19 July.
-------
20
Kilometres from Milwaukee breakwater
40 . 6O 8O
100
1924
120 127
Fig. 6. Lake Michigan 1963: Distribution of temperature, °C, in the Milwaukee -
Muskegon section (selected from a series obtained on railroad ferry
crossings, Mortimer 1968), Run. No. 192, 6 August.
-3.-TIMEtCS.TJ 1
20
21
-JL-.
22
23
1
-------
20
kilometres from Milwaukee breakwater
4O . 60 80
too
1925
120 127
Fig. 7. Lake Michigan 1963: Distribution of temperature, °C, in the Milwaukee-
Muskegon section (selected from a series obtained on railroad ferry
crossings, Mortimer 1968), Run. No. 214, 16 August.
-00
,
|
1 L_
LAKE MICHIGAN 1963: TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION. 'C,
IN THE MlLWAUKEE-MUSKEGON SECTION
1 . . . 1 , , , 1 , _.
RLIN NO 2i4
DATE: 16 AUGUST
1 , , ,
] " ~:
i i
-------
1926
Me
Fig. 8. Lake Michigan 1963: Distribution of temperature, °C, along the cruise
path of R/V "Cisco" on 29 July, from Milwaukee to mid-Lake, then north
for 16 km, then west to Sheboygan. Isometric projection; direction in
degrees (true).
-------
1927
The thermal bar.
Forel'e concept
[«]
LAKE ONTARIO
SURFACE TEMPERATURE MID-LAKE, N-S TEMPERATURE SECTIONS
Surface Temperature
i C«nhgro4<
Junt 7-9.1942
**t|
28-30 JUNE, 1965
• -V1 ' -'"' ' fc
si" v- / ' MA
,y»} ,,' i ,,/•
'•:67
66*
Figure 9. The thermal bar.
-------
1923
J. T. Sobota
MR. STEIN: Let's reconvene.
William Singer.
MR. SINGER: I prefer to wait for the conferees.
MR. STEIN: You may have to wait a long time.
MR0 SINGER: I have waited since 9:00 o'clock. I
think it is rude to ask someone to testify when there is no
one here to listen. I have waited since 9:00 o'clock. I
would rather not testify until the conferees are here to
listen.
MR. STEIN: Dr. Sobota.
STATEMENT OF JOSEPH T. SOBOTA, M.D.,
PRESIDENT, TEMP, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN
DR. SOBOTA: Chairman Stein, the Federal Water
Quality Administration, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries,
the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife, members of the
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference, and ladies and gentle-
men of the public. My name is Dr. Joseph T. Sobota. I
live at 2312 Glenwood Drive, Kalamasoo, Michigan, and I am
speaking on behalf of myself and Mr. Ron McCandlis, $619
Clato Street, also of Kalamazoo. I am Executive Director
of TEMP (Thermal Ecology Must be Preserved); Mr. McCandlis
is President of the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermen
-------
1929
J. T. Sobota
Association. More importantly, we represent the public in a
contested Atomic Energy Commission hearing concerning the
Consumer Power Company's Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert,
Michigan. The Michigan Lakes and Streams Association and
the National Sierra Club have joined us in this AEC hearing
being held in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Mr. McCandlis and myself, as citizens of the State
of Michigan, are represented by the Michigan Water Resources
Commission with regard to water pollution problems. In
196? this Board gave an order of water use determination to
Consumers Power Company allowing them to prospectively
operate the Palisades Nuclear Plant, in spite of this plant's
planned normal operation of dumping daily into Lake Michigan
561,000,000 gallons of water heated 28-degrees Fahrenheit
above normal lake temperature. No reconsideration of this
order was made in the intervening years, even though much
new substantial evidence of thermal pollution connected
with nuclear powerplants has since been developed, some
of which you .heard in the earlier parts of this morning.
In March 1970, the AEC gave notice in the Federal
Register of its intent to license this plant unless parties
whose interest would be affected intervened. At this time,
the State of Michigan remained without water temperature
standards approved by the Department of the Interior, In
-------
1930
J. T. Sobota
turn, the Department of Interior had neglected to promulgate
regulations of thermal input into the essentially Federal
Lake Michigan.
This dual vacuum of inactivity by the Department
of Interior and the Water Resources Commission in failing
to set thermal standards provoked our intervention April 2,
1970. Our petition for a public hearing included the
request for implementation of the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) as a vehicle for coordination of AEG,
Department of Interior, and Water Resources Commission
consideration of thermal pollution in Lake Michigan. A
determination on thermal pollution in an AEC hearing on
nuclear plant licensing would affect not only the Palisades
Plant but would serve as a precedent to the many other
plants of this variety planned or actually under construction
on the shores of the lake.
The hearings began in Kalamazoo June 23, 1970, and
are still in progress. In these hearings the Atomic Energy
Commission staff and the applicant, Consumers Power Company,
have by legal maneuvering attempted to avoid the topic of
thermal pollution and the effect of the Palisades and
similar nuclear powerplants1 total impact on Lake Michigan.
Until as recently as September 25, 1970, they have been
eminently successful in preventing such discussions.
-------
1931
J. T. Sobota
Through the brilliant legal representation of
Mr. Myron Cherry, our attorney, the AEG Safety and Licensing
Board in session in Kalamazoo referred to the Atomic Safety
and Licensing Appeal Board in Washington the following
September 3 ruling for judgment:
"The ruling that the National Environmental Policy
Act ... requires the Staff of the Commission to transmit
the application of Consumers Power Company (Palisades Plant)
to the several agencies of the Government for comments
respecting the environmental considerations enumerated in
said Environmental Act. In addition, the ruling requires
the Staff to prepare an environmental policy statement
based upon the comments submitted by the several agencies
of the Government and direct it specifically to the items
enumerated in the Environmental Policy Act."
In other words, the Safety and Licensing Board in
Kalamazoo asked thaf the Consumers Power Company and the
AEG staff, under the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act, consult with all concerned
agencies of the government, both State and Federal, regard-
ing the ecological impact of the Palisades Nuclear Plant
and the other nuclear plants in the lake basin.
The Appeal Board in its answer docketed September
25, 1970, Noo 50-255, essentially said that this type of
-------
1932
J. T. Sobota
report is not necessary for a one-megawatt license, but is
necessary for a full power license.
This is the first such implementation of questions
outside those of radioactive consideration to be addressed
by the AEC. After 4-and-one-half months of tedious,
difficult and considerably technical matters, our strategy
of using the National Environmental Policy Act as a vehicle
of introduction of thermal pollution at an AEC hearing had
paid dividends. The opportunity now exists, through the
AEC, to circulate the Palisades Nuclear Powerplant license
and an environmental report of the ecological impact of
this plant for comment to all appropriate Federal agencies
which might have expertise in this matter, so that this
will be addressed to you gentlemen now at this meeting.
We interpret this ruling as opening the door for
a significant participation by the Department of Interior
in respect to this licensing activity. Since the State of
Michigan has no thermal standards and since the Department
of Interior, through the agencies represented here (Federal
Water Quality Administration, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
and the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife) has
recommended a one-degree limit of heat input at the point
of discharge in its excellent report presented at this
meeting, we maintain that the Interior Department has the
-------
1933
Jo T. Sobota
only guidelines available for licensing this plant and
any other nuclear plant on Lake Michigan's shoreline. The
Appeal Board ruling specifically states:
"The determination (under NEPA) as to whether an
action constitutes a major Federal action significantly
affecting the quality of the human environment is one to be
made by the agency proposing or authorizing the action; and
we find this confirmed in the relevant legislative history.
As to the matter of making the determination, we find
nothing in NEPA which would preclude agencies from imple-
menting this responsibility as they implement others,
through the issuance of regulations which treat the categories
of agency actions."
Since the State of Michigan has no thermal stan-
dards for Lake Michigan, and while the Department of Interior
has no regulations, the only valid documents or guidelines
by the Interior Department are the ones submitted regarding
the 1-degree limit for heat input into Lake Michigan at
the point of emission.
In a matter of weeks, the environmental report
of the Consumers Power Company and the Palisades licensing
application will be forwarded to you gentlemen representing
the Department of Interior and the otate agencies here.
On the strength of your report submitted here entitled
-------
1934
J. F. Sobota
"Physical and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake
Michigan," the AEG will have no choice but to enter in
testimony regarding thermal pollution at the hearing, and
to resolve the considerations under which this plant will
dispense heat into Lake Michigan.
This is the way that the regulations and the
guidelines will be implemented in an action that demands
decision at this instant. These hearings are being held
at this instant.
I urge you to immediately request the license
and the environmental report from Consumers Power Company,
and immediately notify the AEC Hearing Board regarding Docket
No. 50-255 of your eminent participation in this hearing
on the matter of thermal pollution. It is within your power
now, on the basis of the AEC's own ruling, to so participate
and effectively promote the conclusions stated so well in
the previously cited paper "Physical and Ecological Effects
of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan." The Department of Interior
must utilize this opportunity to either promulgate a pro-
tective thermal standard without a pollution coefficient
and actively participate in the current AEC decision-making
hearings, the Palisades hearing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in
particular, or the significance of this conference will be
nothing more than a fraudulent exercise of public
-------
1935
J. F. Sobota
appeasement.
The Department of the Interior can now assume,
to a great extent, the responsibility abdicated by the
Water Resources Commission of the State of Michigan for
the past documented 32 months. As far back as January 196$,
the distinguished former Secretary of the Interior, Stewart
Udall, in a letter to the then Governor Romney of Michigan,
stated, "I am at this time excepting (Department of Interior)
... approval of temperature parameters as these apply to
the (fish, wildlife, and other aquatic life) water use for
all interstate waters covered in the Michigan State's
original and supplemental standards submissions, including
the waters of the Great Lakes. I believe that further dis-
cussions regarding these temperature 'parameters are neces-
sary, and I am instructing my people to contact your
officials without delay to begin working out such modifi-
cations as would afford great protection to this important
water resource use. I would greatly appreciate your
cooperation in this matter, and I remain confident that
our mutual efforts will result in modified temperature
parameters which I can approve." This letter was written
January 1968.
The Michigan Water Resources Commission has still
not proposed temperature standards which are acceptable
-------
1936
J. F. Sobota
to the Department of the Interior. Is this the type of
inaction to be expected from a responsible representative
group?
The responsibility also has been abdicated by
Consumers Power Company management. While they consistently
live within the letter of the law, they maintain public and
hearing positions which are contradictory. Publicly
Consumers Power Company maintains that no thermal pollution
will occur with the Palisades Nuclear Powerplant. In the
Atomic Energy Commission hearings in Kalamazoo, however,
they have legally briefed against hearing in an administrative
process their scientific proof and substantial alternate
scientific opinion on thermal effects such as the concise
paper just submitted by the Interior Department, and
remarks by eminent scientists like Dr, Don Pritchard.
We may surmise something of the soul of Consumers Power
Company management from tactics of the type just cited.
Apparently, in the area of thermal pollution where anti-
pollution controls are feasible and available and documented,
Consumers Power Company management has arbitrarily decided
not to provide the power of the Palisades Nuclear Powerplant
to the citizens of Michigan, rather than add one of the
available and feasible means of cooling the nuclear power-
plant water effluent.
-------
1937
J. F. Sobota
The organizations I represent have always operated
within the established rules of practice of the Atomic Energy
Commission, and other legal restraints that we are obligated
to work under. Delays of the plant in no way add substance
to our organization's aims. Our position as simply stated
is additional power supply to Michigan without pollution.
We refuse to accept a utility company's promise that any
harmful effects to the environment caused by a nuclear
powerplant would be taken care of if and when any occur.
I would like you to remember the earlier presen-
tation of the algae in Little Traverse Bay. That was
interesting news to me. I would like to know now what
material action will be taken to cure that if, in fact, it
is secondary to the Charlevoix big water plant.
While maintaining this posture, utility companies
neglect to define "harm" and exactly what action they would
take if such future -damage occurred.
We are not willing to play Russian roulette
with Lake Michigan. We have no evidence historically,
scientifically, nor can we deduct intuitively, that damage
once it occurs to the lake is reversible. Also, in view
of this fact, we must be on guard to prevent plants of the
Palisades type from gaining a vested interest by mere
active operation, enabling them to hide behind grandfather
-------
193^
J. T. Sobota
clauses, such as those which exist in the Federal Water
Quality Act of 1970.
Accommodation to pollution is an abomination
which should not be tolerated "by anyone in this room charged
with protecting the public interest. This applies as much
to power company representatives as to Federal and State
representatives. While the power companies must live
within the letter of the law, and they do, we charge them
to live within an enlightened outlook in an unpolluted
world.
In summary, the organizations I represent have
acted in a novel way to introduce the implementation of
thermal standards in an AEG hearing of a license to operate
a nuclear powerplant on Lake Michigan. The legal ruling
established in this hearing to date now affords the
Department of Interior the opportunity to act directly,
with guidelines and regulations, in areas such as the State
of Michigan, where no thermal standards exist, as an active
participant in forming the licensing stipulations which
will be in effect for the operation of such plants.
We charge them to act in a responsible manner at
the Palisades nuclear power hearing now under way in
Kalamazoo, Michigan. This action will serve as a precedent
to all other nuclear power facilities in the Great Lakes
-------
1939
J. T. Sobota
Basin and effectively implement the guidelines which were
so well presented by the Department papers released at
this conference. Successful participation on the part of
the Department of Interior, or better yet, responsible action
by the Water Resources Commission of the State of Michigan,
would provide the national precedent needed to blunt massive
thermal pollution threatened by a rapidly growing nuclear
power industry.
Thank you very much. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Dr. Sobota.
Any comments or questions?
MR. FETTEROLF: Yes.
Dr. Sobota, at the meeting of the Michigan V/ater
Resources Commission held on October 27, 1966, the order
of determination was adopted relative to Consumers Power
Company, Palisades Plant. This was before temperature
standards were required, and in the absence of temperature
standards I would like to read you Section 6 of that order
which states: The company shall not impart heat nor con-
tain any substances in sufficient quantity to create con-
ditions which are or may become injurious to the oublic
health, safety, or welfare, or which ar° or may become
injurious to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricul-
tural, recreational, or other uses which are being made
-------
1940
J. T. Sobota
of such waters, or which are or may become injurious to the
value or utility of riparian lands, or which are or may
become injurious to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish
or aquatic life, or the growth or propagation thereof.
In Section D of this order of determination, it
states: The company shall make measurements of wastes
discharged to Lake Michigan and shall perform such analyses
as are necessary to demonstrate that the requirements of
this order are being met. Reports of such analyses and
measurements shall be available for inspection by
authorized employees of the Water Resources Commission,
and an annual report thereof shall be submitted to the
Commission by the company.
With respect to —
DR. SOBOTA: May I answer that statement, please?
I have read that statement, and I would like to
again go back to the text of my remarks and substitute
"utility companies" for the Water Resources Commission.
While maintaining the posture in that document which is so
elegantly stated, the Water Resources Commission and the
companies have failed or neglected to find harm in exactly
what action they would take if such actual damage occurred.
Now, without the possiblity of using measuring
sticks for decision-making, and language of that type, I
-------
1941
J. T. Sobota
doubt whether, in fact, anything could be said other than
a very nice-sounding rhetoric to that statement0 (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Any other comments or questions?
MR. FRANCOS: Mr. Chairman, do we have copies
of that presentation now for the conferees?
DR. SOBOTA: I have a certain number of copies
available. 1 don't know whether there will be a sufficient
number for all of the members of the conference.
MR. STEIN: '.tfhy don't you bring up the ones you
have ?
Mr. Petersen.
MR. PETERSEN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 0. K.
Peterson.
Dr. Sobota, I understand you are a medical
doctor?
DR. SOBOTA: Is that a question?
MR. PETERSEN: Is that correct?
DR. SOBOTA: Yes, I am a physician. I specialize
in pathology*
MR. PETERSEN: Are you also a lawyer?
DR. SOBOTA: No, I am not.
MR. P3TER3EN: Then your comments as to the State
of Michigan not having standards in effect as to Lake
Michigan are your conclusions as a doctor rather than as
-------
1942
J. T. Sobota
a lawyer?
DR, SOBOTA: They are my conclusions as a physi-
cian, as an interested party in these hearings, as an active
participant in the intervention in a nuclear plant, and as
a citizen.
MR. PETERSEN: Are you aware that such standards
were adopted even if they were not approved by the Depart-
ment of the Interior — Secretary of the Interior —
correction.
DR<> SOBOTA: I understand that there were stan-
dards that were attempted to be promulgated, but were
consistently denied approval by the Department of Interior,
yes.
MR. PETERSEN: Is it my understanding that if
Consumers Power Company should put up cooling towers at
the Palisades plant that you would have no more difficulty
with the plant, and you would withdraw your opposition
to the licensing of that plant?
DR. SOBOTA: We would like to discuss that
possibility with the Consumers Power Company.
MR. PETERSEN: Then, when you say you would like
to discuss the possibility, you are not saying that is the
standing of your group?
DR. SOBOTA: Our standing is that we would like to
-------
1943
J. T. Sobota
protect the ecology surrounding that plant, and protect the
impact of heat dissipation from multiple nuclear plants
on Lake Michigan by whatever feasible means are available
for antipollution devices that would be attached to such
a set of plants.
MR. PETERSEN: When you said here that Consumers
Power Company had deprived the people of Michigan of that
electricity instead of putting up cooling towers or taking
other cooling action, you were not stating your entire
case, were you?
DR. SOBOTA: What I was stating there is that
Consumer Power Company management because of whatever
policies might have been the basis of the foundation for
designing and implementing the use of that plant had not
put on that plant feasible antipollution devices, and
because of that particular problem, and because of the
void of standards — thermal standards both by the Federal
and by the State Government, certain citizen groups adopted
a policy of intervention so that these questions would be
answered properly before the operation of that plant began.
It is a 40-year plant, and the operation of
such a plant, in the face of unknown irreversible damage
to a lake, and at a time where it may become a precedent-
setting plant and license for all of the plants around the
-------
1944
J. T. Sobota
Lake Michigan basin was also some of the reasoning for the
intervention in that particular plant by conservation
groups.
MR. PETERSEN: Your theory, then, is to oppose
this plant at this stage of operating after it has been
built instead of opposing future plants on a construction
basis, as you did not oppose this plant when it was being
constructed.
DR. SOBOTA: We do not oppose this plant, and
I think I want to make that very clear. AEG has seen fit
not to license this plant until after a hearing of all" of
the issues involved in the safety, in the performance
evaluation of the plant, and in the other considerations
that are made for the licensing of such a plant. It is
the AEG, in fact, that has not given you an operating
license.
MR. PETERSEN: Did you or any of your group
oppose the construction license for this plant?
DR. SOBOTA: I was not in the State of Michigan
at that time. We were not even formed at that time as far
as an organisation. But I must say we probably do have a
much quicker reaction time especially in view that we
understand technology races along and may leave the decisions
behind before adequate decisions could be made. And in that
-------
1945
W. S. Singer
regard we did act rather decisively and quickly after we
had analyzed the data that were available to us and also
to the conferees at this conference, and also to the Water
Resources Commission of the State of Michigan.
MR. PETERSEN: I take it your answer is no.
DR. SOBOTA: We did not participate in the con-
struction or permit hearing which was rather perfunctory,
after reading the transcript, because of the absence of
both my personal presence and the absence of organizations
concerned with this problem at that time0 (Applause)
MR0 PETERSEN: Thank you very much.
MR0 STEIN: Thank you.
May we have Alderman William Singer?
STATEMENT OF WILLIAM S. SINGER, ALDERMAN,
43rd WAHD, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MR. SINGER: Mr. Chairman and members of tho
conference. I am pleased to have the opportunity to appear
before this Third S -ssion of the Lake Michigan Enforcement
Conference and to testify regarding the proposed standard
before you at this time which would provide that "... no
significant amounts of waste heat ..." be discharged into
Lake Michigan.
-------
1946
W. S. Singer
Today you will hear testimony from the public on
this proposed standard and it is a fair guess that the
testimony will be relatively uniform in favor of your adop-
tion of this standard. This is no secret, but it occurs to
me that it is fair to go beyond the mere unanimous public
support for this proposed standard and probe the reasons for
this public support.
First, it must be abundantly clear that the people
of the States surrounding Lake Michigan fear its ultimate
death within this decade. The Lake Erie tragedy and the
constant reports of the eutrophication of our lake has
justifiably alarmed residents of the four States bordering
Lake Michigan.
Second, against this background of fear is a total
lack of trust and unwillingness to go further with those who
have polluted the lake for too many years. Industry now
says, "Give us a few plants and some more time." And the
public says, "Damn your time" — and rightly so.
What basis is there for trust when day after day
the pollution of the lake continues primarily through the
efforts of industry? The simple fact is that industry does
not deserve our trust.
Third, the public has seen too many examples of
"Try now, pay later." Drugs have been placed on the market
-------
1947
W. S. Singer
with insufficient testing, with often disastrous results.
Pollution of our environment has been caused by any number
of devices or products which the public was told would
help create "the better life." The public has paid dearly
for the better life and, indeed, if the same processes
continue, the end of the better life may be around the
corner.
Fourth, and perhaps most important, the public
knows what our science and technology can do if pushed far
enough. I would add here that the intent of this statement
is that it knows that the plants can continue their opera-
tion without thermal discharge; it knows it because even the
industry has said that there are alternative means such as
cooling towers, circulation systems. The powerplants on
the lake are the path of least resistance, economically
speaking, for the industry. The proposals to use lake
water and to discharge it at substantially higher degrees
are similarly the path of least economic resistance.
I understand that one witness has stated that
the proposal before you "is economically unrealistic<,"
Economically unrealistic to whom? To the public? No,
it is economically unrealistic, or stated perhaps more
accurately, less advantageous to the power industry. But
it is quite realistic to the public who will have to pay
-------
1943
W. S. Singer
if thermal discharges are found to be harmful to the lake.
Gentlemen, no one of us can ever accurately reflect
total public sentiment on any issue, but on this proposal
there can be little doubt that the public does not want to
take any more risks with the future of the lake. They
don't trust industry and they know that time is short.
It is unacceptable, as one power company spokesman has
suggested that it might be, to let the plants go ahead
and then we can test to determine if there is damage. But
that same spokesman has said that if after a year of study
damages did occur, it might take 2 or 3 years to change
the processes and eliminate the thermal discharge. That
means a period of almost 4 years during which time the
thermal discharges would continue unabated. Can we afford
any chance like this with Lake Michigan?
The public, I believe, says that we cannot, and
is asking you to say to industry that there will be no
more chances. It is asking you to say no thermal dis-
charges. I urge you to adopt such a strict standard at
this session of the conference before it is too Iate0
Let me add: It occurs to me that another public
reaction might be gleaned from the testimony before you
today of the seeming confusion that might result if one
were to ask, as you have, who and in what period of time
-------
1949
W. S. Singer
will come forth with a standard which will be effective to
stop any possible damage to Lake Michigan resulting from
thermal discharges? Who? Is it you as a conference? Is
it the Department of Interior? Is it each individual
State? The public doesn't really know, and I must say I
doubt you gentlemen know what the fastest way to achieve
that standard is.
But you gentlemen, collectively or individually
through your own States, have some power, and the decision
ought to be to exercise it as fast as possible even if it
means adopting a standard and promulgating a standard for
your individual States which may only be an interim one,
because an interim one will at least give the public
assurance that not until there is a clear and demonstrated
— it is clear and demonstrated that no harm will result
will thermal discharges be permitted.
If you want to label it "interim," fine, make
this clear, too: It will be interim until the industry
has made its case clear. And I suggest that if the public
is going to have any confidence in the political process
in terms of ending or turning around the process of
eutrophication of Lake Michigan, indeed all over this
country, if they are going to have that confidence in the
political process, then you gentlemen have it within your
-------
1950
W. S. Singer
power to do something about it soon.
We cannot continue the game of "Whose back is the
monkey on?" You can do it individually or collectively —
I don't care which — but I urge you to do it.
Thank you very much. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Alderman Singer.
Any comments or questions?
If not, may we have Mrs. Louise Erickson?
While she is coming up, I have several telegrams
which I would like to put in the record as if read, and
the statement of the Elk River Drainage Basin Council,
submitted by Mr. Ted F0 Miller, Chairman, and Mrs. James
Janis, Secretary, and one more telegram I would like to
read:
"It is my understanding that the FWQA will be
concluding an enforcement conference today concerning the
pollution problems of Lake Michigan and that the major
problem on the agenda will be that of thermal pollution
from powerplants.
"Whereas the scientific evidence regarding this
problem is admittedly inconclusive, it is my hope that it
will be regarded as sufficient to permit agreement on a
specific thermal standard for all plants on the lake. Any
such standard will necessarily be an imperfect approximation
-------
1951
Hon. P. A. Hart
of what is needed. Yet it would appear nonetheless to be
an improvement over the current system in which different
plants are held to different standards of beunt (sic.)
depending on which State's shoreline is involved.
"As for what the new standard should be, as you
well know, I lack the scientific competence to so much as
hazard an intelligent guess. As a lawyer, however, I can
advise that difficult questions of fact are often best
resolved by reliance on the issue of burden of proof. With
the question of thermal pollution, it would appear that the
burden as to safety must lie on those who would introduce
potentially dangerous elements into the environment.
Unless that burden is sustained we may risk intolerable
dangers to a resource we all hold dear.
"I wish you every success in your efforts.
Sincerely yours, Philip A. Hart, Chairman, Subcommittee on
Energy Natural Resources and the Environment."
I would like to place that telegram in the record,
(Applause)
I guess, knowing Senator Hart — I suspect I will
be before the committee to explain whether it is successful
or not successful in the future.
(The telegrams and statement referred to pre-
viously follow.)
-------
1952
Telegrams
(The following telegram was received from F. M.
Baumgartner, President, CNRA.)
"The Citizens Natural Resources Association of
Wisconsin strongly support Secretary Hickel's standard of
one-degree increase in water temperature from atomic
powerplants."
(The following telegram was received from E. K0
Born, President, Sheboygan Chapter, Izaak Walton League
of America.)
"The Sheboygan Chapter of the Izaak Walton League
of America and the Sheboygan Chapter members serving as
officers and directors of the state league heartily endorse
that the water temperature increased by nuclear powerplant
located on Lake Michigan be held to one degree. The state
league is represented by 2000 members and the Sheboygan
Chapter by 215 members."
(The following telegram was received from Mrs.
Betty Priebe, Waukesha, Wisconsin.)
"Favor stand against water pollution. Am owner
of bonds in Consumers Power. Environment most important."
(The following telegram was received from the
Staff of Virginia's Beauty Salon, Eleanore Grace, Manager,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.)
"We urge your continued effort to set standards
-------
1953
Telegrams
for Lake Michigan at the tolerable limit of one percent
thermal addition above water temperature, according to
Secretary of the Interior V/alter Hickel's statement. We
the general public may not be vocal but you have our full
support. Happy New Year, dear Mr. Stein, to you and
yours0"
(The following telegram was received from Keith
A. Ziolek, Park Ridge, Illinois.)
"Adopt strictest standard under consideration.
Save the lake."
(The statement presented by the Elk River
Drainage Basin Council follows in its entirety as if read.)
-------
1954.
ELK RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN COUNCIL
TO PROTECT THE WATER AND LAND RESOURCES OF OVER
BOO SQUARE MILES COMPRISING THE ELK RIVER WATERSHED
STATEMENT TO THE FEDERAL
ON POLLUTION OP LAKE MICHIGAN AW ImS TRIBUTARY
BASIN - THIRD SESSION. October 2, 1970,
Chicago, Illinois
Thank you for this opportunity to be heard relative
to the preservation of Lake Michigan in general, and to
.ermal pollution in the Basin in particular.
The Elk River Drainage Basin Council operates in
northern lower Michigan between Traverse City and Charle-
voix and represents 30 municipalities and almost that
many groups and organizations. Organized under Michigan
ct 200 in December, 1969, the sole purpose of the Council
is to work towarde the preservation of the natural resources
the over $00 square miles within the Elk River Drainage
asin. The Basin outlet is at Elk Rapids, flowing into
ihe East arm of Grand Traverse Bay.
This part of the country Is still beautiful. But,
even our clean waters now show increasing traces of algae,
detergent foam, oil slick, muddy waters and the usual
debris of litter which follow man's activities. Tourism
provides the main economic base for the area - hunting,
fishing, skiing, boating, etc. Agriculture is a mainstay
with cherries being the special product.
Because of its natural attractiveness, many
"downstaters" and out-of-staters are anxious to visit
A COUNCIL OF MUNICIPALITIES AND ORGANIZATIONS IN ANTRIM. CHARLEVOIX,
GRAND TRAVERSE, AND KALKASKA COUNTIES. ESTABLISHED UNDER MICHIGAN PUBLIC ACT 2OO.
-------
2m 1955
and live in this area. However, preventitive measures must be taken
to protect those resources which are attr acting the Increasing numbers
of part-time and full-time residents.
Because of this Increasing population and the great potential for
this increase, our Council is concerned about the future supply of
power for homes and industries. Our power currently is supplied by
several utilities - Consumers Power Company and Cherryland Rural
Electric to name only two. New or enlarged power plants in the Basin
could cause conflict in several ways, ranging from the aesthetics to
the thermal discharge which has been an inherent part of any power
Installation to date.
Our waters are generally cold wateir streams and lalces which support
an ecology of cold water fish and plants. Any type of mixing zones
permitting heated effluent would alter the ecology of the involved area
and permit the speed-up of deterioration of the waters because of the
higher temperatures.
Our Council has not formally been Involved in a detailed s tudy of
temperature standards, types of preferable cooling systems or construc-
tion techniques. It Is felt, however, that the entire community would
support strict enforcement of the highest standards for control and
avoidance of thermal discharge. We would hope to have the opportunity
to review and comment on any proposal for power plant construction within
this Watershed.
We urge a Lake Michigan Basin adoption of the 1 degree ma xlmum
discharge temperature of heated effluent as recommended by the Federal
Water Quality Administration. We are apprehensive of the ability to
measure the temperature of mixing zones at all times of the year and
so would encourage the measurement of the effluent at the point of
discharge.
Strict enforcement of the strictest standards will be the only way
-------
1956
in which cold water recreational uses can be preserved and true
conservation attempts can be successful.
Thank you.
ELK RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN COUNCIL
Ted F. Miller, Chairman
Elk Rapids, Michigan 49629
June Janis, Secretary
Route 1
Williamsburg, Michigan ^9690
-------
1957
Mrs, L. Erickson
MR. STEIN: Mrs. Erickson.
STATEMENT OF MRS. LOUISE ERICKSON, CHAIRMAN,
RACINE COMMITTEE FOR THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT,
RACINE, WISCONSIN
MRS. ERICKSON: I am Mrs. Louise Erickson from
Racine, Wisconsin. I am speaking for the Racine Committee
for the Natural Environment.
By an analysis of the ecosystems of Lake Michigan,
by studying the huge numbers of carp, alewives, smelt, and
other fresh fish, it is apparent to most of us that Lake
Michigan is already a lake which is ecologically very ill.
Therefore, the Racine Committee for the Natural Environment
maintains that thermal pollution of Lake Michigan should
not be allowed, and toward this end supports the proposed
standard of one degree temperature rise.
I should like to make some further comments.
First, I am going to make some comments in regard to Green
Bay. As you saw Green Bay on the map — the geological
maps which were shown earlier — you could see that Green
Bay is essentially a very shallow bay, particularly in
its south end.
I have been in the area of Green Bay all my life
-------
19 53
Mrs. L. Erickson
in summers. We have a cottage on Washington Island and
I have been in this area every summer since I was 3 years
old.
On the peninsula, there is a beautiful park called
Peninsula Park, and there is'a tower here, and I can remember
as a girl that looking off that tower over Green Bay the
water was blue as blue could be, and now when you look at
the water, it is very brown. The fishermen who used to
fish in Green Bay cannot fish there anymore. They can't
catch fish in Sturgeon Bay. You can't catch fish off the
west side of the peninsula. In order to get good eating
fish most of the time they need to go off the end of the
peninsula. Green Bay itself must be too polluted, too
disturbed for proper fishingo
The algae have become thick in Ellison Bay. I
swam there this summer. The rocks are just absolutely
covered with green.
I heard a fisherman speak 3 or 4 years ago at
a water quality hearing on Sturgeon Bay. He said they
used to cast their nets out at Sturgeon Bay but they can't
do it now and sometimes when they put their nets in the
water, the fish would be caught alive and a tide would
come over and the fish would die before morning in the
nets.
-------
1959
Mrs. L. Erickson
The algae are beginning to come to Washington
Island where our cottage is. I can remember some 20 years
ago that one could see the bottom in 30 feet of water.
Well, you can't do that anymore; it is getting cloudy.
They are beginning to get many carp there on this island
which is quite a ways out in the middle of the lake, in the
bay.
Now, none of this, I presume, is directly
attributable to the power companies nor their thermal load
that they may place on the lake. But I should like to make
a special plea that Green Bay is almost dead at its south
end, that it receives a huge load of pollution from the
Fox River every day.
A statement was made at a Green Bay conference
on the lake that the amount of pollution going into Green
Bay was equal in biological oxygen demand as if a city of a
million people were putting its pollution into Green Bay
every day with no treatment. So you can see that the
south end of Green Bay is a great problem area*
So, therefore, I would like to. make a plea that
Green Bay be considered as a special instance of — a
special part of Lake Michigan, and that due to its high
priority as a problem area that plants be not allowed to
be sited on Green Bay and contribute to the thermal
-------
I960
Mrs. L. Erickson
pollution of this particular area until all of the sources
of pollution can be cleaned up.
In regard to siting, I would like to make another
statement: I, too, bewail the fact that the Kewaunee plant
and the. Point Beach plant were allowed to be placed so
close to each other. One of these is a double plant, and
they all three are fairly large, and so this is, in effect,
locating three plants within just a few miles of each
other.
Now, the thermal effects of this can be rather
disastrous. I think this was a very great mistake in
siting of plant location.
Then, I want to make another plea in regard to
siting of a nuclear plant or plants0 There is actually
no reason why these plants should be allowed to be sited
immediately adjacent to recreational areas. I personally
have long enjoyed the Point Beach Park. But when I go
there now and have to see these ugly towers in the plant
that is already there, I feel that there is a certain
amount of visual pollution of the beautiful Point Beach
Park.
The Point Beach Park is also near to the Point
Beach Forest in Wisconsin and isn't a very good help for
that area.
-------
1961
Mrs. L. Erickson
The Cook Plant over in Michigan is right in the
middle of the beautiful Grand Marais area which is being
attempted to be preserved as a natural area. The Indiana
Dunes are also having trouble becuase they have a fossil
fuel plant that is sort of a problem for that lakeshore.
Wouldn't it be possible to have our electric
plants placed somewhere that is not adjacent immediately
to some beautiful area that we have preserved for the people
to use as a recreational site? (Applause)
I would like to say that it seems apparent to me
in reading some of the testimony and in hearing some of the
statements at this meeting — I have not been here the whole
time — that it is not only the power companies in Illinois
that have a monopoly on not caring so much about the envir-
onment but I would like to point out that our Wisconsin
power companies do not seem to do this either.
Then, in closing, I would like to say that I am
very much concerned about Lake Michigan as a whole, and I
feel that we may be approaching the point of no return.
I can remember when scores of fishing boats
could go out in the lake and could reap the fish from the
lake, and now the catch of whitefish and trout in — Lake
Michigan trout, and so forth, is almost miniscule.
I think we may be reaching this point of no return,
-------
1962
R. McCandlis
We may be reaching the point that Dr, Bardach
mentioned for the lakes in Switzerland, or for Lake Geneva
in Switzerland, when he spoke of the increasing rate of
eutrophication. We don't know but what Lake Michigan may
be on the beginning of this steep climb toward complete
eutrophicationo So I think we should be very careful
and want to preserve our lake immediately before it is too
late. So let us say — borrowing a phrase of Dr, Bardach
— let us not contribute to the "galloping eutrophication"
of Lake Michigan. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Erickson.
Any comments or questions?
If not, thank you very much.
Ron McCandlis. As I understood it, Mr. McCandlis,
you said your statement will be 2 or 3 minutes.
STATEMENT OF RON McCANDLIS, PRESIDENT
PRO-TEM, MICHIGAN STEELHEAD AND SALMON
FISHERMENS ASSOCIATION, KALAMAZOO,
MICHIGAN
MR. McCANDLIS: Ron McCandlis., I live at 5619
Clato Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan. I am President of the
Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermens Association.
-------
1963
R. McCandlis
I wanted to take a minute to enlighten you
gentlemen here at this table a little bit about how directly
temperature affects fishing in Lake Michigan, or the Groat
Lakes as a whole, or actually fish around the world, as we
are learning.
I have here in my hands a typical type of
thermometer we use. This is an example of an electronic
thermometer which I utilize in my research sport fishing
on the Great Lakes for over 35 tackle companies. I do
this as an avocation.
This is a Vexilar-Z'pnar thermometer.* V/e can
measure temperatures from curfr,ce to depths as great -\s
100 feet.
You may question how important this is. V/ell,
I can give you a good example. V/hen we can reach 54-degrcG
temperature water, we can catch fish on nearly any lure
readily.
I was about to point out this particular tie
clasp the second gentleman is wearing. If a hook were
attached to that tie clasp, it would catch salmon in Lake
Michigan in 54-degree water. Ao you move away from 54-degree
water, each degree becomes important for the coho salmon.
With lake trout, we are talking about 50-dogree, in
contrast to salmon, and we have learned to find the exact
*Trade naiue
-------
1964
R. McCandlis
temperature and we look for a temperature within one degree
when we are fishing.
Now, this has been verified time and time again0
If you want documentation of some of this, I do have records
of my 1,500 documented hour's of fishing on Lake Michigan.
A good example is over the past 6 weeks we have
had fishing in Lake Michigan as one has never seen before,,
Three weeks ago in 10 hours I boated with a single rod and
reel over 700 pounds of salmon, 5^ fish, because the water
temperature of 54 degrees could be attained exactly with
great ease with the lure.
Earlier it was alluded to in the question of
Dr. Bardach what happens in the thermal bar, in mixing
across the thermal bar. Fish, especially salmon and lake
trout, stay shoreward of the thermal bar. They will not
cross the thermal bar in the spring and in the fall. A
number of times I have experienced finding the thermal bar
with my electronic thermometers. Fishing back and forth
across the thermal bar and, as I suggested, to the inside
of the thermal bar, I get a fish maybe on every rod,
maybe sometimes on just one or two rods. When one crosses
to the outside of the thermal bar, no fish appear on the
electronic finder, where you can actually identify the
species "beneath the boat. You can note there are no fish
-------
1965
R. McCandlis
on the outside of the thermal bar; within the inside of
the thermal bar there are fish.
Also it was asked of Dr. Bardach and some other
people here, or there was a suggestion or possibly an
inference, that fish can escape heated water. This is
not always true. The best example that I can think of is
in 1968, when the salmon were returning to their home
streams and the urge of spawning due to reproductive hor-
mones in the system of the fish was driving the fish
instinctively home to its river. It could not find any
water temperature less than 64 degrees. It was impossible
during that time to catch fish, and this has been documented,
The other example I would make on the —
MR. STEIN: How much longer will it take you to
complete your 2 minutes?
MR. McCANDLIS: I will complete it with that.
I merely wish to point out that the temperature
i~ vu-y specific; within one degree, we can catch fish.
And if you question how many people utilise this, I would
like to end my comments in pointing out that on Labor Day
of 1967, there were 39,000 fishermen fishing between the
ports of Ludington and Manistee on Lake Michigan.
Give it some thought. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank youc Are there any comments
-------
1966
D. Schindler
or questions?
Mr. McCandlis, thank you very much.
Again, I would say, we are here to hear you out,
but the question is that some of you have waited a long
time. The shorter everyone is in his presentation the
nicer people who are waiting are going to think he is.
Dana Schindler.
STATEMENT OF DANA SCHINDLER, MANISTEE
COUNTY ANTI-POLLUTION ORGANIZATION,
MANISTEE, MICHIGAN
MISS SCHINDLER: Gentlemen of the panel and
representatives of the conference, I am representing the
Manistee County Anti-Pollution Organization, Manistee,
Michigan. This is a small organization, but we bring this
chloride problem to your attention because of its urgency
for all members of the Lake Michigan watershed area.
MR. STEIN: Miss Schindler, how long will your
presentation take?
MISS SCHINDLER: It will take from 15 to 20
minutes, sir.
MR. STEIN: Miss Schindler, I am afraid we have
-------
1967
D. Schindler
a problem here if we are dealing with thermal problems as
well as chlorine problems.
Now, you can speak on this, but I am afraid we
are going to have to give priority to thermal problems.
Now, if you can't summarize your statement, I am going to
have to ask you to step down and we will have people on
thermal problems come first.
MISS SCHINDLER: The letter of invitation did
not —
MR. STEIN: I understand that. I am just talk-
ing about when you get on. Can you summarize this or do
you want to wait until later?
MISS SCHINDLER: I will go on.
MR. STEIN: Can you summarize your statement?
MISS SCHINDLER: It is immoral for Michigan
industries to pollute water that the people of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan are going to have to try
to drink.
MR. STEIN: Miss Schindler, I take it you are
not going to summarize.
MISS SCHINDLER: I will summarize.
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
MISS SCHINDLER: I hope that most of you have
had the opportunity to review this presentation0 Your
-------
1963
D. Schindler
future drinking water is at stake.
Our organization took water samples and had them
analyzed. Through investigation, we found that our drinking
water was being contaminated with chlorides. For example,
the chloride testing of Lake Michigan, 20 feet northwest of
the Packaging Corporation of America's pipeline in Lake
Michigan registered 220 parts per million. Michigan's
State-Federal standard is 50 p.p.m. This is compared to the
Indiana and Illinois State-Federal standard of 10 p.p.m.
Within the text of our attached report given at
a Natural Resources Commission meeting in June, titled,
"The Unpolluted Truth About the Water Pollution Problem in
Manistee," we outlined every problem we were able to find
in our area concerning the ground and surface water contamina-
tion. Nothing stated therein has been refuted by the Michigan
Natural Resources Commission or their subsidiary agencies.
In our attempt to stop the chloride pollution of
the ground and surface waters of our area which includes
Lake Michigan, we drafted a letter to Ralph Purdy of the
Michigan Water Resources Commission on June 30, 1970, a
copy of which is attached — June 13, excuse me. (See
Pp. 1994-1996)
In this letter, our engineering data outlined
three feasible methods to discontinue chloride discharge
completely within 30 days, the simplest and most economical
-------
1969
D. Schindler
being to return the brine back to the now inoperative wells,
thus returning the salt to the Sylvania level from whence
it came. This would eliminate ground and surface water
contamination•
The MWRC will not issue the cease and desist
request which was included in the above letter saying that
conclusive evidence of injury does not exist. If conclusive
evidence does not exist, one would wonder, then, the mean-
ing and the purpose of the water standards. Why have them
when if they are violated it is not evidence enough?
On July 30, the MWRC issued a letter to all salt-
and brine-producing industries. We attach a copy of this
letter and ask you to note especially the target date of
December 1, 1971, for the "elimination of concentrated
chloride discharge." (See Pp. 1999-2000) We have since
spoken to the MWRC and have inquired as to what disposition
will be made of the lower concentrations of chlorides
entering Manistee Lake and River and Lake Michigan both
legally and illegally. The MWRC advised that they will
probably have to establish a program, but to our knowledge
there is no program planned except to ask these industries
to voluntarily discontinue concentrated chloride discharge
by December 1, 1971.
May I repeat that our engineering data has
shown that this can be economically accomplished in 30 days.
We were not satisfied with this target date and
-------
1970
D. Schindler
our next step was to draft a second letter to Ralph Purdy
again giving engineering data on how the major chloride
producer could alter his process in a minor way to greatly
reduce chloride discharge. To date, Mr. Purdy has not seen
fit to reply to this letter dated August 2S, 1970.
Turning specifically to Lake Michigan, the
Packaging Corporation of America is creating a reverse
estuarine by dumping 1 million pounds of chlorides per day
into Lake Michigan which they purchase from Standard Lime
and Refractories. This figure was confirmed by Norman
Billings, Assistant Executive Secretary of MWRC, in a letter
of May, 11, (P. 2017) the point being that Section (k) of
the Corps of Engineers 1956 permit for this pipeline allows
a maximum of 5»000 pounds of solids to be discharged daily.
We are talking about a discharge of a million pounds.
Therefore, it is MACAPO's opinion that the terms
of the permit are being grossly violated by this chloride
addition. Incidentally, these chlorides are added to
increase the specific gravity of Packaging's 10.5 million
gallons of paper mill waste dumped daily into Lake Michigan.
These chlorides are supposed to make the very dark brown
effluent sink and, therefore, disappear. The industry
does this with the blessing of the MWRC.
You might arrive at some indication of the
strength of the effluent which PGA is attempted to sink by
considering the fact that in June 1950, paper mill waste
-------
1971
D. Schindler
from this above-mentioned industry, in combination with
weather conditions caused a fish kill in Manistee Lake
believed to have been the largest fish kill in the history
of Michigan.
The 1956 order of determination did require
improved waste treatment facilities but nevertheless please
note particularly that a September 1963 letter from Mr.
Purdy speaks of the improved condition of Manistee Lake,
explaining that portions of the Packaging Corporation
effluent had been diverted to the Big Manistee River and
to Lake Michigan, as these bodies of water, he states, "...
have ... the capacity to dilute the salt and assimilate
the oxygen-demanding effluent." (See P. 2022)
Since this letter of 1963, our Nation has become
aware that our oceans and Great Lakes do not have this
sempiternal capacity, that our earth and water and air
are limited in what they can supply without care, and that
we are drawing close to that limit.
We hope that our Water Resources Commission would
act according to this knowledge, even if it would mean
reversing previous orders. And yet when the Packaging
Corporation of America completes their $6.5 million secondary
waste treatment plant in December 1972, we have been informed
by Donald Voigts, their Environmental Director, that the
brown color of their mill effluents will remain and that the
chlorides cannot be discontinued; that they are "necessary
to sink the color." (Out of sight, out of mind.')
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1972
D. Schindler
We are not saying that Packaging Corporation is
not doing something about their pollution. Six and a half
million dollars means they are doing something. But we
are wondering if the priorities are correct.
Just a minute more.
We are gravely concerned about the continued
addition of chlorides to Lake Michigan as this is a
freshwater lake, and adding a million pounds of chloride
daily is bound to have ecological consequences unnatural
to freshwater.
I asked Donald Voights what he thought a million
pounds of chlorides entering Lake Michigan daily would do
and what effect this would have, and he shook his head
and said, "Nasty."
Ecological consequences are of utmost importance
especially when ground water contamination of the Manistee
area and no doubt dryness and various misuses in other areas
will force the Lake Michigan watershed area to rely on
Lake Michigan for drinking water.
Our concern is multiplied threefold as a result
of MWRG's Regional Engineer, Robert Courchaine's statement
to MACAPO's secretary, that the MWRC may consider exempting
the Packaging Corporation from the concentrated chloride
dumping termination date of December 1, 1971> "as it might
-------
1973
D. Schindler
work a hardship on theme"
The temperature as it leaves the factory is 90
degrees. Charter boat fishermen have said it is 4 degrees
higher than the surrounding waters.
MACAPO has no desire to shut down any industry.
The industries are only doing what the MWRC has allowed
them to doo The economically feasible, technological
methods are available to stop this willful pollution, but
it is our opinion that the MWRC has placed the people of
Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, second to the
special interests of industry.
MR. STEIN: Is that the conclusion?
MISS SCHINDLER: It would seem a most reluctant
attitude —
One can only conclude that if this — just a
minute, please.
The scope of this deterioration is not by any
means a local problem. Those of us who have taken part
in this Four-State Lake Michigan Conference can readily
see that this vast volume of high parts per million of
chloride can saturate the total volume of Lake Michigan.
One can only conclude that if this continues and
no cease and desist is rigidly enforced, the whole of Lake
Michigan will approach and surpass the high chloride
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1974
D. Schindler
standards set by Illinois and Indiana.
In conclusion, it is a sad state of affairs when
the attitude of our State agencies is that of the old cliche;
Speech is Silver, but Silence is Golden.
But this is an era when something must be said;
more importantly, something must be done.
I thank you for this opportunity to speak, and
we hope with your help that all pollutants of Lake Michigan
will cease and desist. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Miss Schindler.
Are there any comments or questions?
MR. FETTEROLF: Yes.
I do not feel that a total response to this is
called for at a conference on thermal pollution. But
very briefly, I would like to say that in response to the
letters sent out by the Michigan Water Resources Commission
in August of 1970 asking the salt companies to enter into
a voluntary agreement to virtually eliminate their brine
discharges by December 1971 have been responded to, and
the companies are investigating various techniques and
will submit their plans as soon as they are prepared.
Now, once the plans are submitted, then we feel
that these voluntary programs will then be incorporated
into an enforceable stipulation by the Commission. For
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1975
D. Schindler
various reasons it is impossible for them to go ahead
immediately. The areas are simply not available for them
to dispose of their brines, but, Miss Schindler, there is
one area in which your organization could be of a great
help to the industry in that area: the Packaging
Corporation of America is proceeding with plans for
secondary treatment and disposal of their wastes. They
are having a very difficult time in having any of the
townships agree that they want this treatment facility on
that land.
If you could perhaps work with the local
officials up there to aid Packaging Corporation to find a
suitable site which could be properly zoned, this could
certainly expedite the matter.
MISS SCHINDLER: The people don't want the
Packaging Corporation clime because it creates a horrible
odor and it kills the trees. It is brown, untreated
effluent, and no township is willing to accept this.
And in response to our statement about finding
ways to return chlorides, or eliminate the chloride
pollution, I am wondering why Mr. Purdy will not respond
to our letters and what is wrong with the five or si;c
methods we have suggested for eliminating chlorides?
And it does seem that there is no more
-------
1976
D. Schindler
technological method than simply returning the salt back
into the wells from which it came — the inoperative wells.
This would eliminate ground and surface water contamination
without any problem at all, and our own engineering data
has shown that this can be accomplished in 30 days. We
have received no word from the MWRC as to why this plan is
no good; if it is no good.
MR. FETTEROLF: I would be pleased to take this
up when we get back in Michigan, but in the interest of
time — if that is your attitude, I would be glad to go
into a detailed explanation of this.
MR. STEIN: Are there any more questions or
comments?
MR. CURRIE: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I find this testimony profoundly disturbing, and
what I find disturbing about it is the possibility that
any such things as- described in the testimony may be
happening to Lake Michigan.
I think this conference once again should be
urged to reconvene at an early date in order to consider
such problems as chloride accumulations and chloride
inputs to the Iake0 I recognize that this is primarily
a thermal pollution workshop. I think we have to get
back together very soon and consider all our other problems
-------
1977
D. Schindler
of Lake Michigan, and I would urge the conference to recon-
vene soon in order to determine whether or not there has
been compliance with the deadlines set down by the confer-
ence itself in the past and, if not, to cause legal action to
be instituted wherever necessary to assure that compliance
takes place; and finally to reconsider the adequacy of the
standards themselves.
Again, I would like to note the comparison that
Miss Schindler drew between the Illinois standard of 10
p.p,m, of chlorides for as long in the future as 19$0, a
standard which I criticized yesterday as too lenient, and
the Michigan standard of 50 p.p.m. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Mr. Currie, I have always said the
four States up here had some of the best water pollution
control programs in the country0 I spent a good part of
the fifties and perhaps some of the early sixties down in
the southwest dealing with oil well brines and salt pollu-
tion on a massive scale. I thought we had that licked.
I thought we had the remedial facilities down there with
reinjection.
We have cleaned up tremendous oil fields where we
had brine problems, and I surely hope the States can do this
here without any assist from us again because we hate to
slip backn
(Miss Schindler's report follows in its entirety*)
-------
1978
THE CHLORIDE CONTAMINATION
of
Lake Michigan at
MANISTEE, MICHIGAN
Presented by
Miss Dana Schindler
representing
the
MANISTEE COUNTY ANTIPOLLUTION ORGANIZATION (MACAPO)
of
MANISTEE, MICHIGAN
PRESENTED TO THE
FOUR STATE
LAKE MICHIGAN ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE
September 23 - October 2, 1970
at the
SHERMAN HOUSE
Chicago, Illinois
-------
1979
Representatives of the conference:
It is immoral for Michigan industries to pollute water
Chat the people of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan
are going to have to try to drink.
I hope that you have all had the opportunity to review
this presentation. Your future drinking water is at stake.
When MACAPO was founded April 29, 1970, we decided to
tackle the worst pollution problem our area had; water pollution.
We didn't know what to look for. As one of our members put it:
You can see it,
You can smell it,
It's NOT water;
It's something else?
So we took water samples and had them analyzed. A copy
of the analysis is attached.
Through investigation, we found that our drinking water
was being contaminated with chlorides. These chlorides come from
salt producing industries of our town; namely Morton Salt,
Morton Chemical, Hardy Salt and Standard Lime & Refractories.
Within the text of our report, "The Unpolluted Truth About
the Water Pollution Problem in Manistee," we outlined every
problem we were able to find in our area concerning the ground
and surface water contamination. Nothing stated therein has
been refuted by the Michigan Water Resources Commission or their
subsidiary agencies. A copy of the report is attached.
In our attempt to stop this chloride pollution of our ground
cind surface waters, which includes Lake Michigan, we drafted a
letter to Ralph Purdy on June 13, 1970, copy of which is attached.
In this letter our engineering data outlined 3 feasible methods
to discontinue chloride discharge completely within 30 days.
The MWRC will not issue the cease and desist request, which was
included in the above letter, saying that conclusive evidence
of injury does not exist. Copies of their letters to us of
June 18 and July 30 are attached.
In early June we also learned that the MWRC had just
completed a 2-year study of the Manistee area to determine what
was responsible for the chloride contamination and what feasible
methods could correct this.
On July 24, 1970, after much pressure on the MWRC from
our group, Ken Childs, Geologist for the MWRC presented his
study in Lansing. His findings, opinions, and recommendations
are as outlined in our news release dated July 25, which is attached.
-------
1980
His study confirmed everything our previous reports
had already brought to public attention and then some.
Also attached is MACAPO'S presentation to the MWRC on
The MWRC then, on July 30, 1970 issued a letter to all salt and
brine producing industries. We attach a copy of this letter and ask you
to note especially the target date of December 1, 1971 for the
"elimination of concentrated chloride discharge." We have since spoken
to the MWRC and have inquired as to what disposition will be made of
the lower concentrations of chlorides entering Manistee Lake and
the Manistee River, both legally and illegally. The MWRC advise that
they'll probably have to establish a program to take care of that. So to
our knowledge, the MWRC has no program plan except to ask those industries
to voluntarily discontinue concentrated chloride discharge by
December 1, 1971. By figuring the daily chloride discharge to Manistee
Lake and Lake Michigan, these industries now have the green light to
pollute YOUR drinking water with over 1 (ONE) BILLION more pounds
of chlorides before they legally must stop.
We were not satisfied with this target date and our next stop was to
draft a second letter to Ralph Purdy, again giving engineering data on
how the major chloride producer could alter his process in a minor way
to greatly reduce chloride discharge. To date, Mr. Purdy hasn't seen
fit to reply to the letter dated August 28, 1970, which we also attach
for your perusal.
Also attached is a copy of our letter to Governor Milliken
dated September 1 , 1970.
We have been in contact with the Corps of Engineers, our United
States attorney and the Federal Water Quality Administration, urgently
requesting their intervention on behalf of the people of the United States.
We have been advised that a federal investigation of the Manistee
area waters is scheduled by FWQA, although we have no specific date
when this will take place. We have furnished evidence to the Corps of
Engineers and requested an investigation of the waters surrounding
Maniotee so they may furnish our United States Attorney with proof of
violations of the 1399 Rivers and Harbors Act. To date, we have received
no confirmation if or when the Corps of Engineers will investigate. The
United States Attorney will not act until the Corps of Engineers furnish
the evidence.
The Packaging Corporsion of America is creating a reverse estuarine
by dumping 1 (ONE) million pounds of chlorides per day into Lake Michigan
which they purchase from Standard Lime & Refractories. This figure was
confirmed in Norman Billings' letter of May 11, 1970, which is attached.
In 1956, the Corps of Engineers issued a permit to the Packaging
Corporation for their present 24 inch pipeline to Lake Michigan. Section
-------
1981
of the permit allows a MAXIMUM of 5,000 pounds of solids to
be discharged daily through this pipe. Therefore, it is
MACAPO's opinion that the terms of the permit are being
grossly violated by this chloride addition. Incidentally,
these chlorides are added to increase the specific gravity
of Packaging's 10-1/2 million gallons of paper mill waste
dumped daily into Lake Michigan, which is supposed to make
it sink and "disappear." This industry does this with the
blessings of the MWRC.
In Manistee Lake in June of 1950 the paper mill waste
from this above-mentioned industry, in combination with weather
conditions caused a fish kill believed to have been the largest
in the history of Michigan1 Please note that a September 1963
letter from Mr. Purdy speaks of the improved condition of
Manistee Lake, explaining that portions of the Packaging
Corporation effluent had been diverted to the Big Manistee
River and to Lake Michigan which he states, "have the capacity
to dilute the salt and assimilate the oxygen demanding effluent."
Since 1963 our Nation has become aware that our oceans and
Great Lakes do not have this sempiternal capacity. And yet
when the Packaging Corporation completes its $6-1/2 million
secondary waste treatment plant in December 1972, we have been
informed by Donald Voights, their Technical Director, that the
brown color of their effluent will remain and the CHLORIDE
CANNOT BE DISCONTINUED; that they are necessary to ...SINK THE
COLOR:
We are gravely concerned about the continued addition
of chlorides to Lake Michigan as this is a freshwater lake, and
adding 1,000,000 Ibs. of chloride daily is bound to have ecologi-
cal consequences unnatural to freshwater. Ecological conse-
quences are of utmost importance, especially when ground-water
contamination in the Manistee area and no doubt dryness and
various misuses in other areas will force the Lake Michigan
watershed area to rely on Lake Michigan for drinking water.
Our concern is multiplied as a result of MWRC Regional
Engineer Robert Courchaine's statement to MACAPO's secretary -
that the MWRC may consider exempting the Packaging Corporation
from the concentrated chloride dumping termination date of
December 1, 1971,"if it might work a hardship on them."
MACAPO has no desire to shut down any industry. The
industries are only doing what the MWRC has allowed them to
do. The economically feasible, technological methods are
available to stop this willful pollution, but it is our opinion
that the Michigan Water Resources Commission has placed the
people of Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan second to
the special interests of industry.
Please refer to the news clipping which is attached as
-------
1982 -1983
one further example of the ever complacent attitude of the
MWRC In regard to the pollution problems of Manistee. Even
after an exhaustive 2-year study by their State geologist,
pointing out the extreme adverse chloride and paper mill waste
deterioration which plagues the surface and ground waters of
our area, members of the MWRC now take to the public podium
to reinsure the main chloride polluters that any small gesture
in reducing the chloride parts per million, whether by adding
a volume of water or other devious means to perpetuate this
facade upon the public can now stand reassured that the courts
will take no action in public or private suit for cease and
desist of chloride contamination as specified by MACAPO and
highly recommended by their state geologist as a first step
in the restoration of the waters of our area.
We of MACAPO feel that this is just another gesture by
the MWRC to gloss over the major problem of our area, by
usurping the final verdict of the courts of our land in favor
of the continuation of this most immediate deteriorating pol-
lution problem of our area.
The scope of this deterioration is not by any means a
local problem,as any of the States bordering Lake Michigan
who have taken part in the Four State Lake Michigan conference
and are concerned over the chloride parts per million can readily
see that this vast volume of high parts per million chloride can
saturate the total volume of Lake Michigan.
One can only conclude that if this continues and no cease
and desist is rigidly enforced, the whole of Lake Michigan will
approach and surpass the high chloride standards set by Illinois
and Indiana.
It would seem a most reluctant attitude on the part of the
MWRC to ignore the major problem by inserting other pollution
problems of the area, rather than attacking those which have
been exhaustively researched for final and conclusive analysis
as to their ultimate solutions and corrections; such as the
chloride problem rather than the sewage problem which is a
universal problem throughout the United States and the world, and
it is a handy pawn to cast into the foray of pollution problems
so as to create a diversion while the major stigma of our area
runs rampant, unabated by any such firm cease and desist of
chloride pollution.
It is a sad state of affairs when the attitude of our
State agencies are that of the old chliche..."Speech is silver,
but silence is golden." But this is an era when something MUST
be said and something MUST be done.
We thank you for this opportunity to speak and not be
silent. We hope that something will be done in the immediate
future.
-------
r. D. W'K'ttS^lPr '-*1! •^•'^ ^*
\\' I L I.I AM S & WO K KS
I . "4 o I - N F I. R S - 0 U KVCYO R S . — P L A • N NER-S
250 MICHIGAN ST KEF. r. M C
GRAND RAPIDS. MICHIC.ATJ -I'lOm
TELEPHONE 459-4.-OI
May 22 1970
E-75650
Mrs. Carol Magnus
103 Sibben
Manistee, Michigan 49660
Dear Mrs. Magnus:
Subject: Lab analysis for Manistee County Anti Pollution Organization
Enclosed please find our lab report covering the water samples you brought
to our office concerning subject project. Also included are two sheets of
"Water Standards" published by the U. S. Public Health Service and State
Water Pollution Control-Board, Sacramento, California.
The cost for this analysis will be between $70 and $90 for which a billing
will be issued shortly.
Sincerely yours,
WILLIAMS & WORKS
- . U.' •- v '- '-• •(<>• •- • - '-'•'
F% Winchester
1ml
Enclosures
DlRFCTORS T C 'WILLIAMS t 1. THOMPSON, G. H STADT, K. W ANDERSON, M. M. CHAMBERS. F. E SPICER.
K l f'LloIT. J A MtrtDZINiKl. Z R. MILLER, L. VAMIK HORS1. A. O. HU5IVCDI
-------
19S5
Client :
j,t>ri.-<- ' U-L v/V
LABORATORY DLl'ARTMHNT
Water - Waste Water - Soils
_ Project No.
Date: •?*
Chemist: 2) A) ' /)g
SAMPLE
1 £
.57
/£_ ,»<.
7-7
^.
-&
3(o
&
7.Z
V
SO n«t/i,\
V
73
/ff. 2
3 -
> * •5s
3
-------
THB UlTPCLLUySJO ^:710Ii
ABOU'? 2K.3
Esor^rt of tho
XIijT^ CO-^T'/ ^^21 i-OJ.-LUVIO:!
JCU.C— '.:;'-T.y:j
^ CC.'IIISSIW
-------
LA
-
/.'-"I"/ 5/M'f" n
CT c ~ '-> '•'. c/ i- C.V.'.'
-------
1988
a-ci S'5-4•-. The folloificg repsi-rfc is *h® "^sult. ef rsmy h^urs ef
ie^'-r'jsg, questioning, and i^.l-c;:? wslt-itigo Ssiia ef *oiiis data vas c
KAO/JPO has epeat a g-*osl. dsal of moasy having wa'ier samples 6
"The Galas-Ida Isvsls indioa^sd la this' report s-.ra part ©f thes* rc-2
J-J-5 uie Jraep ta ciind that taas® tost easiplea vars tekea^ca a -Saturday an-i
£iitiley and nst during ths ^^icaal full pT-ofiuc^loa wsoka
Wr-Jill stars eur'presaata'siou at Lake' Kic-higarx aad vsrk-.ouyteay'
vjs ifce Ji^nlstea ehiar^nej. arid Into ^fenisc^as L?Jcs"3.
Ear 195?8 tha Paeki%'].r-3 CJo^pivratlca ©f litasloaj, ?il©r .Gity plant;, vss
is^it-a an Order of D9terju.luvtisa.by the Ml obi 323 Weter -Eescs arses Cs:assn .to
ccii Jlr.i«t aad maintain a 5'? ineh pinallna frriu tla-air J?ll«r City,plant ts
t© )tarjl:?t of "e7apcrater'-riadfinsaie frsn cbenical .rscovory
ec.;l rri^'ral black sulfits .Liquorss pulplu^ aarl blacchins irest« 3^5
sulfita 3«a.i»ciie^!iQal and
-.r?.'ifls 'Dsoem^'sr 19&3> the Wt'fe^r ?ssc ureas Csjasio dlaausas'tSstQd "that
tia". K-,3 vid ss irabls sdcr* sjid vc-l-azs 5.n. Laic's il3.clil,ssji3 &3 a result c
ta«.« P3l.disc'saz-g'?!, v^ys dc."'<:-lm<5ntal to asa£ *33lns icads csf the !afc®e
P'QA f'io ;^«iiu-st^a tv take serra^tive a?stdsno. 2ha compea-y prapessd
t7 :E'S Kjirsai 8illir,gsa l.rfctev to izs ef May 118 19700'
Trtis 30 inch pipe!3.a« Is supposed tc bo eU^Qked aoauallyo
aj>'f riling to. KXRO staff eus'ifisers Geerge HdclS;, this outfall hej* nst
bsij sjhac'ked fer 2»>2^ ycar":->0 «yc Llddle statofi at sur iteefeiag Kay 23tf ,19?J
tiif.' Its is satisfied In hla tzyjwlsfiga «.f whet tJis outfall co
si it soes no r-eaBcn ta eaoipl-^ this n^w t.oeau.ss a PCU. ssca
il .plant ie ta be in operation DaGsabe? Ij, 1972£
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1989
ivs en E3.ll sr;ill s^splala af c-fivir end water diseol&ra^lc
Irs ." s.vfear bffiafe fisfc.er.r5 a' advise thai; tinder osrtsdn eeu.clItioJiS 8 .this
•".-". s f ^crat^ojj Rictecfs ffpii ib.3 otsifall as far smth as PTaa*:fe.ri(,
^(VcLgaao I'he sharper tea's fisherasoa alas ad/isa that, they hare seen and
Sf:"i le-yad papor refiise fr^a this area ©f feh© cutfall on.' asay aceaaianso
H,«5 hf.ve also taicsn vatar teap era tares at this out-fall asot adrlaa that
tsti^i 3 io afecsut a A dagroe- Mglxer sempsra^arg at the Csutfall than in
tl.c i;i[a£ent watar area^o
It. 2s eur conte-Zitioa that'ths reereati-^aaX use of this araa '«Tf
IH-JIS Michigan has bean sovc-rcaly iiapair-sd by th'ls outfallo A ehlorids
If -7-5 1 of 220 rag/?. Tras tsflsil s.''s this I©satl3a0
At cur Q«stlng M.iy 28, Geergd Liddls ifs^ asked if he was aware
e£ 1ao l'i-ct. that a numbsr cf pEiirats residejxees tmd the U0 S0 Coast
Gtiai 2, snstisn on ths end ©f Fifth Avenut vor@ pviunlng raw sawage
d:,«s";l~ iato ths Kaaistss 5iT8rc He said th*a* he was awara of this
f u«1 3
Shsra -is a fircie ths Kanistea Plating boapsiiy-., vhlch-.-ls located
©n tii 3 I-Isaisfesa &-srsrc Aei-crdlias to the ,!-!ie!ilgai3. Daparfeia^at of
Has.* t"a A3,r Pellutisa Surysj^ ©f 19648 this company usas the fellowlag
Kydrcehloric
Suifuric Aold
Gi^zgo Lf.ddls was asicsd at v.ur ngatins May 289 "What d© th'«y ^g.
wltl thoir vasts chealeals?" Mr0 Liddle than ajslsed v.ga "De yfeu know
i" 'hay e^ tc tha lefca or ti the eaaitasy syEtem?" He tfi®n said
"?a: b-ii33 we tsusht t& loci into thls0" This platlag CQiapanya being
.ta.i tin the .nsrth side of tha ehaimel is in aa area of t©wa vh«re
9 If not alls, ©f the ssTrags is diaaped raw into the eh anno !„
i oi-23 llttla diffsT^eneo T.-hat vho plating e@mpj>ny does with their
: «3:aty it still es.uld ge'5 to the ehaanslo Ihis eempaay eould ba
"9l*fiiia0 cur •Jfsr^y is that they haven °t been «hseksd0
In <5he lianistee Eivar there are a group of aduotor pipes located
fcha Memorial Exldge0 Th5,s Is tha disc,ha^3 pcint for 387oOOO
3 ».f ohlo rid ea par day^ 1'we of' ths iadustrlas using these pipes
ara S2iai
-------
J.990
{ 5';,, a "te^il Mass sells to-la* -c 2QA to sink i;;s pollv,taats IE. Ls!:a. Michigan,,-)
.Echigpa Tcol Ocijoif.'-'AOag a diirisica -:f Manistee Irsn Works is
l'»«?«".$ id ©a Kaaistes Lak&j, .;t ths asouth of cap Mania-fees.Rivaiv This
e/jsne;^ Is aoms^aa'fe of aa taku&vn, quantity with our greu?0 Thsy ar^
b3£'..aaias "to> landfill part of the lalso and vs suspeot th&t ssae ssrt-
of f-isshargej, perhaps cII8 Is cennectsd with this operation but as yat
10 tannet say for osrtain«
Michigan Ch>3cii©al is located on the east shsrs of Maaietea LaSe0
ha3 issued an Oyde-r of Defcerainatlaa for their discharge' iat3
Laka0 Ths eheaic?.! they -.prsdU'Se 5,3 l)TO"a.ine0 -The.state
tia tlislr disoaar-gs is "iasignifloanto* Hs-^vers, the state alsa
tli&- Ihoy d© nst phyBic^liy sample thesa pljjgs asmually0 We hars had
rsp? r-is that this filsehas^s pipss.dees Q2aAt br4E.ss sometiass in largs
q.acj .titles, but ve have not, .as yet iaade- a psaitivs chssko
Haydy Salt is located on-the west sh^ra of Msjaiste© Lake and ire
bal. s?a this company to be a chief offender es 6s chloride
TTia. Sss.*e of Michigan hs,s na Order of "Detenainatiab. fer th^ir
c*,ra water tests analysed by a private la'ssratezy show this area
,slaai3taa-Lalc:ep plus waste p&nds aheira cu fefe
5a addition to its 30 :lnoh pipeline into lake Michigan,, «hlXe -the
;rlds leiral shsxild be leas in this areaB our tests ohov 50 ?..*
es \ndlcated on our Taap0 ihelr dlsehexgs pipes into Kwiigta
contain @n©iu;;h solid materials P© as to have fosaad «, Iftstfii
ft ,«aulle eati©a0 This fill eztends^ at least 25 yar-.U iota
tho
-------
1991
ta,te.'~ • ::.:> vb, ycxincUr^s" -^ this 25" yaztl p*»iat9 s 5,15s -
ri': t a agr^-adc. In a^-I.-y.pi', -islv
Si-; £ 'i.v'ry " rssicraSj, i-axv ri^'.'lgS _
ttf that arounet 1952* -fas State ef Mic>tijga,a g&vs PC4'
15 por oea-s of the flev af tlie "Llttla Mtnlstaa SiTsy.rs
tfc'e sr pradu^tion ©f papciro Tv*^ vsa at -Is^-st 1,000 erlea. is il
3 rr &r t;f Vsils'a 33 '§3-3 -to b.j'u 'fast or 3© at^va th^-
wit r ;.* "k^a '2b9 fill r>at-;-:lil is
. " * >
Iv *i,.a ^6 consist Esst.1/ v.r wssd fits?? ^cd Q3.*k id,th as^lltr f..-s -ia'
e* £,3=-vuile vn:ri,e0 Th« f'.ll py?seatl7 e-rtsnds i«j tha. «dg« of »*. «;--.!
« ss? ai.- fhia fill S3 fcelT^ u'.:uapsd dlrsetliy late -fs.tEr<> . *-;»ra «?•=
sir £.1: rriuu-il'j.,.; tiriu^h "shH; ^'irsho feTe e-^nt^n-l that th« fill i--*^. --,•"
,1 17' ii <::' ih? /ill ar-3 lei;,.- th* "ardlaiar/ 'ai^h 'n,fsr
kis- 1 :;• j«:9 tbs ij-jdea haa nr-? 7>3t B-^guji %h-* aur-Ts,/ »n4
lit; L'- .U landfill as taar ^.-'s-anisAtlea rs-iu^BtsA la '3ar latter t®. .,,
¥15' k- r <* "/--v f 1CJ7'(*>
-i ~«* »' --
s.i'3 t v-3*'v.,liji%3 sariy va^i.^ Siqusra frotn -,'OA s
f)' ; a XyH,r>"0 1'htJi^ is rJ?e<:;a to b«H«ve
a.il fe vet a rigid Laapgeti-sia schsd^le has i.
vt l^rOp ar:u.tar wall ser
.)' );v-ic Tiis mitsr ffR3 a tl^sJc eslcr -ac.
h ,1! -,f.i 1h* 5aat of their r.las% art? t
• uc.i*it ;'sr
Tb- wall v^ax bsd j---,ei -^' -~r * .&st, c,.
P' WE* j ' •;.; disturbed bj a 6, r^lias' "4,0 incrs-aae djv:i1n9.-;e inta ih
W; s TT net -pa^ltlTa this was tho cauae8 b^.A ths "^i
e- m 1 si'°,en0
-------
1992
1
£4.ia/.pira.B3 th-;.?. *o zmh POA fros uhss.e
1 . discharged to Lake Michigan sad to Korion Intoraatleaal £ x-en
'.e It sTgafeually enters Manistae Laks or ths M&als-tee Jlivaro
hsrs t?3$td othar pipes eomSsg • farom Sfcaadard Lime with ona tssfe
l^.sJ'O ppm of hsxana extS'aotablss (dll)0 Standard. Lime h33 alsa
fill d ;>a:ct of the laS:ec
pips souit la 58 to dates with 4 pipes arssently disc@ygr®4
In t » l-lanistes Blve3P0 The^'3 are ©nly the pipes that are' ab©Ta vat©rc
T^3 < f those pipes ay® leaiuig ell lat-a Msalstea Lake0 W
Mr0 ; Udle that ws ars will Jag to furnish a beat end personally
hij •© iihos® two oil pipes 9 ©f "Whleh ha is not aware0 When-ws
>Ir, MadlR if lie was going to shut down ths 38 Illegal pipes that hs
dlia-t Jacw a^^ufe he rsp23.edu "N«p I caa8t shut tlism dawn until I tai&v
vhit li eomlng out ©f them0 w 'this Is In spite of ^he faet that the
ce.ip. al«s haTe eonstrueted illagal disehargg pipes » and that thsy
n® 0. dsr ©f D®te2tt.lQatl©n tc esver their disehsygSo
A3 you G0a.S3S from th-s absTe,, we da ha-re a various pr@blea0
Ouif : air has bsen landfilled by Ind-astxlal 2fubblslis polluted by
talsy fj^ra raw elty esirage "t.e high pateuey ehemicils and ehl©rld§p0
Ons ( f -Jiho VfilO bl©l©gists9 Michael Nswton admitted th-at ttueh ©f the
bottia is dead and the rest af it is bslow aysragjo Thielc sludgs and
seit! l:^s fa^m these Industrial psroesssea have e©it;ed the bottom of
ttt-j ra^po For exaapl89 off tha Hardy dlsobaxges, 'she daoth s©uad«r
go js fixm 42 feet to 18 feet t© 38 feetp ijadlcatias a substantial
b® 5',t a buildup* Wa do not willingly sat th$ penflah in Msaistss I>a\;a
b*'?5tt so of their bad tasta.0
-------
1993
u
AT. & gr»wp8 va ara susQied and disgusted by th« "roadblocks threrea.
c We ar® disgusted by svasira-
end by departments vhleh naie up thai? «r>fh. rubles tfhioh are "net
S2i>f.i£j.e£lly.witten Into the lawa end by Siate afflciala vlio tali its.
tli at if,perts aad answers we ask about are Maone Qf your, bus in«S30"
tfii r:a,cji at tlis Infer-anea ^hc-fe we ers not into3.--igi3at enough to raad aad
e-yalUvV e' stats repoxrss<,
Si-nee tais papsr wss ';rrittens •we hava fcnoxd ssm»""or th.s extent
©f em" ehlsrida problem te l!anist^a« The city has had t»» water- w®ll3
t'ss-- art tea salty to us$<, We have found that thora Is, an extenaiT.e
c'il- arlt'Q report that Is a&t yet"completsd0 Once ehlo rides se^p into
6ir d^'niclag watafg >«•« -Kill be 3,E t rouble 0- -Wo-h-^va found that sur
li^ shifts cwuld puap thsir ehlcrldss bacfe dc'tm .Into the brine valla
tfia: « <:.hny csaa fr&s0 Th-uy could stop this chloride pellutloa within
a v ry short tlm®0 Th« tlr.3 Is n©v t« fore© ths^i to do thisc This
wil', a;-uae thea a©ms expanse and they won't gat 'fehe revenue fr©m this
wis- 3 Vi'iJis as th$y do nsifc But vs nust st*p tnls ehlc-rld® pollutiss
o? * u ^ drinking vats^p en® of ©ur nsest nesessar/ resouress0 -
ON -w-Km
¥.' cant and that the Psople of tho State of Michigan and ©ur
dia'al; hCJog natural i^oscTirosa hs.Ta been plased s seend to th® spsoial
lit r^: ts" ef inauat-iyo We' hsrely roque0t a cemplete investigstlen af
t"ie Mi Mgaa Hatar Basouces GoEasission9 as the M,U000C0 will pr-9?@a«,
fe^ *Jb-3 aaylieat possible Eorasnto
T..6 time is now to put priorities in proper perspeetiveo W«
M7S-"1 p--,t an end t© this prae-tioe of State ponaissiveaeps t©was4 industry c
Wj hays Iaw30 Since you fully enforce them whers the prlrat*
-alS ',**•'. is eonesrae^j, thsn we D£MAJJD y@u squally anfsres th«a
iid '.at-.yo
-------
1994
Ti^ CuUMTf Aiv'Tl POLLLi'i'lOW
(MACU'O)
Box 282
I-ianictee, jiichi^an 49"»0
June 13, 1970 •
\T'\
f"\ v ,, .,
Kr. Hal ph. ,/. I\irdy, Executive Secretary v •' , ' '
Uater j\esoui-ces Co^.assion / I / ,.^ \
Stevens T. Ilacon BAilding- ! v •'' {
Michigan
Dear Kr. j^urdy:
Wo, the ircmbeas of i-iAC^'O, request tha/i, the Water Aesources Commission, give most urgent
consicseratiou to a Cease ana Desist Order of Determination for chloriae tatposal. by all
industries in i-,ardstee Comity.
The time period for the uease and. itesist oruer shoulc. be liberal, thus beariii,, .TO hardship
on any incuLtiy aiu <;Q ru^ .-/-3t tne c^nf-JLO'^ration 01 a JO uay Li-ue period, et^cctive July 3'J
of this year, v/nich is norc than rraple to coTi^ly with the above oraerx- in our opinion.
[.'he Cease and Desi&t orcier should be explicit in the elimination of chlorides beinc
disposed in the following areas:
1. Laice Kichigan
2. I-ianictoe Las.e
3. ' £i£ Kaiaetee fiiver
4. Little kixnistee llivcr
5. Any lana area of hanistee County where seepage or process of
osuosis vill allov; cnloricies to ccntasiriate adjoining waters
and/or properties above the iiylvania level.
To cay that the ?.bo\e Ccare and Denict orcer IE not practical or i'easible because of
the reco!O..cnc1-:ci J'J d:\. co:n;>lif:r.ce period, XP to oelittle the .\n^-enuity 01 free enterprise
aua tiiaL old iiuJste laiov; h;» in. ^et'vinj a jo'^j c;.;, .
il'Li 'o liio i. .(in. trif n ol I • ni •. te-: cr<- v -.'!ii_ tr_':th- r in dic;-^-inj 01' crJ.oricPS into
the surrounding waters of this coiuity and Lruce i'dcrd^an, ic s^eiiis onl> equitaoie that
they shouLa WJI-K jointly in the coifipliaaice witu the Cease ana Jebisi oruer ana acco.-^lich
B?t.'.a f'jup in tht- ctbuve pe.aocl o:' ^J a/.ys.
ii' i.l;tio 1;; a J-'.c.; OL i • ].:.•: lion Ox t'u. c iu i.vu-...-,:^, It- t. u>j t- c t'-.e J.^ ' >r n^_ T v.rh
to the problem as the simplest solution wit hi very well be the cheapest unc. uost practical.
Therefore, tlie folJov/inr plans are subiuitled for solutions to accompliening the Cea^a
nii'J iX:::i£t oi-oc-r vii; in the ti-;^ p( lioa allowed.
1. l.ort'.in &ilt mid ClciMct-l, ataii«.''.ra LLno and *;efrBctoricc, ana Karuy oalt arc tU* irtjor
chloriue dia^orcrr. to the aiiovc liieutiuac-u v.aton;, tuiu luuroiore, should wor.. jointly
in the solution of t:iis probli m«
-------
1995
pace 2 iiaJph \i. lloray
A. Horton iiilt cc Chejaical, have in their possession, abandoned salt wells
below the Sylvania level capable of receiving waste chloriae ana chemical
solutions.
B. Standard iiime has in their possession cnemical brine wells that are
pUFipin^. on a marginal oasis. These marginal wells could be tbe recipient
of tail brines wnich v->ula erhance the static level ol the fiela .within
the near vicinity in the Sylvania level.
C. La; dy ,^alt has a variety of wells, .some of which are not conducive to the
production of quality proaucts ana could be used for receiving excess
chlorides and/or chemicals.
'Kierefore, each of the above industries has, witnin its own industrial complex, some
facility by vmich the aauition 01 a pump and length oi pipe cun retum the excess
chloriaen end waste ohloric.es to the strata from whence they came ana meet the pO day
cojspl.iaace period. Tnus the cost annually would be the Dumping of these proaucts
ana by-proaucts to tho strata arid tne luss of a slight s~mount of money from the profit
column of their annual statements since tnece cliloriues •will not be sola for the
purpose of hiding other industries contaminants.
2. Providing imagination is lactcin£; for the §bove program by which each industry
v;ouJa have to proviae has own pipe and pump, the following method is suggested.
A. de jointly owned I*." pipeline v;nich presently icstoons i:?.l v.cll, \'T.Th
S-4, o-^, :>-o or S-2, v'nich air; all close to 3-1, as a stanaoy well for
alt '•".•'4 "'.to Li?f-o~r'} ;ii.-n.-^-.e-,j tv'ur- allowii\. tl e ijf« oi one ot the above
mentionea veils as an alternate wnile pieventative maintenance is Deing per-
foii'H;u on .j-1 to iai''Utain its £,ooa receptive properties, ihus by selecting
I>1 cir.d or,o ol t'.c raoi • :'^n"v i ^r.eti r. "r.j"i.i-1i pjoauoiu^ veils ar a aitposal
systea, the area vuula be ensured of continuous and complete oisposal of
< c; •- i .id i: : '•: t. !ovi..t'.'. nn !„••.; .'•'•...
If thu abovt; t\;o mentioned rnetaods are of such iiagiiitude as to ruaKe tne loss of
profits ccc;a thcpe icotnous impractical, the followir)u, metiiod will ensure each
oi the above- or the three jointly ol a profit iroa the sale of taeue cnloridcs.
-------
1996
page 5 Ealph U. J-'urdy
A. 'Hie production of calcium chloriae is within tiie financial justification
of tha aoove three mentioned industries, due to the high quality of ciiloriae
brines wiiich aie now wastea as a contaminant of various waters, it is
comaion knowledge that standard iiime o. Refractories has considered, the
construction oi' such a calcium chloride facility on a profit malting basis.
Ihereiore, we can only conclude that industry can and will craiply v/ith"..a Cease and
Desist order, if issued, as each has within its own industrial complex, er jointly,
a sy.stea for fiisposing ol these chlorides on a no profit or profit basis, a.o the
three can jointly choose.
Because oi the multitude of contaminants entering the watws of our area, we select
but one lor the Cease and Desist oruer as a lirst step in the elimination of the
many contaicina/its that must oe stopped irom entering our waters, although this is
or4y one, our members feel it is tne easiest to elirairiate, through and by the above
mentioned r.ethods. A copy of your Cease and JJesist order iu regard to all chloride
Orders of Determination iseuea to these three companies will be greatly appreciated.
Our Senators sod Representatives are most anxious to see the total elimination 6f thcoe
contauiiu-iiitc and we feel that this s/nall step vriJ.1 be a bi{; move in the ri^ht direction
for the eventual'cessation of all pollutants to thete waters.
Respectfully subniitteo.,
(Mrs.) Carole K:-,^.UUS, Secretary reprefcunting the
cc: Governor Milliken
ben. itocert uriifin
Sen. t'hilip Hart
Hep. Guy Vanc.orjnet
xiep. Deiuiis Cawthorne
oc-n. Orour B'^vrta
ben. JacK 'x'oepp
iialpli Nacknllan
Dale ur;-ii'i;r
-------
1997
STATE OF MICHIGAN
NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION _,.—, WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION
AUGUST SCHOLLE 't&^-ii JOHN E. VOGT
Chairman t * —/J Chairman
CARt T. JOHNSON ' ' STANLEY'QUACKEN3USH
. .. .,.-.-.. WILLIAM G. MILLIKEN, Governor Vice Chairman
t. fn.* LAI I ALA
ROBERT c. MCLAUGHLIN DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
HARRY H. WHITELEY STEVENS T. MASON BUILDING, LANSING, MICHIGAN 48926 J|M OILMORe
RALPH A. MAC MULLAN, Director GEORGE F. IIDDLE
JOHN H. KITCHEl, M.D.
June 18, 1970
Mrs. Carole Magnus, Secretary
Manistee County Anti-Pollution Organization
Box 282
Manistee, Michigan U9660
Dear Mrs. Magnus:
This will acknowledge and thank you for your letter of June 13 relative to the
problem of water pollution in Manistee Lake, the Big and Little Manistee Rivers and
Lake Michigan.
The aggressive interest of your group in the enhancement of the quality ~o_f.
these waters is sincerely appreciated and will unquestionably be. of considerable
help to the Water Resources Commission in 'its program to place and keep them in
the condition they must have.
Your letter will be presented to the Commission at its June 25-26 meeting. I
would point out that the law vests its specified pollution control authority in the
Commission—not the Commission staff. I shall, however, report that the matter is
the subject of ongoing, intensive investigation by the staff with intended very
early submittal of its findings to the Commission.
Your group's support will be especially needed by the Commission in the estab-
lishment of unlawful pollution. 1 believe you are acquainted with the law's defini-
tion of unlawful pollution (see Sec. 6(a), attached) and I would emphasize the
fundamental need to show that a given waste disposal is or may become injurious to
any of the values cited therein. You will appreciate that the Commission cannot
rest its case upon presumption that a discharge must be pollutional. Neither statutory
law, constitutional law nor common law will recognize a presumption that is not based
upon fact, and neither your group nor the Commission would gain anything from an
action" that is not legally founded.
I accordingly encourage you very strongly to look beyond identification of the
various discharges, important though that is, and be preparing yourselves to provide
the Commission with testimony on how the discharges are causing or may cause injury.
We of staff will be reporting to the Commission on the nature and volume of the dis-
charges and will look to the Department fisheries authorities to evaluate their ef-
fects upon fish life. Such information, however, cannot substitute for testimony by
the people who are affected.
'.1!C;!!.G'AVJ
TMI f (~
CHfAT I I
""' I /
«"" /., /
-------
199$
Mrs. Carole Magnus 2 June 18, 1970
In my capacity as a Deputy Director of the Department of Natural Resources,
I am also concerned about the question of the possibility of fills which may be
illegal under Act 291, of P. A. 1965, as amended. Mr. George Taack has discussed
with me your recent letter concerning fills, and we have underway a full survey
of the Manistee Lake 'area to determine what action may be warranted. The survey
will be completed within 30 days .
Again, we appreciate your support and shall look forward to its meaningful
continuation.
Very truly yours,
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION
Ralph W. Purdy XJ
Executive Secretary
NB:bs
Encl.
-------
1999
NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION
E. M LAITALA
Chairman
CARL T. JOHNSON
ROBERT c. MCLAUGHLIN
AUGUST SCHO1LE
HARRY H. WHITELEY
STATE OF MICHIGAN
WILLIAM G. MILLIKEN, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
STEVENS T. MASON BUILDING, LANSING, MICHIGAN 48926
RALPH A. MACMULLAN, Diredr
July 30, 1970
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION
JOHN E VOGT
' Chairman
STANLEY QUACKEN3USH
GERALD E. EDDY
JOHN P. WOODFOSD
JIM GILMORE
GEORGE F. LIDDLE
JOHN H. KITCHEL, M D.
Mrs. Carole Magnus
Box 282
Manistee, Michigan 49660
Dear Mrs. Magnus:
Thank )you for your kind letters of July 27. It was good to meet you also.
I do rtot sense that the Commission members' intend to await final publication
of Mr. Childs1 report before initiating formal action against the waste disposers,
but, indeed, that their purpose in hearing the summary presentation was so that
they could get on with the job. I further sensed the members' conclusion, as
summarized by Mr. Vogt, that such matters as the housekeeping, which appears to
underlie a good bit of the problem, were to be pursued promptly and staff will
proceed with consultations along that line with officials of the companies in-
volved, looking to such voluntary improvements as can be effectuated, even while
the formal instruments are being developed.
As stated at the meeting, Mr. Chi^Lds1 report is in draft stage, and it will
take some time, probably a few weeks, before it finally clears the Central! Dupli-
cating office of the State and can be mailed out. You will have a copy just as
soon as it is ready.
May I attempt in this letter to respond also to the questions you asked in
your July 24 statement. I shall have trouble in doing so to your satisfaction,
I'm afraid, because they involve, in part, matters of common law and constitutional
law in which neither I nor any of our staff are really authoritative.
1. The Orders which this Commission is authorized by law to issue must be
aimed at the prevention of unlawful pollution, which as you understand, are set
forth in Section 6 of Act 245 (P.A. 1929). While I believe that injury to the
ground waters (or, technically, public health and welfare) seems well established,
the -total prohibition of chloride discharge to surface waters would be extremely
difficult and probably impossible to defend as being necessary to prevent injury.
A "Cease and Desist" order does not appear to be prospective, but Final Orders
of Determination, or Stipulations leading to Final Orders if necessary, certainly
are prospective. I cannot now estimate the detailed requirements of those instru-
ments and can only say that they will be whatever the Commission deems necessary
to prevent unlawful pollution.
2. To insure against unlawful discharges, the Cormiission will undoubtedly
submission by the industries of detailed sampling reports. Commission
-------
2000
Mrs. Carole Magnus 2 July 30, 1970
staff will keep the arfected industries under surveillance, both by sampling and
by inspection of operations.
3. The Commission has, in the past, pursued-penalty proceedings only in case
of flagrant or continuing violation. Should such situations develop at Manistee
or anywhere else, we expect that it will take aggressive- action.
1. Requirements for pressure testing of pipelines may well be contained in
the Order or Stipulation. Staff have not developed their detailed recommendations
for testing and reporting.
r5. Michigan's chloride standards for intra-state waters are 75 ppm at domestic
water supply intakes. Numerical limits have not been set for the protection of
other values', but are stated in general terms. Jor the Great Lakes, 50 ppm is the
maximum for domestic water supply, computed as a monthly average, and 10 ppm is set
as the desirable level where existing conditions are less than 10. One hundred twenty
five ppm is the monthly maximum for industrial use protection. Our chloride standards
for Great Lakes waters have been approved by the Secretary of the Interior. I am
sorry that I do not know what the Great Lakes chloride standards are for the other
Lake Michigan states, but in any case, I should be unable to say why they differ from
Michigan's if they do.
While we are glad to respond to specific questions as best we can, we~are rnost
especially interested in-conveying the sense of the Commission's position and pro-
gram on water pollution' control. Perhaps your observation of the Commission's pro-
ceedings has given your group some reassurance in that respect. In our earlier
correspondence we have emphasized the element of injury prevention as the Commis-
sion's statutory designated duty and objective. The Commission cannot be arbitrary
nor act peremptorily. If proceedings seem unduly protracted, I must state that
the Commission acts on matters as rapidly as staff can place them before it. You
saw at the July meeting virtually all of our administrative staff, and only a few
of them can be assigned to the exacting task of translating the assembled informa-
tion into specific action requirements.
I believe that you can expect expeditious pursual of a corrective program on
the Manistee area problems. We shall look forward to your continuing support.
Very truly yours,
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION
n
NB:bs
Norman Billings S
Acting Executive Secretary
-------
(M.-C-110) 2001
POP. NS'iS RELEASE -JULY 25, 1970
S^ Hescures^ Ocir^iiae.lcn Elating :la Lining,, July 24, Sen Chillds
logist ft-r the WSC, prase:.?-; ~d L~-5-c surf-ose and ground water study of
-ihe ^.Jiaista* area., 'This sa.-.ci:/ tfd: 5..-1 sc-Jia 50 square miles is. ?ad ar^un-i
I-:3,~ISX.3co
't-IXo Chiles n&ae s. brief sumaary cf the history of tlip salt* brine and
pap?r Indus-cries,: His s*udy brought to light- industrial practices
in the degradation of surface and ground waters =
Mr0 Guilds study revealed that the Packaging Corporation of iaerica
pump part of their papar aiill waste through a 30 inch pipeline into
lake Michigan. This discharge contains approximately 8-10 million
gallons a day of papar mill traste, p3,us aacthar 1~1-| tiillicn pounds
of. cliloriclss? wiiiGh are used to siulr the effluaato
The Pao5:agi«s Corpr ration also pump waste to ponds in" Secbien 1? in
Stroaaeh., ccnsistiag of bet we an I5~60 nillion gallons par month or a
tctal of a minimiia aiaouzit of -ys- Billicn- gallcns of oiitraatsd vaste, which
infiltrates into ths ground water, causing watar degrada'cioric M
Kr0 Ohilds study revealed that tl"e salt companies;, Morton & Hardy pump
the majority cf their industrial waste bir-iaes into Manistea Lafca and that
they also have an industrial practice of baclc flushing their salt v.rells0
Both of these contribute to the de-gradation of ths ground and surface
waters „
The brine Indtis tries. Standard Licie and Morten Cb.saical5 discharge
industrial waste either to Maaistae Lake or ths Maaist.ee Ghanael eductcre,
further conti-ifcuting to ground and surface water degradation'o Hr0 Ghilds
stated that all c:C the brine arid salt -industries -"are guilty of m.an.y
general practirss cf hcusekaspirig in refersaoe to -operations at we-11
sites and plant si'tes resulting in ground water degradation0 "
Tvro other 'cypss of degradation of ground watar of minor significance
ware reported by !'irc Cihilds: - 10 Poor septic- tanlr isolation and .
20 Ice er,d cust centre! nhlon pcAise aa inorasse in chloride levels in
the shallow via lls close to the rat'.xn arteries »
Mr0 Child s concluded: "Shis &r?e. shctrs evidsnce of ground and surface
water degradation from industrial cperating practices past and preaento"
"In the oi^Ser cf their importance:
10 Ob.loride using indxis tries
20 Paper mill industry
3o Ice and dust .control
40 Ssptic tanks
"It is 'believed that if these reer>mr.endation3 are1 useable, you could
virtually eliminate all present vas^age of chlorides to surface and
ground waters of Manistse0"
!„ Es'cura. profiucticn t-mstc-s J;o brine formations and salt galleries0
20 Terminate back flushing pDr's.ctie&s of salt eompanieSo
3c Review and improve upsi general pvaotices that are presently
resulting in vast age E,rouc.d plaat" and well sites.
40 Terminate the use of fb.s paper indastry lagoons ia Section 17
In Stronaoh because additional Kaste, assuming the premise that
they are providing recharge to the lake, will only provide mere
waste that will eventually reach the Iake0
-------
2002
SlA^u O," MICHIGAN
WILLIAM G MiL'JKtN, Governor
DE?Ai< f/.'*..: A i G.- .''/-.. ^.\.AL R
STEVENS T. MASON r.UilDING. LANSING, MICHIGAN 4.3926
. RAIPM A fAAC A\UUAS, Director
August 28, 1-970
JOHN E VOOi
STANLEY O:jAryi.r.2U'-,H
Vice Ch'*'*"- •^rrC-Z <--J'
/ ttifl S* —
Very truly yours, ' " L/C+J
/c
er.c.
RJC/N2/sb
~cc: G. E. Eddy
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSIOl
lf ' ^ *"'~C'J
r .
,-rost
G. Liddlo, Or.
;C. Chi Ids
R. Courchaine -.
Norman Billings
Assistant Executive Secretary
-------
2003
Statement of the
MAHISTBB OOGHTY AST I POI-I-USIOH OIK-MI&AIIGII
(MACIT'O)
prsseatad bj".l-l:-:.-'j0 GsrcoXs -^.gnus 0
rcsa:v:!l:ig the
by
P-- ^,-,. -, '• --r\ <-.. .j
J. .U--V ... S.- ..tl - 4.' i>
**l fci—^.O «.
-------
2£ cr r~z Gc^=a.c^uaz: . 2004
It 3.3 our position v'.iat ti'.s ^e'jsnse of unnatural amotmt-s of
ohlo.T2.fie in ou? g:?xjnd sad. ans^ac:.; raters pose a. grava throat to
supplies in the Mauls tee araae
2he State of !4leaisar. fel'- t!is pro-blea of chlorides in th-3 Maaistea
araa serous enough to uei-.&il Kr0 JIt-ii Guilds to spend the last two years
compiling data, to identify the 'source of tha problem.*
The Federal Water Quality Administration considers the chloride
problem In tlie Kanistee area of sufficient magnitude' to seliedul^ a
detailed survey this susuaer
-------
2005
page 2
. However, no Order of rstarainction was issued to Kaaistea (Hardj
Salt) for their discharge of arises- to surface waters por our discussion
With l-!y. ,Geo2g3 Jiiddls at our meeting Hay 28, 197'Q« On® would logically
as^ ^7/ha^ doas Kaaistee (Harfy) Ss.lt 4c "Jith thair waste chlorides?*
if tho Stats of 1'liohi.^an. h-?.s rafutsd --;h© statomont by the Federal ESS?
that 7012 EGD of ua.3te br-iuc3 are ratujsied..-to deep wallso
We know for a -fact -that Eardy Salt has .for sons tias fcesa, chisapiag
vast fconaasje of waste olilor5.G3 blouSs 3Ui'i;o their ssSi pit frea 'sr
thsy ass ^"asl^sd back int-o '-fer-Istse LpJ:a0^ In a letter frsia Mre
Fiafieldj: ' Vice President of Pvodtjc-tieii ct Hardy Salt to 2i© datsfi
July 2a 1970& our orgs'.nlzetlca was assaurod thtvfe aa alteraate
method had basn adopted Ijy Ee.^dj's ar,cl taat no mors
will enter Maaistea Ls^e f?osi this
In Mr0 Gerald Sd-5/s let tar of Hcvsm'^sr 20? 19'63 to I-!a-0 H
h.a states tliat Staadard Mae aad Octant IB ssrlcusly consifisslns
return of Sriaes to xrsllsB'
Quality Ac
en the
One furthar point of sris-anis concajra to us aa€ the Federal' Water
a
ministration is the ulti^al'o offset these chlorides iTill have
a? quality cf laics Michigant ~ 3?aa-Ste4t-e»PedQral
as ia -Lake Fdohigan is 50 rug/1« H^trever, our- o*fa water
-s tsSea ia the vleia'lty of t>.e outfall end analyzed 'by a private
shotr a ehlorids Isvel of 220 s-g/l in May of 19?0?
In-MTo- Ralph Pardy's let. tar tc 1-iTe H0 YmE Butle? of Septemfcsr 22» 1964
Mrc Purdy quotss ths Paclca^in^ Corporation of Assrlea-as follotsss
W2he effluent to?2ch5^is tj,s shuro WES quits dilate, tiestias oalj
• 144 ppa chlorides vrhareas the. Lrina-Cflueat misture •will
7M - 12H ppfflo !1
weaild seamingly -30 a gross fS2.at2.oa of Stater-Faderal staadards
.a possible violation of the jpecornl Water Quality Ast of 19_65«
With all of these faots before you and realising that by .
the Miehig&u • Water Sssouro-as Ooiraaissicn Htxst nsie the ultimate
to stop further ohlorids contsaaination of surfaos aad ground waters,,
orgsjiisatlca demands ausvers to the follo^rixig questions 0
The dats ishea the Gsaso aad Bssist order" on all chlcride
disposal as outlined iu our letter of Jims 13 w5-ll ba issued?
What Kathode t-hs MlfEO will enplby to ensure that no illegal
chloride disposal -fill ooo-ur?
What schedule of financial penalties will fce edoptsa and
rigidly enforced for any end all illegal cr aooldeatal dumping?
What schednla of regular State aad industrial pipslino aad
wsll inspaction ^.21 b? aSoptud to ctiE^re that corrosion c^
age of pips ^rlli not pesait 3.sal:as3 er.d subsequent
coat asaiaatioa ?
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2006
page 3
Efcy diQ t'ae State 'of Kieliisia find it nsoessasy to as'tabiish
a EiazajoKsx e3.1ot-7abl v .elilo:ri'i3 le^
so la-aol* hlgaor tb,a;i t^ie otlisr -felires Gcafsrses in tatj F
State LaS:© Michiga:-,
tlAO^PO -"i,!! ai-jpr^eiate rsseivlns your
to these questicas s.'i t-las eiiiiesi possible tiia90" OJhsnk you
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DI:L>ARV"L;N'T CT ii;;,.,;.::, :;^CAV;C:;, AND V.-ELFARE 2007
PUBLIC ;].:/.,/;;! SERVICE •
Division or ..'.iter £«.vl >y and Pollution Control
v (, ' GTArr REPORT
MANISTl'C RIVER ( M1C.i 10AU) tmd LAKE MICHIGAN
The City of Manistee discharges treated domestic waste effluent
in the Manistee River System with a population equivalent (P.E.),
measured in terms of biochemical oxygen demand, of 1915, one mile above
the mouth of the Big Manistec River. Other domestic waste discharges
are of.relatively minor importance. Industrial'waste.discharges arc
significant. Paper and food produces plants located near the rr.cutr. of
the river system have a waste discharge of almost IS.,000 P.E. .T/.-cSureo
in terms of biochemical oxygen-demand. Chemical and salt'discharges
from industries in this area also contribute to pollution of the river
system. A total of 3.12 million, gallons per day (MGD) of organic wastes
and 0.71 MGD of chemical and brine wastes are discharged to the Big and
Little Manistee Rivers by industry. An additional 7.12 MGD of brine
wastes are discharged into deep wells by two of the industries.
Water quality, studies have been made at the mouths of 'the Manistee
•and Li'ttle Manistee Rivers, on Manistee Lake, and on' Lake Michigan in
the vicinity of the mouth of the Manistee R-iver during-the month of
August, 1953. These preliminary survey results show that the total
solids conteht in the Little Manistee River is 180 parts per million
(ppm). This indicates that the industrial waste discharges to this
stream do not affect it significantly. The Big Manistee River is
affected by the industrial waste discharges, as indicated by the total
solids content range of 300-500 ppm. Ninety percent of the total solids
in the Big Manistee River are dissolved solids, largely of industrial
origin. The effect of industrial waste discharges is further -indicated
by the presence of chlorides ranging from-37-266 ppm, in the Big Manistee
River. Compared with the 5 ppm chlorides in the Little Manistee River,
the increase seeir.3 significant. The Public Health Service Drinking
Water Standards have a recommended limit for chlorides of 250 ppm in a
water supply Before treatment.
One of the two sampling stations on Lake Manistee ($20) shows a
wide variation in water quality, depending on the depth of the sample,
although the number of samples taken precludes any extensive interpreta-
tion. Similarly, the connecting channel from Lake Manistee to Lake Michigan
has significant variations, depending on the depth of the sample, based
on the one sampling period. The condition at- the 10 meter depth in
particular reflects conditions inimiceU. to.good fish and benthic life
development.
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2008
-2-
In order to determine the overall effect of the Manistee Piv-r
System on Lake Michigan ,--9« sampling stations-were, established in the
iirjTiediate vicinity of the river's mouth. Samples taken from various
depths show an area of questionable wate£ quality southward along the
shore of Lake Michigan from the harbor mouth.
At three sampling stations located inshore off the. harbor or.trance,
some variation 'from normal lake water quality is reported. >.or::.al lako
water quality is reported at Station 2^, located approximately 2.5 r.ile:
south of the harbor and 0.5 mile from the shore.
An increased organic load was discharged to LeTke Manistee and the
channel from the -Packaging Corporation of America at Filer City for a
period this past summer, due to a. breakdown in the plant.
All the discharges from the variouc, industries and municipalities
in the Manistee area are under the jurisdiction of the Michigan "./at-sr
Resources Commission.
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2009
STATE OF MICHIGAN
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION
MKMAtl t.MIATECH, laming. Ominnflli GEORGE W. ROMNEY, GOVERNOR FRANK J.MUEY
GEIAID t eOOY, V«» O«lin««l ^C^JT /J^" [^.
- . \f4' STAFF
\1 , IORINGF.OEMING
XJHNCMAOOt ..^. ~ , ,- NORMAN WLliNGS
CEOROf F. UDOU,Mwk*ge« LANSING 13, MICHIGAN WHN I. DESMOND
October 7, 1963
Mr. H. Schindler, Jr.
Executive Vice President & General Manager
White Star Trucking, Inc.
1750 Southfield
Lincoln Park, Michigan
Pear Mr. Schindler:
We recjret the delay in answering your letter of September 6,
regarding Manistee area water problems.
An investigation including sampling at times when you experienced
difficulties at your Lake Michigan property this past summer
would have been most valuable in identifying the offending
substances and we certainly wish we had been called at the time
you noticed the unsatisfactory conditions reported in your
letter.
A report on studies made to determine the feasibility of
disposal of the Company's waste with brine was received from
the Company a few days ago and we have not had an opportunity to
review the report in detail. The admixture of brine would be to
increase the waste's specific gravity and keep it from moving to
the water surface or the shallows. Tests of this principle using
hauled brine have been very successful. A meeting between the
Water Resources Commission staff and Company people is to be
arranged to discuss the report and other phases of the waste
disposal problem sometime during the week of October 21. The
brine which would be used in such a project would be a portion
of that which is presently disposed of to the Manistee channel
through a pipeline and eductor system built jointly by Great
Lakes Chemical Corporation, Standard Lime and Cement Company
and Morton Salt Company in \S6\. This disposal method for the
spent brines was adopted by the Companies to reduce the dis-
charge of chlorides to Manistee Lake and is being done under
Orders of the Water Resources Commission with restrictions
on the discharges. These Orders also require the routine
filing of reports. The Companies have maintained compliance
with the terms of the Orders. Discharge through the disposal
system averages about one and one-third milliongallons per
day of brines containing about 10 per cent chloride. No
reaction would be expected to occur between the inert waste
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2010
iir. H. Schindler, Jr.
October 7, 1963
Page 2
brines and the Packaging Corporation wastes which contain
small amounts of wood sugars, tannins, lignins and cellulose.
The Manistee Salt Company discharges approximately six and
three-quarters of a million gallons per day of waste containing
about 0.08 per cent chloride into Manistee Lake. The effects
of these discharges and those of Packaging Corporation on
Manistee Lake have been evaluated and have not been determined
to create conditions of unlawful pollution.
Enclosed is a copy of Act 2^5, P. A. of 1929, as amended by
Act 117, P. A. 1949 which you requested. We realize that not
everyone is in accord with the statutory definition of unlawful
pollution; however, as you realize, we must work within the
scope and authority of the present statute. While we have
been unable to demonstrate unlawful pollution of Lake Michigan
waters at Manistee we realize that it is not possible for our
surveillance to be on a sufficiently frequent and regular basis
to provide assurance that we have observed the lake conditions
under all situations of weather, and of variations in waste
flow and water quality.
We feel some confidence that the forthcoming meeting will
result in early and substantial improvements. If it does not,
the matter will be scheduled for attention by our Commission.
Very truly yours,
Norman Bill ings f
Assistant Executive Secretary
RJC:bmc
cc—R. J. Courchaine
Enc.
f
J
,333.355
'
J I IS
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M i c~ 1 1 i o A N tint i rt _
f\IOV 25 if
** " '
•: I'AKTM T.NT OJ' CONST. If VAT1ON
November 20, 1963
OEKAI.n E EODY
l nr« IOH
Mr. H. Schindler, Jr.
Executive Vice President
and General Manager
White Star Trucking, Inc.
1750 Southfield
Lincoln Park, Michigan
Dear Mr. Schindler:
I delayed an earlier reply "to your letter of
'October 25 because I wished to discuss aspects of the
Manistee River situation with members o.f my own staff
as well as with members of the staff of the Water Re-
sources. Commission. As you probably know, as Director
of Conservation I am a member of that body.
The Packaging Corporation of America is under
orders of the Commission to remove freely settleable
and floating solids, to maintain -specified oxygen levels,
and not to impart objectionable odor, color, or turbidity
sufficient to interfere with the development of public
water supplies or with other industrial enterprise or
other lawful occupation including recreational uses as
to injure fish or aquatic life.
The Commission is well aware of the problems
that exist in the Manistee area and have been pressing
the company for additional corrective measures. I believe
that a recent meeting has been held with top-level
officials of the company, but I have not been advised
as to the outcome. Inasmuch as I am sending a copy of
this reply to Mr. Oeming, Executive Secretary of the
Commiooion, perhaps he can write an additional letter
to you concerning that mooting.
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2012
Mr. H. Schindler, Jr. - - page 2
November 20, 1963
As you may know, the chlorides in Manistee Lake
have been greatly reduced due to Water Resources Commission
orders and despite some comments originating from the
Public Health Service that it produces "conditions inimical
to good fish and benthoni'c life. There have been no
instances of actual injury reported. Also I am advised
that the Standard Lime and Cement Company is seriously '
considering underground disposal of some of their waste
brine that goes into the Manistee Lake outlet.
Sincerely,
Gerald E. Eddy
Director
GEE:ch
cc L. F. Oeming
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2013
STATE O? MICHIGAN Qpn r> „
WATER RESOURCES COMMISSION ^ iyb4 ICGAL cowm
COMMISSION tEGAL COUNoEl
u „,.., ... , GEORGE W. ROMNEY, GOVERNOR
• H RONK, Chorrmpn
or JOHN C MACKIt ^ZX~
GERALD E EDDY, Vke - Cho.rmon
For RALPH A. MAC MULLAN
D STAFF OFFICES
5,01. H..IA Co™,,,.o..r 200 M.ll Slr.el IORING f. OEMING
GEORGE s MCINTYRE ta_ 373 3i«o b«^~. ?««..,
D™aor =1 AB-ral.,™ - - - NORMAN BILLINGS
JIM GiLMORE, JR, Kalomaroo STATIONS ~£Ki^
OiiW, Hy
Muur.ol M«i.g.m.« Or.,p. LANSING, MICHIGAN 46913
GEORGE F. UDDLE, Mu.Ugon "A""" w-
IYNN F. BALDWIN, Eoior, Rapidi September 22. igo^t JOHN L DESMOND
0,.»»..^ CUo.». ' °"
Mr. H. William Butler Mr. H. Schindler, Jr.
Clark, Klein, Winter, Parsons & Prewitt Execut i ve .Vi ce President
Counselors at Law White Star -Trucking
2850 Penobscot Building 1750 Southfield
Detroit, Michigan 48226 Lincoln Park, Michigan
Gentlemen :
We have recently received a report from the Packaging Corporation
of America, Filer City, regarding their observations of conditions
along the Lake Michigan shoreline and the operation of the new waste
brine addition to their wastes discharged th/ough the Company's
Lake Michigan pipeline since this system was put in operation on
August 15.
Following are their comments:
1. "During periods of calm, or light winds from any
direction up to 4 MPH, we can find no trace of the
effluent either on the beach or in the form of a streak
visible from shore or from an airplane.. Formerly
these conditions would generally form a puddle of effluent
which would touch shore at some point.
No odor is apparent under the above conditions.
2. When there is a appreciable wind, above about 10 MPH
from the quadrants of South to West or West to North,
there is a visible streak out in the lake downwind
from the spargers. The streak becomes apparent about
500 to 600 feet downwind and is apparently caused by
wave motion bringing up the effluent from the bottom
strata. The streak is generally less dark than formerly
due to better diffusion and in S or SW winds is almost
always completely dispersed before it hits the Manistee
breakwater. So far it has never touched the shore.
Odors on shore are generally less pronounced and are
much less frequent than prior to the brine addition.
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2014 - 15
Mr. H. William Butler and Mr. H. Schindler, Jr.
September 22, 1964
Page 2
3. An East wind (approx. 7 MPH) on one occasion was found
to bring the effluent into shore along our property
but had no tendency to move it North or South to the
other property owners' shoreline. The eff.uent touching
the shore was quite dilute, testing only \kk ppm"
chlorides whereas the brine-effluent mixture' will run
7 M to 12 M ppm."
If you have had an opportunity to observe conditions since August 15
we would appreciate your comments and knowing whether you confirm
or concur in the observations of the Company.
Very truTy yours,
Ralph W. Purdy
Chief Eng-ineer
RJCrbmc
CC--C. Harvey
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2016 - 17
MANISTEE COUNTY ANT1 POLLUTION ORGANIZATION
(MA CAPO)
Box 282
Manistee, Michigan 496GO
September 1, 1970
William G. Milliken
Governor
Executive Office
Lansing, Michigan 48926
Dear Governor Milliken:
Please find enclosed copy of our letter to Mr. Ralph Purely of the
Water Resources Commission.
Our organization is of the opinion that the State of I'ichigan can no
longer allow the -industries in th» .Manistee area to set their own
standards regarding -air and wuto'r quality.
The V/at«?r Resources. Commission has sot a tentative target date of
Dececiber 1, 1071 for the elimination of concentrated chloride
disposal to the surface waters in the Manistee area. We feel that
this date is much too far in the future, and only a tentative date
at that.
There is roughly 1 ,900,000pounds of chlorides entering the surface
•waters in the Manistee area every day. That means that until Dec-
ember 1, 1971 these chlorid« polluting industries will be legally
allowed to dump over ONE BILLION pounds of chloride contaminants
into someone else's drinking water.
We forwarded a copy of our June 1.1, 1970 Cease and Desist request
on chloride disposal to you. itACAPO outlined three possible
raethods that would eliminate chloride disposal to surface waters.
The V/ater Resources Commission has chosen to ignore our suggestions,
which would' have eliminated chloride disposal to surface waters with-
in 30 days.
It is immoral enough for Manistee industries" to pollute someone else's
drinking water, but to continue to pollute when economic and exprdicious
methods are available to correct this pollution is >> heinous act.
Very truly yours,
Mrs. Carole Magnus , Secretary
MAC l.PO
-------
2018
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY p.-:j . /; ^{i
* * ' • J
• NOTE.—It is to be understood that this instrument does not give any property rights either in real estate or mate-
rial, or any exclusive privileges; and that it does not authorise any Injury to private property or invasion of private
"rights, or any infringement of Federal, State, or local laws or regulations, nor does it obviate thenecessity of obtaining
State assent to the work authorized. IT MERELY EXPRESSES THE ASSCNT OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT so FAR AS CON-
CERNS THE PUBLIC EtGHrs OF NAVIGATION. (See Cu.inm.in.gs v. Chicago, 1SS U. S., 410.)
PERM1 ije^g QJ. iv0 si^trist Ergtessr
Detroit. Distrsc-bj corps of Engineers.
Detroit 2o* irlchl-it
NOV 2 o 1-Jv ;_ , 19
Filer Citj, 5.iical£.iri
Sij'ss
Referring to written request dated 10 Ar^itr/i TL?5^
I have to inform you that, upon the feccmaeiidation of the Chief of Engineers,
and under the provisions of Section 10 of the. Act of Congress approved March- 3^
1899, entitled "An act making appropriations for the construction, repair, and
preservation of certain public v/orks on rivers and harbors, and for other pur-
poses," you are hereby authorised by the Secretary of the Army.
to ccssrbrust a 2h ir^":i vs^te cni^faia extending 1,100 fecb l^cv^ird vrith di
(Here de-icriba tin* piopoied structare or woik.)
e'i Vr.o cater crj
* « ^fi -i ••»'*• f- "^cn
in A-^"-*^ --*—««--*—,^,-vii
(Here to be narr.ed tht* river, ha:bor, or waterway concerned.)
at ran'_r>tcsj "!ichir:?.r.j apprc^i-Titrly !> r.ilc3 scuih frcra cntrcr.03- to E?.r'>cr.--
(Hera to fce named tlio neaie-^t Trell-kno^n locality—preferably a to.vn or clry—and the dMtarce in miles and teTitha froi^i somo dt.finito l^'r.t in
tho earae, stating -.\hother abo.u or bi_lo\v or £ivini; dnection by points oE cemyajs.)
in accordance with the plans shov;n on the drawing attached hereto *""
(Or dr.v.'.i.i^d ; g'vy £1-: aui..ker or ot'-ijr ucunlte idf i.iiflc^t'ca m.ar! 5.)
subject to the following conditions:
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2019
(a) Thai the work shall be subject to the supervision anJ approval of the District Engineer, Corps of Engineers,
in charge ,of the locality, who may temporarily suspend the work at any time, if in his judgment the interests of navi-
gation so jrequire.
(6) That any material dredged in the prosecution of the work herein authorize'd shall be removed evenly and no
large refuse piles, ridges across the bed of the waterway, or deep holes that may have a tendency to cause injury to
navigable channels or to the banks of the waterway shall be left. If any pipe, wire, or cable hereby authorized is l?.id
in a trench; the formation of permanent ridges across the bed of the waterway shall be avoided and the back filling
shall be so done as not to increase the cost of future dredging for navigation. Any material to be deposited or
dumped under this authorization, cither in the waterway or on ahort! above Hi^h-wattr mark, shall bo deposited or
dumped nt the locality shown on the drawing hereto attached, and, if no prescribed thereon, within or behind a goad
ond substantial bulkhead or bulkheads, such or, will prevent escape of the material in the waterway. If the mate-
rial i3 to be deposited in the harbor of New York, or in its adjacent or tributary waters, or in Long Island Sound, &
permit therefor must be previously obtained from the Supervisor of New York Harbor, New York City.
(e) That there shall be no unreasonable interference with navigation by the work herein authorized.
(d) That if inspections or any other operations by the United States are necessary in the interest of navigation,
all expenses connected therewith shall be borne by the permittee.
(e) That no attempt shall be made by the permittee or the owner to forbid the full and free use by the public of
all navigable waters at or adjacent to the work or structure.
(/) That if future operations by the United States require an alteration in the position of the structure or vrork
herein authorized, or if, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Army, it shall cause unreasonable obstruction to the fres
navigation of said water, the owner will be required upon due notice from the Secretary of the Arrny, to remove or
alter the structural work or obstructions caused thereby without expense to the United States, so as to render naviga-
tion reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed; and if, upon the expiration or revocation of this permit, the structure,
fill, excavation, or other modification of the watercoursu hereby authorized shall not be completed, the owners sT.3',1,
without cxpehso to the United States, and to such extent and in such time and manner as the Secretary of the Army
may require.lremove all or any portion of the uncompleted structure or fill and restore to its former condition the navi-
gable capacity of the watercourse. No claim shall be made against the United States on account of any such removal
or alteration i
(0) That the United States shall in no case be liable for any damage or injury to the structure or work herein
authorized which may be caused by or result from future opeiations undertaken by the Government for the conserva-
tion or improvement of navigation, or for other purposes, and no claim or right to compensation shall accrue from
any such damage.
(ft.) -That if the display of lights and signals on any work hereby aothorized is not otherwise provided for by Izrr,
such lights and signals as may be prescribed by the U. S. Coast Guard, shall be installed and maintained by and at the
expense of the owner.
(»') That the permittee shall notify the said district engineer at what time the work will ba commouccJ, and a~
•far in advance of the time of commencement as the said district engineer may specify, and shall also notify him
promptly, in writing, of the commencement of work, suspension of work, if for a period of more than one week,
resumption of work, and its completion.
fi) That if the structure or work herein authorized is not completed on or before _.!£hirt,-VfciCii;3'b4_ day
of ir.'r.V.V.vA??..- _, 19?2_., this permit, if not previously revoked or specifically extended, shall ceasa and
be null and void.
Seo additional conditions on pa^o anno^od hereto ar£
part hero of e
By authority of the Secretary of the Army: PZTErl 0. HYZTn
.Colcr.-l., Ccrcj of En
District; E-~J.r.ssr
1721 (Civ!!) Tl11' '"™ 3'-pw Firm 00, di'.ed I Apr !3, which n.sy be uccJ until eihijjtod.
o. 5
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2020
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
PERMIT
(k) That*, the permittee shall provide adequate facilities to
extract freely -settleable solids from the waste water snch that the
remaining concentration will not exceed sifty (60) parts per million by
weight and the total daily weight of discharged solids will not exceed
5,000 pounds. Should the District Engineer find that either the maximum
concentration or daily weight of suspended solids is being exceeded, the
permittee agrees to take -whatever action is necessary to reduce' the
amount of sclid.s to or below the allowable limits.
(l) That, if it is determined necessary to conduct sampling
tests of the waste water to check compliance with condition (k), the
permittee agrees to permit ready access to necessary portions of its
premises by the District Engineer's representatives for this purpose.
(m) That, should the District Engineer determine that solids
discharged from the outfall sewer are causing an unreasonable obstruction
to navigation in the vicinity of the outlet, or un increase in the amount
of maintenance dredging in the authorized Federal project at tkuiistoe,
Michigan, the permittee agrees, upon notice b" the District Engineer, to
either remove and dispose of the deposit at its sole expense, or reimburse
the Federal Government for its cost of removal as determined by the
District Engineer.
(n) That, this permit is revocable by the Secretary of the
Army should the permittee -fail to comply with conditions (k), (l), and
(m) within a reasonable period as determined by the r>i strict Engineer.
-------
2021
The Manistee News-Advocate
June ?, 1950
Hoffmaster Gives Views 021 Manistee Fish Kill
LANSING —(UP)— Nature
and an industrial plant combin-
ed forces to kill millions of fish
ranging from shiners to 36-inch
trout In Manistee lake, Conser-
vation Department Director P.
J. Hoffmaster revealed today.
Fish specialists have spent two
reeks investigating the havoc in
he four-mile long lake which has
eft dead fish in piles along the
horeline.
"We believe organic matter
lumped into the lake by the Am-
•rican Boxboard Company plus na-
ural phenomena combined to de-
•lete oxygen in the water and suffo-
•*ta the fish," Hottmastor said.
He explained that when there is
a jump in temperatures, warm sur-
face water sinks to the bottom.'
"In the Manistee»lake, it set
up thermal currents which dis-
turbed masses of organic mat-
ter on the lake be^ and pushed
them to the surfa'ixV He said.
"The organic matter absorbed
the oxygen and the fish suffo-
cated."
Between 600 and 700 rainbow
trout between six and 35 inches
have died in the fish kill believed
to be the largest in the history of
the state. Hundreds of dead pike,
bluegills. Bunfish, perch, and bass
lie alonz the shore while an esti-
mated 100,000,000 shiners and 150,-
000 game fish under six inches have
died so far.
G. B. Bonfield, Grand Rapids,
American Boxboard Company exe-
cutive, will appear before the Water
Resources Commission June 20 to
explain the daily dumping of 40,000
pounds of waste matter in the lake.
Hoffmaster said the waste dump-
ed b? the plant Is roughly compar-
able to the waste from a city of
250,0^0 population.
''There's nothing we can do about
it nt>w. Even closing the plant
down would not help," Hoffmaster
said.' "Our worry now Is that the
fish kill doesn't haonen azain,"_
-------
>TA'i -;; MICHIGAN .2022
COVM. .,<.. WAT;:;? rrSO^CES COMMISSION
A/>r.HSEL f MIATECH Lii-.t, rnj..,., ~t'.'.-: ' "^ -Jit.' ."OVtr.'lOk tBCMK-]^F
GtFAIC f tr,,\', Vu, CV, -r,r
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[ ••>. ol Aan.Ut, „
J/1MF'. S Cil'CVE, IP >,!, i.-ao r.ii,~N~ PAIPM V/ |U3'.»
r''S!Gt/c.c™'' ""-""•'" UN-.tr/, I j, MICHIGAN JOHM :*-wr,,-.n
September 20, 1963
Mr. Donald G. Jenrings
Attorney at Law
Board of Commerce Building
Man is tec, Michigan
Dear Mr Jennings:
A copy of your letter of June 7, 19&3 to Senator Hart regarding Manistee
Lake pollution was received fn this off ice'on September 3, '963 from
H. W. Poston, Regional Program Director of the U. S. Department of-JJealth
Education and Wei fare, "Publ i'c Health Service, Water Supply and P_oJLl jrt i on
Cont rjl, Reg i on V.
We are concerned with your position that pollution exists and is worsening
in the Manistee area waters, and would appreciate it very much if you could
provide us with further detail on the conditions to which you allude.
As you may know, very considerable reductions have been made in the wastes
going to Manistee Lake, both with respect to the salt brine and the paper
miU wastes. A portion of these wastes have been diverted from Manistee.
Lake, to the Big Manistes River and Lake Micnigan which have abundant
capncicy to dilute the sali. and to assimilate the oxygen demanding effluent.
These diversions were initiated and are proceeding under order and contin-
uing surveillance of this Commission, which is the agency charged by state
law with the control of pollution.
We would be happy to arrange a meeting with you to discuss waste control
and water quality in the Manistee area if you so desire. Our files are
al'so available for your inspection at any time. Please let us know in
what way we can be of any assistance to you.
Very truly yours,
' . i •'';;' .> ,
' ;-." -v™ ' -'-' ' y . • ' -
RJC: !nv: Ral(.h W.'Purdy
cc: C. Harvey Chief Engineer
R. Courchaine
-------
Manistee, Mich., Wednesday, Sept. 23, 1970
2023
World's
Fresh Water
Salmon Capital
P.E. Society
Hears Talk on
Waste Control
Manistee-Ludington chap-
ter of the Michigan Society
of Professional Engineers had
its September meeting last
night at Coral Gables-Chippe-
wa Hotel in Manistee and
heard a talk by George Liddle,
district engineer of the Water
Resources Commission in this
area.
Some 20 industry representa-
tives from Manistee and Lud-
ington joined members and
their guests for a social hour
and dinner before the meet-
ing. .
After a brief business meet-
ing program chairman Tom
Stege introduced Georgs Lid-
die who gave an informative
talk on existing and pending
legislation affecting industries
.and municipalities in their con-
trol of discharge of wastes to
the natural watercourses of
the state.
Liddle also discussed the
latest legislation passed which
allows individuals to sue indus-
tries or municipalities if they
feel aggrieved by air or water
pollution. He pointed out that,
in most cases, the circuit
courts having jurisdication
will check with the state's
regulatory agencies and if the
defendant is complying with
agency stipulations, the court
will probably rule in favor of
the defendant.
During an informal question-
and-answer period after
Liddle's talk, the subject of
chlorides in ground waters
in the Manistee area was dis-
cussed. It was brought out that
while high chloride concen-
trates exist at some well loca-
tions in the area, the chloride
concentration in the Manistee
city water supply is well below
Federal water control stan-
dards, way below the taste
threshold and, therefore, not
toxic or harmful in any way
to the users.
The pollutants of highest
concern to the commission
in this area at this time, ac-
cording to Liddle, are raw san-
itary wastes being dumped
into Manistee Lake or Manis-
tee River. It was pointed out,
however, that the city has com-
pleted preliminary engineer-
ing and is now vigorously pur-
suing the acquisition of feder-
al funds for a total program
for collection and treatment
of sanitary wastes in the Man-
istee area.
The chapter's next meeting
will be in Ludington on Oct.
20, with the program to be an-
nounced later.
-------
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE 2023a
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control
STAFF REPORT
MANISTEE RIVER (MICHIGAN) and LAKE MICHIGAN
The City of Manistee discharges treated domestic waste effluent
in the Manistee River System with a population equivalent (P.L.),
measured in terms of biochemical, oxygen demand, of 1915, one mile above
the mouth of the Big Manistee River. Other domestic waste discharges
are of relatively minor importance. Industrial, waste dischargee arc
significant. Paper and food products plants located near the rr.ouin of
the river system have a waste discharge of almost 15,000 P.E. moacured
in terms of biochemical oxygen demand. Chemical and salt discr.arges
from industries in this area also contribute to pollution of the river
system. A total of 3.12 million gallons per day (MGD) of organic wastes
and 0.71 MGD of chemical and brine wastes are discharged to the Big and
Little Manistee Rivers by industry. An additional 7.12 MGD of brine
wastes are discharged into deep wells by two of the industries.
Water quality studies have been made at the mouths of 'the Manistee
and Little Manistee Rivers, on Manistee Lake, and on Lake Michigan -in
the vicinity of the mouth of the Manistee River during-the month of
August, 1963. These preliminary survey results show that the total
solids content in the Little Manistee River is 180 parts per million
(ppm). This indicates that the industrial waste discharges to this
stream do not affect it significantly. The Big Manistee River is
affected by the industrial waste discharges, as indicated by the total
solids content range of 300-500 ppm. Ninety percent of the total solids
in the Big" Manistee River are dissolved solids, largely of industrial
origin. The effect of industrial waste discharges is further indicated
by the presence of -chlorides ranging from 37-256 ppm, in the Big Manistee
River. Compared with the 5 ppm chlorides in the Little Manistee River,
the increase seems significant. The Public Health Service Drinking
Water Standards have a recommended limit for chlorides of 250 ppm in a
water supply before treatment.
One of the two sampling stations on Lake Manistee (#20) shows a
wide variation in water quality, depending on the depth of the sample,
although the number of samoles taken precludes any extensive interpreta-
tion. Similarly, the connecting channel from Lake Manistee to Lake Michigan
has significant variations, depending on the depth of the sample, based
on the one sampling period. The condition at the 10 meter depth in
particular reflects conditions inimical to.good fish and benthic life
devcJ opment.
-------
2023b
-2-
In order to determine the overall effect of the Manistee river
System on Lake Michigan, 9 sampling stations were, established in the
immediate vicinity of the river's mouth. Samples taken from various
depths show an area of questionable water quality southward along the
shore of Lake Michigan from the harbor mouth.
At throe sampling stations located inshore off the harbor entrance,
some variation 'from normal lake water quality is reported. i%:or:.:
-------
2023c
CO: Rep. Cavtho:
COtr.ITY A'.TTI rjL'JJTlW ORGANIZATION Son. Bouws::/.
sen. Hart
Sen. 3 riff!
Box ?32 Cor.. Van do
Mnnistec. Michigan A 9660 FWj.A
August 23, '1970'
Mr. Ralph W. Purdy, Executive Secrotary
rfater Hcnourccn Corinlcnio.-i
Stevens T. Man on Building
Lansing, Michigan 48926
Dnar Mr. Purdy :
To date, the Water Resources Gcmml ssion has -been all too reluctant to
set standards, thus lettiag industry do its own regulating as wa~ tVif;
case In the Orders of Do termination now in existance covering chloride
disposal issued in 1958 and 1959. The pollution, of chlorides to Manic- te-
Lake and Lake Michigan continue under these Orders of Determination and
in accordance uith standards mutually agreed upon, as set by industry.
As a first step, the Orders of Determination should be drastically re-
vised so that "a minimum amount of chlorides will -be entering Lake Michig
and Manistee Lake, This will rive the" major chloride polluters some-
thing to really shoot for in their efforts to be good citizens and a
working part of the community,
By actual test, the la.rge vcluTT.es- of chlorides allowed -tc-..enter-Kanistec.-
Lalce and Lake Michigan have at times exceeded even those maximum levols,
thus causing an excellerated degradation of the waters .in the immediate
area. Thus, it is the intent of MAGAPO to set a more optimum standard
and to take a more realistic approach to the problem. We request that
the Orders of Determination be revised so that a minimum amount of
chlorides will be entering the waters by December of 1971» and these
should be issued as a standard.
The major chloride polluters are the salt and chemical industries in
our area, and our letter of June 13, 1970 gave recommendations which,
to date, have been ignored. Mr. Childs surface and groundwater study
presented July 2^ and subsequent recommendations coincide with .our
recommendations that these chlorides should be returned to the strati
from whence they came. Thus, we feel that with such professional opinio
and recommendations, our request for a Cease and Desist should be given
immediate consideration. As of the month of August, the ¥RC has en-
deavored to capitulate with the request of the Cease and Desist by
making a step in the direction of asking industry what they can do to
cease the discharge of concentrated chloride wastes into Lake Michigan
and Manistee Lake. We of MACAPO are dubious of this particular approach
to the problem of asking ; industry as to what industry will do in the
reduction of chloride pollution to Lake Michigan and Manistee Lake.
MACAPO wonders if we are not getting back into the rut of 1958 and 1959
where industry stated then what they could" do. This has led us to
the h'igh parts per million that we now experience in our area. We
feel- that any ste.p in the reduction of chlorides is a step in the right
direction, but we feel that standards should be set by the WRC, rather
than by the major chloride polluters.
-------
2023d
page 2
tfe realize the economics of such -i r.ove, but once again appeal to the
WRC to take a very thorough look'-into the problem and investigate all
of the possibilities.
We, therefore, suggest that the largest chloride polluter might revise
his process in a minor way to reduce the chloride level.
Therefore, we once again appeal to the Water Resources Commission
as laymen, and offer the possible solution of such an economical step
to reduce these chlorides. For example:
1. The production of MgO is through a two "stage reactor, thus into a
series of three settling ponds in which the MgO precipitates out and the
chlorides are washed from the JIgO, thus giving a pure product to be
burned and thus known as Magnesite. It is recommended by "us that
a simple change in the process of the three settling ponds could easily
facilitate the immediate reduction of large concentrated chloride
effluents. By decanting the high chloride effluent coming from the
first thickener and then washing in the last two thickeners.
2. The present setup at this pro-ducer of Magnesite is an A3 &. C
thickener,system; These three are compiled of the three stage settling
and washing systems and we recommend that one large thickener be
placed in operation, thus pumping to the "series of smaller thickeners
for washing. This material would be pumped by Door-Oliver pumps from
the larger thickener and the chloride liquor decanted off and returned
to the ground strata from whence it came.
I an sure that the WRC, after a quick review of the process at Standard
Lisie and Refractories, the Magnesite producer above referred to, might
perhaps be able to assist or aid the people with other suggestions in
reducing the large concentrated chloride effluents being.transported
via the 10 inch pipeline to PGA, thus being added with their effluent
and transported to Lake Michigan via the 30 inch pipeline.
We would, therefore, appreciate hearing from the. WRC on the following:
1. What' standards the WRC is setting for positive reduction of chlorides
for the December 1971 target date?
2. What standards are being imposed on those chloride polluters of
Manlstee 'Lake who have no Order of Determination whatsoever for
their chloride disposal?
3. We would like to have an assurance'that all concentrated chlorid?
effluent will be eliminated in the waste disposal process of PCA
to Lake Michigan by December 1971.
4. We would like to be assured that a drastic revision of present
Orders of Determinations will be immediately forthcoming to
facilitate the ultimate reduction of' concentrated chlorides t'o
Lake Michigan- via the lakes, rivers and pipelines in this area
by December 1971.
-------
2023e
5. ft'e would like to know the schedule and method for monitoring the
present and future effluent 'discharge stations emitting chlorides
of any concentration into the waters in the Manistee area during
the full 12 months of the year?
6. What monitoring method is the WRC considering for the disposal
of salt blocks and salt products now being discharged to -the
waters in the Manistee area?
After once again hearing Mr. Childs report on August 24 on the. degra-
dation of surface and ground waters in the Manistee area, we feel that
the problem of chloride contamination is more urgent today than" when
we wrote our Cease and Desist request on June 13.
Therefore, we implore that a more expedicious and positive approacn
be immediately taken to facilitate the maximum reduction of chloride
effluents that now contaminate the waters 6f the Manistee area.
Very truly yours,
(Mrs.) .Carole Magnus^ Secretary
MACAPO
-------
2024
R. F. Sturgis
MR. STEIN: May we have Raynor Sturgis?
STATEMENT OF RAYNOR F. STURGIS, JR0,
DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF GENERAL
SERVICES, SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
MR. STURGIS: Chairman Stein, conferees, ladies
and gentlemen. Thank you very much, Mr. Stein, for
inviting me to this meaningful and interesting conference.
My name is Raynor Sturgis. I am Director of
the Department of General Services for the State of
Illinois. I am an engineer by training and have practiced
industrial engineering as a consultant in several extractive
industries around the country.
The Legislature of the State of Illinois this
year granted the Department of General Services appropria-
tions totaling $2,270,000 to engineer and build pollution
abatement facilities where they are needed in institutions
operated for the State's taxpayers. With this sura it is
expected more than 40 sources of a.i ^ and water pollution
will be corrected by the end of next summer.
They include powerplant conversions from coal to
oil or gas at mental hospitals, correctional institutions,
and armories. A sulphur dioxide extraction device is being
-------
2025
R. F. Sturgis
engineered for a new coal-burning powerplant at still
another State institution.
Your deliberations this week treat alternate
waste heat disposal methods for nuclear and fossil fuel
powerplants. I judge from the testimony that the cooling
tower alternative is projected to cost in the vicinity
of $300 million.
The taxpayers for whom I work in northern
Illinois are also the purchasers of electric power. Thus,
they would face the Illinois share of this expenditure.
Justifying this huge expenditure upon imagined
conditions in the year 2000 highlights very well the
economic dilemma of pollution abatement. Money needed
to improve the air and reduce water pollution around
Lake Michigan must be spent to produce results this year
and next. The resulting environment should then permit
time for the specific research needed to fill in the gaps
of information so apparent from differing statements of
scientists participating in this workshop this week.
This does not mean that using a valuable natural resource
as a guinea pig is advocated, or the possibility of
irreparable damage is tolerated. This thermal problem
is not in this category.
Indications have been cited that sport and
-------
2026
R. F. Sturgis
commercial fishes may be found in greater numbers in the
vicinity of powerplant heat discharges in the fall, winter,
and spring to the advantage of people around Lake Michigan.
Should not specific research studies be undertaken
to determine how these valuable fish should be repelled
during the few weeks in the summer when heat conditions
might pose a hazard to the greatly improving Lake Michigan
whitefish, salmon, and trout fisheries?
The cost of this research study would represent
a small fraction of a $300 million investment for cooling
towers. A successful method of regulating fish movement
then could be employed by power companies, only when
required a few weeks in July and August, to assure prevent-
ing damage to the top of the aquatic life chain most
important to human beings in the vicinity of fossil fuel
and nuclear powerplant sites around the lake.
And since temperature change rather than the
presence of heat has been indicated to be significant for
aquatic life, is it not possible to design parameters to
utilize the lake and still protect fishes? Could this not
include relating different amounts of water discharge to
their specific temperatures, with outboard motors at one
end of the spectrum and powerplants at the other?
Gentlemen, I submit to you — and I am not an
-------
202?
H. P. Read
aquatic scientist or a limnologist, but I wonder if one of
your options should be that you consider development of
these questions, or answers to these questions before
committing a huge expenditure which time could determine
might not be required.
Thank you very much.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mr. Sturgis.
Any comment or question?
If not, thank you very much.
MR. STURGIS: Thank you0
FIR. STEIN: Herbert Read.
Do you have a copy of your statement?
MR. READ: I have only two copies.
MR. STEIN: Could you give one to the reporter?
I would urge anyone, in view of the long day we are having,
if he has a copy of his statement, please come up
with two, or get one made so you can give a copy to the
reporter because it is going to be very trying if she
doesn't havo it.
MR. READ: As soon as I get back to the office
Xerox machine I will get some more.
MR. STEIN: We havo one.
-------
2028
H. P. Read
STATEMENT OF HERBERT P0 READ, STATE
DIRECTOR, INDIANA DIVISION, IZAAK
WALTON LEAGUE OF AMERICA, CHESTERTON,
INDIANA
MR» READ: My name is Herbert Read. I arn the
State Director of the Indiana Division of the Izaak Walton
League and I live in Chesterton, Indiana.
I will try to summarize this statement.
One of the basic points I would like to make is
that we who live along the Indiana shoreline of Lake
Michigan are particularly concerned over thermal pollution
along with the others. This conclusion is due, in part,
to a number of factors, some of which I wish to discuss.
The dissipating effect of heat, or for that matter any
form of viator pollution is slow, due to the sluggish
movement of water at the southern end of the lake,
I will not elaborate, but the sluggish movement;
means this water dissipation of heat or other pollutants
do occur very slowly, which is a nrob1om rcr us in Indi'ma0
It is in this lower basin of I/ike L.ichiran, with
the sluggishly rotating waters that most; of the electric
power generating stations would be located where the heated
-------
2029
Ho P. Read
effluent would be deposited. There has been talk about some
25 or 30 sources of such heat flumes. The power industry
would like to restrict us to consider only these stations
one by one, increment by increment, and prohibit any thought
of the total effect by the year 2000 or beyond. We don't
do that and we will not accept that increment-by-increment
approach.
I included in my statement a map of the Indiana
shoreline, the purpose of which is to show some additional
factors which make our problem more difficult, and that is
the existence of landfills jutting out into the lake.
The northern Indiana Public Service Company generating
stations, and their respective discharge flumes are or
would be located so that the heated effluent would be
trapped by landfills. The effluent with its heat plus
whatever other pollutants are included — and I also dis-
cussed a bit of the other pollutants — will extend along
the shoreline of several parks including the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore. While the uninformed swimmer may enjoy
the heated water, the subsequent increase of algae, ale-
wives, and other pollutants from NIPSCO's discharge pipes
will turn the beach into something less than desirableu
In the statement itself I describe each of the
locations of the generating stations, which I haven't
-------
2030
H. F. Read
mentioned or gone into a great deal of detail here because
you can understand it better visually than for me to
describe it, and in the map I have included a red* area
which is the probable destination of any heat flumes, and
the problem here, of course, is that these heat flumes,
with whatever ill effects they have, will be spread along
public bathing beaches, public parks, the Indiana Dunes
and National Lakeshore, as well as city and State parks.
We had some tests made by the Independant Citizens*
Water Pollution Research Associates, Inc., at the Bailly
and Michigan city generating stations. At that time we
were testing primarily for other forms of pollutants, so
we did not go into an extensive heat test. We did make
some. We found that the discharge flume was #3 degrees
from the Bailly plant, and we could compare this to 66
degrees which was in an area that would be not normally
touched by heated discharge — differences of 1? degrees.
How, this heated water discharge flume spread
along the beach of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
For a mile of the beach it still registered &1 degrees.
We didn't go along and make further tests. We will. But
I think it is quite obvious that we have special problems,
and that is why we want this body to take a hardline stand
on it.
*Solid black area
-------
2031
H. F. Read
Mr. Stein, you did say that you did not want
discussion of other pollutants, but our experience with
other pollutants has a direct bearing on our positions
that most of the conservation groups are taking here today,
and that is that we have listened to all of the denials of
problems by steel companies, chemical companies, oil com-
panies* They denied that oil would be damaging; they
denied that pickling liquor fr*om steel mills would be
damaging; and now we are expected to accept the notion
that'we would sit by here and let the generating stations
build their plants and then maybe sometime in the dim,
distant future, if their pollution can be proved, they
will do something about it0
You people have not been able to do anything
about the pollution that we have — very little. We have
not been able to do anything about it, and I don't see if
we have not been able to have much progress today how we
are going to automatically stop this in the year 1975,
which was the year that was mentioned.
I think it should be mentioned that the pollu-
tants coming out of NIP3CO, including fused mangr.aece-
aluminum-titanium-silicon, commonly called clinker or
bottom ash; fly ash; iron II and iron III oxides; nickel;
chromium; magnesium; cobalt; and zinc — some of these
-------
2032
H. F. Read
materials, particularly the zinc, are more suggestive of
steel mill processes, and I understand that some inter-
connection of piping exists between NIPSCO's Bailly Station
and the adjacent Bethlehem Steel Plant. It may be that
NIPSCO, as part of its "good neighbor" policy, is allowing
Bethlehem to flush some of its untreated wastes of
metallic refuse and perhaps also dissolved pollutants and
heated water directly into Lake Michigan.
This is the reason why we want to get powerplants
— particularly NIPSCO — off the lakefront, and it is not
just the heat, it is the rest of the stuff that goes along
with it.
I will end here. Thank you very much. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you very much, Mr. Read.
Are there any comments or questions?
If not, thank you very much again for your
statement.
(Mr. Read's statement follows in its entirety.)
-------
2033
To: Third Session, lederal Conference .m Lake Michigan
and. its Tributary Basin , Chicago
From: Eerbert P. Read, State Director, Indiana Division
Izaak ..alton League of America
M. R. L>ox 438, Chesterton, Indiana 46304
Date: October 2, 1970
Vie who live along the Indiana shoreline; of Lake Michigan sre particularly
concerned over thermal pollution problems nov; being considered. '.This
is because the southern tip of uhe lake is where most of the pollutants
dumped into the lake end up — and where most of them remain. Our state
of Indiana is further notable for being the worst polluter for having
the least effective enforcement and totally without any form of leader-
ship from any of the local or state governmental units to correct the
problem,
In short, v;e have a helluva mess on our hand^,, and if the so-called
public utilities get their way, we .-light as well start carying the
tombstone for the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan right now.
This conclusion is due, in part, to a number of factors, some of which
I wish to discuss. -the dissipating effect of heat, or for that matter
any form of water pollution is slow, due to the sluggish movericuib of
water at the southern end of the lake, 'ihe littoral drift parallel
to the shore moves both east and west, v. ith a net westerly direction.
The effect is to hinder northward movement, which when it does occur,
upon reaching the underwater ridge near Milwaukee, . usually rotates
around to return most of bhe same water to our shore. I think most of
us ere la.ailiar with this fact, and there is no need for documentation.
It is in thi^ lower casin, with the sluggishly rotating waters that most
ol the electric power generating stations v.oald ce located end where the.
heated effluent would be deposited. The power industry hired-hand
scientists talk unconcernedly atout the little fishes that cavort glee-
fully in anc! out of a heat flume which always has suil'ieient cold water
around to quickly reduce it all dO'.;n to normal temperatures. Conven-
iently ignored is the cumulative effect of 25 or 30 sources of such
heat flu-p.es, ringing the sluggish waters, already rich in nutrients,
of lov;er Lake Michigan.
In common vdth the Atomic Energy Commission, the power co:..pany spokesmen
would restrict us to considering the effect only increment by increment,
and prohibit any thought of the total effect by the year 2,000 or ..evoncl.
This is Because the total carnal-" tive effect, if knovai, could make the
aatives r
The movement of v;ater along -he Indiana shore is further hindered by the
existence of landfills jutting out into the lake. The HIPSCO generating
stations , err: cheir respective discharge flun.es, are — or vould be —
located so bhat the heated effluent would be trapped by landfills.
The effluent '/ith its heat, plut, whatever other pollutants arc included
— an.; i will subnit proof of oilier poliutants--v;ill extend along the
shoreline of ;.ever&l parks including the Inuiana Dunes Kntional Lnkeshor
While the uninformed sv.imiwr may enjoy th= heated -,.ater, the subsequent
-------
2034
3
increase of algae, alewives, and oth-^r pollutents from riPSCO'o cischarge
pipes \vill turn the be&ch into a rooting, stinking morass.
I have included a map for reference. Consider first the existing coal
ffired 603 !."'/ Bailly generating station. The Lethlehem Steel landfill is
directly to the west, prohibiting any dissipation of water pollution
westward. It ie in fact a pollution pocket, with the heat and other
pollutants spreading eastward along the teaches of the Indiana Dunes
National Lakebhore, iijnediauely adjacent co the discharge flume.
On August 18 and 26, 1970, a ceries of tests of various types of
pollutents v.'ere made by the Independent Citizens' Water Pollution
Research Associates Inc. at the B&illy and Michigan City generating
plants of KIPSCO. On .August 26, the temperature off the bailly otation
discharge flume wag 83 i', compared to 66 in the Buffington Tier area,
a difference of 17 . The heated water, spreading along the beach of
the Indiana Dunes national Lake-shore registered 01° along the first
mile of park shoreline. At this rate, it /vould take several additional
miles to return to normal lak«j temperatures. To aake matters vjorse, a
new nuclear fired 657 II.; capacity station is planned for. this same site
for a station total of 1,260 I:./. The additional heat load will create
quite a "hot spot" in the National Lakeshore.
Simultaneously, hard on the eastern Boundary of the Indiana Dunes
Uationr,! Lakecihore is the discharge fluae of KIPoCO's Ilichigaa City
station. In addition to the exi3^ing 208 1.1. / units , a 511 IIY; unit
(otation total 71^ :'?./) is ceing built, to Le followed by toother of
sindlar capacity, some 1,250 iK/, v.lth a discharge of (t>07,000 gpm
plus 350,0000gp.!i) 870,000 gpm. The discharge would be, by company
figures, 1-s,^- above intake temperature, and some evidence exists that
the company figures crc understated, ihc heated c-fflue.no from this
otation \vuulu bo directed v;estv;ard onto the beaches of the .fndiane Dunes
NaLionnl Lskcshore.
Thus both ends of tho main section of the National lakeshore v.-ould be
blanketed Ly heated discharged, to ^he point, if expansion continues st
the prose jio rate, the flumes «ould join , making continuous along the
shore whatever ill effects ei:d problems art aosociated \;ith the discharge
But even with the aforementioned sources, the Indiana ^orc- s National
Lakeshore and its users may Buffer additional ebaset from KIP&CO. A
new statioi1 is planned for Gary, ogain to be located adjacent bo a lend-
fill---x.hi ^ one being 'Jni^ed States bteel Co::pany*s. Tiiu heated effluent,
again located in a "pollution pocket," would spread eastward, pact the
Gary Ilar^actt.,, lark cccch to the jest ^each unit of tht. Indiana Dunes
I-Tational Lektshor^, \<1hic.1-i v;ill be the heaviest use arm. Alter blauUfct-
ing thrio beaoh, it will be stopped on the east ^y the Ilid./est ^teel Co.
landfill, again polljuin;; a "pocket" of v.ater.
but \/e're not through v.'ith tliis uroLlei.i of trapping heated effluent
betv.ee'n landfills. At jh. lllinoiL--lncliana state line is ihd Cc;/.ionv.eal bh
Ldison titatt. Lii.c Generating Station. A few mileo av'ay the Inland Ctcel
Company landfill fon,.s ai'.other "pocket" with the Ma;. aoni anc1 ~»hiting
benches in bt:t-..fcen. 'J-hc- chance..-: for cleaning up theje poor, iorli;rn
seg.acnts of the paulic real'a ,.uuld bo forever lost ;.ith :.:ore {.. nd i'iore
healed ei fluent.
-------
2035
One [i.ore source of Kli'COO'a contribution to heating up Lekt ",'ichigan
is ihe. Liitchell Station, near the eastern edge of Gary, end the only
station not adjacent to a putlic beach.
1 think, you will now agree that the combinations of Geography, landfills,
and MPbGQ's generating ststion locations pose a very serious pollution
problem for the Indiana shoreline. But HIPSCO's threat to the well
being to Indiana' t> citizens does not end here.
For soaie unexplained reason, KIPSCC's discharges into the public waters
contain other contaminants, 'ihese include fused mangnnese-alurainuia-
titaniu-n.-silicon, (commonly called clinker or botto.a ash); fly ash;
iron II and iron III oxideo; nickel; chromium; magnesiuai; cocalt;
end zinc. Some of oh&se materials, particularly the zinc, are r.iOre
suggestive of steel raill processes. J understand that some intercon-
nection of piping exists between NIPSCG's bailly Station end the adjacent
ciethlehe.-.i Steel Plant. It may be that KIPSCO, as a part of its "Good
Neighbor" policy, it; allowing Bethlehem to flush some of its untreated
wastes of n.etallic refuse, an '• perhaps also dissolved pollutant^ and
heated water directly into La/te ..lichigan.
This is another reason why ve want to get power plants—particularly
KIPSCG—off the lakefront.
Another factor v.hic!. shapes the response of Indiana conservationists
is the anrofor,:;ed, 19th century management attituce towards pollution
problems. i;iPSCO's public relations men talk irapressivuly, but we have
been on the scene long enough to compare pror.ise with performance. A
public utility enjoys a government-protected monopoly, v/ith protective
rates which assure stockholders of generou- profits, There is no excuse
whatsoever for the resistance we have experienced in Indiana, ariri v.hich
is very evident this past -.-eek at these hearings.
As expected there are threats of "Brownouts" and "clackouts." If we
permit the power lobby to blackmail the public in this fashion, the same
tactic can(and .-/ill, be used to excuse other pollution problems in
addition to the heated v.ater. Jn fact, virtually any sin cen be
rationalized in this Manner. 'J-he fact if-,, of course, that the "blackout"
tactic assumes a false alternative—-that the choice is between using
Lake Michigan as a "heat sink" or ueing without sufficient generating
capacity. 'c are tolcS that until proven
otherwise, the heated discharge should be permitted. At sorae future
date, after tests conducted t,y, and for, the pollat-ers, if it can be
proven to their satisfaction that there is danger, maybe--just raaybe--
iDraetiiing should be done about it. Vihatevcr shortcomings we conserva-
tioniots have, we're not dumb enough to accept that ridiculous argument.
ite have hearc the sar.iC dei.ial of uanger fror; steel companies and oil
companies, and recently I heard a Ph.D. hired by the Agricultural Chemical
Industry cloi.i that DOT is not responsible for all those fish kiils
and dying birds. In fact, he iuplied, DDT was really good for you and
-------
2036
would cure everything from cancer to corns.
Haven't we learned anything from the past? Do Me h?ve to kill off
people fcy the thousands before the polluters v/ill adait the danger
of their discharges?
The matter of enforcement nust fee considered. I am well acquainted
the pollution probleaa of Torthv;estern Indiana, and have attended
innucieratle public hearings and hoard excuse after excuse. I have
tried repeatedly to ottain local and state action to reduce pollution,
and I can state fro.n personal experience that the performance of
Indiana authorities does not inspire confidence.
There can be no more delay. The states would dawdle around v/hile the
utilities flood Lake l/.ichigan with more and r.ore heated effluent. Lv.cn
if the states^iiltiiaately agree on a policy, 1 have little confidence
•ffcat the policy adopted will safeguard i.ake Michigan.
There is only one way to go. .The U.S. Department of the Interior must
require the states to adopt ':nJ& recommendations as contained in the
-------
2037
-------
203S
Mrs. R. A. Barber
MR. STEIN: We have a statement for the record by
Mrs. Robert A. Barber who had to leave, and without objec-
tion we will enter that as if read.
STATEMENT OF MRS. ROBERT A. BARBER,
DEERFIELD, ILLINOIS
MRS. BARBER: I share the average voter's belief
that the lake is a natural resource that can be maintained
by sincere efforts at conservation. Those of us who have
been interested in the problems created by pollution are
pleased that the State of Illinois has given us an
accountable group of citizens to set standards for
environmental pollution control,,
We plead that the Federal Water Pollution Control
Agency propose standards to end the use of the lake as a
heat sink by utilities, with the present state of scien-
tific information and engineering technology.
MR. STEIN: We have Seymour Altman, Commissioner
of the Highland Park Environmental Control. Commission.
Mr. Altman.
FROM THE FLOOR: Mr. Altman will be back shortly.
MR. STEIN: All right. We will call him again,
if he misses his turn, and I am not specifying when.
-------
2039
Mrs. S, Gruen
Mrs. Shirley Gruen, Wisconsin Federation of
Women's Clubs, has a 3-minute statement. Mrs. Gruen.
STATEMENT OF MRS. SHIRLEY GRUEN, WISCONSIN
FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS
GLENDALE, WISCONSIN
MRS. GRUEN: I will only take about three minutes
of your time. I put down the Federation of Women's Clubs
because I got a phone call about this conference. I am
a member of the Women's Club and I am a conservation chair-
man of the Glendale, Wisconsin Chapter, but I don't really
have anything in writing.
I would rather — before the 1-degree thermal
standard is set, however, I would rather talk as an
American citizen.
My name is Shirley Gruen, and I live at 214 W.
Mt. Royal Road, Glendale, Wisconsin. I am not a geologist,
a biologist, an expert on pollution, I am an artist, and
I am speaking here as an American citizen to plea for help
in saving Lake Michigan from further degradation.
I have spent every summer of my life since 1923
— that is the year I was born so you can figure it out, I
am 46 years old — at our home on Lake Michigan 3 miles
-------
2040
Mrs. S. Gruen
north of Port Washington.
Everything said here today about the phenomenal
change in the quality of water in Lake Michigan is true.
There are now very few clear water days. After every storm,
enormous amounts of algae are tossed on the beach. Other
people have told of this so I won't go into it. I think
I am probably the only one in this room who lives close to
the color of the lake.
In 1935, before the Port Washington powerplant —
and it is run by the Wisconsin Power Electric Company —
at that time, it was the wonder of the world. People came
from all over to see this technological wonder. Now, I
want to tell you that it is not very nice living next to
a powerplant,, As the gentleman before me said, it isn't
only the pollution in the water, it is the air, it is the
coal, it is the coal boats, it is the dredging of the
harbor and the Army Corps of Engineers dumping in the
lake. It is a relatively constant pollution.
Ironically, even at the time this electric powi.r-
plant was built in 1935, it was not even in the public
interest then» We lived 3 miles away and could not get
electricity at a reasonable rate. It was not until 1941,
through the REA, that we got electricity, and I tell you
we were luckier then than we are now to be without the
-------
2041
Mrs. S. Gruen
electricity.
I would like to speak here as a private person
on the feelings that a private person has —^he powerlessness
and the helplessness to right the wrongs of pollution that
we feel. Technology and production can be great benefits
of man, but it becomes apparent that they are mindless
instruments, and if undirected they move with a momentum of
their own and destroy everything in their path —the land-
scape, the environment, the quality of life» We can't
excape it.
They begin to dictate how we are to live. The
slogan in Wisconsin — I don't know if it still is — I
don't listen to that much TV — was: "'Live better elec-
trically." Well, I am not living better electrically; I
am living worse electrically If it means that I have
to go without any electricity in my house for the moment
I will do it, because what kind of a life is it to live
inside a house \vith every comfort and convenience and not
be able to walk outside and enjoy the environment?
So that is about all I have to say,, except that
as a citizen and as a mother of three children about the
ages of some of the children out there, you have to ask
yourself as you go through life: "'What is your aim in
life? "The environment has been very good to me in my
-------
2042
Mrs. Mo H. Dunlop
years on Lake Michigan, and my aim in life is to pay a
little rent, and I am going to do everything that I can
as a single person in this world to try to save it.
Thank you. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you.
Are there any comments or questions?
If not, Mary Helen Dunlop also has a 3-minute
presentation.
FROM THE FLOOR: Mr. Chairman, may I ask a
question?
MR. STEIN: Will you come up, Mrs. Dunlop?
I wish the power companies here could distribute
some of those electric clocks so people would know when
their 3 minutes are up.
STATEMENT OF MARY HELEN DUNLOP,
EVAN3TON, ILLINOIS
MRS. DUNLOP: Mary Helen Dunlop, a private
citizen from Evanston, Illinois.
I came down here today to listen, and also to
make a statement of my own for myself and for other people
whom I think are of like mind.
When I arrived here, I was told that Mr. George
-------
2043
G. Brown
Brown, representing the Committee on Lake Michigan Pollution,
had prepared a statement for that committee and was unable
to be here. So I will ask permission to forego presenting
my own statement in favor of presenting Mr. Brown's statement
for the Committee on Lake Michigan Pollution of which I am
a member.
Is that agreeable, Mr. Stein?
MR. STEIN: I take it that is no longer a 3-minute
statement.
MRS. DUNLOP: I will take longer than that.
MRo STEIN: Thank you. Go right ahead.
STATEMENT OF GEORGE BROWN, COMMITTEE ON
LAKE MICHIGAN POLLUTION, WILMETTE, ILLINOIS
(PRESENTED BY MARY HELEN DUNLOP)
MRo BROWN: My name is George Brown and I am
speaking in behalf of the Committee on Lake Michigan
Pollution, Box 5^3, Wilmette, Illinois. The CLMP is a
citizens' organization representing members in 10
communities on the north shore. Our main objective is
to eliminate and resist present and future pollution
threats to Lake Michigan. The committee provides a
structure for the individual citizen to contribute to this
-------
2044
G. Brown
objective. We have become more convinced over the 4-year
life of our group that on important issues relevant to the
lake it is important for the public to be heard since
reliance on industrial testimony or from political sources
is not representative, We have consulted people with
expertise within and outside our organization. However,
our testimony today will not be primarily technical in
nature; that is clearly not our comparative advantage. We
do feel, however, that we can make a contribution to the
problem of establishing standards,,
Our position concerning thermal standards is' as
follows:
1. A thermal standard should be stated in a multi-
dimensional framework. It is not sufficient to establish
standards solely in terms of a single dimension such as
some stated increase in temperature level at the point of
discharge. Other criteria must be included such as the
quantity or pounds of water discharged at a particular
temperature increment, the length of time the water is
discharged at a given temperature level and amount, the
rate of change in temperature level at point of discharge,
etc. Reliance on one criteria, although administratively
simple, does not reflect strategies which vary the levels
of temperature, quantity of water discharge and time period
-------
2045
G. Brown
of the discharge. Since combinations of these dimensions
have different ecological effects they must be reflected
in any standards. Criteria should also be stated in terras
of subregions of the lake as well as for the lake as a
total system. Failure to state the criteria in a multi-
dimensional sense denies the complexity of thermal effects
on our environment,
2. A complex monitoring system must be included
in the establishment of operative thermal standards. This
position is based on the following rationale. The amount
and quality of information on the effect of thermal pollution
on Lake Michigan is not well understood. We are not in i
position at the present time to make predictions with r.ono
certainty on the effects of increase in temperature level
or B.t.Uo's on the ecological system of Lake Michigan, for
the near or distant future. Any standards established now
would be somewhat arbitrary. We would accept such a
standard as an initiax benchmar.-- if it ic tied to :i lake-
wide monitoring system.
A monitoring system would provide the me^ns to
revise the composite standards. It would nlso provide a
moans to orovide inriodi^to ^oedback on ecological changes
in the I'.tk^. Although there will be many studios published
in the coning years which will attenpr, to show whether
-------
2046
G. Brown
thermal effects are significant and their relative
magnitude, these studies will not be definitive despite
their author's intentions. If a particular study shows
no ecologically harmful effects occur at a particular
increase in temperature level in a given region that will
clearly not be an adequate date base for eliminating
thermal standards. A study or even group studies will
not reflect the complex interactive effects that occur
in the Iake0 It is only with a continuous monitoring
and feedback system that the effect of thermal inputs
into the lake can be controlled. Information technology
is clearly sophisticated enough at the present time to
provide the critical link over time between thermal inputs
and ecological changes. This link is critical to any
decision-making about thermal standards.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Dunlop, for Mr.
Brown.
Any comments or questions? If not, thank you
very much.
Some people have asked about getting up when
their names are called and if they missed their turn.
If you go out to eat and you come back and you discover
your name was called, I have got a check system here.
Just let one of our staff know and we will call you as
-------
2047
Co Mathews
soon as possible. In any event, we are going to try not
to miss anybody.
Mrs. Paul S. Quigg has a statement of about 4
minutes. Mrs. Quigg.
She is not here?
Mrs. Edgar Wilkinson. Mrs. Wilkinson?
Clyde Mathews? According to the information
I have, Mr. Mathews, your statement should take about
5 minutes.
MR, MATHEWS: That is correct.
STATEMENT OF CLYDE MATHEWS, COMMUNITY
ACTION TO REVERSE POLLUTION, GARY, INDIANA
MR. MATHEWS: Gentlemen, my name is Clyde
Mathews. I am from Gary, Indiana, and represent CARP
or Community Action to Reverse Pollution. CARP is a
group of local ci-tizens organized in opposition to the
proposed construction of a 500-megawatt fossil generating
plant planned by NIPSCO or Northern Indiana Public Service
Company for the western edge of Marquette Park in Gary
adjacent to U. S. Steel Gary Works. We are committed to
the protection and improvement of our city's air, water,
and recreational facilities.
-------
2043
C. Mathews
An example of the utter disregard of the public
by a "public" utility is found in a position paper issued
by the Northern Indiana Public Service Company recently.
The paper is entitled "Position Paper on NIPSCO's Electric
Facilities and the Environment" and states, "... it
(electricity) provides economic and beautification
benefits to the Nation which far outweigh the effect
power installations might have upon their immediate
ecological neighborhoods."
As residents of Gary, Indiana, one of the so-
called expendable ecological neighborhoods, we take strong
issue with this statement and attitude. This statement
clearly demonstrates the environmental expediency and
irresponsibility which has been characteristic of the
power companies in dealing with the communities in which
they operate.
We, therefore, demand the Federal and State
leadership necessary to protect the natural resources
essential for those of us who live in this industrial
complex and similar ones elsewhere.
Recognizing the fact that there is much needed
research to provide absolute facts as to the effect of
thermal pollution, sufficient evidence has been presented
concerning the destructive effects of massive dumping of
-------
2049
C. Mathews
waste heat into Lake Michigan to make it mandatory for
this conference to act. Both the Federal and State water
pollution control agencies must provide stringent interim
standards for waste heat discharge.
In our local struggle with NIPSCO we find again
and again that they have no intention of reducing waste
heat unless forced to do so. Municipal governments have
the responsibility of protecting the health and well
being of their citizens. They must have uniform,
unequivocal standards upon which to base their local
**
legislation. It is the undeniable responsibility of
this conference to provide our cities with these stan-
dards .
We, therefore, strongly endorse the Interior
Department recommendation that "no significant discharge
of waste heat into Lake Michigan should be permitted,"
Thank you.
MRo STEIN: Thank you, Mr. Mathews.
Any comment or question? (Applause.)
Mrs. Miriam G. Dahl. Mrs. Dahl, you also have
indicated a 5-minute statement.
MRS. DAHL: I took a guess.
-------
2050
Mrs* M. Dahl
STATEMENT OF MRS. MIRIAM DAHL, IZAAK
WALTON LEAGUE, WISCONSIN STATE DIVISION,
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
MRS. DAHL: I want to express my appreciation,
after having to listen to all that you have this week, that
you still are willing to listen to us who are legitimate
public, and the general public I am representing today
amounts to — I have said 1,500, but it is closer to 2,000
people, so I am sure that all of them will be grateful for
your time which you are giving us.
Mr. Chairman, and conferees. The Wisconsin
State Division of the Izaak Walton League of America
representing some 1,500 citizens of the State of Wisconsin
reiterates today the firm stand taken initially against
the artificial addition of heat to our waters.
In deference to the mathematical computations
that absolute degrees of return temperatures cannot be
equalled (though we think this statement .is subject to
question) we accept the allowance of 1 degree above water
temperature given in the statement by Secretary of Interior
Walter Hickel as tolerable. We know this temperature can
be achieved by more than one method. It is fact.
-------
2051
Mrs, M. Dahl
We do not subscribe to the proposal by the State
of Michigan of a 3 degree tolerance using acres of lake
water to cool instead of cooling before returning used
water to the lake. This method affects a far greater amount
of water at varying upward temperatures than would be
indicated in a stated 3 degree tolerance.
In a study conducted in Tennessee by James
Speakman, tests showed that a 3-degree rise even in the
warmer waters has a devastating effect on the hardiest fish
natural to that area. Other fish and aquatic life would
be affected more quickly.
The Columbia River, famous spawning grounds for
our best salmon, has been ruined by atomic thermal addi-
tions, A 3-degree rise in river temperature in this
nitrogen-rich water killed juvenile salmon in just 90
seconds. That is 1-1/2 minutes. Think of the effect such
temperatures would have on the coho salmon, trout and other
spawn in Lake Michigan. If a 3-degree temperature is
possible, a 1-degree is equally possible.
Cost has been made a strong point. The actual
cost to the consumer will not be that great annually. The
alternative to that cost may well result in uncontrollable
climactic changes, and no lake, ergo, no water. The
alternative to this has to be wise use and sensible
-------
2052
Mrs, M. Dahl
administration.
In July the National Izaak Walton League of
America in convention assembled in Norfolk, Virginia, voted
to support Secretary Hickel's 1-degree allowance in thermal
addition. Wisconsin State Division supports that decision.
And I might say we pioneered the introduction of that into
the convention.
Conservationists reach a large segment of the
"silent majority11 who ask us, "Why is continuance of such
malpractice allowed against our environment? How can we
stop it?"
It is no longer valid to say that economic
feasibility demands such action. We are frequently asked
to "face reality" by economists and industrialists. We
reply that this reality we face is the spendthrift race
to overuse, rape, and destroy our true base wealth which
economists state is our true wealth together with people.
Everything else follows this first premise.
When we begin with this reality, we come to a
far different set of conclusions with a truly realistic
value which includes people, a future, esthetics, and
social values to make a whole life. Then money takes
its proper place in purchasing the necessities, and not
as an end in itself. Life depends on water, air, food,
-------
2053
Mrs. M. Dahl
natural resources. Save these.
We have heard all the excuses and testimonies to
substantiate the inability to meet a 1-degree standard.
We say that we can do anything we want to do. We have
proved this in outer space and undersea explorations, in
creating synthetics (always from natural resources), in
medical transplants and other Jules Verne accomplishments.
Now, we must attend to our basics. We must make fullest,
best use of our rapidly disappearing resources. The
"waste-not-want-not1* maxim must replace the wanton disre-
gard of single use and discard the rest.
We must depend on such government bodies as
yours to guide us to firm National standards with full
powers of enforcement to protect our remaining resources.
We, the conservation groups, and we, the public sector, urge
you to set standards of thermal additions to Lake Michigan
at 1 degree above temperature. The fragility of Lake
Michigan demands this decision. We hope it will become
the standard for all waters.
Thank you.
Respectfully, Miriam G, Dahl, I am Chairman
of the State Division, Pollution Abatement Committee of
the State of Wisconsin, and have just this year been placed
on the National Water Committee for the Izaak Walton League,
-------
205^
Mrs, D. Trump
(Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Dahl,
Any comments or questions? If not, thank you
very much.
We have Mrs. Paul Kaefer.
Harold B. Olin.
Mrs. Robert Herlocker.
FROM THE FLOOR: She will be back.
MR. STEIN: H. R. Thoke.
Mrs. Donald Trump.
STATEMENT OF MRS. DONALD TRUMP, CHAIRMAN,
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, LEAGUE OF WOMEN
VOTERS OF INDIANA, VALPARAISO, INDIANA
MRS. TRUMP: I will file with you a separate
statement. (See P. 2055) This is just from the League
of Women Voters of Indiana.
I am now speaking for the Lake Michigan Inter-
League Group. It represents 75 local Leagues of Women
Voters and the State Leagues of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
and Wisconsin. Each unit has been working for local, State,
and regional environmental management programs which are
planned to improve the Lake Michigan Ba.sin. Although other
-------
2055
Statenent to
The Third Session Federal Conference on
Lake I.ichigan and its Tributary Basin
Workshop on October 2, 1970
by
llrs. Donald Trump, Chairman Environmental Quality
for the League of :/oraen Voters of Indiana
Our League members' longstanding concern on water quality and
its conservation has led them to inquire about the problems
created by water thermal changes as well as other problems. We
have learned that there can be aquatic changes, synergistic effects
of heat with possible toxic substances, and that deep lake water
seeisonal temperature stratifications can have deleterious alter-
ations, by placing a layer of warm water on it. Plus the value
of water for drinking, recreation and industrial use decreases
at l}igh temperature.
We have also learned about the problems that are presented on
cooling water systems, their possible detriment to atmosphere
with high construction costs, plus the large areas needed for
cooling ponds.
Therefore, on equating what the experts report, wucre they agree
and disagree, our members are saying it is important that the
country and the states move cautiously and slowly, with greater
safeguards than in the past. Now is the time to evaluate the
corrective devices through the present and nex-7 technological
aids. Because, once new water-using plants are built, it becomes
very difficult for states to require expensive alterations.
Further, we believe that when the term nondegradation is used
for water standards, it should mean no further man-made degra-
dation. Also, any regional or special area variances in temper-
ature standard requirement allows the problem of competitive
cost advantages to develop within industries. If careful planning
in locating plants produces a cost advantage when equal standards
are applied, then the regulating bodies have succeeded in
their function.
Thank you.
-------
2056
Mrs. D. Trump
aspects of League efforts relate to local or broader
problems, as an Inter-League Group, we concentrate solely
on the preservation and improvement of the quality of
Lake Michigan.
We are encouraged to witness the continuance of
the Federal-State Enforcement Conference and to see its
concentrated approach to Lake Michigan and its tributaries.
We believe that only through this type of regional, inter-
state, and multi-level governmental action can the necessary
complicated solutions to Lake Michigan problems be found
and enforced,
Basic to the League approach to the task of
improving water quality, the League maintains that no one
has a right to pollute public waters and that those who
produce wastes should bear the cost of managing them.
The question of placing thermal effluent in the
category of pollutants is one that has been thoroughly
debated. The premise upon which we base our assumption that
thermal effluent, from any source, is a pollutant, is that
moment when the thermal additives cause a deleterious
effect upon the waters, the natural ecology within the
waters, the environment surrounding the waters, or affects
the use of the waters by area residents or visitors.
Some authorities cite case after case of fish kill,
-------
2057
Mrs, D, Trump
environmental hazards, or speed-up of eutrophication as a
result of thermal additives. Other authorities claim that
no proven case of known environmental or other effects can
be found. League members can certainly claim no prescience
to pick that group of scientists which will turn out to be
correct. League members know, however, that the confident
casual approach to looming problems has not been successful
in any instance in the past. It seems that only after the
damage has become an obvious danger has concern and control
become visible and too little.
Therefore, we encourage this Federal-State
Enforcement Conference to consider the recommendations of
the Federal Water Quality Administration which would main-
tain lake water temperatures as close to natural levels as
possible. We believe that American technology can find
practical ways of achieving this high goal, thus preventing
the addition of at least one type of pollutant to Lake
Michigan,
The League supports discharge requirements which
we think are necessary for State and Federal enforcement,
We find it difficult to see how stream standards could be
reached and maintained without setting standards for
effluent and monitoring at point of discharge. The use
of mixing zones as a component of regulating thermal
-------
2053
Mrs. D. Trump
discharge can complicate the regular measurement procedures
and, in certain instances, confuse the possible identity of
an unlawful discharger.
We believe that it is good in intent but possibly
unrealistic as a solution to require power companies to file
contingency plans when applying for construction permits.
These plans would outline remedial steps to be taken in
case their thermal discharge proves harmful. If a power-
plant discharges its thermal effluent into Lake Michigan
for a period of some years before cumulative damage is
observed, it is possible that an established dependency upon
that powerplant by the consumer would necessitate continued
functioning of the plant while the contingency plan was
reviewed and implemented. How long would that take and
what further damage could be caused in that period of time?
Attention has been drawn to some of the recrea-
tional benefits derived at the point of discharge by
attracting large numbers of warm-water fish. Others have
followed this point and have asked about the possible
effects of a plant shutdown on this unnatural fauna. Would
a false environment be established which would then require
maintenance?
Nuclear powerplants are now considered to be the
major "new" source of thermal additives. If it is
-------
2059
Mrs. D, Trump
determined that cooling ponds are the preferred technique
for cooling the heated water, what are the guarantees that
the recreational uses proposed for these ponds will not
dangerously expose the users to radioactive leakage? This
brings up another subject which is presently full of
unknowns and causes conflicting judgment of accumulated
data.
League members have studied the questions
involved enough to know that there are no easy answers
and that simplistic solutions must be viewed in a suspect
manner. The ultimate decision this conference reaches
will certainly not please everyone. We urge caution and,
if necessary, that error be made on the side of prevention.
We ask that, whatever the final determination, a realistic
and yet firm compliance schedule be arranged, and that
continuing enforcement measures be incorporated and applied.
We urge that opportunities be automatically given to the
public to react and respond to powerplant construction
proposals before site work has started.
League members, along with the rest of the
citizenry, must take a long hard look at our environment
and its growing misuse by growing numbers of people.
Perhaps it is time for new judgment values to be made on
both population and economic growth. The estimates that
-------
2060
Mrs. D. Trump
the affluent citizens of the United States are responsible
for 50 percent of the world's annual consumption of natural
resources is frightening rather than satisfying.
We must grow up, we must change, we must make
hard decisions. Here, today, is the chance to do this in
time to save Lake Michigan,
Thank you, (Applause)
MR, STEIN: Thank you, Mrs, Trump,
Are there any comments or questions?
If not, thank you very much,
(The following document was submitted by Mrs,
Trump for inclusion in the record,)
-------
MICHIGAN
2061
League of Women Voters
LAKE MICHIGAN INTER-LEAGUE GROUP
INDIUM
Thermal Pollution
April
1970
League of Women Voters
67 E. Madison
Chicago, Illinois
60603
twenty
cents
quantity
price on
request
Thermal pollution is the deleterious change in the normal
temperature of water caused by the discharge of waste heat.
"In specific cases where heated water discharges are
causing actual death in an aquatic habitat, depressing repro-
duction and growth of desired species, or degrading the
environment to a point where less desirable organisms are
favored, then we must consider that thermal pollution
exists," says Raymond Johnson, assistant director, Bureau
of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Department of the Interior.
POWER PLANTS AND THERMAL POLLUTION
The nation's need for electric power is doubling every
ten years. Massive use of cooling water to condense steam
in power plants is an integral part of the generating process.
Almost half the water used in the United States is for
industrial cooling, with the electric power industry using
about 70 percent of this amount. It is estimated that by the
year 2000, the need for water for industrial cooling will
equal two-thirds of the nation's natural daily water runoff
of 1,200 billion gallons.1
A single power plant now in existence requires up to a
half-million gallons of water a minute for cooling purposes,
running at full capacity around the clock, this would mean
720 million gallons a day. Some of this cooling water
evaporates; most of it, however, is returned at a tempera-
ture ten to thirty degrees above the temperature of the
water from which it was withdrawn.
The projected growth of the electric utility industry
during the next two decades is expected to require the
construction of about 40 new hydroelectric installations of
100 megawatts or more, 50 new pumped-storage hydro-
electric installations of 300 megawatts or more, and 90
fossil and 165 nuclear steam-electric plants on new sites.1
Nuclear power plants now supply about 1 percent of the
nation's power; by the year 2000 they are expected to
provide about 50 percent.
"U.S. Making Initial Move Against Thermal Pollution," by
Gladwin Hill, New York Times, February 22, 1970.
Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, "Environmental Effects of
Producing Electric Power," October, November 1969.
THE EFFECT OF INCREASED THERMAL
POLLUTION ON LAKE MICHIGAN
There is one nuclear power plant now operating on the
shores of Lake Michigan. Nine more are proposed or in
process, with all but one scheduled for completion by
1973. The ten plants will have an electrical capacity of
7,100,000 kilowatts.
Major Fossil-fueled and Nuclear
Power stations located on Lake Michigan2
• Coal Burning '
© Nuclear-operating
• Nuclear-under construction
(Numbers indicate power capacity in megawatts)
-------
2062
Existing fossil fuel3 plants, operating at full capacity,
discharge an estimated 300,000 billion Btu1 per year in
cooling water to Lake Michigan. Nuclear reactor plants
discharge 40 to 50 percent more waste heat per unit of
electrical production to the cooling water than do fossil
fuel plants. It is estimated that the ten nuclear plants, when
in full operation, will discharge 388,000 billion Btu per
year to the lake. If all plants, both existing and proposed,
were to operate at full capacity (and assuming complete
mixing of the entire lake) the temperature of the lake
would be raised a little more than 0.06°F annually.5
The above calculation assumes no reduction in the heat
of the cooling water after its addition to the lake, but
actually there will be much reduction through evaporation,
radiation and other means. There will, however, be a resid-
ual of the added heat that will be cumulative in the lake
until an equilibrium is reached at a somewhat higher
temperature than that due to natural causes. It is estimated
that witn an average annual temperature of 50 F for the
lake, the added heat would raise the average annual temper-
ature at equilibrium by 0.05°F to 50 05°F. With increasing
power production and no off-lake cooling, it is estimated
the average annual temperature would be increased by
0.4°F in the year 2000 and by 2.0°F in 2023. This increase
would nullify a two degree decrease in average annual
temperature of the lake that has occurred, apparently from
natural causes, in the past one hundred years.1
The possible local effects of increased temperature on
aquatic life are cause for more immediate concern than the
effect on the lake as a whole. Fish, and the aquatic organ-
isms that serve as their food, are particularly sensitive to
variations m natural seasonal temperature during repro-
ductive and juvenile stages.
The value of water for drinking and for recreational and
industrial uses usually decreases at higher temperatures.
Thermally polluted water is less capable of assimilating
wastes While present use of Lake Michigan waters for
irrigation is minimal, local temperature rises in areas near
intakes for irrigation water might affect seedlings, plant
growth rate, and crop yield. As temperature rises, nuisance
plants, algae and rough fish flourish while more desirable
life dies. The quality of water deteriorates as foul odors and
algal slime appear.
THERMAL POLLUTION
AND THE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
Thermal pollution can affect the entire ecological bal-
ance of natural waters. Water discharged from power plants
is often ten to thirty degrees warmer than the body from
which it was drawn. A temperature change of only three to
four degrees can, under certain conditions, have serious
effect upon fish and other aquatic life, depending on the
- Fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas
- British thermal unit, the quantity of heat required to raise the
temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit
- Statement of F W Kittrell, Chairman, Committee on Nuclear
Power Plant Waste Disposal, at the Conference on Lake Michigan.
U. S Dept. of Interior, FWPCA, Proceedings, Volume II, Febru-
ary 1969.
level, duration and rapidity with which the temperature
change takes place. Some effects of thermal pollution on
the ecological balances of natural waters are
l)The addition of warm water may cause fish eggs to hatch
so early in the spring that natural food organisms are
unavailable.
2) Temperature changes act as signals for fish migration and
spawning. If hot water from a power plant spreads com-
pletely across a river or stream, it can form a thermal
barrier preventing fish from swimming upstream to
spawn or from passing safely downstream to carry out
their life cycle.
3) Trout eggs will not hatch if incubated in water that is too
warm, and salmon may not spawn.
4) The sensitivity of aquatic life to many toxic substances is
heightened at increased temperatures.
5) Fish double their consumption of oxygen for each ten
degree rise in water temperature. As water warms up, it
can hold less oxygen, thus lowering the amount of
oxygen available to aquatic life.
6) Within certain limits bacterial activity is increased.
In a statement before the Joint Hearings on Atomic
Energy, Dr. Johnson said,
... on June 25, 1969, temperature monitors installed by the
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (FWPCA)
personnel near the mouth of the Florida Light and Power
Company's Turkey Point fossil fuel power plant effluent
canal recorded very warm water in Biscayne Bay. At this time
biologists recorded high turbidity and evidence of significant
kill of bottom living aquatic organisms. Large numbers of
dead crabs, pistol shrimp, benthic fish, and dead or dying
species of invertebrates and macroalgae were observed. The
greatest concentration of dead crabs appeared to extend from
the mouth of the Grand Canal into the bay about 1,000
yards.
Further observations on June 28 found a variety of
sponges, coral, green algae, crabs and mollusks dead as far out
as 1,500 yards. While available data cannot rule out other
factors, the most probable cause of death to these organisms
was excessive temperature.
THERMAL EFFLUENT
AND THE ECOLOGY OF DEEP LAKES
The most dramatic ecological events for deep lakes in the
temperate zone are the seasonal turnovers. In the spring,
surface waters warm to 30°F, sink and mix with the bot-
tom water, bringing the nutrient-rich bottom water to the
surface. The surface waters cool in the fall and again a
turnover occurs. The algal blooms which follow these turn-
overs are well known. The ecology of temperate zone lakes
is largely determined by turnovers and by the stratification
of the water into layers with varying temperatures during
the intervening periods. The chemical, physical, and biologi-
cal structure of lake ecosystems is keyed to these events. A
power plant which places a layer of warm water on a lake
surface may disrupt the circulation pattern and either
prevent turnovers from occuring or change the time at
which they take place. The effects of this on lake ecology
can be drastic and possibly disastrous.4
' "We're in Hot Water", by John Cairns, Jr., m Scientist and
O'rizen, October 1968.
-------
2063
Reported fish kills caused by heated waste water discharges from electric power generation plants
Date
Aug. 6-8, 1962
Aug. 11, 1962
Sept. 7, 1963
May 28, 1964
Aug. 19, 1965
Aug. 20, 1965
Jan. 19-22, 1966
Sept. 2, 1966
Jan. 1, 1967
Jan. 17, 1967
Jan. 1, 1968
Jan. 2, 1968
Mar. 1, 1968
July 1968
Aug. 22, 1968
Dec. 16, 1968
Dec. 24, 1968
June 30, 1969
State
Penna.
Mo.
II!
Tex.
Penna.
Ohio
Ohio
Penna.
Ohio
Ohio
Nebr.
Ohio
Utah
Mass.
Mass.
W. Va.
Ohio
Fla.
Stream
or lake
Raystown Branch,
Juniata River
Discharge canal
to Montrose Lake
Rock River
Unnamed stream
Schuylkill River
Greater Miami
River
Ohio River
Schuylkill River
Sandusky River
Sandusky Bay
Lake Hastings
Sandusky River
Price River
Cape Cod Canal
Cape Cod Canal
Ohio River
Sandusky River
Biscayne Bay
Nearest
town or
county
Saxton
Ladue
Rockford
Victoria
Reading
Montgomery
Toronto
Philadelphia
Sandusky
Erie County
Hastings
Sandusky
Castlegate
Sandwich
Sandwich
New Cumberland
Sandusky County
Miami
Degree
of
severity
Heavy
Heavy
Light
Light
Moderate
—
Light
Heavy
-
-
Moderate
-
Heavy
Moderate
Moderate
Light
-
-
Number
of fish
killed
3,441
Several
thousand
-
-
1,000
1 1 ,250
200
50,000
300,384
78,755
5,000
250,585
150
-
-
9,500
3,000
-
Thermal effluents might become a hazard to local
aquatic life during the summer months when surrounding
temperatures are higher (60-70°) inshore. In the mam,
however, Lake Michigan is cool even at the height of
summer. During the fall and spring overturning of the lake,
a thermal bar, or barrier, is established several miles off-
shore. The bar prevents the inshore and open lake water
from mixing, and hence might trap the heated discharge
waters and also the fish, because of their reluctance to go
through the thermal bar. These close-to-shore effects, how-
ever improbabie, are possible. The only effective counter-
measure would be to shut down, or substantially reduce,
the output of the station causing them. If this were to
become a recurring phenomenon, serious consideration
would then have to be given to use of cooling ponds or
towers.2
SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS
Of THERMAL POLLUTION
Synergism is the simultaneous action of separate agents
that, together, have a greater total effect than the sum of
their individual effects In reference to water temperatures,
synergistic action refers to the fact that temperature rises
increase the lethal effect of many toxic substances to
aquatic life forms and may also increase the susceptibility
of the fish to disease.
Since domestic and industrial wastes are numerous in the
nation's waters, the synergistic action between temperature
and toxicity is a relatively common occurrence. Fish kills
have accompanied small temperature rises which might have
been insignificant in a stream free of toxic substances. Thus
the concentration of a substance may be harmless at one
temperature, but may contribute to fish mortalities when
combined with the stress imposed by higher temperatures.
For example, the myxobacteria Chondrococcus columnaris,
which can cause death through tissue destruction, becomes
more virulent as temperature is increased *
OPINIONS ON THERMAL POLLUTION
AND THE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM
Industry. At the Michigan Governor's Conference on
Thermal Pollution, July 1969, Wayne L Wingert of Michi-
gan Electric Utilities reported, "Certainly, in some instances
the thermal effects could be detrimental. In other cases,
these may well be beneficial, as for example the improve-
ment in oyster growth being demonstrated on Long Island
Sound. We know of no problems which have resulted from
the addition of heat to the waters of Michigan "
In his report at the same Michigan conference, D. H.
Brandt of Consumers Power company said "there appeared
to be no gross thermal damage to the benthic (bottom-
dwelling) fauna of the main plume area" at their Campbell,
Michigan, site on Lake Michigan.
Government Agencies. The Energy Policy Staff, Office of
Science and Technology, said in their Considerations
Affecting Steam Power Plant Site Selection
In recent years we have come to realize that injecting huge
quantities of heat into a waterway can create a new form of
water pollution and for that reason the States, in cooperation
with the Department of Interior's Water Pollution Control
~ "Nuclear Power and Thermal Pollution," by Philip F Gustafson m
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (preprint), March 1970.
- Industrial Waste Guide on Thermal Pollution, FWPCA, Northwest
Region, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, September 1968
-------
2064
Administration, have adopted temperature limitations for the
nation's interstate waterways.
The Atomic Energy Commission has no present juris-
diction over the thermal effects caused by the siting of
nuclear plants Many individual state legislatures have
adopted water quality regulations. When selecting a site for a
reactor facility, a utility must satisfy its particular state that
it can comply with these regulations during the operation of
the facility.
Based on the data now available and experience with other
wastes, it is only prudent that great care be exercised so as to
avoid damage to the aquatic environment rather than to plan
to correct gross problems after the power industry is heavily
committed to the use of facilities which provide little or no
control over the effects of their activities on the envi-
ronment.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration has
declared that waters above 93°F are essentially uninhabit-
able for all fish in the United States except certain southern
species. Many U.S. rivers already reach a temperature of
90°F or more in summer through natural heating alone.
The waste heat from a single power plant of the size
planned for the future (some 1,000 megawatts) is expected
to raise the temperature of a river carrying a flow of 3,000
cubic feet per second by ten degrees, and since a large
number of power plants are likely to be constructed on the
banks of a single nver, it is possible that many waters would
become uninhabitable for fish.
In a book produced by a Wisconsin utility, Dr. Glenn T.
Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, said
"Growth of nuclear power will help abate air pollution,
reduce traffic and noise in the area surrounding the power
plant, and generally make the area a much more attractive
and healthier place to be."
A warning was issued by Lee C. White, the head of the
Federal Power Commission for most of the Johnson
Administration. Mr. White said some expeditious method of
resolving disputes over the location of electric facilities
must be found. Otherwise, the power industry's ability to
supply electricity may, in many locations, soon be out-
stripped by the apparently endless increases in public de-
mands for electricity. The public will no longer be able to
assume "there will be energy at the flick of a switch."
PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO NUCLEAR PLANTS
The public has actively shown its concern about the
ten nuclear generating plants planned along Lake Michi-
gan by 1973. These plants are in seven locations, three
being double plants. None is designed to reduce the temper-
ature of cooling water before it is discharged into the lake.
The proposed Commonwealth Edison plant at Zion,
Illinois, has stirred such critics as Senator Gaylord Nelson
of Wisconsin and Chicago Alderman Leon Despres. Mr.
Despres says the company should build cooling towers to
reduce the temperature of the hot water before it is re-
turned to Lake Michigan. Some biologists and ecologists say
the hot water discharges will change the temperature of
Lake Michigan and alter the lake environment of native
marine life.
INDUSTRY'S ANSWER
Robert A Hirshfield, engineering consultant for Com-
monwealth Edison, has said "many of the critics are
misinformed or jumping to conclusions." He said the Zion
Power generation, population, and power
per capita in Chicago area, 1950-19802
I
O 2
II
u '-'
il
DOUBLING
TIME
Power per Capita 12 years
Population 46 years
Power Generation 10 years
05
I95O I960 1970 1980
YEAR
nuclear power plant is designed to return cooling water to
the lake eighteen or nineteen degrees hotter than when it
came in. A 10-year study by Edison of offshore lake water
temperature showed a maximum temperature of sixty-five
degrees. A nineteen degree increase in the warmest water
known to Edison would result in cooling water that would
be eighty-four degrees, said Hirshfield, thus meeting federal
and state water pollution standards (of eighty-five degrees
for discharged cooling waters).
REDUCING THERMAL POLLUTION
OF NATURAL WATERS
The alternatives developed thus far for reducing thermal
effect on lake water quality are the use of cooling towers or
of artificial lakes and reservoirs There are two types of
cooling towers:
Wet tower. Heat is removed by evaporation, cooling the
water by twenty degrees. The main disadvantage in the wet
tower is that large amounts of water are discharged into the
atmosphere. For example, the towers for a 1,000 megawatt
power plant would eject some 20,000 to 25,000 gallons of
evaporated water per minute.
Dry tower. The heat is transferred from the cooling
water, through a heat exchanger, directly to the air without
evaporation. The dry system costs two and a half times as
much to build as the wet system.
What Industry Says About Cooling Towers
Mr. Hirshfield, Commonwealth Edison's engineering
consultant, is opposed to the use of cooling towers at Zion,
Illinois. He says cooling towers for a plant the size of Zion
would increase the present cost of the project by $15 to
-------
2065
$22 million. They would stand as high as thirty stones and
would reduce the temperature of used cooling water within
six to twelve degrees of that when it entered the plant,
depending on humidity. ,
"They are unsightly, they throw off huge amounts of
mist, and they could fog up the whole town of Zion," said
Hirshfield. "Cooling towers," he said, "can create fog for a
distance of 3/4 of a mile."
Consumers Power Company is planning to use a reservoir
rather than cooling towers at their Midland, Michigan,
project. "If we had planned to use cooling towers at Mid-
land, we would be faced with an investment of $25 million.
The artificial reservoir is estimated to cost $6 million less,"
said Harry R. Wall, senior vice president of Consumers
Power Company, at the 1969 Governor's Conference on
Thermal Pollution in Traverse City, Michigan.
What Government Says About Cooling Towers5
Primary concern is with potential fogging conditions
caused by cooling towers, but other possible adverse side
effects are being considered.
Because of the large amount of water vapor expelled
from evaporative towers, extreme climatic conditions may
cause condensation, resulting in ground level fog or drizzle.
However, such conditions are not often encountered. A
recent investigation of fogging problems from natural and
mechanical draft towers presently operating in the eastern
United States supports this conclusion. Reports indicate
that natural draft towers did not produce ground level fog
or drizzle under any weather conditions. Plumes rarely
dropped below the top of the tower for an extended
distance, and generally dissipated within a few hundred feet
of a tower. Mechanical, induced draft towers reportedly
produced substantial amounts of ground level fog, espe-
cially during the winter. The area affected by the fog was
very small, however, extending a maximum of about one-
fourth mile from the towers. Carry-over of some water
droplets was also noted from the mechanical draft type.
Resulting precipitation occurred in the immediate vicinity
of the towers, causing some minor icing problems up to 300
feet away.
In general, undesirable meteorologic effects from towers
can be prevented or controlled to a large degree through
modern design that incorporates effective drift eliminators,
air-flow control, etc. In situations where problems arise, the
area affected is limited to that immediate to the tower
installation.
What the Public Says About Cooling Towers
Proponents of cooling towers say that the $15 to $22
million quoted as the cost of cooling towers for Zion's
nuclear power plant is only 10 percent of the capital cost
(adding perhaps 2 or 3 percent to the electric bill).
UTILIZING THE THERMAL EFFLUENT
Waste heat may be used to prevent frost damage to
orchards, or to extend the growing season of crops that
bring premium prices in an early market. Cooling ponds can
do double duty as recreational lakes. Thermal effluent
might be used in desalination plants to aid in the evapora-
tion process, or to improve efficiency of sewage treatment.
Others suggest using the effluent for sea-farming with
selected fish tolerant of warm water, for heating buildings,
or for growing plants in water in a controlled way.
ACTION TO MINIMIZE
OR PREVENT THERMAL POLLUTION
The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration of
the Department of the Interior established a provisional set
of guidelines for water quality in 1967 that includes
thermal pollution. Maximum permissible water tempera-
tures for individual species of fish are specified and units
for the heating of natural waters for industrial cooling
purposes are recommended.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy has proposed that further
licensing of nuclear power plant construction be suspended
until a thorough study of potential hazards has been made.
Senator Edmund Muskie's subcommittee on air and water
pollution held hearings on thermal pollution in 1969 in
many parts of the country.
Thermal pollution control measures are costly and com-
plicated. An estimate by the FWPCA places the cost of
cooling facilities needed through 1972 at $1.82 billion.
Other action suggested includes:
l)Set specific peak temperatures for each locality to pre-
vent fish kills from temperature fluctuations. These
criteria, however, might not assure the maintenance of
stable ecosystems in all their complexity.
2) Undertake studies of aquatic ecology. These studies
might be financed by federal, state or private agencies.
3) Require the power company to prove that its use of the
stream or lake would not impair other beneficial uses.
4) Monitor both existing plants and new ones as they go
into operation to insure that preliminary estimates were
correct and that operating methods are sound.
LAKE MICHIGAN'S THERMAL
WATER QUALITY STANDARDS
Of the four states bordering Lake Michigan, Illinois and
Indiana have temperature standards, approved by the Secre-
tary of the Interior, that require the maximum temperature
of Lake Michigan water not exceed 85°F after reasonable
allowance for mixing. The Wisconsin standard, also
approved by the Secretary, allows up to 89°F, after mixing,
at the shoreline and in harbor waters. Some, but not all, of
these standards also include various provisions limiting rates
of temperature increase and increases over natural tempera-
ture. The Michigan standard, which has not been approved
by the Secretary, establishes no numerical limits, but is a
general statement designed to abate or prevent injury of
any kind, due to temperature, to any type of water use or
value.
The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration is m
the process of formulating new water quality standards
pertaining to thermal additions to Lake Michigan. Within
the next few months the four Lake Michigan states and the
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration plan to
consider the adoption of uniform standards to control
thermal pollution in the lake.
-------
2066
All four states grant approval for the nuclear power
plants with the understanding that requirements may be
revised if experience proves such a need.
THE REAL CHOICE: THERMAL POLLUTION OR
A SHORTAGE OF ELECTRIC POWER?
The ultimate decision to be made seems to be just how
much money and effort the public is willing to invest in
cutting down heat pollution now in order to avoid future
problems. It must be recognized, too, that even if the
choice is made to invest to prevent heat pollution of the
water, the waste heat fron the power generation is released
into the air. Some scienlsts are concerned about the heat
balance of the earth aid the effects of the increasing
releases of heat and othir combustion by-products on the
atmosphere - ultimate}} on the whole ecology. There is
clearly a need for much more research to determine the
amount of such releases fie atmosphere will absoib without
permanent change. Alsqjiesearch is needed to increase the
efficiency of power genention to prevent pollution from its
by-products, and to irtlize such by-products, including
heat.
REFERENCES
Brandt, D.H., "Ecological Studies and Temperature Surveys at Con-
sumers Power Company Electric Generating Stations." Talk pre-
sented at Governor's Conference on Thermal Discharges, Traverse
City, Michigan, July 18, 1968.
Bukro, Casey, "Pollution Toes Fear Atom Site," Chicago Tribune,
July 6, 1969.
Cairns, John Jr, "We're in Hot Water," Scientist and Citizen,
October 1968.
Clark, John R., "Thermal Pollution and Aquatic Life," Scientific
American, March 1969.
demons, Neil L., "Pollution Are Nuclear Reactors Safe?" Wall
Street Journal, August 28, 1969
Conservation Report, National Wildlife Federation, "Hickel Recom-
mends Strict Control on Water Pollution," March 1969.
Energy Policy Staff, Office of Science and Technology, Considera-
tions Affecting Steam Power Plant Site Selection, December 1968 •
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, Northwest Region,
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Industrial Waste Guide on Thermal
Pollution, September 1968.
Gustafson, Philip F., "Nuclear Power and Thermal Pollution," (pre-
print) Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March 1970
Hill, Gladwm, "U.S. Makiij Initial Move Against Thermal Pollu-
tion," New York Times, Febuary 22, 1970.
Hmes, William, "New Way to Generate Electric Power," Chicago
Sun Times, June 22, 1969.
Joint Committee on Atoma Energy, "Environmental Effects of
Producing Electric Power," Gbtober, November 1969.
Radford, Edward P., "Staement of Concern," Environment,
September 1969.
"Thermal Pollution: A Thcat to Cayuga's Waters0", Science,
Novembers, 1968.
U.S. Department of Interior Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration, Conference 01 Lake Michigan, Proceedings, Volume
11, February 1969. Statemeit of F. W. Kittrell, chairman, Com-
mittee on Nuclear Power PlantWaste Disposal.
U.S. Department of Interio: Water Pollution Problems of Lake
Michigan and Tributaries, "Hie trie Power Plants," January 1968
Westmghouse Electric CorpoiUion, Infinite tnergy, 1967.
Wingert, Wayne, "Present aid Future Development for the State of
Michigan." Talk presented .is Governor's Conference on Thermal
Pollution, Traverse City, Michigan, July 1969
This material may be reproduced in whole or in part provided credit is given to the League of Women
-------
206?
R. G, Hill
MR. STEINj Mr. Russell G. Hill, Executive
Secretary of the State Soil Conservation Committee, has
had to leave, and he has left his statement.
Without objection, I would like to include it
in the record at this point as if read.
STATEMENT OF RUSSELL G. HILL, EXECUTIVE
SECRETARY, STATE SOIL CONSERVATION
COMMITTEE, LANSING, MICHIGAN
MR. HILL: The Michigan Department of Agriculture
has a concerned interest in pollution problems of the
Great Lakes. Michigan, with the exception of about 1,500
acres in its southwestern corner, drains into the Great
Lakes. Approximately 16 of our 37 million acres are used
for agricultural purposes. The Department has several
programs directly related to the management of this land
and its surface water. Runoff water due to its dissolving
and erosive powers carries a variety of substances which
may be classified as pollutants. Likewise, mineral and
organic participates blown by wind are transported many
miles. These particles and the material they carry may
also contribute to Great Lakes pollution. It is known
that wind and water erosion, fertilizers, pesticides,
-------
206S
R. G. Hill
farm animal wastes and crop residues may if improperly
used and managed constitute a part of the pollution
problems. The volume of several of these pollutants has
already been documented to your group by the U, S, Soil
Conservation Service and other agencies.
Their report shows that major Michigan streams
annually contribute 1 million tons of sediment to the
Great Lakes, It has also been strongly pointed out in
other reports that farmland is not the only source of these
pollutants. The contribution of runoff and sedimentation
from subdivisions, home gardens, lawns, highways, stream-
banks, industrial developments, utilities, and shopping
centers is beginning to be officially recognized.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture has
responsibility for several programs which have direct
relationship to reducing pollution in the Great Lakes,
First let us look at insecticides. All insecti-
cides in interstate commerce are registered by the U, S,
Department of Agriculture and applications for registrations
are routinely reviewed at the Federal level by the Public
Health Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Fish
and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior as
well as the U, S. Department of Agriculture,
Under Michigan law, the Michigan Department of
-------
2069
R. G« Hill
Agriculture may take further action to restrict registra-
tion of a pesticide upon recommendation of Michigan State
University Experiment Station. This latter provision in
our law is a key to our regulatory action which we took
against DDT in 1969• This action concerning DDT in Michi-
gan was not a ban but rather an extension of previous
restrictions on DDT registrations, Michigan canceled regis-
trations for mosquito control in 196&. Michigan was one of
the first States in the Nation to take this positive action
against the use of DDT. Our action was based upon the fact
that scientists at Michigan State University, aware of the
long-range implications in the use of persistent pesticides,
have been working for years to phase these materials out
of our recommendations as suitable alternative materials
are developed,.
Also in 1969 under the leadership of the State
Agriculture Department, an inter-agency pesticide review
committee was established. Agencies participating in the
agreement with the Department of Agriculture are the
Departments of Natural Resources, Public Health, and the
Water Resources Commission. More than 5»000 economic
poison registrations have been reviewed by the Department
of Agriculture laboratory since establishment of the
cooperative agreement. Nearly 700 requests for review of
-------
2070
R, G. Hill
labels have been received from participating agencies.
The Michigan Department of Public Health was recently asked
to review all labels and more than 600 have since been
referred. Of about 70 objections to registration, 3# have
been satisfactorily resolved and 32 are being studied.
It should be noted that Michigan farmers have replaced
most uses of persistent pesticides as agricultural research
has provided alternative insect and disease controls.
A recent survey of 5,100 farmers revealed that less than
one in a thousand reported any use of DDT last year.
Use of other persistent materials was very limited, mainly
to control certain corn and livestock pests.
Mr. B. Dale Ball, Director of the Michigan
Department of Agriculture, stated that similar surveys of
agricultural use of pesticides were also conducted in the
other four Great Lakes States — Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota — as part of the five-State
Governors Conference on Lake Michigan.
A second program area within the Department
involves soil and water conservation. The State Soil
Conservation Committee is a division of the Department
and has charge of the organization and supervision of
Michigan's Soil Conservation District. The first district
was established in Michigan in 193&. Since that period,
-------
2071
Ro G. Hill
every county but one has organized similar districts.
One of the primary objectives of these organiza-
tions is the reduction of erosion by wind and water* These
districts have been active in controlling erosion for over
30 years and have established an enviable record, fhe #4
districts in Michigan's 82 counties have about 5#,000
landowners as cooperators. In recent years, assistance
has been extended not only to farmers but also to a great
variety of non-farm land users, A major development has
been the effort by soil conservation districts to have
local units of government adopt erosion control regulations
which would reduce sedimentation by many development
activities. Several municipalities have already adopted
such regulations and it is expected to spread.
There may also be a move for Statewide
legislation which would require land developers of all
kinds to install proper soil and water control measures
as recommended by their local soil conservation districts.
Data submitted by the U, S, Soil Conservation
through its "Inventory of Soil and Water Conservation Needs"
show that our job is far from completed. Their data points
out that large quantities of soil still reach the Great
Lakes through our major river basins and that about two-
thirds of our cropland must have soil and water conservation
-------
2072
R. G. Hill
treatment either initially or recurring. Nearly one
million acres of cropland are subject to severe wind
erosion. However, we have the tools to do the job and
the organization established.
The State Soil Conservation Committee likewise
acts for the Governor's office in processing applications
for watershed assistance under Public Law 566, To date,
74 communities have submitted applications for Federal
watershed assistance. Forty-eight of these applications
have been approved by the State Committee; four have been
disapproved; and twenty-two are before the Committee for
consideration. Six watersheds have been completed and
the U, S. Soil Conservation Service informs us that 10
additional projects are now in operation.
In order to accelerate the watershed planning
on the approved applications, the Michigan Legislature in
1970 provided funds for the State Soil Conservation
Committee of the Michigan Department of Agriculture to
employ a supplemental watershed planning party. This move
should help accelerate the rate at which local communities
are serviced for watershed assistance.
Inasmuch as land treatment is a basic objective
of these watershed projects, the furtherance of this program
should materially assist in reducing sedimentation pollution
-------
2073
R. G. Hill
which would eventually reach the Great Lakes. Here, too,
it should be pointed out that we still have a long way to
go. Approximately 140 watersheds have been identified as
having potential need for Public Law 566 assistance. Many
years of effort must be expended before this volume of
work can be accomplished.
Related to the soil and water conservation
program is the use of commercial fertilizers which may
pollute water. Reference is especially made to nitrogen
and phosphorus. Educational programs now being conducted
by soil conservation districts and the Cooperative
Extension Service encourage soil testing as a guide for
the proper application of commercial fertilizer. Research
carried out in this State and in other States show that
very little phosphorus reaches our water areas by under-
ground sources. Excessive uses of nitrogen may provide
some basis of contamination. Here too it is becoming more
evident that the loss of these plant food minerals is
probably due more to erosion than infiltration into under-
ground water. Our efforts to control erosion, therefore,
should also help alleviate the loss of plant nutrients
from land and the subsequent contamination of water areas.
Another related area is the farm animal solid
waste disposal problem involving large concentrations of
-------
2074
R. G, Hill
farm animals. The severity of this problem has also
been documented for your use by other agencies. Soil
Conservation Districts are closely working with the
Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service and
the Uo S, Soil Conservation Service, and the Cooperative
Extension in developing and encouraging methods of properly
handling farm manures.
Nearly 100 requests from landowners with farm
animal waste problems have been submitted to ASCS for
cost-sharing and the SCS reports servicing about 50 of
these requests.
Pollution from this source can be severe under
a variety of conditions, but through installation of proper
surface runoff control structures and solid waste disposal
units we are confident that this problem too can be brought
under control. Pollution control regulatory authority in
the hands of the State Water Resources Commission will also
help bring about compliance of livestock waste disposal
so that pollution from these installations will be minimal.
Still another area in which the Department has
a responsibility which relates to the Great Lakes pollution
problem is inter-county drains. An administrative staff
member of the Department serves as chairman of all inter-
county drainage boards. It is recognized that properly
-------
2075
R. G. Hill
constructed drains reduces excessive erosion and subsequent
sedimentation of water. Educational and information efforts
are being extended to encourage the proper engineering of
drainage projects so that ditch banks may be properly
seeded and stabilized and spoil banks treated so that
erosion will not occur and life of the drainage structure
extended.
These are some of the major areas in which the
Michigan Department of Agriculture are involved which
directly relate to the pollution problem of the Great
Lakeso We do not say that all problems are adequately under
control or that pollution from these sources has been
entirely stopped. We are saying that we are confident
that the sources of agricultural pollution have been and
are being reduced and that further reduction will con-
tinually occur. New research in some areas such as farm
waste control, pesticides, commercial fertilizer management,
and erosion control on non-farm areas are needed so that the
proper control techniques may be practically applied.
Certain regulatory legislation may be necessary to force
compliance in some areas.
Nearly 50,000 acres of agriculture land are
being transferred to non-agricultural use each year.
There is little evidence that this transfer is being
-------
2076
J. F. Wilson
accomplished with careful planning or in line with any
long-time land use policy. The time is past due for the
State in consultation with its citizens to develop a
meaningful land use policy. The Department of Agriculture
is giving leadership in obtaining action in developing
such a policy. A widespread information and education
program is essential in order to provide people with an
understanding of their involvement in Great Lakes
pollution problems, the corrective steps that must be
taken, and assistance that is available to correct these
problems. We pledge our continual effort toward these
accomplishments.
MR. STEIN: John F. Wilson.
STATEMENT OF JOHN F. WILSON, DIRECTOR,
WISCONSIN ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY, GREEN BAY,
WISCONSIN
MR. WILSON: My name is John F. Wilson, and
my address is Green Bay, Wisconsin. I am a Director of
the Wisconsin Ecological Society, and this paper repre-
sents the views of the organization and its individual
members.
I would like to comment, before I present the
-------
2077
J. F. Wilson
paper that I intend to present, on some of the views and
thoughts expressed in the press this week by various
scientists and engineers that are tantamount to creating
in Lake Michigan a large, experimental tank. And I am
appalled, quite frankly, at these suggestions made by
ostensibly responsible people.
I would like to also ask the conferees to
seriously consider Dr. Bardach's suggestion about making
the industrial users of our environment require — or
require them to set up an environmental insurance program,
I don't know exactly who might underwrite these activities,
but I really feel that this is something we should seriously
consider.
I would like to present some material here that
was developed in 1969 on the Fox River and in lower Green
Bay by Professors R. P, Howmiller and A. M, Beeton.
I am very quickly just going to summarize a
few of the highlights of this report and then I am going
to make some comments on it.
This was a study made on lower Green Bay using
the identical parameters and the exact sampling stations
and at the same time of the year that studies were made
in 1952 by some other University of Wisconsin professors.
Now, this is an unpublished manuscript; it will
-------
J. F. Wilson
be published. Basically, what it says is that Green Bay
is a relatively shallow, fertile arm of Lake Michigan,
and it describes the bay and its physical condition.
Pollution of Green Bay and concomitant concern
have increased in recent years. The major tributary of
the Bay, the Fox River, contributes an average of 125
milliliters per 3 seconds of grossly polluted water; D,00
content of the river water approaches zero, and it goes
into a fairly — by this time — well known expose of the
conditions on the Fox River and in lower Green Bay,
He discusses in this paper some of the findings
in 1952, He concludes the paper by saying — well, I will
read two paragraphs:
"Carr and Hiltunen (1965) documented changes in the
benthos of western Lake Erie from 1930 to 1961, Some of
the changes observed were similar to those occurring in
Green Bay, Oligochaeta" — sludgeworms — "and Chirono-
midae (Tendipedidae)11 — bloodworms — "increased in
abundance while Hesagenia decreased to less than 1 percent
of its former abundance. It appears that Hexagenia
completely disappeared from the area in the years 1961-
1967 ....
"Other changes recorded for western Lake Erie
as a whole are unlike changes observed in Green Bay0
-------
2079
J. F, Wilson
Gastropoda and Sphaerlidae increased substantially from
1930 to 1961 ..«. However, in 196l, these groups and
leeches and naiad clams were rare near the major sources
of pollution; the mouths of the Maumee and Raisin Rivers
and the western side of the Detroit River mouth. It
appears that lower and middle Green Bay are ecologically
similar to highly polluted areas of western Lake Erie but
they are more degraded than open lake areas of Erie were
in 1961.
"The future of the Green Bay bottom fauna is
not difficult to predict if pollution of the bay, via the
Fox River, continues. We can then expect a large abiotic
area around the river mouth. Also, midge larvae would be
expected to decrease in abundance at stations farther
north in the lower bay. Other groups would, of course,
continue their demise,**
And this is basically the conclusion. There are
some other details of it, but I am submitting the entire
report to this conference together with the various charts
that clearly document the condition of the Bay not in
196? or 1965 but in 1969.
(The documents above referred to follow in
their entirety,)
-------
2030
SOME CHANGES IN THE BOTTOM FAUNA OF GREEN BAY,1
LAKE MICHIGAN FROM 1952 TO 1909
P. Howraliler and A. M. Beeton
ifemntng head: Changes in Green Bay Benthos
Contribution tfo. 39, Center for Great Lakes Studies,
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201
-------
20&L
ABSTRACT
Bottom samples were collected In lower and middle
Green Bay In May 1989 on the same date, at the same 27 stations,
and using the same methods as a 1952 survey.
In 1969 there were fewer Ollgochaeta and Chlronomldae
in the vicinity of the Fox River mouth. Elsewhere In the tower and
middle bay ollgochaetes and midge larvae were more abundant than
In 1952 but most other benthlc Invertebrates were less abundant.
The observed changes are Interpreted as Indicative of
greater pollution and Increased eutrophlcatlon during the Intervening
17 years.
-------
INTRODUCTION
Green Bay la a relatively shallow and fertile arm of Lake
Michigan (Fig. 1). The bay has long been Important for recreational
ueea, shipping and commercial fishing. As early as the 1880,**,
undesirable changes In the bay were recognized. Smiley (1882)
reported that sawdust pollution was an Important factor In the decline
of the whlteflsh population la the 1870's.
Pollution In Green Bay, and concomitant concern, hare
Increased In recent years. The major tributary of the bay, the Fox
Hlver, contributes an average of 125 ms/sec of grossly polluted water*
The dissolved oxygen content of the river water approaches zero
mg/Uter In summer months (Schraufnagel, et al., 1968). Even
"pollution tolerant" benthlc Invertebrates are rarely found In the
sediments of the lower reaches (Balch, et al., 19S6; Schraufnagel,
etal., 1968).
Water from the Fox Elver spreads out over the lower 15*20 km
of the lower bay (Schraufnagel, 1906) and dominates the character
of this environment. The middle bay, from the Green Bay harbor
entrance light north to Sturgeon Bay, Is affected by Fox River water
mainly In the eastern half where river water may account for as
much as 80% of the northward current (Modlln and Beeton, 1970)*
In this region the major Influence of the polluted water appears
during the months of Ice cover (WSCWP, 1939; Schraufnagel, et al.,
-------
20&3
9
1968, Howmlller and Beeton, 1070) when Urge areas suffer oxygen
deficiency.
Various public agencies have conducted chemical and biological
surveys on the bay to assess the severity and extent of pollution
(WSCWP, 1930; Surber and Cooley, 1952; Balch,et al., 1956;
Sehraufnagel, et al., 1988). Bottom sampling, for analysis of benthlc
Invertebrate animals, was a part of each of these studies. Surber and
Cooley (1952) compared numbers of organisms at nine of their stations
In the lover bay In May 1952 with data from nine comparably located
stations sampled during the period November 1938 to February 1939.
The Increased number of pollution tolerant midges and ollgochaetes
led them to conclude that there was an Increase In pollution during the
intervening thirteen years.
A later report was less pessimistic. None of the samples
taken In 1955 (January) contained populations of sludge worms
(Ollgochaeta) In the numbers Indicated In either the 1938*39 or the
1952 studies (Balch, et al., 1956). Discounting the possibility that
January samples were not taken at a population peak, the report
concludes that "most probably, there Is a major reduction in the
numbers of these forms (Ollgochaeta)." It Is not clear why the
possibility of a winter minimum of population density was treated BO
lightly. Great reductions In numbers of ollgochaetes may occur during
winter months (Howmlller and Beeton, 1970).
-------
206k-
4
Howmiller and Beeton (1967) compared numbers of oligochaetes,
midge larvae, and burrowing mayflies taken at stations in the lower bay
in 1938 and 1966. In 1966, fewer oligochaetes and midges were found in
the immediate vicinity of the river mouth but they were more abundant
in the region 5-15 km from the river mouth (Beeton 1969). Nymphs of
the burrowing mayfly, Hexagenia, taken at two of eight stations in 1938,
were not found in 1966. Changes were interpreted as indicative of
increased pollution near the Fox River mouth and increased eutrophication
of the bay.
Critical comparison of data from these past studies may be open
to question because investigators seldom visited the same stations sam-
pled in preceeding studies. They also generally failed to sample at the
same season of the year. Thus year to year changes in animal numbers
may be confused with normal seasonal variation in abundance. Further-
more, these investigators did not always use the same apparatus and
methodology as their predecessors.
The present report discusses a study of changes in the benthic
fauna of Green Bay which has attempted to eliminate these three sources
of inaccuracy.
METHODS
On 26 May 1969 we sampled the benthos of lower and middle
Green Bay at the stations shown in Figure 1. Samples were taken with
a 23x23 cm (9x9 in) Ekman grab and screened immediately with a U.S.
Std. No. 30 sieve. The residue on the sieve was preserved in 10%
-------
2Q35
formalin. Organisms were hand picked from the residue using low
power magnification.
APonar grab sample was also taken at each station. These
samples were processed in the same manner as the Ekman grab samples.
The Ponar grab samples were taken primarily for purposes not concerned
with the subject of this paper, and data from Ponar grab samples are not
compared directly with 1952 data but are simply mentioned in Table 2
to indicate that certain animal taxa did occur at stations where they were
not taken in Ekman grabs.
These same stations were sampled on 26 May and 27 May 1952,
exactly seventeen years earlier, by Surber and Cooley (1952). They
used, with one exception, a 15x15 cm (6x6 in) Ekman grab and processed
samples with a No. 30 screen. The single exception is that a Petersen grab
was used to take their sample at station 11 which was on a hard sand bottom.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Aquatic oligochaete worms are commonly known as "sludge
worms" and large numbers of these animals frequently have been cited
as evidence of pollution. In general Oligochaeta have increased in abun-
dance from 1952 to 1969 (Tables 1,2; Fig. 2).
The only notable exception to this generalization is in the imme-
diate vicinity of the river mouth (Stations 1-4). This cannot be inter-
preted as a result of improved environmental conditions for there is a
similar dearth of other benthlc life in this area.
-------
*
Long periods of anoxia during summer months (Schraofntg«lt
et al., 1968) probably make It Impossible for healthy populations of any
animals to exist In the vicinity of the river mouth.
Surber (1957), after studying reports from a number of lakes,
concluded that,M. . . an abundance of tubtflclds In excess of 100 per
square foot apparently truly represented polluted habitats." Wright
(1955) and Carr and Hlltunen (1965) used the following numbers of
ollgochaetes per square meter to designate pollution areas In western
Lake Erie; light pollution, 100*999; moderate pollution, 1000*5000|
and heavy pollution, more than 5000. Lower Green Bay Is, by these
standards, heavily polluted (Table 2, Fig. 9).
The middle bay (stations 11*27), according to Wright*s
standards, was only lightly polluted1* In 1952 (Table 1) but was ft*
least "moderately polluted" In 1989.
Goodnight and Whltley(1980), working on a mldwestern
stream, proposed .hat the relative abundance of ollgochmete worms
In the benthos should be used as an Index of pollution. They con*
sldered the stream In "good condition" If the bottom fauna were
less than 60% OUgocfcaeta, "doubtful" If 60*80% and highly polluted
If more than 80% ollgoehaetes. In 1952 Ollgoehaeta accounted for
an average of 66% of the beathlc organisms In samples from statlo«a
2*10 In the lower bay. In 1969 the average percentage of ollgochaeto*
In these samples was 85. Thus It appears that this area has
-------
t
deteriorated from Borne doubtful condition to a highly polluted state
In the Intervening seventeen years (Fig. 3).
An Increased relative abundance of Ollgochaeta to more
pronounced In the middle bay. At stations 11*27, Oltgochaeta have
Increased from an average of 23% to 64% of the total benthlc fauna la
the years 1952*1869, Thus, by the standards of Goodnight and Whltiey,
It has gone from a "good condition" to "doubtful" since 1952 (Fig. 8)*
Surber and Cooley (1952) believed that, at the time of their
collections, the majority of the Qllgochaete fauna belonged to the tobl-
fIcld genus Llmnodrllus. They stated that a few Tublfex also occurred
In the samples. They recorded the naldld genera Dero and Stylarla at,
respectively, stations 2$ and 26, and stations 12 and 26. The
-------
0
In the lower bay, and Helobdella (Glos siphon! a) stagnalls in the middle
bay. The 1889 collections included Erpobdella puactata, Helobdella
atagnalts. and a fish leech (Plsclcolldae), lUlnobdella, which was
represented by the five specimens In the Ponar grab sample at £$8Hoa 5.
The fish leeches appeared very emaciated. The Glosslphonlldfte*
Oloflslphonia and Helobdella,, commonly are predacious upon snails,
ollgochaetes, and other email Invertebrates (Pennak, 1953).
punctata. now the most common leech In the bay, apparently feeds
heavily upon ollgochaetes. Two of fifteen specimens examined had
ollgoehaete worms in their mouths at the time of capture. The decline
of leeches in Green Bay may have contributed to the greater success of
the Ollgochaeta.
Snails occurred at ten stations of the 1952 survey but at oaly
two stations in 1969 (Fig. 5). Collections in 1952 included Campoloma,
Hellsoroa, Valvata trlcarlnata, and Viviparus. Empty shells of these
taxa now occur at many stations In the lower and middle bay but
the only one of the four found living in our recent Green Bay colloc-
•••s
tlons is Viviparus. Vlylparus d(d not, however, occur In 1909
sampling at atatlons^elng compared in this report. The snails found
at stations 13 and 15 belong to the genus Amnicola.
Fingernail clams (Pelecypoda, Sphaerltdae), like snails, ware
much lest abundant la 1969 than In 1952 (Pig* 6). They decreased
-------
0
/roan an average of 16.5% of the total benthlc fauna to 3.3%. The
species of Sphaerildae inhabiting Green Bay have not yet been deter*
mined. As a group, the fingernail clams are known to be less pollution
tolerant than most Ollgochaeta and many species of Chlronomldae
(Keup, Ingram andMackenthun, 1966).
While no naiad clams (Unlonldae) were reported In 1052,
Lampallls elltquoldea was found at station 15 In 1969. This species
baa recently been found at several other stations on the sandy sub-
strates Just north of Long Tall Point but not elsewhere In the lower
or middle bay. The presence of naiads generally Indicates clean
water (Carr and RUtunen, 1965). In Green Bay It Is probably also
closely related to the nature of the substrate. Soft muds, common
over much of the bay, are not a suitable substrate for these large
clams.
While the distribution of amphlpods (Fig. 7) was very
similar In 1952 and 1969, this group seems to have been much more
abundant and to have comprised a larger proportion of the population
In the 1952 collections. Surber and Cooley (1952) reported only
Hyalella azteca
Oammarus fasclatus from their collections. In 1969, ' ~
occurred at stations 7, 15, 25, and 27,' Gammarus fasclatus and
Pontoporeia afflnle at stations 11, 24 and 25; and Crangonyx at
station 27.
-------
2090
10
The Isopod, Asellus, occurred at too few stations to allow
generalizations concerning possible changes la abundance or dlotrl-
bution. Widespread sampling; in the years 1966-1969 Indicates that
Asellus occurs farther south In the bay than the data In Table 3 suggest.
Cooley and Surber (1952) Identified the Isopod present at that time as
A. communls. Balch and co-workers (1956) recorded A* m lilt aria.
The Isopod present In 1969 was_A. milltaris.
The burrowing mayfly (Hexagenla) was once quite abundant In
Green Bay. In years past, adult Hexagenla piled up by the bushel under
electric lights In the city of Green Bay on many summer evenings
(WSCWP, 1939). The report of 1939 (W6CWP) registered surprise at
the small numbers recovered but recorded Hexagenla nymphs In 16 of
51 samples. At that time It occurred as far south as the vicinity of
Long Tall Point. Surber and Cooley (1952) found Hexagenla only at
station 16. In 1955 one burrowing mayfly "wa*» ^ >d" at a station
near the mouth of the Oconto River (Baleh, et al, 1956). Hexagenla
was not recorded In the data of the report. Hexagenla did not occur to
samples taken In 1969 or at any of 74 other widespread stations sampled
by the Federal Water'Pollution Control Administration In 1967 and the
Center for Great Lakes Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
In the years 1966*1969 (Howmlller and Beeton, 1970). It has apparently
disappeared from Green Bay as It has from western Lake Erie (Carr
and Rlltunen, 1965; Veal and Osmond, 1968).
-------
2091
II
The aquatic larvae of midges (Chlronomldae) were the second
most abundant and widespread members of the bcothlc fauna In both
1952 and 1969 (Fig. 8). The midges decreased markedly In the vicinity
of the Fox River mouth - doubtless because of Increased pollution-
Increased numbers of midges were found at most stations north of Long
Tall Point. However, this Increase did not equal that of the Oltgochaeta
with the result that midges decreased In relative Importance from an
average of 48 to 37% of benthlc Invertebrates In the middle bay and
from 37 to 26% for the bay as a whole. The Chlronomldae Includes many
species adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions. However,
as a group, the midges display pollution tolerance second only to the
Ollgochaeta. Like many Ollgochaeta, the pollution tolerant midges
have an abundant supply of hemoglobin which makes them very efficient
at obtaining oxygen at the low concentrations associated with organic
pollution, and In the profundal region of stratified eutrophlc lakes.
The only animals found at station 1 In 1969, Peychoda larvae.
are air breathers which are abundant In mud flats, drains, sewage
fitters, and other habitats subject to total deoxygenatlon (Hynes I960).
Erlstalls larvae, found at station 1 In 1952, are ecologically similar.
Both these organisms have been reported from other rivers so grossly
polluted that no normal river animals survive (Hynes, 1960). However,
since they require contact with the surface to breathe, these cannot
hare been viable populations at depths of 18-21 ft at station 1. These
-------
2092
12
animals must have been carried to station 1 by the current from shallow*
water anaerobic habitats upstream.
The common and abundant benthlc ne mat ode In Green Bay la
1969 measured about 4.5-5 mm long and 0.2 mm In diameter* An
animal this size certainly cannot be collected quantitatively when a
No. 30 screen (0.6 mm openings) Is used and, therefore, nematodea
were not counted In our samples. In view of the abundance and wide*
spread occur ranee of nematodes In 1989 (Table 2) It Is difficult to
believe that they occurred at only one station In 1952 (Table 1). Perhaps
samples were screened more vigorously and almost all nematodea
were lost. Another possibility Is that they were so abundant In 1960
that sufficient numbers were retained as to be noticed.
CONCLUSIONS
There were marked changes In the bottom fauna of lower and
middle Green Bay between 1952 and 1969. Two animal groups which
contain many eutrophlc and pollution tolerant species, the Ollgochaeta
and the Chlronomldae, have Increased In abundance over most of the
bay. Most other benthlc Invertebrates were less abundant la 1969
than In B 52. These changes suggest that the deterioration of the bay
environment, noted by previous Investigators, Is continuing.
-------
2093
IS
Carr and HUtunen (1065) documented changes In the benthos of
western Lake Erie from 1930 to 1961. Some of the changes observed
were similar to those occurring in Green Bay. OHgochaeta and Chlrono-
tnldae (Tendlpedldae) Increased In abundance while itexagenla decreased
to less than 1" of Us former abundance. It appears that Hexagenia
completely disappeared fron, toe area In the years 1961-1967 (Veil and
Osmond, 1968).
Other changes recorded for western Lake Erie as a whole art
unlike changes observed In Green Bay. Gastropoda and Sphaerlldae
Increased substantially from 1930 tp 1961 (Carr and Hlltunen, 1965),
However, In 1961 these groups and leeches and naiad clams were rare
near the major sources of pollution; the mouths of the Maumee and
Raisin Rivers and the western side of the Detroit River mouth, It
appears that lower and middle Green Bay arc ecologically similar to
highly polluted areas of western Lake Erie but they are more degraded
than open lake areas of Erie were In 1961.
The future of the Green Bay bottom fauna Is not difficult to
predict If pollution of the bay, via the Fox River, continues. We eaa
then expect a larger abiotic area around the river mouth. Also,
midge larvae would be expected to decrease In abundance at stations
farther north in the lower bay. Other groups would, of course,
continue their demise. The OHgochaeta, the only group which Increased
In absolute and relative abundance between 1952 and 1969, would assume
oven greater Importance In the benthlc community.
-------
2094
14
With the disappearance of other major groups further changes
IB the bay environment must be assessed through changes In numbers of
the Ollgochaeta and Chlronomldae and through changes In species eompo
sltlon of these groups.
A report on the distribution of ollgochaete species in Green
Bay Is In preparation (Howmlller and Beeton, 1970). A study on the
distribution of species of Chlronomldae, a taxonomlcaUy difficult
group, Is planned for the near future.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported In part by the University of
Wisconsin Sea Grant Program.
It Is a pleasure to acknowledge the fine service of the
personnel attached to the H/V "Mysis" and the willing help of
J. E. Gannon which made the fleldwork efficient and pleasant.
Mr. Ratko lilstic drew the figures.
-------
2095
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Balch, a. F.t K. M. Mackenthun, W. M. Van Horn and T. F. Wls-
nlewskl. 1956. Biological studies of the Fox Elver and
Green Bay. Bull. WP 102, Wisconsin Comm. on Witter
Pollution, 74 p., mlmeo.
Beet on, A. M. 1999. Changes In the environment and biota of the
Great Lakes, p. 150-187. In_: Eutrophlcatlon; causes,
consequences, correctives, proceedings of a symposium.
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.
Brlnkhurst, H. O. 1967. Sampling the benthos. Univ. Toronto,
Great Lakes Institute, PR 32, 6 p. mlmeo.
Carr, J. F. andJ. K. HUtunen. 1965. Changes In the bottom fatma
of western Lake Erie from 1939-1961. Llmnol. Oceanogr.,
10: 551-569.
Flannagan, J.F., A. L. Hamilton, P. G. Sly and W. F. Warwick.
1969. An evaluation of twelve commonly used bentholoflcal
sampling devices. Unpublished manuscript, 7 p., mlmeo.
Goodnight, C. J. and L. 8. Whltley. 1960. Ollgoehaetes as
indicators of pollution. Proc. 15th Ann. Waste Conf.,
Purdue, p. 139-142.
15
-------
2096
16
Howmlller, rt. P. and A. M. Beeton. 1967. Bottom fauna Investiga-
tion In lower Green Bay. Paper presented to Midwest
Benthologlcal Soc., Carbondale, 111., unpublished manuscript,
5 p. mlmeo.
Howmlller, R. P. and A. M. Beeton. 1970. The ollgochaete Iauaa of
Green Bay, Lake Michigan, le&e presented at the 13th
Conference on Great Lakes Research, 1 nternatlonal Association
for Great Lakes Research, Buffalo, April 1970.
Hynes, H. B. N. i960. The biology of polluted waters. Liverpool
University Press.
Keup, L. E., W. M. Ingram and K. M. Mackenthun. 1966. The role
of bottom-dwelling macrofauna In water pollution Investiga-
tions. Public Health Service Pub. No. 999-WP-38, 23 pp.
Modlln, a. and A. M. Beeton. 1970. Current studies In Green Bay.
Unpublished report.
Pennak, H. W. 1953. Freshwater invertebrates of the United States.
Ronald Press, New York.
Schraufnagel, F. H. 1966. Green Bay stream flows and currents,
pp. 178-182. 'In; Lake Michigan pollution, governor's
conference proceedings.
Schraufnagel, F. H., L. A. Montle, L. A, Leuschow, J. Llssack,
G. Karl and J. ft. McKersle. 1968. Report on an Investigation
of the pollution In the lower Fox River and Green Bay made daring
1966 and 1967. Wls.Dept. Nat. Resources, Int. Kept., 47 p. mlmeo.
-------
2097
if
Sly, P.G. 1969. Bottom sediment sampling. Proc. 12th Conf. Great
Lakes Res., Int. Assoc. Great Lakes Res.: 855*870.
Smiley, C. W. 1882. Changes in the fisheries of the Great Lakes
during the deeade 1870*1880. Trans. Amer. Fish. Cult.
Assoc., 11: 28-37.
Surber, E. W. and H. L. Cooley. 1952. Bottom fauna studies of Green
Bay, Wisconsin, In relation to pollution. U.S. Public Health
Service, Comm. Water Pollution, 7 p. mlmeo.
Surber, E. w. 1957. Biological criteria for the determination of lake
pollution, pp. 164*174. In: Trans. 1956 seminar, H. A. Taft
San.Engr. Cntr., U.S. Publ. Health Senr., Cincinnati, Ohio,
W57-36.
Veal, D. M. and D. S. Osmond. 1968. Bottom fauna of the western
basin and near-shore Canadian waters of Lake Erie. Proc.
llth Conf. Great Lakes Has., Int. Assoc. Great Lakes R«s.i
151*160.
Wisconsin State Committee on Water Pollution and State Board of
Health In collaboration with the Green Bay Metropolitan
Sewage Commission. 1939. Investigations of the pollution of
the Fox and East Rivers and of Green Bay In the vicinity
of the city of Green Bay. 242 p., mlmeo.
Wright, 6. 1955. Llmaologlcal survey of western Lake Erie. U.S.
Fish WUdl.Serv.,Spec. Scl. aept. •-Fisheries No. 139,
341 p.
-------
2098
Table 1. Abundance of benthlc Invertebrates, as Individuals per square meter,
la samples taken at stations shown In Fig. 1 on 26 and 27 May 1052.
g
i
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
80
Oconto4(2i)
Oconto-202)
Ocaato-3g3)
Ocatto-4(24)
Ocoato-5(35)
Oeooto-6
-------
2099
Table 2, Abundance of benthlc in vertebrates, as Individuals per square meter,
la samples taken at stations shown in Fig. 1 on 26 May 1960.
1
1
a
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
IS
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
ai
23
23
24
25
26
27
Nematoda 8
0
+
0
•f
+
•f
+
+
•»•
•#•
+
+
•f
+
+
•*>
+
+
+
+
+
•*•
+
+
+
•*•
+
Oligochaeta
0
22657
8604
7227
29292
16921
11854
4264
2008
1032
1663
822
688
918
2792
1281
1109
229
4531
2658
5354
1740
899
9770
10325
23441
10095
Leeches ||
0
0
0**
0
0
0
76
0**
19
19
0
0
0
0
0
0
0**
0
0
0
0
0
0
19
0
0
0
oo
*•.
13
eg
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0**
0
19
0
19
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
"0
0
0
1
CO
I
*•*
o
0
0
0
0
0
0
38
57
631
19
172
994
268
19
1166
0
o**
0
57
0
0
0
0
0
10
0
0
AxBpMpods
0
0
0
0
0
0
0**
0
0
0
o**
0
0
0
19
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
57
38
0
19
(0
>— i
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
o**
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
76
38
0
0
i Other
0 gQPsychoda
38
688
440
2237
3155
1778
860
1759
76
402
1836
1644
3097
554 19 LampsUU
1128
918
707
2314
2065
803
1530
344
1300
631
1166
2275
*Nematoda were very numerous In many camples but certainly not sampled
quantitatively, hence not counted.
**Not taken in Efcman grab sample but animals la this category were recorded
from Ponar grab sample taken at the same time.
-------
2100
FIGURE LEGENDS
Figure 1. Lower and middle Green Bay, Lake Michigan, showing
bottom sampling stations of 28 and 28 May 1952 and 23 M
1039.
Figure 2. Distribution and abundance of OUgochaeta In the sediments
-r
of lower and middle Green Bay en 26 and 28 May 1932 (left)
it
and 26 May 1889 (right).
Figure 3. Relative abundance of OUgochaeta, as percentage of total
bottom fauna, In May 1952 and 1969.
Figure 4. Distribution and abundance of leeches In lower and middle
Green Bay In May 1952 and 1969,
Figure 5. Distribution and abundance of snails In May 1952 and 1909.
Figure 6. Distribution and abundance of fingernail clams In May
1952 and 1989.
Figure 7. Distribution and abundance of amphlpods in May 1952 and
1969.
Figure 8. Distribution and abundance of Chlronomldae In May
and 1969.
-------
2101
-------
-------
2103
-------
2104
-------
-------
-------
210?
-------
-------
2109
Curriculum Vitae
RICHARD P. HOWMILLER
Born: 9 January 1939, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison, B.S., Biological Aspects of Conservation, 1963
University of Wisconsin-Madison, M.S., Zoology, 1966
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Zoology (limnology), PhD expected June 1971
Employment
Milwaukee Public Museum, Student Aide in Botany, part-time, 1961
Wisconsin Conservation Department, Conservation Aide II, summer 1962
SabishJr. High School, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Intern Teacher, spring semester, 1965
Wisconsin State University, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Faculty Assistant, 1965-66
National Audubon Society, Greenwich, Conn., Staff Naturalist, Summer 1966
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Teaching Assistant, 1968-69
Honors
B.S. conferred with senior honors, 1963
Delta Chi Sigma, honorary science and mathematics fraternity, 1967
Phi Kappa Phi, honor society, 1969
Memberships in Scientific Societies
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
International Association for Great Lakes Research
Midwest Benthological Society
Societas Internationalis Limnologiae
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters
Papers presented before scientific societies
Fitzgerald, G.P. and R. P. Howmiller. 1966. Use of laboratory evaluations of
aquatic herbicides and algicides. Weed Society of America.
Howmiller, R. P. and G. P. Fitzgerald. 1966. The use of Lemna minor L. for
aquatic plant bio-assays. Midwest Benthological Society.
Howmiller, R. P. 1966. Duckweeds and detergents. Wisconsin Academy of
Science, Arts & Letters.
and A. M. Beeton. 1967. Bottom fauna investigations in lower Green Bay.
Midwest Benthological Society.
Howmiller, R. P. 1969. A cruise to the Galapagos. Society of Sigma Xi,
Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh.
-------
2110
Howmiller, page 2.
Howmiller, R. P. 1969. Limnological studies in the Galapagos Archipelago.
Midwest Benthological Society.
Howmiller, P. P. and A. M. Beeton. 1970. The oligochaete fauna of Green Bay,
Lake Michigan. International Association for Great Lakes Research.
Howmiller, R. P. 1970. Biological assessment of pollution and eutrophication in
Green Bay. Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts & Letters
Publications
Howmiller, R. P. and A. Weiner. 1968. A limnological study of a mangrove lagoon
in the Galapagos. Ecology, 49_: 1184-1186.
Howmiller, R. P. 1969. Studies on some inland waters of the Galapagos. Ecology,
50: 73-80.
Howmiller, R. P. andW. E. Sloey. 1969. A horizontal water sampler for inves-
tigation of stratified waters. Limnol. Oceanogr. , 14: 291-292.
Howmiller, R. P. and K. Dahnke. 1969. Chemical analysis of salt from Tagus Crater
Lake, Isabela, Galapagos. Limnol.Oceanogr., 14_: 602-604.
Howmiller, R. P. and A. M. Beeton. 1970. The oligochaete fauna of Green Bay,
Lake Michigan. Submitted for publication.
Howmiller, R. P. and A. M. Beeton. 1970. Some changes in the bottom fauna of
Green Bay, Lake Michigan, from 1952 to 1969. Submitted for publication.
-------
2111
A. M. Beet on
Curriculum VLtae
Present Address: 340 Park Circle, Cedarburg, Wisconsin
Born: August 15, 1927, Denver, Colorado
Married
Education:
Jackson High School, Jackson, Mich., graduate 1946
Jackson Jr. College, Jackson, Mich., 1946- Feb. 1949
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., Sept. 1949-Feb. 1958.
B.S. 1952; M.S. 1954, Ph.D. 1958.
Experience
Academic Appointments:
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, professor of zoology, Feb. 1966-present.
University of Michigan, Research associate in zoology, Sept. 1964-Feb. 1956;
lecturer in civil engineering Sept. 1961-Feb. 1966.
Wayne State University, lecturer (graduate limnology course) June 1957-
Sept. 1961; instructor, Sept. 1956 -June 1957.
University of Michigan, teaching fellow, Feb. 1956 -June 1956; Sept. 1954-
June 1955; Sept. 1953-June 1954; Sept. 1952-June 1953.
Government Service:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ann Arbor, Michigan (GS-3) June 1955 -
December 1955; (GS-5) June 1956-Sept. 1956; (Fishery Biologist Res.)
June 1957-Feb. 196G, Chief Environmental Research Program.
Travel to India, Israel and Pakistan, 1063 and 1964, in connection with the
Bureau's Foreign Currency (P.L. 480) program to review fishery research
being sponsored through this program.
Institute for Fisheries Research. Michigan Conservation Department, June • ;i
1962-£ept. 1962; June 1953-Sept. 1953; June 1954-Sept. 1954.
Consulting Appointments
1967-69; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, New York.
Member, Board of Consultants, on effect of Corps' dredging activities
on pollution in the Great Lakes.
1968-present: Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago
1968: University of Illinois.
Academic Activities:
Associate Director (Biology), Center for Great Lakes Studies, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 19G6-present.
Member, Executive Committee, Division of Biological Sciences, University
of \7isconsin (all-university committee) 1966-67, 1967-68.
Member, all-university Council for Marine Studies, University of
V/isconsin, 1967-68, 1968-69.
-------
2112
A. M. Beeton, page 2
Honors, Grants & Awards
University of Michigan, Lit. College scholarship, 1950-51
American Ornithology Union, student membership award, 1954
Herbert E. Boynton, graduate school scholarship, 1956.
Phi Kappa Phi
James, \V. Moffett Publication Award from U.S. Bur. Commercial Fisheries
for best scientific paper publised (1968) in 1967.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, Contract 1968-69 ($20,005)
to study the effects of dredging and disposal on the Great Lakes.
U.S. Dept. Interior, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Grant($3,700, 1968;
($7,563, 1969) to study the population dynamics of juvenile alewife and core-
gonids of Green Bay, Lake Michigan.
National Science Foundation, Wisconsin Sea Grant Program, 1968-69, $11,400
to study various aspects of the eutrophication of Green Bay.
Research Interests
My major research interests have been in the behavioral physiology of
Crustacea and the eutrophication of the Great Lakes, although I have made
contributions to several aspects of the limnology of the Great Lakes (see attached
list of publications).
Studies on photoreception in the freshwater mysid, Mysis relicta, employ-
ing behavioral methods, demonstrated the nature of spectral sensitivity, dark-
adaptation, and phototropic response in this organism and established general
methods for similar studies of this group of organisms in the marine as well as
the freshwater environments. These studies have been duplicated by other
investigators on marine mysids. The laboratory investigations of photoreception
and photo response of M. relicta provided information essential to the proper
interpretation of field data on the vertical migration of M_. relicta in Lakes Huron
and Michigan. This latter study showed that light "triggers" and controls their
migrations, while thermal conditions interact with and modify the influence of
light. The field data showed that as the length of day decreased following the
summer solstice, the mysids ascended progressively earlier each evening and
descended later each morning. Moonlight and fog influenced the time as well as
the amplitude of the vertical migrations. The mysids frequently migrated through
the thermocline when first ascending, but later at night the majority occurred in
or immediately below the thermocline.
-------
2113
Prior to 1959 the general opinion, was held that although the Great Lakes
must be aging, i.e., undergoing eutrophicaticn, it v/as not recognized that eutro-
phication could be demonstrated on bodies of v/ater as large as the Great Lakes.
My study of environmental changes in Lake Erie, which was first presented at
the meeting of the Lake Erie Fish Management Committee in May 19GO, and sub-
sequently published in the Transactions of the American Fisheries Society in
1961, presented evidence of accelerated eutrophication in this Lake. This work
directed attention to an important aspect of Great Lakes limnology that had been
ignored previously. The significance of this contribution is reflected in the
importance of studies of eutrophication in current research programs of the
U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, U.S. Public Health Services, several
universities, and other organizations.
The results of my recent study demonstrate that several changes commonly
associated with eutrophication in small lakes have occurred in the Great Lakes.
These changes apparently reflect accelerated eutrojiiication in the Great Lakes,
d ue to man's activity. Chemical data compiled from a number of sources, dating
as early as 1854, indicate a progressive increase in the concentrations of
various major ions and total dissolved solids in all of the Lakes except Superior.
The plankton has changed somewhat in Lake Michigan and the plankton, benthos,
and fish populations of Lake Erie are greatly different today than those of the
past. An extensive area of hypolimnetic water of Lake Erie has developed low
dissolved-oxygen concentrations in late summer v/ithin recent years.
Professional Membership
Phi Sigma , Beta Chapter, secretary 1954-55
Sigma Xi
American Fisheries Society
American Institute of Fishery Research Biologists
American Society of Zoologists
Societas Internationalis Limnologiae
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography; Treasurer, 1962-present,
member, Board of Directors
International Association for Great Lakes Research, Board of Director,
1967 - present; Program Chairman, llth Conference on Great Lakes
Research, May I960, Attendance - 550+.
Midwest Benthological Society
-------
2114
J, F. Wilson
MR. WILSON: Now, I would like to make my
comments on this report.
From the foregoing data, it is apparent that
the condition of the bay is worsening and at a rapid
rate* Of primary concern is the fact that during this
time, the rivers emptying into the bay and the sources
of pollution on them have been under the scrutiny of the
responsible Wisconsin pollution control agency.
Using figures compiled by the Wisconsin Depart-
ment of Natural Resources, we can make the following
comparisons on BOD and suspended solids loading of the
Fox River in a 20-year period ending in 196S. You get
the picture here? In other words, I am going to be dis-
cussing loading factors that have been repoted on BOD
to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as
against the study that I have submitted in 1969 as to
the condition of the bay. All right?
In 194#, the municipal load was 23,9#0 pounds
per day of BOD» The mill loads — paper mills altogether
in the Fox River, 2##,020 pounds per day, giving a grand
total of 312,000 pounds of BOD per day into the Fox River.
The suspended solids load in 194# was 10,520
pounds per day. The mill load was 101,940 pounds per day,
and the total was 112,460 pounds per day of suspended
-------
2115
J. F. Wilson
solids in the Fox River,
Now, I will read the 1963 figures — this is
the end of the 20-year period. Municipal loading, 26,714
pounds per day BOD. The mill loading has dropped to
276,740 pounds per day — these are all admitted loadings.
It is very important to understand this: that this is
what the mills admit to dumping. Total, 303,454 pounds
per day.
In 1963, suspended solids loadings — municipal
suspended solids loadings were not reported. Mill loading
went from 101^940 pounds in 194# to 243,500 pounds per
day of suspended solids. I can't give you a total because
the municipal suspended solids load was not reported.
The numbers applying to the Menominee, Peshtigo,
and Oconto Rivers, while lower, show relatively the same
changes. One might well ask, in view of what appears to
be a net reduction in BOD — admittedly a very small one —
how Professor Howmiller and Dr. Beeton were able to docu-
ment such a drastic deterioration in the condition of the
bay0
It is interesting to examine the suspended
solids loading during this period. The contributions
double. Might not a clue to the problem lie herein?
It is also instructive to understand fully the
-------
2116
J. F, Wilson
nature of the monitoring process, which is largely performed
by the polluters themselves and, in fact, would include the
contents of settling lagoons and basins that are regularly
discharged to the river only under extremely rare circum-
stances. I hope that is clear: that the settling lagoons
and basins are reported under only extremely rare circum-
stances*
The Quirk-Lawler-Matusky study of the Fox River,
funded by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
included among its recommendations that **<,,. an economic
alternative to advanced treatment facilities would be flow
augmentation,"
We note that Michigan's pollution control agency
has accepted this principle with regard to the huge new
Mead paper mill at Escanaba, where the proposal is to, in
times of low flow of the Escanaba River, pump water out of
Lake Michigan and introduce it upstream from the mill.
This is designed to maintain an adequate dissolved oxygen
in this critical stretch of the river. Where, however, do
the pollutants and solids go after they are thus diluted?
Gentlemen, these measures have been proven unsatisfactory
in the past. Why are they permitted now and accepted in
future planning?
In April, at the Lake Michigan Conference in
-------
2117
J. F, Wilson
Milwaukee, I raised the question whether it was necessary
to demonstrate that a specific pollutant crossed the State
line in Green Bay before the Federal Government could
exercise its jurisdiction in those waters. Mr. Stein
interrupted at that point to indicate that the Federal
Government viewed Green Bay as clearly within their purview.
The question has come up again, however, and a
conflict of interpretation within and between the FWQA and
the State of Wisconsin has not been resolved. Wisconsin
claims harbor areas and river mouths as being within the
jurisdiction of Wisconsin statute. No one has defined how
far out into the bay these areas extend. Unless some
clearly quantitative limit is placed on rivers and harbor
areas of influence, presumably all of Lake Michigan could
be claimed as a mixing zone for one or another State's
river or harbor. Apparently FWQA cannot or will not act
in the Green Bay section of Lake Michigan until this
matter is decided.
In Green Bay, on June 23, 1970, in a hearing
before the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
evidence was presented indicating that the Fort Howard
Paper Company t«as now discharging some 40,000 pounds of
BOD per day and 8,000 pounds of suspended solids per day
into the Fox River as compared with their 196S loadings
-------
2118
Jo F. Wilson
of 32,720 pounds of BOD and 27,SgO pounds of suspended
solids per day.
It was also brought out that they intended to
reduce their loadings through the installation of advanced
treatment facilities to 10 percent of their present con-
tribution. Their new orders call for abatement to 25,400
pounds of BOD and 27,300 pounds of suspended solids per
day. Why do they not call for a maximum of 4,000 pounds
of BOD and SOO pounds of suspended solids per day? And
why, above all, did it require the citizens to pool their
money to legally force this information into the open?
Why did not the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
determine this information for themselves? As yet, we
have not received a new order for this mill, although
presumably it is forthcoming*
The joint municipal-industrial treatment plant
to be built in the city of Green Bay is designed to treat the
mill wastes from American Can and Charmin to effect a 90
percent removal. Green Bay Packaging is constructing a
reverse-osmosis plant to remove 90 to 100 percent of their
effluent load to the Fox River. But the State orders
trail behind the technology available. In 1963, admitted
loadings to the Fox River from both industrial and municipal
sources totalled some 303,450 pounds of BOD per day.
-------
2119
J. F. Wilson
Technology permits this to be reduced to 10 percent of that
total. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is
calling for a reduction to only #7,065 pounds of BOD per
day from the paper mills, plus an additional municipal load.
We ask that total contributions to the Fox,
Oconto, Peshtigo, Menominee and Escanaba Rivers be put
at 10 percent of their present loadings, and that the ominous
rise in suspended solids be immediately investigated at the
source. We also request that this conference begin the
procedures necessary to establish effluent standards on
all waters affecting Lake Michigan, We request further
that the States establish adequate and uniform monitoring
of discharges that will permit complete public surveillance of
all pollutional sources.
And, finally, the Wisconsin Ecological Society
would like to commend the excellent report, "Physical and
Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan," pre-
pared by the Great Lakes Fishery Laboratory of the Fish
and Wildlife Service of the Department of Interior. This
is another piece of excellent work done by that able
laboratory.
For the first time, the actual physical
process of introducing large amounts of hot water has
been described. Rejecting the notion that the heated
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2120
J. F. Wilson
water would intermix with the entire volume of water in
the lake, and the equally simplistic view that the warm
water plumes would spread out evenly over the entire lake
and quickly evaporate, they have quite accurately delin-
eated the complex routes possible to this huge mass of
interjected hot water*
We completely concur in the conclusion of the
report that no significant discharge of waste heat into
Lake Michigan should be permitted. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mr. Wilson.
Mr0 Frangos.
MR. FRANGOS: Just a few quick comments,
I recognize that much of this presentation did
not bear on the thermal question, but it is certainly
important to the well being of the lake.
I am not sure I understand it, but I think the
best way is for me to say again — I said it at the last
conference — we have no jurisdictional problem in Wisconsin
from the State's point of view about Green Bay and the Fox
River and the tributaries to the lake. We have included
this in all of our listings to the conferees, and we have
proceeded on a schedule that is compatible with the
overall requirements of this conference <>
On the Fort Howard situation, I really can't
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J. F, Wilson
comment, or I don't think I should at this time since this
is under advisement by our Department's legal unit. But
Mr, Wilson is indeed correct that a decision will be forth-
coming in the near future,
I hesitate to comment on the effectiveness of
the reverse-osmosis in the Green Bay Packaging operation
as a demonstration program, and I don't have the confidence
in the capabilities of that process at this time that Mr,
Wilson has,
I think his points are well taken on increasing
surveillance over pollution generally in the State and
certainly on the Fox River. The Legislature has responded
to our Agency's request for increasing our monitoring.
We have been successful in getting funds, and we will be
indeed increasing our surveillance, and we have designed
a monitoring system for the Fox River, and we hope to have
that on line within the next month,
MR, WILSON: Mr, Stein, may I just respond to
one point that Mr. Frangos has made?
The hangup — if you want to put it that way —
with the jurisdictional matter is simply that when you
classify a stream as industrial cooling, you also extend
the area of influence of that stream out beyond the harbor
mouth. Now, the actual measurement of what that harbor
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2122
J. F. Wilson
influence is, that area of influence by the harbor, the
actual mileage out into the bay, has not been defined, and
as I understand this from the highest people in the FWQA
in Chicago, there is no way that they can insist that Lake
Michigan standards be enforced in areas that you say, as
the head of the Wisconsin — your pollution control agency
— that you say are areas of influence.
Now, does that clarify the problem?
MR. STEIN: We have the highest people right
to my left.
Again, let me indicate what the situation is.
We go over this again and again and again, and I keep
quoting the same man — Oliver Wendell Holmes. He said;
"Any bright young man can tell me what the law ought to be,
but it takes a student to know what the law is and what
we have to enforce."
The Federal law is clear on this. We have to
have two criteria present to have a Federal enforcement action
if we are going to proceed on Federal initiative. The
first thing, there has to be interstate waters or navigable
waters. I don't think that is the question here. Then,
if we are to proceed on our own initiative for a cleanup,
whether it is under the standards provision or whether it
is under the conference provisions as we have here, we have
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J. F. Wilson
to have pollution in one State endangering the health or
welfare of persons in another State. You have to have both
of those things.
There is an exception to this. That is where we
have been asked to intercede in intrastate situations by a
State. As I read this, we have been asked in here by
Governor Kerner on an intrastate situation in Illinois as
well as an interstate one. We have never gotten a request
like that from the Governor of Wisconsin. Therefore, Federal
jurisdiction, in Wisconsin, is limited to pollution which
is interstate as well as affecting an interstate or
navigable water. This effectively pulls the teeth of the
whole thing in Green Bay.
But what you have just said is exactly what we
are talking about. First of all, Lake Michigan is supposed
to be suitable for all water uses. Now, the point is:
What kind of an imaginary line is supposed to be drawn
across the mouth of the Fox River? There is one, there
must be, because if there was not then obviously the water
does not qualify.
Sir, what I want to point out is: while there
may be an imaginary line, there is a very definite line
which is the border of Wisconsin and the neighboring State,
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J. F. Wilson
and all of the waters you are talking about lie well
within the boundaries of Wisconsin, and they are
intrastate in nature.
MR. WILSON: They are intra?
MR. STEIN: Yes.
MR. WILSON: Oh:
MR. STEIN: At least the effect is within. The
water may be interstate but the effects that you are talking
about are also all within Wisconsin — the same State upon
which the discharge that you are talking about has the
alleged causal effect.
Now, I would like to move back, and I think I
may have misled you. The waters are interstate but the
discharge point and the alleged damage point and the
causal connection with them all relates to points within
Wisconsin, and when that happens, our jurisdiction is
limited unless the Governor asks us in, and that hasn't
happened.
Now, we have a proposed amendment to the Federal
law which would remove this, but the Congress hasn't acted
on that yet.
MR. WILSON: What is the name of that bill? Do
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2125
J. F. Wilson
you know that offhand?
MR. STEIN: We can get that for you. But the
House has not had hearings on this. Senator Muskie's
Committee has had hearings, but we haven't had any movement
of that legislation yet.
MR. WILSON: All right. I think, sir —
MR. STEIN: Let me continue on this. We recognize
the problems in the law. But I would suggest that in
those instances that you have to remedy the law or get the
request of the Governor of a State in order for us to
exercise jurisdiction, at least complaints about the
efficiencies, etc., should be directed to the places
where they can do the most good. This forum here can just
carry this out. But I recognize this and the Administration
recognizes this. We can't do anything else.
MR. WILSON: In other words, now, if Michigan
would request some action on Green Bay, they would claim
that they were affected?
MR. STEIN: Well, if they said they were affected
— I never heard them say that.
MR. WILSON: No. I see the problem.
MR. STEIN: There is another feature in the law.
If Michigan asks us, we have to go in there in a mandatory
way. We have no option.
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2126
J. F. Wilson
MR. WILSON: What about if Illinois asked you?
MR. STEIN: What, that Green Bay affects Illinois?
MR. WILSON: Would that have to be contemplated?
MR. STEIN: Well, surely we would go in, but
they sure enough have to contemplate it.
We get this again and again, and I know you will
be facing your citizens over and over again. We have had
the same problem. It can be best illustrated by our case
that is currently in progress on Lake Superior. People
were complaining about discharges to Lake Superior from
Reserve Mining Company, which all hands agree is putting
out 67,000 tons — get that figure —a day of taconite
tailings wastes into the lake at Silver Bay, Minnesota.
They asked "Why, why, why couldn't you clean this up?
Look at all this material coming out."
Because we didn't have an intrastate request
from Minnesota, we had to prove before we had jurisdiction
that these materials were getting over into Wisconsin and,
in fact, deteriorating water quality in Wisconsin. We
had 30, 40, 50 miles of open lake to trace these pollutants
across or this material across — I don't think the
company considers them pollutants yet. We had to
trace them across remarkably clean waters, and we had to
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212?
J, F, Wilson
spend a fiendish amount of money and resources to prove
that*
Now, this is the state of the Federal law now,
and unless you people recognize that, you will have a very
difficult thing to understand. We stand on what our juris-
diction ie<. I know the people around the shores of Lake
Superior who talk in the same terms you do of money, people
and staff coming out, were very impatient with us in not
being able to move in within days or weeks after we entered
the case. But this was not possible until we felt or the
Federal people felt that interstate pollution could be
demonstrated,
MR, WILSON: Thank you,
MR, STEIN: I hope this is helpful, because
we are going to run into this over and over again,
MR, DUMELLE: Mr, Stein, let me just ask you a
clarifying question,
Mr, Ourrie, when he was sitting here a little
while ago, talked about the chloride situation, and we
have this allegation that some 1,500 tons of chlorides as
sodium chloride are going into the lake at Manistee ever)
day.
Would it be necessary for us to ask Governor
Ogilvie to point this out to the Federal people in order
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2128
J. F. Wilson
to get to abatement of this discharge, in order to show an
interstate effect? Or can we assume that Lake Michigan,
because of its mixing, will carry this kind of a persistent
discharge all over the lake?
MR. STEIN: As I read the request from Governor
Kerner which, as far as I can see, is endorsed by Governor
Ogilvie, we already have this request from Illinois in
sufficient terms to give us jurisdiction over that and
investigate that and correct that if that is the problem*
MR. DUMELLE: Thank you.
MR. STEIN: This has already been done.
May we have Mr. Winston? Is he here?
Vance Van Laanen? Is he here?
While you are coming up, Mr. Van Laanen, I would
like to take this opportunity to introduce a telegram into
the record from Carole Magnus, addressed to several of the
conferees and Mrs. Edgar Wilkinson's statement — she had
to leave — and Catherine Quigg's statement, who also had
to leave. They have entered statements for the record. I
would like to put those in.
(The following telegram was received from Carole
Magnus, Secretary, Manistee County Anti-Pollution Organi-
zation .)
"MACAPO fully supports strongest action to
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2129
Mrs. E. Wilkinson
prohibit thermal pollution. Urge push for prejudgment,
guidelines."
STATEMENT OF MRS. EDGAR WILKINSON,
SOCIETY AGAINST VIOLENCE TO THE
ENVIRONMENT, HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS
MRS* WILKINSON: My name is Ann Wilkinson from
Highland Park, Illinois, and a member of the Society Against
Violence to the Environment,
I am not speaking for SAVE but as a concerned
citizen and as a mother.
I grew up in Highland Park and used to enjoy
swimming in Lake Michigan. I have a 4-year old and I
wouldn't dare let her go in the lake in its present state.
I hope she will be able to some day.
If there is any doubt of the effect of adding
heat to the lake from atomic powerplants or any other
sources, we should not add any heat. We can't afford to
take a chance.
You've seen the button, "Don't Do It in the
Lake." I don't think that anyone — business or private
— should be allowed to put heat in the lake.
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2130
Mrs. C. T. Quigg
STATEMENT OF MRS. CATHERINE T. QUIGG,
HARRINGTON, ILLINOIS
MRS. QUIGG: Electric utility companies to the
contrary, nuclear powerplants are not man's good neighbors.
Existing and proposed nuclear powerplants are
designed to pour billions of gallons of heated water into
Lake Michigan each day. The Zion plants alone will con-
tribute 2 billion gallons of heated water a day to the
lake.
I am aware of the decline of the lake due to
pollution and I am afraid that nuclear power siting with
thermal discharges along its shore will hasten this
decline. Not just the Zion plants but all powerplants
being built around the lake deserve our serious concern
with relation to their environmental effects.
At the very least, we should insist that
electric companies utilize current technology such as
cooling towers and cooling ponds to prevent aquatic
damage. Why don't we — for once and for all — dispel
three power company myths:
1. The myth that cooling towers cause adverse
atmospheric conditions.
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2131
Mrs. C. T. Quigg
Investigations by the FWQA of fogging problems
from natural and draft towers presently operating in the
eastern United States refutes this position. Reports
indicate that natural draft towers did not produce ground
level fog or drizzle under any weather conditions. Plumes
of steam from cooling towers rarely dropped below the top
of the tower for an extended distance, and generally
dissipated within a few hundred feet of a tower.
The FWQA report, dated September 1963, went on
to say, "In general, undesirable meteorologic effects from
towers can be prevented or controlled to a large degree
through modern design, such as effective drift eliminators
and air-flow control. In situations where problems arise,
the area affected is limited to that immediate to the tower
installation•"
Research on cooling towers by Eric Aynsley,
research chemical engineer, Illinois Institute of
Technology, confirms the above conclusions. Initial
findings of his studies at the Keystone Generating Station
near Indiana, Pennsylvania, state that local fogging
problems and icing from tower plumes do not present a
problem,
2. The myth that cooling towers are too
costly.
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2132
Hon. Gaylord Nelson, U.S.S.
According to recent studies, installation of
cooling equipment to control thermal pollution from water
discharges from powerplants would add about 30 cents a
month to the average customer's electric bill, I'll pay
that much to keep the lake alive.
3, The myth that cooling towers are so unsightly
the public doesn't want them.
This is the weakest argument of all. The choice
between unattractive cooling towers and a dead or unsightly
lake is an easy one to make,
I recommend that we insist on alternate cooling
methods for thermal powerplants near Lake Michigan, We
should not allow Lake Michigan to become the power
company's private waste sink at our great expense and
that of future generations,
MR, STEIN: Just in case you think I am out
here on my own, I have received another telegram from
another one of my bosses, which I will read into the record
now:
"Though the exact extent of potential damage
to Lake Michigan by the introduction of massive quantities
of waste heat is yet undetermined, there is enough evidence
to make it clear that consequences could be catastrophic.
Federal reports which have been presented to this conference
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2133
V. Van Laanen
cite the dangers and demonstrate there are at least six
reasonable and feasible alternatives to discharging heat
wastes to the lake from powerplants. The conferees should
act immediately to establish tough standards on these
plants prohibiting the discharge of waste heat to the lake.
There is no valid reason to gamble with the future of this
priceless resource when, in fact, such a risk can be
avoided with available technology," Signed Senator
Gaylord Nelson,
Mr, Van Laanen,
STATEMENT OF VANCE VAN LAANEN, PRESIDENT,
WISCONSIN RESOURCES CONSERVATION COUNCIL,
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN
MR, VAN LAANEN: My name is Vance Van Laanen
and I reside in Suamico, Wisconsin, I speak on behalf of
the Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council of which I
am President, and the newly formed Lake Michigan Federa-
tion, of which I am Chairman0
During the past week, Mr0 John Wilson, who
represents the Wisconsin Ecological Society, and I have
concluded negotiations with the Wisconsin-Michigan and
Wisconsin Electric Power Companies in lieu of intervening
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2134
V. Van Laanen
in the licensing of their facility at Point Beach. I know
it was earlier reported in the press that we had reached
an agreement and that is partially correct. We had, in
fact, reached an agreement in principle* In the wording
of that agreement, however, the principle enforcement
mechanism was to have been the Atomic Energy Commission
itself. Subsequent discussions with AEC counsel, which
I will not quote directly, disclosed the fact that the
Commission had no intention of enforcing the agreement
even though they did agree to accept the document for
inclusion in the official docket for Point Beach unit
number one. This original agreement had then to be
renegotiated with different enforcement mechanisms and
I believe that a portion of that document is relative
to the proceedings here.
I have included a copy of the agreement
together with my remarks for inclusion in the record.
(See Pp. 2141-2145)
The agreement states in part: "The intent of
this agreement, which all of the provisions thereto are
understood to promote and establish, is to create an
obligation on the Applicants to make every reasonable
attempt to reduce all deliberately discharged radioactive
wastes from Units 1 and 2 of the Point Beach Nuclear Plant
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2135
V. Van Laanen
to zero." And again: "The Applicants will proceed forth-
with to obtain proposals from Westinghouse and/or other
suppliers for equipment or systems that are applicable to
the Point Beach Nuclear Plant and that would result in
reducing the discharge of radioactive substances in con-
formance with the intent of this Agreement,1*
I firmly believe that this language, arrived at
through negotiation in good faith, firmly establishes
the principle of zero release of radioactive materials
to the environment as a technically feasible and econom-
ically practicable reality. Further, I firmly believe that
it demonstrates an awareness on the part of the utility
industry, or at least that portion of it that is
environmentally responsible, that the general public is
not willing to settle for a lenient standard, even though
no immediate danger to health and welfare can be estab-
lished, when the technology is available, at reasonable
cost, to meet more stringent standards, I commend the
applicants, Wisconsin-Michigan and Wisconsin Electric
Power Companies for their willingness to take this
important step in environmental protection and I strongly
urge the conferees here to require no less of the other
utilities constructing reactor generating facilities
around the lake.
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2136
V, Van Laanen
During these same negotiations, the question of
thermal loading of Lake Michigan came up, as you might
suspect. The applicants asked iis to withdraw consideration
of the thermal aspects as it was not relevant, in this
situation, to the Atomic Energy Commission proceeding. We
agreed with the applicants that Wisconsin regulations
effectively direct the consideration of thermal discharges
to this conference. We, therefore, request of this con-
ference that it require the abatement of thermal discharges
to the full extent that is technically feasible and econom-
ically practicable, or more simply that it require the full
application of the state of the art in thermal abatement
techniques. I would like to take a moment or two to explain
why I believe this request to be both reasonable and timely.
The fundamental issue in thermal control involves the
question of whether the utility industry, or any other,
possesses the right to contaminate the environment beyond
the limits of necessity. The question is not technical, it
is a moral question. I say it is not a technical question
because if you leave out all of the economic qualifiers, it
is obviously undesirable to inject large amounts of heat
into a natural cold water system.
The traditional approach to pollution control
in this country has been defensive and negative. This
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2137
V, Van Laanen
approach has developed over a period of many years from
an initial, basic, philosophy of using the environment to
its maximum capacity to carry away wastes. The environment
has been thought of as having a "self-purification capacity"
that can and should be legitimately used for waste disposal.
In this way, of course, the costs of waste control and dis-
posal could be minimized, and it has been an accepted idea
that to require additional waste treatment would be to
place an unreasonable economic burden upon industry. So long
as no obvious damage could be shown wastes from communities
and from industry could be released to the environment
without further justification.
It thus became the practice to establish
environmental and human protection criteria that were based
upon a concept of obvious or provable harm. Once such
limits are established, of course, they become "dumping"
criteria, in the traditional sense that the costs of
pollution control are customarily minimized by releasing
the maximum amount of wastes that can be absorbed by the
environment without evident and obvious harm. Quite
obviously, this approach also results in the maximum
pollution of the environment that is tolerable on a. short-
term basis.
We now have a history of attempting to clean up
-------
V. Van Laanen
pollution after the damage has been done, and that procedure
is both expensive and unsatisfactory* It leads inevitably
to an environment that is barely tolerable.
What is required instead is a new approach to
environmental protection which is based on prevention rather
than cure. It should no longer be necessary for those
desirous of protecting the environment to bear the burden
of proof that each and every discharge will, in fact, result
in X-amount of damage. The burden of proof should be on the
other foot and the potential polluter should be required to
show the absolute necessity of making any releases to the
environment. Instead of making maximum use of the environ-
ment for waste disposal, we must begin to think in terms of
the maximum protection of that environment and the minimiz-
ing of wastes dispersed to it. The crucial question must
become not how much waste can the environment tolerate, but
how much can be reasonably kept out? While the concepts of
air and water quality standards have served adequately as
a beginning in pollution control, we must take the next
step and begin to place controls on the effluent discharges
where they originate. The only supportable justification
for the release of any contaminant to the biosphere now is
the absolute demonstration of the necessity for it.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has presented to
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2139
V. Van Laanen
this conference a clearly viable alternative to the once-
through cooling system. It has shown that these alternatives
are technically feasible and economically practicable•
There is no question that the prohibition of once-through
cooling is the only reasonable response by the conferees.
Finally, I suggest that adopting stringent thermal
standards now would be not only reasonable but timely, A
recent issue of Limnos magazine contained an excellent
article by Mr, Mayo, In the article, he described ways for
private citizens and conservation groups to be more effective
in promoting sound environmental policies and even suggested
some excellent strategems for environmental litigation.
Let me insert here that I agree with everything
Mr, Mayo said. What I deplore is that he had to say it at
all!
I suggest that the conferees here would be
shocked to pick up tomorrow's morning paper and see an
article by the Chicago Chief of Police outlining methods
for citizens of this city to preserve law and order. In
the area of crime control, we have long passed the time
of the vigilantes. The democratic process in the area of
pollution control, as I understand it, consists of legis-
lative acts and regulatory enforcement. Yet everyone here
is aware of a continuing necessity for litigation on
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2140
V0 Van Laanen
environmental matters initiated by the citizen. Although
litigation before the courts of the land is a viable
extension of the democratic process, I suggest that it indi-
cates some weakness back on the legislative and regulatory
levels. Litigation is rapidly becoming unavailable as a
tool for the private citizen. The costs involved are almost
prohibitive. Conservation organizations are less and less
able to mount significant environmental actions in the courts,
but the need for such litigation has not abated.
When the public is frustrated at the legislative
and regulatory levels, and when the courts, for economic
reasons, are no longer available, I suggest that the con-
frontation over the environment will still occur. The
logical destination in the democratic tradition for that
confrontation is the street, I personally would deplore
such a development as would most other responsible conser-
vationists, but I would remind the conferees that the
problems are severe, widespread, and increasing. More
people are becoming aware and involved every day. As
environmental degradation increases in intensity its
visibility factor increases exponentially. This increase
in the visibility factor will inevitably attract the
attention of greater and greater numbers of the public,
The time for strong, purposive regulatory action is now.
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21U
V. Van Laanen
(Following is the agreement referred to by Mr.
Van Laanen.)
AGREEMENT
This agreement is entered into by and between
Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin-Michigan
Power Company hereinafter called "Applicants" and John F,
Wilson and Vance J. Van Laanen and a number of organizations
represented by them as set forth in their petition in the
proceedings before the Atomic Energy Commission of the United
States of America under docket No. 50-266, including the
Wisconsin Ecological Society, Inc. and the Wisconsin Resources
Conservation Council, hereinafter called "Intervenors."
Applicants have in said proceedings requested
that the Atomic Energy Commission issue them an operating
license for the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant Unit
number one at Two Creeks, Wisconsin. Intervenors have
petitioned the Atomic Energy Commission for leave to
intervene in such proceedings and for a public hearing in
the matter of the issuance of such requested operating license
stating as their view that it is desirable that no discharge
of radionuclides be made to the environment and that the
present state of the art is such that no radionuclides need
be discharged to the environment.
The intent of this agreement, which all of the
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2U2
V. Van Laanen
provisions thereto are understood to promote and establish
is to create an obligation on the part of 1, the Applicants;
To make every reasonable attempt to
reduce all deliberately discharged radio-
active wastes from Units 1 and 2 of the
Point Beach Nuclear Plant to zero*
and on the part of 2, the Intervenors:
That upon satisfactory demonstration of
applicants* intention to meet the above
stated obligation, to forthwith withdraw
their petition to intervene in the pro-
ceedings before the Atomic Energy Commis-
sion under docket No, 50-266 and withdraw
their request for a public hearing on the
request of applicants for an operating
license.
The provisions agreed to by Applicants and
Intervenors intended to implement this agreement are as
follows:
1. That Intervenors will forthwith withdraw
their petition to intervene in the proceedings before the
Atomic Energy Commission under docket No, 50-266, and
withdraw their request for a public hearing on the request
of Applicants for an operating license.
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2143
V, Van Laanen
2. The Applicants will proceed forthwith to
obtain proposals from Westinghouse and/or other suppliers
for equipment or systems that are applicable to the Point
Beach Nuclear Plant and that would result in reducing the
discharge of radioactive substances in conformance with the
intent of this Agreement.
The Applicants will within 60 days after receipt
of these proposals make their evaluations and place orders
for such equipment and systems.
3. That the following paragraph will be submitted
forthwith by Applicants to the Atomic Energy Commission with
a request that it be incorporated into and become a part of
the said operating license requested by Applicant for the
Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Unit number one at Two Creeks,
Wisconsin to wit:
"On or before June 1, 1971» Applicants will
submit to the Atomic Energy Commission application for
modifications and/or additions to the Point Beach Nuclear
Plant Unit number one to effect such changes in the equip-
ment and/or operations that will reduce radiation exposures
and releases of radioactive materials to unrestricted areas
to as far below the limits specified in 10CFR20 as the
state of the art in the reduction of such emissions will
allow."
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2144
V, Van Laanen
4, That if and when the Atomic Energy Commission
grants such application for modifications Applicants will
proceed to effect the modifications as approved by the
Atomic Energy Commission according to the time schedule
approved by the Atomic Energy Commission, or, if no time
schedule is so established, within a reasonable time,
5, This agreement shall also apply in all
particulars to the proceedings relative to Applicants'
Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant Unit number two under
docket No, 50-301 before the Atomic Energy Commission,
6, In the event Applicants fail to comply with
the provisions for implementing this agreement, provision
number five (5) shall be voided, and Applicants shall not
proceed with the fuel loading of Unit two of Point Beach
Nuclear Plant, at Two Creeks, Wisconsin,
7, This agreement shall be enforceable by the
Atomic Energy Commission and any successor agency to the
Atomic Energy Commission and in any proper court of record
and shall be enforceable in such court through the remedy
of specific performance or injunction if the court con-
siders such remedy or remedies proper.
This agreement shall be executed in duplicate,
one copy being retained by Applicants and one by Inter-
venors. Provision number three (3) shall be duplicated
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2145
V, Van Laanen
forthwith by applicant and submitted to the Atomic Energy
Commission to become part of docket No, 50-266 if rules of
the said Commission permit*
Witness our hands and seals this 5th day of
October, 1970.
MR. VAN LAANEN: Thank you. (Applause)
MR. STEIN: Mr. Van Laanen, thank you.
Any comments or questions? If not, thank you
very much, sir.
MR. DUMELLE: Mr. Stein, I just want to ask Mr.
Van Laanen — it is my understanding that the State of
Maryland, in issuing its permit for the Calvary Cliffs
Nuclear Plant, set the standard at 1 percent of the AEG
10CFR20 regulation, and that the State of Minnesota, I
think, will set a 2 percent value.
Am I to understand you think that these are too
loose, and your standard would be zero for radioactive
discharges?
MR. VAN LAANEN: You get into an area here of
what is zero and what is essentially zero. The Minnesota
standards, as I understand them, and the Maryland standards
are set right about at the point where the difficulty in
calibrating the measuring instruments interferes with the
ability to measure. So you are down in the area where it
-------
2146
V, Van Laanen
doesn't really make much difference whether you are talking
a tenth or two-tenths or three-tenths. I think it has been
substantially demonstrated that the state of the art — in
radiation control techniques — is well beyond the Federal
requirements for it« And, as I say, I think that the
willingness of the Wisconsin Electric Power and Wisconsin-
Michigan Power to take on itself the extra burden of agree-
ing to provide essentially zero releases amply demonstrates
the fact that this is the case,
I certainly don't want to criticize the Minnesota
standards or the Maryland standards, I think they are both
very good,
MR, DUMELLE: What I am trying to establish isj
Are your standards tighter than theirs, as you see them?
MR, VAN LAANEN: Well, first of all, you are
trying to compare apples with peaches here. I am not that
familiar with the Maryland standards. The Minnesota stan-
dards are — by the way, those are not statewide standards,
if I am not mistaken, those Minnesota standards apply to
the — what is the name of the plant? — Monticello plant.
They are specifically designed to cover a General Electric
cooling water reactor with specific conformation at
Monticello,
So the maximum permissible concentration factors
-------
2147
V. Van Laanen
for different isotopes are going to differ with that which
will be coming out at Point Beach. If you are asking which
standards will be lower, I think that probably there will be
a smaller standard from the Point Beach Plant simply because
it is a pressurized water reactor, and you don't have the
gas emission problems that are difficult to handle that you
do with the boiling water reactor. I do not have it
calibrated down into specific MFC's at this point.
MR. STEIN: Any further questions?
This has come up. Mr. Van Laanen, don't run off
because I have one more question. With the background
you have demonstrated, I think this is a good time to ask
you the question that has come up and people have asked
me from time to time. If the electric utilities demonstrate,
as you indicated in Wisconsin, before they build the plant
that they are going to get down and get into this refined
philosophic discussion of zero tolerance — and I agree
with your statements on that — of the protection of the
environment from releases of radioactive material into
the environment, how do these plants on the one hand get
so far on radiation,when on the other hand they didn't
give the same comparable assurances of protection from
discharge of heated water?
-------
2148
V. Van Laanen
MR. VAN LAANEN: Are you asking now the plan —
MR, STEIN: No, no, it is a philosophic point.
I am not talking, obviously, about the fossil fuel plants
because this doesn't arise there. But if you are dealing
with the nuclear plants and before the power industry
goes ahead with that plant, they present full, complete,
and documented assurances — and I think they do a pretty
good job of it —
MR. VAN LAANEN: Yes, they do.
MR. STEIN: — that there won't be a nuclear dis-
charge, and they have safety devices, etc., and have taken
every precaution to protect the environment, the question
is how come the plants already have done this with
nuclear or radioactive material but they haven't done it
apparently to everyone's satisfaction with the proposed
heat discharges? Or should the industry, before it puts
up a plant, be required to make the same kind of case,
provide the same kind of assurances and the same kind
of devices that it relates to protecting the environment
from the discharge of heat as apparently it has done in
assuring the protection from radioactive materials?
-------
2149
V. Van Laanen
MR. VAN LAANEN: I would say absolutely, and I
think the reason why they are not is because there has been
a regulatory vacuum in that area.
The other thing I would say is that since the
implementation of the NEPA Act I think this will probably
be done or at least done to a certain extent. However,
you bring up another very interesting point here, in that
I do not personally see how it is possible to separate the
heat from the radioactivity or vice versa. For the most
part, the radioisotopes which come out of the these plants
with the exceptions of the noble gases will come out ae a part
of the hot water discharge stream, and how are you going to
physically or in any other way philosophically or ideally
separate the isotopes from the waste heat in the waste
disposal stream? I don't think it is possible. So I think
it makes sense to do the same kind of study, the same kind
on the noble gases — environmental reassurance sort of
thing — with heat that you are doing with radioactivity
because why the sense of water discharges, you can't
separate them anyway.
MR. STEIN: By the way, I would thoroughly agree
with you, and I don't know if you are familiar with it, but
before these plants -- at least the thermonuclear plants —
cane on, we did have many enforcement cases involving the
-------
2150
V. Van Laanen
uranium mining industry in the Colorado River Basin, and
at this time I see a lot of parallels to where we are here.
MR. VAN LAANEN: Yes.
MR. STEIN: According to the Federal investigators
and agreed upon by the State people, we went out and we
at least determined there was excessive discharges of radium
to those waters. These plants were operating. We got
these pushed back, back, back. Then when the new plants
came in the assurances were given that this wouldn't
happen. But the restrictions for emitting radiation also
applied to the existing plants.
So in radiation this was carried on, in large
measure, into all plants such as the thermonuclear
plants.
But I thoroughly agree with you that the protection
of the environment is always one piece and you can't
separate this. Any kind of emission that comes out of the
plant that may affect the environment has to be accounted
for. I am not just referring to the power industry. I
don't want to single them out at all, because we have
the same thing in mercury discharges.
MR. VAN LAANEN: Yes.
MR. STEIN: But it seems to me that if we have
an example of how an industry can come forward and assure
-------
2151
T. MacDonald
the public that it has taken all safety measures in pro-
tecting the public from radiation discharges, we might be
much farther ahead if they would provide that same kind
of assurance as to other potential hazards to the environ-
ment,
MR. VAN LAANEN: You may get into this if you
get a vigorous enforcement of the NEPA requirements, but
I don't know if that will be or not,
MR, STEIN: Thank you.
May we have Ted MacDonald?
STATEMENT OF TED MacDONALD, WEST
LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
MR, MacDONALD: Mr, Stein, and gentlemen of
the conference. My name is Ted MacDonald. My home is
in West Lafayette, Indiana, I also own property on Lake
Michigan immediately adjacent to the Donald C, Cook
Plant at Bridgman, I am involved in a lawsuit at the
present time against the Indiana and Michigan Electric
Company in company with eight of my neighbors to recover
erosion damages that have been caused by the construction
i
of their plant.
But I speak to you today as a private citizen
-------
2152
T. MacDonald
interested in preserving Lake Michigan. I speak not only
for myself but for dozens of people I know personally from
all four States bordering the lake and uncounted hundreds
of thousands I will never know, all of whom will need a
living Lake Michigan in the years to come, a living lake
to provide them with peace-preserving recreation, the fresh
water they need to survive, and perhaps an essential food
supply in an overcrowded world.
And as I speak, I continue to be amazed that
after all that has transpired, a few private citizens still
must take it upon themselves to carry on such a major
portion of the fight to save the lake — and it is a real
fight. I have the financial scars and a depleted supply
of midnight oil to prove it0 The people I speak for — and
I am in close contact with them — feel there are some
questions which need answering. Some positive answers to
these questions must be found before further possibly
lethal doses of hot water and radioactive waste are
allowed to be administered to Lake Michigan.
MR. STEIN: Mr. MacDonald, just a moment, please,
I would appreciate it if the people would not
talk in the back so the rest of the people could hear*
Thank you.
MR. MacDONALD: First question: Why do power
-------
2153
T. MacDonald
companies regard the granting of construction permits and
operating licenses as a foregone conclusion? What would
lead them to believe that they are safe in spending many
thousands, yes, even millions of dollars, on preconstruction
work before the necessary permits are issued? They seem
so sure of themselves that it makes one wonder. Just one
example of many: At Michigan City, a powetplant discharge
flume is already partially constructed but the permit to
complete it has not yet been approved.
Second question: Last March 30 at Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Senator Philip Hart conducted a hearing for the
Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and the
Environment of the Committee on Commerce of the United
States Senate. At this hearing, Senator Hart questioned
a top official of one of the power companies with regard
to comparative costs of wet and dry cooling towers. The
power company official replied, and I quote, "Let me say
there are no nonevaporative cooling towers in the United
States. The only experiment we are knowledgeable of in
the foreign countries have not proven very successful as
yet. These are under study by us but there needs to be
a lot of development before they can be used."
Whereupon, an official of the Federal Power
Commission stood up, identified himself, and reminded the
-------
2154
T. MacDonald
gentleman from the power company that a nonevaporative
cooling tower is now being installed in the State of Wyoming
by the Black Hills Power and Light Company. Now, the
question is this: Are power company officials as pitifully
ignorant of the problems they are creating and the solutions
to those problems as the foregoing example indicates, or do
they tend to play Mickey Mouse with the truth when it is to
their advantage?
Third question: When are State and Federal
agencies which have power to grant power companies various
permits and licenses going to get down to business and
protect public interests? At the Donald C. Cook plant
in Michigan permits for the intake outlet structures were
all set for automatic approval until the facts came out at
a hearing held only because of public demand. As a result,
complete redesign of the structures was necessary. Why
did the public have to hire consultants and attorneys to
show government officials they were playing brinksmanship
with the public interest? How many other permits already
granted should be reexamined in the light of this incrim-
inating example?
Fourth question: Why does the power industry
continue to spend millions of dollars on advertising to
sell more electricity, while at the same time broadcasting
-------
2155
T. MacDonald
the dangers of impending power shortages? A TV news program
tells the story of the recent brownout in the East, The
sponsor of the show is a power company, and the commercial
urges us to heat our homes electrically. How ridiculous
can this comedy of errors become? Who can attach any
credibility to statements from people in the electric power
business when they so grossly underestimate the public
intelligence and so poorly manage their business affairs?
Fifth question: When is the power to grant
permits and licenses going to be shifted to State and
Federal Government agencies which have some power to
enforce such conditions and stipulations as the permits
or licenses may contain? Such conditions and stipulations
are usually in the public interest, but it has been my
personal experience that it is up to the public to spend
a bundle of its own nontax deductible dollars to do the
enforcing.
Sixth question: Why do government agencies,
particularly at the State level -- although I've seen
the Army Corps of Engineers do it, too — rely so heavily
on people hired by the power companies for scientific
information pertinent to the life or death of Lake
Michigan? Here again it has largely been left up to the
private citizens to bring forth and pay for their own
-------
2156
T, MacDonald
reputable scientists to emphasize the obvious and proven
fact that there are two sides to the story* I submit that
John Q. Public is fed up to his ears with officials who
have abdicated their responsibility to the people by
swallowing the power company story hook, line, sinker, and
contaminated bait*
In conclusion, I submit that the public is not
to be underestimated in its determination, or in its
knowledge of the many facets of this problem. The public
wants answers to their perfectly legitimate and logical
questions, only a few of which I have mentioned.
If the money already spent on this fight had
been devoted to research to find answers to problems which
already were there when the whole thing started, all of
us could be attending to other important business today.
Let me suggest that we stop wasting each other's time and
money and get down to the business of finding ways to
satisfy our power needs without destroying any irreplace-
able natural resources in the process,
I am grateful for this opportunity to speak.
Thank you very much, (Applause)
MR, STEIN: Thank you, Mr, MacDonald,
Any questions?
MR0 DOWD: I have one question, Mr, Chairman,
-------
2157
T. MacDonald
While you are coming up with your question, I
have to do my research in this room every day, and I forget
it from one time to the next, but it always works. May I
suggest that people who want to talk or hold conferences
get outside that exit door. For some reason or another
when you speak against that rear wall there in the next
room, it is like an echo chamber, and your voices come
right back up here, and there are some dead spots in the
center where you can't hear it, but the noise level up
here is rather loud. We have a lot of ante rooms available
for private conversations and caucuses just outside.
Thank you.
MR. DOWD: I am Joseph Dowd, counsel for Indiana-
Michigan Electric Company.
Mr.. MacDonald, you mentioned that a dry cooling
tower is presently under construction at a plant owned by
the Black Hills Power Company. Do you know what the gen-
erating capacity of that plant is?
MR. MacDONALD: No, sir, I don't. It is on
page 75 of that booklet you have in your hand.
MR. DOWD: Does it specify the generating
capacity?
MR. MacDONALD: No, it does not,
MR. DOWD: Well, that is what I was interested
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2153
T. MacDonald
in.
MR. STEIN: Are there any further questions or
comments?
If not, thank you very much.
MR. MacDONALD: Thank you.
MR. STEIN: M. A. McWhinnie.
While you are coming up, Miss McWhinnie, I do
have a clarifying statement from Mr. Sol Burstein, Senior
Vice President of Wisconsin Electric Power, which I would
like to put in the record. Some of you may recall we had
a colloquy on the meaning of a quote from the Senate
Appropriations Committee — and I guess I started this —
and I think Mr. Burstein has clarified it0 There was a
typographical error in his report which led to my questions
and they used the word "Commission." "Commission" was
inadvertently substituted for the word "Committee," which
makes the thing fairly clear, and we will place this in
the record because I think this is explanatory.
(The letter above referred to follows on page
2159o)
MR. STEIN: And I also have a letter from John
Co Berghoff, addressed to Mr. Klassen which, without
objection, can be put into the record as if read in toto.
(The letter above referred to follows on pages
2160-2163.)
-------
2159
WlSCOnSin EleCtriC POWER COMPANY
231 WEST MICHIGAN, MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53201
October I, 1970
Mr. Murray Stein
Chairman
Lake Michigan Conference
Sherman House
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Mr. Stein:
At the conclusion of the presentation
of my prepared statement at the workshop session of
the Lake Michigan Conference on Wednesday, Septem-
ber 30, you asked for a clarification relating to the
quotation of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
which begins on page 15 of my statement and concludes
on page 16.
As you may recall, the question arose
because of the word "commission," which appears in
the first line of page 16.
The statement has been checked, and I
find that the word "Commission" was inadvertently sub-
stituted for the word "Committee." The rest of the
quotation is correct and is taken from the Committee's
report on FY 1971 funds covering appropriations for pub-
lic works for water pollution control and power develop-
ment and the Atomic Energy Commission.
Therefore, the statement does indeed rep-
resent the thinking of the U. S. Senate Appropriations
Committee, in response to your question.
Sincerely,
Sol Burstein Senior Vice President
-------
2160
JOHN C. BERGHOFF
ATTORNEY AT LAW
I I 5 WEST JACKSON BOULEVARD
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 6O8O4 TELEPHONE 012)431.2622
SEP 2 9 1970
RECEIVED
EWIBONMENTftL PROTECTION
STATE OF ILLINOIS
September 28, 1970
Mr. C. W. Klassen, Director
Environmental Protection Agency
State of Illinois
535 W. Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Dear Mr. Klassen:
LAKE MICHIGAN FOUR-STATE CONFERENCE
Thank you for your letter of September 22 with respect
to the reconvening of the Lake Michigan Four-State Conference
September 28 on the subject of Thermal Discharges.
Please accept this letter as a request for permission
to present a brief oral statement at this conference, which I
understand will be held at the Sherman House Hotel in Chicago,
Illinois, on Friday, October 2, 1970. We appreciate the oppor-
tunity to make a statement in the public interest at this
important hearing.
With kind regards.
Very truly yours,
JCB :hk
-------
2161
STATEMENT OF JOHN C. BERGHOFF
FOUR-STATE CONFERENCE
THERMAL POLLUTION STANDARDS
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 2, 1970
My name is John C. Berghoff. I earn my living as
Associate General Counsel of Swift & Company. I have spent most
of my years living near the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Illinois,
Indiana and Michigan. I am a member of the Council of the Illinois
State Bar Association Section on Environmental Control Law. Today^s
statement I make, however, in my individual capacity as a person who
greatly values the natural resources of this area, particularly Lake
Michigan, and who wants to see these resources and this lake pre-
served for the 3routh of this generation and for generations to come.
I have no quarrel whatsoever with the nation's need for
more electrical energy nor with the concept of nuclear plants to
provide this additional energy. I do strongly object to the way
in which the pox^er companies are being permitted to use the
nation's natural resources such as Lake Michigan as private indus-
trial waste ponds.
The nuclear plant now under construction with which I am
most familiar is the one being built on the lake shore at Bridgman,
Michigan - the Donald C. Cook Plant. This plant will, when
completed and if permitted to do so, draw two billion gallons of
fresh, cold, Lake Michigan water aach day, use it as a coolant in
its nuclear processing and spew it back into the lake at the end
of the day some 20 to 25 degrees warmer than when it was withdrawn.
The American Electric Power Company which has announced that this
plant will cost 400 million dollars is not planning to spend one
-------
2162
-2-
single dollar to moderate this extreme elevation of temperature,
nor for that part is it planning to spend one single dollar to
assure zero or near-zero radioactivity of the water which will be
returned to the lake. It simply, if permitted to do so, will treat
Lake Michigan as its own private waste pond.
I strongly feel that the interests of this nation, and
more particularly of the people who live in these four states which
form the shoreline of Lake Michigan, deserve to have this natural
resource protected by reasonable thermal pollution criteria adopted
by the federal and state governments involved.
Further, it is my personal view that the top managements
of the electric power companies involved, despite the great number
of highly-qualified and highly-paid expert witnesses whom they have
presented at this hearing, would welcome the promulgation of tough
and uniformly enforced thermal standards. Under our free enter-
prise system, these companies cannot be expected to take the lead
in protecting the public interest when it clashes with the private
interests of their shareholders. Once a determination has been
made as. to what reasonable thermal standards are required to
protect the public interest, however, and once the appropriate
governmental agencies have adopted these standards, I am sure
we will find the power companies conducting themselves as good
citizens in compliance therewith.
I urge it to be the responsibility of each of the four
states here involved and of the Federal Government to adopt
meaningful, unambiguous thermal pollution standcirds, avoiding
intricate mixing zone formulations which will only lead to costly
-------
2163
-3-
compliance problems and will not give the nation and its citizens
what is required to preserve these resources. You will best serve
the interests of the conservationists and, though tney may not
admit it, the power companies as well, by adopting and enforcing
uncomplicated, reasonable but firm thermal standards - you will
have met the nation's need for expanding electrical energy without
permitting our national resources to be ravaged in the process.
-------
2164
M. A. McWhinnie
MR. STEIN: Would you go ahead?
STATEMENT OF MARY ALICE McWHINNIE,
PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL
SCIENCES, DePAUL. UNIVERSITY, CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS
DR. McWHINNIE: I am Mary Alice McWhinnie,
Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at
DePaul University, with an earned doctorate from
Northwestern University, and Director of the DePaul-EPRO
Ecological Study of Lake Michigan. My credentials for
speaking to this board of conferees relates to my
professional experience in crustacean biology in study
of effects of temperature changes on invertebrate animals
in freshwater and Antarctic marine water, and to the work
in which we are engaged on Lake Michigan,
Mr0 Chairman, and conferees, ladies and
gentlemen. I am grateful for this opportunity to present
some views and concerns which I share with most, if not
all, present at this workshop. I am aware of the serious
responsibility each of us accepts in such participation,
because of the unprecedented external pressure against
nuclear-powered electric generating stations which
-------
2165
M. A. McWhinnie
pervades into an area of knowledge in which we find our-
selves lacking in sufficient information to answer
satisfactorily all of the questions placed by the non-
scientist, I offer that the disparity of views presented
thus far at this workshop attests to the inescapable reality
with which we are faced: l) the necessity and commitment
to protect the environment; 2) the increases in population
density; 3) the continuing demands for available energy;
4) the intolerable slowness with which definitive knowledge
accumulates.
Though disparities clearly exist, as judged
from the statements made at this workshop and elsewhere,
there is within these multiple views (at least) one point
of common agreement: more study is needed and the dif-
ferences in existing and/or planned electric generating
plant sites require individual study.
I should like to focus on what I believe led to
the development of workshops of this kind, but I will not
burden this statement with repetition of the long litany
of data available on the topic of thermal modification.
Rather will I include for the record statements prepared
for the recent hearing conducted by the Illinois Pollution
Control Board held in this city 25-26 September 1970,
With the approval of the following authors, I ask to have
-------
2166
M. Ao McWhinnie
entered the statements of Dr. Philip F. Gustafson —
who I understand presented his yesterday — Director of
the Great Lakes Program, Argonne National Laboratory
(See Pp. 2179-2190); Dr. Charles Collinson, Head,
Sedimentology Division, Illinois Geological Survey (See
Pp. 2191-2201); Mr. John D. Harper, Director, Environmental
Parameters Research Organization (EPRO) (See Pp. 2202-
2209); and my own, as Director of the DePaul-EPRO
Ecological Study of Lake Michigan (See Pp. 2210-2219).
The objective of Dr. Gustafson's presentation
on "Thermal Discharges and Lake Michigan," is to illuminate
the facts of natural thermal increments as they relate to
man-induced thermal increments in Lake Michigan water.
He states that the volume of water which would be involved
in the operation of six nuclear powerplants to be in oper-
ation by 197$ "... tends to stagger the imagination and
perhaps to blur reason." In recognizing the wide variation
in Lake Michigan water temperature, seasonally and
vertically, he questions the real meaning, and points to
the ambiguity of the term "ambient temperature,"
Considering the long period of operation of
fossil-fuel plants at Waukegan, State Line, and Oak Creek,
he notes the lack of any profound impact on the aquatic
environment especially when compared with sewage and
-------
216?
M. A. McWhinnie
chemical waste outfalls. With respect to temperature,
he shows a river water inflow to the lake which is at a
temperature 5 degrees to 19 degrees Fahrenheit greater
than the lake, and that this is near or comparable to the
thermal input to the lake from a given nuclear powerplant;
yet the former is not generally considered as "thermal
pollution," The advantages and the disadvantages of the
alternates to once-through cooling water are discussed
and a "field program to determine best options" is urged;
without this ",,, we will never know what reasonable
thermal standards are ,.,," Dr, Gustafson recommends,
in conclusion, that a plan be developed to allow present
and near-ready facilities to operate to allow for the
conduct of sound scientific investigations,
Dr, Collinson laid emphasis upon the scant
evidence available concerning the sedimentary and chemical
composition of Lake Michigan and that data must be gained
before its original character is degraded. He points out
that localized areas already give evidence of change,
e.g., the oxygen demand of southern Lake Michigan sediments
is approximately three-fold that of Lake Huron, A program
to study unconsolidated sediments with respect to atmos-
pheric dispersal and surface water pollution as indicated
by trace metal accumulation was started in 19&9, From the
-------
216$
M. A. McWhinnie
data thus far obtained, heavy metals appear to be accumu-
lating (10 to something more than 90 p.p.m.) as is organic
carbon. These two categories are directly correlated and
may indicate that sediments with a high organic content may
in time have a high metal content; changes should be closely
monitored. Sediment type distribution and stratigraphy are
also being studied. The main impression of their study
is: "..o a very serious absence of basic scientific data
about Lake Michigan ..,*'. "Reservations are held about the
effectiveness and correctness of any blanket temperature
standard ... at the present time." If a thermal input is
allowed the site should be thoroughly studied before, and
monitored after operation. MIn final analysis ... our
knowledge is so small ... and the resource so valuable ...
we would welcome the exclusion of any input ... to the
lake ...."
The thrust of Mr. John Harper's statement is
that a mutually agreed upon moratorium be struck by the
utility companies and the regulatory agencies. Such a
moratorium would allow adequate study of completed or
in-construction powerplants which would serve as the field
experiments whose results would lay to rest the continuing
debate prevailing in the absence of definitive information.
He further states that under such a plan, power companies
-------
2169
M. A. McWhinnie
must be prepared to change their cooling methods if such is
found to be necessary.
In my own statement, I presented the findings of
several laboratories subsequent to study of "real situation"
thermal modification of the aquatic environment, as well as
in-laboratory duplications. In a number of such published
studies no persistent biological alterations were demon-
strated. Results were comparable for freshwater and marine
organisms as would be expected of living systems. The
temperature preferences of some plant and animal species
were cited within this context. The implicit limitations
of "fixed number policies" in establishing the maximum
limits of thermal increments, or fixed distances for mixing
zones, are presented just on the basis of the characteristics
of a natural environment for which data were given. Based
on those considerations, a position, finding agreement with
most scientists, is taken that we can delay no longer in the
procurement of hard data to provide the answers needed.
The full text of these four statements is presented
as an appendix to this one.
Within the context of this workshop, I should
like to present some reflections on what I consider to be
the questions which lead to such, and for which we are
seeking some reasonable solutions:
-------
2170
M, A, McWhinnie
!• What is the true nature of the problem,
described to be a temperature increase in the Great Lakes
in general and Lake Michigan in particular?
My own answer to this can be no different from
that of all persons present. Briefly, it is a scientific
question directed at the physical, chemical, and biological
modifications that will result when one factor, in the
complex web called "nature," is varied*
Many scientists have spoken on this subject and
presented evidence that must be reckoned with, and some of
that evidence has not corresponded with intuitive feelings
expressed by others.
It is necessary to state that a tone or climate
appears to have come to prevail in this workshop such that
it might be more appropriately characterized under the title
of a trial. In my opinion, it is unfortunate that by the
second day of this week the words "testify," "witness,"
and "cross examination" became common language. My inter-
pretation was placed in some doubt when on Wednesday it
was stated that this meeting was to engage in a discussion;
however, my first impression persisted. Information emerges
from both types of activities but the former deals with an
objective problem to which all seek solutions; the latter,
however, leads to impugning motives and credibility.
-------
2171
M. A. McWhinnie
If science has nothing to say or to contribute
to our environmental problems, then our solutions will be
less than adequate; they shall have no more justification
than expediency; objectivity becomes nonexistent, the
scientist will return to his laboratory and our society
will lose,
2, My second question could be called the first:
From what source(s) can those convened here, and all Ameri-
cans, holding diverse priorities, seek the information
essential to reasonable decisions?
The answer must be those persons who, by virtue
of an earlier academic preference, pursued study in depth
of those disciplines called physics, chemistry, biology,
meterology, geology, and engineering — and the environment
is all of these. These men have no special omniscience, but
in their area of competence they have knowledge, experience,
insights, and a deep curiosity to "know," If our judgment
of their data is influenced by the wby-linew over which
their name is given, and the persons to whom they speak in
a civil society, we fly in the face of honesty, we dis-
credit without evidence, and as a Nation we demonstrate a
schizophrenic personality, seeking the benefits and
by-products of science on the one hand as we discredit it
on the other when it does not support a fear or uncertainty
-------
2172
M. A. McWhinnie
which we might interpret as fact.
If the proof of "no damage" to the environment
rests upon the user, to whom can he turn for the proof? If he
seeks those qualified by training, by research, and by
objectivity, the latter are viewed with skepticism, if not
discredited, and the former are said to be "fighting the
issue,"
Yet so recent as 29 September 1970, the "Chicago
Sun Times" carried an article stating that Mr, Stein said,
",.« industry <>•• and not the public ••• should prove that
its projects pose no threat to the environment or public
health," It is with deep concern over this conflict that I
submit the view that Lake Michigan belongs to scientists,
too.
With a high hope to obtain answers essential to
the making of supportable decisions and acceptable to an
irate public too quick to judge and too concerned to be
silent, the DePaul-EFRO study was initiated in the field
in June 1970; a multidisciplinary study conducted by a
confederation of 10 scientists from private, public, and
governmental agencies, responsible and concerned, as are
the conferees and all participants here, to reach for
answers proportionate to the urgency of the issue. Their
data are only now beginning to accumulate but their motives
-------
2173
M. A, McWhinnie
have been publicly impugned; yet they stand independent of
all vested interests, and this is well understood by all
persons on both sides of this question.
Gentlemen of the board of conferees, if scientists
are the only appropriate segment of our society to study the
science-based issues of our environment, can they be written
off because someone doubts their motives? If study of the
environment is not really needed, why did a conferee ask
this week, "... could any meaningful conclusions be drawn
from a one-day study ..." as it was reported by one of the
speakers?
If lack of study is not our critical problem
why was the Kittrell report, for the FWPCA, of 1963, so
thoroughly detailed as to what had to be done that we might
"know"? Perhaps more critical is the problem that that study
was not, to my knowledge, undertaken. Is that part of why
the answers are not always forthcoming?
If this was not true would we have come to be
impatient with what is increasingly called a wait-and-see
policy? Is the character of that phrase intended to
encapsulate the view of or paraphrase scientists? If so,
I urge that we recognize that erroneousness is insidious,
it is defeating; it is divisive in a society already fraught
with doubts, suspicions, and credibility gaps.
-------
M. A, McWhinnie
3. What will be the effect on the biota subse-
quent to thermal modification of Lake Michigan?
Throughout this workshop, highly qualified scien-
tists have presented their own data and that published by
others; similarly, biological data have been presented in
the "white paper" of the Department of Interior, In my own
statement of recent time, submitted herewith (See Pp. 2210-
2219) and previously this year, I too have called upon the
scientific literature. I think I shall add little to cite
still more titles for the record.
I should like to add another consideration with
respect to temperature effects on living systems. May I
say first that the subtleties of the capacities of living
systems are profound and exquisite and continue to amaze
even those who have devoted their life to such studies.
Many of these subtleties pervaded the answers which Dr»
Raney offered to your questions. He, as well as others,
could not concur with the view that plus 1°F., or plus 5°F.,
or plus 3°F., or plus anything had any significant meaning
to organisms in a dynamic system, one changing from moment
to moment to constant fluxes in the natural environment.
If some fixed value is the maximum permissible
for cooling water entering the environment, such as plus
5°F0, or other,
-------
2175
M. A. McWhinnie
a) Is this meaningful when it is 50° plus 5°
in the same context as when it is 60° plus 5°» or 70° plus
5°?
In terms of ease of understanding for those
unfamiliar with biological phenomena it may be. For living
systems, and those who have some understanding of them, each
condition is dynamically different as it slides along the
temperature-response curve for each species and for each
vital function for each species. As a consequence, such
a regulation would have less than rea] meaning in the
biosphere.
Indeed the living systems we work to protect pass
through such oscillations in a diurnal (daily) cycle, and
more; further, those endemic to the waters we seek to
conserve live through approximately 32.5°F. to approximately
#0-#5°F. on an annual cycle. Dr. Raney's comments on the
yellow perch which have a range from the southern States to
these latitudes are the biological evidence of the range of
tolerance and adjustment. I hold this point as valid, even
in the light of others made by the authors of the "white
paper." Given the opportunity to discuss this in depth,
I believe we would not find those two views so diverse;
but the requirement of "yes" and "no" answers obscures
biological realities and creates an erroneous polarity.
-------
2176
Mo A. McWhinnie
Delicately shifting biological phenomena cannot fit into
"legal boxes,"
In this context, and all the nuances that it
implies, what meaning does a fixed thermal increment have?
b) If plus 5°F., or other, is a fixed limit for
natural water resources, is it for any water--water
relatively free of high concentrations of naturally-occurring
elements (phosphorus, nitrogen, silicon, calcium, etc.);
'or water with some given concentration of these; or water
deteriorated with chemical waste, with toxic compounds,
with phenols, cyanide, acid waste? No single environmental
factor can have an uncomplemented effect. How will a fixed
thermal increment cope with the phenomenon of synergism?
May I note that Dr. Pritchard stated that temper-
ature does not cause eutrophication; rather do inorganic,
and organic nutrients. The verification of this may be
evident when in late August at these latitudes, an algal
bloom of enriched waters in summer declines, while yet the
temperature is high or higher than previously. The decline
in algal growth occurring at elevated temperatures
corresponds with the decline in nutrient due to massive
utilization. As the temperature then declines naturally
into fall, another algal bloom occurs in October as a result
of a new rise in nutrient and yet the temperature is lower.
-------
2177
M. A. McWhinnie
Is it then temperature which causes eutrophication;
and what does a fixed thermal increment mean in this context?
I have another concern, and it is with reluctance
that I note it, for it is "ticky-tacky," and it could be
subject to disproportionate criticism. Under other circum-
stances, I would not speak to it, but as I noted earlier,
erroneousness is defeating and only for that reason shall I
mention it. In the now well known "white paper," three
references cite the periodical, "Chesapeake Science,"
Volume 10, Numbers 3-4 (19&9) of that periodical was
devoted to the studies which were reported at the Second
Thermal Workshop of the U, S, International Biological
Program, and 29 papers were given. Of the three
references to this periodical in the "white paper," one was
to the introductory opening remarks to the workshop, and
another was to a resume, I wonder why some of the data
presented in the other 28 of those papers did not
find their way into the "white paper"? I ask this question
because some of the data which I cited which show no thermal
effect were taken from that same volume and numbers).
In conclusion, may I say the problem we are dis-
cussing is, in my judgment, scientific; it is complex in the
extreme; it cannot be resolved by debate; it must not be
confused with intuitive feelings; and, it shall not be
-------
217S
M. A. HcWhinnie
resolved if scientists leave the world of contemporary prob-
lems in our society.
Rarely does the opportunity arise to attest to
your convictions and defend your profession in order to
serve the society and civilization of which you are a part.
I am grateful that you have made this possible. Thank you,
(The papers cited in Dr, McWhinnie's presentation
follow in their entirety,)
-------
2179
Thermal Discharges and Lake Michigan
P. F. Gustafson
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne, Illinois
At the present time the states bordering upon Lake Michigan and
the federal government are wrestling with the questions raised by dis-
charging waste heat into the Lake. The deliberate release of waste
waters at temperatures above that of the Lake at the point of input is
not a new practice; it has been part and parcel of human occupation of
the land along the Lake and has increased at a rate connensurate to or
exceeding that of population growth. 1,'hat is new, however, is the fact
that the wisdom of this practice is now being questioned, and indeed
being subject to regulation by the appropriate agencies. This ai^sticri-
ing and probing is a healthy sign, a further indication of the awareness
on the part of a growing number of citizens that our resources arc not
endless; that the natural environment - be it air, land, or water - dees
not have a limitless capacity to absorb wastes and other forms of insult
and assault.
The matter of thermal discharges into Lake Michigan has been brcu^t
to the fore by the construction of six large nuclear power plants (a total
of ten individual reactors to be in operation by 1978) which intend to use
Lake Michigan water for condenser cooling, and discharging this water di-
rectly back into th 2 Lake. The sheer magnitude (volume) of water involvcu,
coupled with the ri'.e in temperature over the condenser, tends_to__star/g2r
the imagination and perhaps_tq_b]_ur_reason.
-------
About 4,600,000 gallons per minute (gpm) or 10,000 cubic feet per
second (cfs) will be required for cooling purposes by the nuclear plants
now under construction. This figure does not include the Bailly nuclear
unit now being considered. The cooling water will gain an average of 20.5°F
across the condenser. Cooling water for the nuclear plants will be taken
from some distance off-shore, and in most cases from near the Lake better,.
Hence, the cooling water will usually be belcw the ambient temperature of
the surface waters when it enters the plant, and as a result the tem-
perature difference between discharge water and lake surface temperature
will be significantly less than the AT across the condenser. The objective
of this statement is to attempt to place the cooling water discharged from
nuclear power plants in a reasonable perspective, to discuss what is known
and what is unknown concerning thermal parameters in Lake Michigan, to ex-
plore the alternatives to direct Lake discharge, and finally, to suggest a
course of action to answer pertinent scientific questions, to alleviate
economic and operational stress, and to provide adequate electric power to
residents of the Lake Michigan region.
Perspective
Lake Michigan is the fifth largest body of freshwater in the world. It
is of sufficient depth that it is thermally stratified during the summer
(roughly May to November), and is thermally mixed from top- to bottom each
spring and fall. The primary source o~~ heating of the Lake is direct solar
and atmospheric radiation, with river c.nd surface water run-off providing a
relatively minor additional natural heat input to the Lake proper. Major
-------
2161
man-made sources of warm v/ater discharges Include industrial discharges,
municipal sewage treatment plant effluent, and cooling water from steam
generating facilities. The waste heat from this latter category is most
readily documented because of the rather direct relationship between
electrical output and heat loss across the condenser. In addition, de-
tailed records of power generation make it possible to determine not only
annual heat discharge but to break it down into daily or even hourly seg-
ments. The present electrical generating capacity situated on Lake Michigan,
*
and using Lake water for cooling, is about 8000 MWe. Except for 75 HV.'e
which comes from the Big Rock Nuclear Plant at Charlevoix, Michigan, all
this power comes from coal- or oil-burning plants. Older fossil fuel
plants such as these have an efficiency of about 30-35% (although fossil
fuel plants built recently achieve about 40% efficiency) for converting
heat into electrical energy. Of the 65-70% waste energy as it were, about
15% is lost up the stack. Thus, from the 8000 MWe from fossil fueled power
generation, there is between 17,000 and 19,000 MH of waste heat produced,
of which 13,000 to 15,000 Ml) is released to the condenser cooling water.
The present type of nuclear power reactors have a conversion efficiency of
about 33% (heat to electrical energy), and effectively (a few percent may
be lost directly to the atmosphere in tha plant) all of the waste heat (67%)
is released to water across the condenser system. Therefore, we see that
for each unit of electricity actually generated (per kilowatt, for example),
20-35% more heat (50% more when compared to the most modern fossil plants)
is discharged to cooling water from a nuclear plant than from a conventional
fossil-fuel installation. It is also true that the present trend in power
*
3000 megawatts electrical, a term describing generatini capacity.
-------
2132
plant construction is in terms of blocks of 500 to 1000 Mite per generating
unit. This means that the heat released is concentrated in a localized
area, and is somewhat more aggrevated in the case of nuclear plants because
of the greater aqueous heat loss per unit of power produced as discussed
above.
In terms of heating of the entire Lake, the discharge from generating
plants makes an insignificant input. Calculations show that if none of the
heat from present power plants and those proposed through 1978 were to leave
the .Lake over an annual cycle, the temperature increase would be a few
hundredths of a degree centigrade throughout the entire Lake. Of course,
such a situation does not exist in nature, as there is continual heat loss
to the atmosphere by evaporation and non-evaporativs processes. It is also
true that the discrete thermal discharges from power plants do not mix
throughout the entire Lake, but are essentially localized entities of warm
water. It is because of this phenomenon of relatively restricted volumes
of warm water, present in one general location near shore, that raises
questions about biological effects and other aspects relating to water quality.
Except at times during fall and spring when the Lake is thermally mixed,
the temperature is not uniform throughout the Lake. In suirmer, the mixed
surface layer (which may extend down to depths of 60-70 feet) is anpreciably
warmer (10-25°F) than the underlying waters. Conversely, in the winter,
surface waters may actually be colder than those at greater depths. Further-
more, there are variations in surface water temperatures over fairly short
distances (less than a mile) and/or short time intervals (less than an hour).
These variations are particularly evident near the shore, and are due to the
upwelling of cooler water, warm surface water being blown onto the shore, and
-------
21 $3
5
other wind and current phenomena. These variations make the term ambient
temperature somewhat ambiguous other than in a general or average sense.
As mentioned earlier, there are already a number of generating plants
situated on Lake Michigan which draw cooling water from the Lake and return
the heated effluent to the Lake. Three of these begin to approximate the
generating capacity and thermal discharge of the nuclear stations now under
construction. These larger plants now in operation are Haukegan (1108 M'.-!e),
Oak Creek (1670 MWe). and State Line (964 MWe). A feeling for the magnitude
and the environmental effects of thermal discharges may be obtained by looking
at and around these plants which have been in operation for a number of years.
The initial impression is that these plants have not had a very profound, or
obvious effect on the Lake, certainly not an adverse effect as annears to
have been the case with some other discharges such as sewage and chsmical
discharges. Determinations of the lateral extent and the depth of the warm
water discharges (called thermal plumes in analogy to smoke plumes) have been
made by infra-red over-flight techniques and by making direct temperature
measurements in the water. A thermal discharge is wanner than ambient Lake
water and tends to float because it is less dense, spreading out as it floats
in a manner dictated by wind, current, and the velocity of the discharge it-
self. The Lake thermal plumes studied are a few feet (6-8 maximum) thick
and have temperatures which are measurable above ambient (about 1°C) out
to a mile or so from the discharge point. The initial decrease in water
temperature from the outfall to the measurable edge of the plume occurs
primarily through mixing with the cooler water surrounding the plume, with
some loss directly to the atmosphere as well. Over a matter of a day or so
-------
2184
the bulk of the heat is lost to the atmosphere. Other than providing a
warmer region for swimming, and a more ice-free region of limited extent
during the winter, and occasional periods of local fog, there are no
obvious physical effects from the thermal discharge. Biological effects
are equally hard to discern. Fish are noted to congregate near the outfall,
particularly in winter-time, but increased algal bloods, differences (cr
lack of) in bottom organisms and other indications of biological change
have not been documented. Bottom organisms probably are not truly good
indicators of the thermal situation because of the surface-floating character
of the warm water. The fact that changes have not been documented in part
implies they are difficult to see, or are slight if not non-existant. On
the other hand, it must be said that not a great deal of research has been
devoted to looking for thermally-induced changes. So we are faced with a
situation in which obvious changes have not been observed, but secondary,
more subtle, effects at some distance from the point of input may take place.
Additional information as to possible thermal effects can be obtained
from examining stream and river plumes in the Lake. The prime example as
far as Lake Michigan is concerned is the Grand River vhich has an average
flow of between 1500 and 7700 cfs depending upon the time of year. This
compares with the flow rates of 3260 and 3500 cfs specified for the Ziori
and Donald C. Cook plants, respectively. The Grand River is also warmer
than the average surface temperature of the Lake, varying from 5°" above
Lake surface temperature in March and Seotcniber to as much as 19°F in July.
During part of the year the actual r^at carried irto the Lake by the Grand
River in BTU/day, for example, closely approximates that which would bs
-------
2185
7
released from the largest nuclear plants now under construction on the
Lake. From March through July the Grand River dumps between 200 and 340
billion BTU/day into the Lake, whereas if run at peak capacity for 24 hours
a day the Donald C. Cook and Zion plants would discharge 390 and 340
billion BTU/day, respectively. It is interesting to observe that the
Grand River is not generally thought of as a source of thermal pollution.
Alternatives
On the basis that adverse effects may be taking place now from the
presence of thermal inputs or the mode of introduction, or that such chanqes
may occur if the inputs increase, one must consider other means of disposing
of waste heat. This can be done in several ways; through increased volume
of cooling water, diffuser systems which increase mixing, cooling ponds,
cooling towers, or combinations of these. It is also apparent that in the
main, the summer months are the more critical time; hence, the time when
more elaborate cooling measures should be taken. There is, of course, a
further option open and that is to not site power plants or other heat
sources along the Lake at all. This is a solution for future siting, but
hardly helos in present circumstances. From a strict economic sense, direct
cooling is least expensive in terms of initial investment and annual operating
costs. It may, in fact, turn out in the end to be the most reasonable use
of a natural resource, namely the Great Lakes.
Each of the various alternatives will be considered in terms of their
advantager, -nc1 disadvantages.
1. The condenser discharge could be mixed with additional water before*
entering the Lake. This would serve to reduce the difference in temperature
-------
2136
between the plant discharge and the Lake itself; however, it would not
reduce the total heat input to the Lake. Such a procedure involves the
expenditure of energy in pumping, and the larger volume of relatively
high velocity water might produce both physical and biological effects
such as scouring of the Lake bottom, or influencing fish movements. The
advantage would be that modifications to present facilities could be done
at or near the Lake shore in most instances, and v/ould not require the use
of additional land.
2. Diffuser systems. Multiple nozzle or aspirator systems will allow
rapid mixing with cooler surrounding water, and when spray devices are used,
direct heat loss by evaporation is achieved. Such systems will reores&nt
sone expense, and the durability and maintenance of such devices has not
been field tested on a large scale. I/here actual sprays are involved the
water loss from the Lake system will increase due to evaporation.
3. Cooling ponds. These would require considerable land adjacent to
the plant to be used for this purpose - approximately two acres per MV.'e
is a rough figure for cooling pond size. The loss of water from evaporation
would be comparable to or somewhat greater than if the heat were put directly
into the Lake itself. Confined bodies of warm water such as this may become
algal beds, and require attention to prevent their being a source of odors.
The quality of cooling pond water will decrease with time as solids left
behind by evaporation accumulate.
4. Cooling towers. Wet or dry cooling towers for oower plants in the
500-1000 ''!We range renresent a sizable capital investment. The Davis-Besse
Plant in Ohio is spending $9,000,000 on cooling towers ""or a 872 MK'e facility.
They will also consume power in their operation, and require nariodic maintenance,
-------
Such towers are fairly large in size, both height and base area. Wet towers
will be more wasteful of water in that they depend heavily upon evaporation
for heat removal. Solids left behind in evaporation must be removed, as
must slime and algal growths, usually by back-flushing into the Lake. Such
a procedure will produce periodic inputs of concentrated chemicals into the
Lake. The evaporation may lead to fog and icing under appropriate meteoro-
logical conditions. Dry cooling towers do not waste water, but are limited
in their cooling abilities by the ambient air temperature as cooling is
done by exchange to the air passing over the cooling coils. Experience with
dry towers is,limited to fairly small (200-300 MWe) installations. In seme
locations, objections have been raised concerning the appearance of cooling
towers and their effect on the landscape.
Cornoi nations
A combination of methods might prove most acceptable in the long run.
Direct discharge except in wsrm seasons, when cooling towers could be used,
is one possibility. This would also avoid the fog and ice problem during
the winter months. A cooling pond-direct discharge is also in this category.
It should be emphasized that from the standpoint of water conservation,
direct discharge of heat in the Lake is most conservative of this resource.
As demands for Lake water increase, the diversion of water for cooling towers
and ponds may be regarded as an unacceptable use of water,
Field Program to npterrnne^ Best Options
Two things seem apparent: 1. That demonstrable physical and/or
-------
10
biological effects from present thermal discharges are hard to find on
the Great Lakes or elsewhere. 2. There is a need for well-planned intensive
and extensive field work to determine what effects, if any, do exist. It
would also seem reasonable to not be overly restrictive on thermal discharges
in light of present observations. In reality we will never know what reason-
able thermal standards are until adequate field work is done, and to do this
it will be necessary to have thermal discharges to study. Otherwise an
unwise alternate, the consequences of which are, in fact, less clearly
understood, may be chosen. There are environmental costs to be borne in
any event, and what must be done is to minimize these costs in conjunction
with their socio-economic impact. This should be the prime objective of
regulation. There is a conservation principle involved here related to
the conservation of energy principle. In fact, energy is the real culprit.
Feasible methods of steam electrical generation ara inherently limited to
maximum efficiencies of the order of 40-50%. This means that half or n^ore of
the heat produced must be discarded, and the name of the game is to discard
this heat in the manner least offensive to the environment or to use it
beneficially in some manner. There is a feeling, based upon plenty of
evidence to be sure, that whatever man does in terms of waste disposal is
probably wrong. It is possible that in the case of heat, discharge to Lake
Michigan is an appropriate, and acceptable use of a natural resource. It
remains to be proven, however, and the natural caoacity of the Lake to
receive and to eliminate heat must be determined.
The source of support to do the necessary research is always a problem.
But consider the manner in which monies are now being spent. For example,
the Davis-Besse nuclear plant on Lake Erie is qoing to spend $9,000,000 on
-------
2139
11
cooling towers, plus operating and maintenance expenses annually. This
exceeds the total amount spent annually on research in the Great Lakes
which is at all relevant to the pollution question, and greatly exceeds
the annual support of thermal research on the Great Lakes* The ooint is
that more money could be reasonably spent to determine whether or not
cooling towers are a) necessary, and b) desirable, rather than going ahead
and building them without further consideration. The money involved could
go a long way toward answering some of the uncertainties, without ir-
reversibly harming the Lakes, and perhaps would even save expenditures
in the long run.
Lako Mi chinan PI an
A suggested plan for determining thermal effects and thermal capacity
is to allow present facilities, and those under construction, to operate,
but to conduct sound scientific investigations of the environmental effects
of such operation. At present, theory is inadequate to predict the con-
sequences; only experiments v/ill do. This doss not mean a license to operate
indefinitely in the face of evidence of deleterious effects. If such effects
manifest themselves, corrective action must be taken. Such a procedure could
be conducted under a Lake Michigan Environmental Agreement between the oublic
(throunh their representatives) on the one hand and thermal dischargees on
the other. The results of field investigations should be reviewed by a
Commission composed of federal, state, and local representatives, in-
dustrial representatives, and members of the concerned public such as
-------
2190
12
conservation groups, environmental committees and the like. If the
findings indicate environmental change, the Coraiission must make a judg-
ment as to its seriousness and recommend that corrective action be taken
promptly, and may even recorrmend what corrective action be taken. The
details of this approach must, of course, be worked out. The main point is,
however, that some reasonable course be followed which does not blindly
trade one environmental situation for another which is even worse.
-------
2191
TESTIMONY FOR T1I2 ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOAIO
Field Museum Chicago, September 25 and 26
Thermal Standards for Lake Michigan
Charles Collinson
Illinois State Geological Survey,
Coordinator for Geological Research in Lake Michigan
The Illinois State Geological Survey has long had an interest
in. Lake Michigan, going back ir-ore than 75 years to the days of Levci'ett,
whose works arc still standard descriptions for the lake region, and
extending up through the tine of M. 1.1. Leighton and J. Karton L'rctz,
whose works bring us up to the present day. The Lake researches 01
those years wore studies of the historical lake, however, and consisted
mainly of descriptions of the physical aspects of the lake shores, the
beach ridges, wave terraces and outlet drains. These studied have
provided us with a knowledge of the history of the lake and v/ivn it a.i
appreciation of the unique resource that the 13,000 year old glacial la'.ie
represents. On the other hand, such studies did not produce the kir.c o-
basic information our growing lakcshore population now requires.
Last year, in exa:,:ining information sources about the living
lake, our staff concluded that the lake- sediments have received scant
attention as far as seuir.ientary and che.viical composition are concerned
and th;.t time is running out for the gathering of data before the
origin.;.! character of glacial Lake Michigan has been scriou<;iy degraded.
Localized areas already are undergoing environmental changes—large
populations of sludge-worms nourished oy organic nutrients disc.-.argec.
iii'co the lake have bcon found in bottom sediments along the porin.ote.'
of the iL.outhfiVi. half of the lake (A;djral 'u'ater Pol] ution Control
Ad.i.ini^tratio.-i, 106o, Lake Michigan Uaiin Report, physical and chei.v-cul
-------
2192
2.
quality conditions). In addition, surface water run-off, atmospheric
fall-out and industrial discharges appear to have contributed significant
amounts of chemical trace elements to the southern Lake Michigan Basin
(Figure 1: Illinois State Geological Survey Environmental Geology
Notes 30 and 32, 1S70). The overall result is that the oxygen demand
of the southern Lake Michigan sediments is about three times that of
Lake Huron, indicating considerable organic enrichment (Benton, 193S,
Univ. Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Contribution No. 7).
In response to the need for more information on these conditions,
the State Geological Survey, in cooperation with Prof. Harry V. Leland
of the University of Illinois Department of Civil Engineering, began
an extensive examination of uncor.solidated sediments in the southern lake
basin. Sampling was begun in mid-year 1959 from research vessels of
the University of Michigan Great Lakes Research Division and "che Bureau
of Commercial Fisheries. Lazer use was made of samples taken off
Y/aukegan and Zion by Professors Mc'.V'hinnie and Murphy from BePaul University,
samples furnished by the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration,
and samples taken from a private vessel.
The program has t\vo objectives. Dr. Leland and his associates
in the University are determining the extent of atmospheric dispersal
and surface water pollution in the lake and particularly that which
can be measured in tanas of trace metal concentrations. In the analyticaJ
chcmi::try laboratories oi the Gcolo/i~«j. ourvey this study has been
cxtcr.dcci to include analyses for xho major elements and minor constituents:
alu:.:i:u;m, silicon, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodix::.;, inorganic
carbon, organic carbon., titamu:.., :.:ai:,.\inc:3o, mercury, phosphorus a:...!
Sijlphur . Trac<.v e) i...,or.ts doi crr.ir.cd arc- boroa, bury 1 li;:..i, bvo,...;-.o,
cadii.ii...i, cub.ilt, clii'oiaiiiiii, copper, lanthauui'i, nickel, load, sc.iadiu..i,
-------
2193
wise
Wouregan
05 ,30 20 Z5
KILOMETERS
J Q
-J I '-
Pi£. 1 - Vopc~rj-i3hy of tho Ir.'.re fleer, soutr.crn Lake :achi^an. Contour-s ropro
depth in i"cet boiov ;:.ca,i low-v-a-tor- l^vol (5'/6.8 feet). Contourir.^ is
based en U.S. /ov.y Corp.-, of ^rcir.car^ L:.J:o Survey District churts.
Takcp. fron i-'i^. 2, l.S.G.S. ;.:iv.'.:'o:i. Coo] . :;otu No. 30.
-------
2194
var.adiuia, zinc, arsenic and mercury.
In. the clay analysis laboratories, the sample fraction of less
than a micron size clay and the clay mineral composition are determined.
Already one report, Illinois State Geological Survey Environmental
Geology Note 32, has been produced on distribution of chemical constituents
in the lake iloor sediments.
Little has been known of the extent of accumulation of in-
organic elements in the lake floor sediments, especially so for the toxic
metals: lead, copper, chromium, cadmium, arsenic and mercury. This is
where our chemical studies boar directly on the problem of standards for thermal
input into Lake Michigan. These early stages of chemical research have
shown (I.G.S. Environmental Geology Note 32, 1970) that lead, bromine,
zir.e, nickel, arsenic, mercury and chromium have accumulated and probably
are still accumulating in the upper few centimeters of lake floor sediments.
Concentrations, which reach levels ranging from 10 to more than 90 parts
per million, correlate directly with the organic carbon content of the sedi-
ments and somewhat less directly with the less than 2 micron size clay
fraction in the sediment (Figure 2) . T.-.is fraction constitutes as much as
50'7o. of the sediment in some areas of the lake floor. Thus it appears that
sediments with high organic content in time will also be high in toxic
metals.
Although it is speculative at this stage, because v.e do not
'.'.::o;: the source of the organic matter, the point to be made- in this
respect is that local increases in productivity of algae and ether
plankton duo to local temperature •..".creases could possibly cau.,o co.icon-
ir^tior... oi' partJculatc organic c.-r-jon th.. , might fix sig; ificn/.t U:..,V.:,V-L-;
o..' iG.x-c v.-li . ..;::tt,. V.-.c-rc tk<_-L;«j ooou;' -.'. tl.o :;naiiov; \;a i.ort, o^" the l^ko,
"i.i'iuy could '.o oi' t,x.nou.y concern.
-------
2195
c
C"
-s
tr
Z
o
cr
\
\
\
-------
2196
Additionally, inasmuch as we do not know the procedures
whereby the metals beco.v.e fixed by the scdirr.er.ts, we should closely
follow any changes in the lake that might significantly increase the
bioniass and should study in detail the conditions existing before any
thermal or other input is considered and then continuously r.cr.itor the
area for signs of significant changes in water quality, plant ar.d ar.irral
communities, and sediment composition.
Coequal with the geochcr.dcal studies of the Survey has btsn
a coupreher.oive program for napping sediments of the lake fleer and
describing the stratigraphic sequence, composition and thickness of
sediments under the lake (Figures 3,4). The cores, which range fro:.
3 to 20 feet in length, penetrate the soft lacustrine clays, sands an>a
silts and occasionally encounter the underlying glacial till that occurs
over most of the southern lake basin. These studies have provided great
quantities of new data and unexpected discoveries. For exa-pie, the
lacustrine units are of special interest in that their water center.:
ranges betv/een 90 and 2007o of dry weight (Figure 5). In addition, they
are thixotropic, that is without bearing strength when disturbsc, but
otherwise appearing solid. These sediments range up to 30 or -10 feet
in thickness and cover :nore than a thousand square rr.ilcs of la::a floor.
Their mineralogy, chemistry, age and stratigraphy are only no-.; being-
detailed. Their role, if any, as reservoirs of sublake water should ~u
taken into account in any lake water or heat budget.
In brief, the main impression gained fro:.! our st-c.lc-s is -..:at
there is a very serious absence o.J basic .icicntific data abo'.t Lake
Michigan, vl.at uuat be gathered if ve aru to effectively r.ch^.vc- ar.d
)..a^.ntain the good healtn ar.d co/.'cii.ac.c; u.-r.oJalnc-JS o^ ~ho la.:^.
-------
2197
H a '.I
o°'i Woukcqon
o j:; • .;. • •;:::•; Sheboygan
South Hoven
, -J | — _. Carm:
<-• i—
' , , LJ • —-r—- -
I i i.
Scnc on beeches
Soft, dork grey to brown scr.o/ s..t to
sand, end gravel
Dark groy silty clay v/ith bicck ieds cr-
mottling; more compact tn", V.coke
Wcmoer
Dcrk brownish gray day; c few
and sorne biack mottling
Reddish brown clay
Wilrnsite Sec • DcrK groy clcy v/ifh sorr-.e o ::••. ^ea;
Reddish brown cloy
Reddish grey cloy
Sond, scndy pebbly c!cy, s..r, c.ic
Pvjbble conglomerore
u;.a ,1-lyin.s .,C'UU:iCi\i '^a.ic ;-:j..\..: ."..
-------
2198
a,.,. 4
^ O
o o
-------
2199
GRAIN SIZE (%)
CLAY MINERALS
(Relotive o&unaonce based on
diffraction effects)
CALCITE/OOLOMlTE
RATIO
NONCLAY MINERALS
s
%
g
B E ii
100 ISO
IOOJO O20JO4O10607O8O5OIOO
1056 76 1 A3 2
?ig. 5 - Grain size and mineralogy of core 145.
Taken from Fig. 4, I.S.G.S. Environ. Gool. Noto No. 30.
-------
Surface sediments on the bottom
of Lake Michigan
2200
v,V."'^V~
."• r'r\ ^ \ \
LAKE • • V \ \ \ \
FCR.-IST *. Aj \ \ \ \ :
^ \\\ \
V. \ \ \ \
- 4 , - \ \ -•
V \.^
Vx •
L.X-'. ' ^
\
\
~\
V
s
/'
\
*fj
. ' * \-:\'J b.f FALO
-------
2201
5.
"Here arc our specific views on thermal input standards for the
lake:
We have reservations about the effectiveness and correctness
of any blanket temperature standard that mieht be imposed at the
present time. Among other things, lake water, temperature, current
velocity and direction, turbulence, wind force and direction, as
well as the wind exposure of the facilities, rainfall, lake depth,
bottom, topography, bottom sediments and the biota are all elements
that will control the effect of thermal input and distribution.
Because of the large number of these seasonal, daily, even hourly
variables, which are different for each input site, each site should
be considered and controlled as a separate entity.
If input to the lake is allowed, then we recommend that each
site be thoroughly studied before construction and closely monitored
thereafter, not only for temperature levels, but for effect on.the
various components of the lakes. Various scientific, governmental
and private organizations could combine to accomplish such studies
much as is now being done in the Waukegan-Zion area.
In final analysis, however, our knowledge of the lake is still
so small and the value of the lake resource so valuable in terms
of its use for hundreds of future years, we would welcome the
exclusion of input of any kind to the lake that does not equal or
exceed the optimum conditions now existing in the lake.
-------
2202
TESTIMONY OF JOHN D. HARPER, DIRECTOR
ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
SUBMITTED TO
LAKE MICHIGAN ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE WORKSHOP
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SEPTEMBER 28 THROUGH OCTOBER 2, 1970
FOR INCORPORATION INTO THE RECORD
PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED TO
ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
SEPTEMBER 25, 1970
-------
2203
TESTIMONY OF JOHN D. HARPER
BEFORE THE
ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
FIELD MUSEUM
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
SEPTEMBER 25 AND 26, 1970
Mr. Chairman, Members of the Board, Ladies and Gentlemen:
My name is John D. Harper. I reside in Hanover Tov/nship, Cook County, Illinois. My
education and training is in engineering, both civil ond mechanical. I am a Director of a
non-profit Illinois foundation known as Environmental Parameters Research Organization, or
by its acronym, EPRO. EPRO's chief function is the scientific investigation of problem areas
in our society. EPRO is funded by private contributions and foundation grants and derives
no part of its income from vested interests, either pro or con, on the subject matter under
investigation. For example, the EPRO program for an ecological study of Lake Michigan's
western shore between Waukegan and Kenosha is not funded in any part by either the power
companies or governmental, federal, state or local, regulatory agencies.
In a publication entitled, Water Pollution Problems of Lake Michigan and Tributaries,
January, 1968, issued by the Department of Interior, FWPCA, Great Lakes Region, a
recommendation was made on page 66 as follows:
"14. A special investigation be made of the effects which the
installation of large power plants, both fossil-fueled and nuclear,
have on Lake Michigan; this investigation to include studies of
benthic fauna, radioactivity, water temperature, heat diffusion
and lake currents.!l
At the four state conference on pollution of Lake Michigan and its tributary basin held
January 31 through February 7, 1968, the conferees recommended the formation of a
-------
-2-
special committee on nuclear discharges and thermal pollution aspects of nuclear power
reactors. This committee, chaired by F.W. Kittrell, did its work and reported to the second
session of the four state conference on February 25, 1969, with several recommendations,
two of which I would like to point out at this time:
"6. FWPCA coordinate a comprehensive study of the effects on
water quality and aquatic life of thermal wastes from a large
nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan, with attention to various
methods of cooling water dispersion.
7. FWPCA coordinate a study of the effects on water quality and
uses of radioactive wastes from a large nuclear power plant on
Lake Michigan, with especial attention to the concentration of
radionuclides in aquatic life."
In the fall of 1969 I inquired of the then FWPCA, now FWQA, what action was intended
commensurate with the recommendations of the Kittrell committee. It was my understanding
that because of budgetary considerations, the recommendations to study the pre-operational
ond post-operational site of a nuclear power generating facility could not be undertaken to
the extent recommended by Kittrell's committee. Recognizing that it would be imperative
to have data obtained in-situ upon which to evaluate the impact of a nuclear power
generating facility on the local environment, several scientists and other individuals
including myself formed a group to initiate and conduct a multiparameter ecological study
of the western shore of Lake Michigan centering about Zion, Illinois.
In the publication, Physical and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan,
issued by the U.S. Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, September, 1970,
it is stated on page one:
-------
2205
-3-
"Everyone concerned with the problem agrees that not enough is
known about the ecological effects of massive heated effluents
and that a great deal of research is needed on this problem.
Unfortunately, the information is needed now; since it is not
available, however, interim standards must be set for Lake
Michigan on the basis of existing knowledge."
On page 91 of the same report the concluding recommendation ?s:
"11. On the basis of the above points, it is concluded for
ecological reasons that no significant discharge of waste heat
into Lake Michigan should be permitted."
I agree with these two statements as I do with most of the material presented in the report.
As is so often the case, when decisions must be made effecting the utilization of any of the
•
Great Lakes, be it Lake Michigan, Lakes Huron, Superior, Erie or Ontario, the decisions are
based upon little, if any, knowledge that we possess of these lakes concerning their biological,
chemical, physical, geological and meteorological characteristics. The scientific research
activities in the Great Lakes, and now let us confine ourselves to Lake Michigan, have been
minimal in the last three or four decades and practically non-existent before that. Some
educational institutions bordering Lake Michigan namely University of Michigan, University
of Wisconsin at Madison and at its Milwaukee campus, and DePaul University in Chicago,
have recognized that in depth multiparameter scientific studies of Lake Michigan are
imperative if answers are to be found for the many questions confronting us today.
One of the major reasons why research in Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes is so
far behind similar oceanographic research in the saiine waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and
other oceans of the world is the unique fact that the Great Lakes have no military application.
-------
-4- 2206
No submarines are permitted to operate in the Great Lakes by treaty with our neighbor
to the north. Those submarines that are in the Great Lakes have their propellers removed
and are strictly for training purposes in the former Corn Belt Fleet of the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Now it may seem odd that the lack of military application to the Great Lakes would be a
factor in our present limited knowledge of these bodies of water, but when you realize
that a great preponderance of the data collected in saline waters is to determine the
conductivity and temperature of the water for the express purpose of plotting the transmission
and propagation of underwater sound waves which in turn has a great bearing on underwater
military capabilities, it becomes obvious that with no need for this data in the Great Lakes
because of the absence of submarines, the basic data we need, along with all the attendant
biological, chemical and physical data that is simultaneously obtained, is lacking. Now
there have been scientific cruises on Lake Michigan conducted by the University of
Michigan on their ships and conducted by the University of Wisconsin on ships of convenience,
usually the Ludington car ferries. DePaul University has availed itself of the opportunity
of using a research vessel that is operated by EPRO for the purposes of graduate instruction
in the aquatic sciences and for biological research and surveys of existing pelagic and benthic
life. In the context of a complete over-all picture of Lake Michigan, it is necessary, it is
imperative, that research activities in the lake be conducted continuously throughout the
year at innumerable vertical and horizontal stations. This one shot, one observation
approach as has been conducted by so many of us can be disasterious if as we find,
extrapolations are made on the data presented involving a host of complex issues such as that
which is before this Board today. I would liken the data from the present state of Lake
Michigan research, if I may, to information sent by the wife here in Chicago of a Gl in
Viet Nam who has written that the temperature was 92 degrees in Chicago in mid-September,
-------
-5-
1970. The Gl's buddy may have received a letter from his family also in Chicago a few
days prior or later that indicated the temperature was 47 degrees. The picture they have so
far removed from the scene, as far removed from the conditions in the lake as we are now,
seem vastly different and would be confusing. While the data that has been collected to
date is of extreme value, it is all we have; and it is necessary to obtain considerably more
before the momentous decisions effecting regulatory agencies, such as this Board, can be
enacted with the degree of certitude so necessary on such complex issues.
The major reason there is a dearth of information about the lakes is that funding sources are
practically non-existent. The Sea Grant Universities of the University of Michigan and
University of Wisconsin have some small funds that can be earmarked for activities in the
lake. Other universities, including DePaul, that have evidenced interest are hampered
by budgetary considerations that preclude a viable effort in the lake. If no funds are going
to be available, which has been the case to date, then we shall continue to be ignorant
of the many complexities that we should bs aware of when decisions effecting all of us,
such as the siting of once through cooling water power plants, must be made. I respectfully
urge the Board to do everything in its power to make available the means whereby institutions
desiring to conduct studies of Lake Michigan are adequately funded.
Some regulatory agencies occasionally engage in water and bottom sampling for the purpose
of determining existing criteria as it relates to their operations. This is to be commended
and encouraged, and it is hoped the data that is obtained is made available to all wishing
to utilize it. One factor that influences the frequency of sampling is the capabilities of
the watercraft the agency utilizes to take the samples. Lake Michigan, as you gentlemen
are well aware of, is moody and reacts quickly to changing meteorological conditions.
-------
2208
-6-
It is often said by the foreign flag seamen that they prefer the North Atlantic to our
Great Lakes at their worst. The combination of storms and squalls can impart heavy
damage on shore-site facilities, underwater construction and ships and boats on station
in the lake. Very seldom can a 16 ft. outboard be used in Lake Michigan as it could
in the Des Plaines River for limnological studies. Even a 30 footer in the lake must take
all precautions because of the rough sea situation that can occur. EPRO employs a 54 ft.
steel hulled vessel and will have in operation next year a 100 ft. research vessel for the
purpose of greater capability in the lake on a more consistent basis. The ship time operating
cost on the lakes for research purposes approximates that in dollar value of those research
or oceanographic vessels operating on the oceans. For those agencies that are oriented
along the lines of a 16 ft. outboard doing all the work for them, this can be quite shocking.
To conclude now, gentlemen, I would like to emphasize that considerable additional
research is needed in Lake Michigan now and that the funding to conduct this research must
be obtained if the questions we are being asked today about the eutrophication of the lake are
to be intelligently answered so that we may wisely utilize and preserve this great natural resource .
The position of myself and the organization I represent is that at the present we do not have
enough knowledge on what impact the introduction of heated cooling water from nuclear or
fossil-fueled plants will have on the lake's biota and chemical and physical characteristics.
Without sufficient data upon which to base an educated appraisal of the situation, I suggest
ihat a Moratorium, voluntarily accepted by the power companies and the regulatory agencies,
be immediately established on once through cooling water power plants, be they nuclear or
fossil fueled. It should be agreed between the pcrties that those generating stations now
-------
2209
-7-
nearing completion or completed employing the once through cooling water system should
be permitted to operate contingent upon the establishment of provisions to modify deleterious
effects if they become evident, that application for construction of once through cooling
water type plants be suspended and/or modified to comply with future regulations to be
promulgated after the investigations of existing once through cooling water facilities
are fully known. This Moratorium on future once through cooling water type electrical
power generating stations should satisfy reasonable men that all efforts are being made to
serve society with both ecological and economic consideration.
-------
TESTIMONY 2210
HEARING ON PROPOSED THERMAL STANDARDS FOR LAKE MICHIGAN
ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
Chicago, Illinois
25, 26, September
1970
Mr. Richard J. Kissel, Hearing Officer
I am Mary Alice McWhinnie, professor in the Department of
Biological Sciences at De Paul University in Chicago, and Director
of the De Paul-EPRO Ecological Study of Lake Michigan. My credentials
for speaking to this Board relates to my professional experience in
crustacean biology in study of effects of temperature changes on
invertebrate animals in fresh water and Antarctic marine water, and
to the work we are engaged in on Lake Michigan.
Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to respond to the need for infor-
mation on the complex topic of the ecological influences of industrial
use of water resources in general, and Lake Michigan in particular.
I believe that the need is high, first because of the long term plar.s
which call for the use of lake water by the rapidly expanding devel-
opment of nuclear powered electric generating stations, and second,
because of the unprecedented concern for environmental quality.
The plans for the future are increasingly well known but, for co-
herence of presentation I shall briefly restate them here. In an
AEC report of June, 1970 it was stated that:
16 nuclear plants were operable at that time,
producing, 5,073,700 !-"•
54 were in construction,
to produce, 43,755,90C ;~.
34 were planned, to produce, 32,591,OCC I-~
8 were in earlier stages of
planning, to produce, 7,539,000 }7.
giving a total of 113 plants within the U.S.,
to reach an expected production of , 89,010,6^ C }7.
100 of these are in the eastern one-half of our country ar.d
-------
2211
all are expected to be in operation by 1978. As of September, 1970
a longer term projection was published by the U.S. Department of the
Interior under the colloquial term of a 'white paper1, wherein the
predictions were confined to Lake Michigan. The values cited there
were derived principally from a report by Acres (1970) and represent
the sum of both 'fossil-fuel plants and nuclear powered plants. It
is realistic to treat the two types of plants together since heat,
the topic of these hearings, is a common by-product of any electric
generating station. Briefly, assuming, a) no change in stations
planned; b) no change or improvement in technology throughout that
time; c) no increased efficiency in energy production or utilization
between 1968 and 2000, the growth in electric power production and
heat loss have been estimated to be:
1968 2000 Increase
Kilowatts (at 7,600,000 73^500,000 9.6 fold
full capacity)
Energy loss as 29.85 414.67 13.8 fold
heat (billions,
BTU's/hr.)
Other sources of heat addition to Lake Michigan are negligible
in contrast. However, whatever its source, the question we are asking
is, "what are the ecological consequences of heat addition to Lake
Michigan, and what are our alternatives concerning policy and standards"?
It has been recorded in many places that the present state of knowledge
on the environment and the complex interdigitation of physical,
climatic, chemical and biotic characteristics is too poorly under-
stood to state, with certitude, what the effect of thermal additions
will be on the ecosystem and that only a thorough ecological study of
an area to be influences, will provide the information essential to
knowing whether such technological developments can be borne by the
-------
2212
environment. Alternate views hold that in.'terms of the possible effect
of such heat additions (based on the projected growth), caution directs
that an upper limit on thermal increment be set or, that no increment
should be allowed. These views have taken the form of three proposals
which, in general, state that use of natural water shall not increase
its' temperature, more than • 5 F (or 3 F) above 'natural ambient1 terr.p-
erature; it shall not exceed S5°F (29.4 C) or, it shall not exceed
37°F (2.8°C) to 77°F (25°C) depending upon the season, or, that heat
at any level shall not be added to a natural body of v/ater.
I have at least a limited appreciation of the need for, and the
responsibility of, regulatory policies to protect our environment.
However, within the context of existing data I do not believe that
we are in a position to justify a fixed value, such as these are, as
a consequence of the variables with which we are faced. I am aware
of the fact that such a statement as this provides no support or
assistance to policy making bodies; I appreciate that a degree of
risk prevails when delays are encouraged in the interest of establish-
ing securities against environmental deterioration. I ain further
aware of the most difficult of truths relative to seeking 'best
estimates' concerning the development of policies; namely, that
one who is concerned about thermal dangers can cite published scientific
data which indicate that certain selected species of organisms have
been shown in laboratory study (or field) to have upper lethal temp-
erature values which will be reached with waste heat addition;
contrariwise, others recognize such a possibility but take a more
moderate view, and can also cite publi: hed scientific data which show
that certain selected species are taken to their biological optimum
when provided a warmer environment. Each is right, each is honest,
each is scientific and each is supporting his views to the best of
-------
2213
existing knowledge; they differ in their intuitive sense and their
disparity reflects the presently unacceptable reality that we do
not have definitive information which will provide the solid plat-
form of knowledge upon which reasonable and realistic policies
should be based. In this context I should like to present some data
which of necessity y$ selected, but that which will hopefully place
in balance the perspective of persons who have the responsibility to
deal with this problem.
The following unpublished temperature data have been derived
from Lake Michigan in the vicinity of Waukegan and Zion, Illinois
during the summer of 1970:
Vertical Water Temperatures (6 July 1970)
CDT
Waukegan
Sta.S 52
(0945)
16.5°(61.4°F)
16.4
15.5
15.4
15.3
15.0
Vertical Water
Zion
Sta.£ 1
(1115)
16.3°
16.2
16.0
15.5
14. 8
14.5
Temperatures (30
Sta.= 7
(1530)
17.0°(62.'6°?)
17.1
16.4
15.9
14.5
12.9
June 1970) (132
Waukeaan
Sta. if 50
17.2
15.6
15.3
14.0
Sta.i 51
16.7
16.0
14. 8
14.6
14.0
11.2
Sta.£ 52
16.7
16.5
15.8
14.6
14.4
14.3
Sta. 2 53
18.2
15.1
14.3
14.2
14.0
Sta.= 55
19.4
16.2.
14.0
13.5
13.2
13.1
-------
Waukegan
Sta.£ 51
20.2
20.0
19.4
18.9
17.4
15.2
Sta.S 52
20.9
20.9
19.4
19.2
16.5
14.0
Sta.# 53
21.0
21.0
23.0
19.4
18.6
2214
Vertical Water Temperatures (24 Aug. 1970)
Waukegan
ta.a 50 Sta.S 51 Sta.g 52 Sta.jt 53 Sta.S 54 Sta.3 55
21.3 20.2 20.9 21.0 21.2 21.6
20.6 20.0 20.9 21.0 21.2 21.6
22.2
20.8 21.2
19.8 20.0
18.4 18.4
16.4 15.6
These values have been given to indicate that:
- a policy limiting thermal incremontc u_> less thafy, "a 1-degree
Fahrenheit rise over natural water temperatures at the point of dis-
charge" , caTinot in my opinion be achieved since, in practice, most,
ifhot all, uses of water result in some thermal increment, if for
no other reason, residence within the facility using the water;
- a policy limiting thermal increments to + 3°F (1.6 C) or
•f5 F (2.8 C) must also qualify under what solar heat input level,
or at what tine of day?, or at what point in space .(and 'I understand
'at the outfall1)?,.and under what current (and wind) conditions?
a policy limiting a thermal increment to a mixing zone whose
length or radius is 5280 Ft. or less does not reckon with currents
and/or wind action; there are some data which suggest that under
certain wind conditions a 'tongue1 of warmed water may extend 2-3
miles in what is apparently a narrow band along a shoreline current;
this will in all probability apply to any body of water warmed by
any means.
At this point I am concerned that these points can lead to the
notion that, "about nothing can we be sure", and further, that due
to the complexity of physical factors we cannot reach a realistic and
practica-ble standard with respect to thermal modification of the
aquatic environment. While there is some truth to this I dofnot see
-------
2215
the disabling objections to be unsurir.ountable. I do see them to be
significant in their call for study and, in their call for a reluctance
to specify a numerical limit with respect to any environmental para-
meter with our present state of understanding, in particular, " x°F "
or, " x ft. " for a mixing zone.
It can be legitimately asked, how can a biologist view that which
is more widely held as an environmental threat, with such seeming
insensitivity? In answer, may I offer:
- I do have reasonable concern for thermal increments in the
aquatic environment;
- I do recognize that the environment has a finite "carrying
capacity" for chemical and physical additions or variations;
I am in full agreement with Sorce (1969) that while a hear
dissipating source may raise the temperature of a receiving
body of water only a few degrees within a limited area frcrr.
the discharge canal, an accumulation of heated effluent frcr.
many sources could prove disasterous over many r.iies. Thus,
the projected increase in number of sources using Lake
Michigan water in the next 30 years could prove to be
ecologically critical. The limit of heated effluer.-s which
an ecosystem can endure without adversely altering ics
biological balance can only be determined by a total ecoicgical
study of an area.
- I do recognize that biotic communities respond differentially
to variations in physical or chemical qualities in -heir
environment. This notion has been fundamental ro the principle
of succession as evidenced in ecological systems; seme ds-a
I have presented for fish can be cited again,
Fish Species Temperature Preference
Carp 32°C (89.6°F)
(Cyprinus carpio)
Perch 24 C (75.2°F)
(Pc^rcji f lave scons)
White Fish 13°C (55.4°F)
(Coregonus cluooaformis)
I am aware of the direct effect of temperature on natural
phenomena and thus on biological systems; I recognize that
temperature increases are often employed to increase
biological actjvity.
-------
2216
I am convinced that while highly controlled laboratory
physiological studies on particular plants,animals and
microorganisms have contributed significantly to cur
understanding, that we cannot extrapolate these findings
directly to the natural environment; these tv;o approaches
complement each other, — they are not a substitute for
each other.
With these and other considerations I should like to cite sorr.e
data which bear on this subject.
In a study of benthic fresh water protozoa, Cairns (1969) has
reported that small gradual increases in temperature have no effect
on the protozoan community of the Savannah and Potamac Rivers; this
conclusion prevails after 9 years of a study still underway. The
temperature increase was downstream of a heated water discharge ar.d
the water temperature was "a few C over ambient". On the other hand
Cairns had previously shown (1968) that a sudden temperature shock
caused major changes in the number of species present. The differences
between 'chronic' and 'acute1 temperature changes are well known and
apply generally to all species of organisms. In the 1969 study a
temperature shift of 20°C to 35°C (ca. 95°F) within 10 minutes and
sustained for 6 days showed an increase in protozoan species on the
sixth day after an immediate decline from 26 to 7 species apparently
surviving. In another- similar experiment where the experimental
temperature was shifted abruptly from 21°C (69.8°F) to 31°C (87.8°F)
the number of species fell from 34 to 21 and within 32 hours had
returned to the initial value though the temperature regime lasted
three days. Shock effects such as these are not likely to occur in
nature and thus the effect on species diversity would also be less.
In any case these data indicate no effect on a protozoan community.
-------
2217
At an earlier time (1956) this author showed that different terr.p-
erature levels did influence the relative predominance of algal
groups, e.g., diatoms were the predominant types at 20°C (63 F)
o o
and below; green algae were predominant at ca. 33 C (91.4 F) while
blue green algae developed maximally at 40°C (104 F) ; this pher.oner.cn
has been called competitive exclusion and relates to the earlier
reference I made to succession of biotic communities as enviror.-er.zai
conditions shift in any aspect.
Benthic marine molluscs (mussels) and fishes were shown to be
more .sensitive to temperature increases (Pearce, 1969) and, while
the commercial mussels had somewhat different tolerances to ter.p-
erature depending upon their point of origin (intertidal or lirtoral)
o n
at 24 C (75.2 F) abnormalities appeared (attachment, clustering, ezc.).
However, their southward range was a region of 26.7 C (ca. 73.5 F)
indicating perhaps tolerances developed in larval life not capable
of adjustment in adult life. In this same study starfish ar.d snail
o o
feeding activity declined at temperatures above 20 C (63 F).
Nauman and Cory (1969) studied benthic animals by way of test panels
placed at the intake and outfall of the Chalk Point, Md. fossil-fuel
plant in the Patuxent River. The temperature difference be-ween
intake and outfall was approximately 6.3°C (ca. 11.5 F). Ccr.p arisen
of the animal populations showed a 3-fold increase in biomass at the
outfall relative to the intake with little or no change in species
composition between the two. The epifauna represented considerable
diversity including some 25 species from 8 major animal groups
(including nemertean worms, flntworms, annelid worms, arr.phipods,
bryozoans, anemones, clams, protochordatos, and a variety of
crustaceans). The temperature range of the effluent, seasonally,
varied from ca. 10°C (50°F) to 37°C (98.G°F) arid production '..-as
-------
221S
based on dry weight. Species diversity, a ratio of number of species
present to the total number of individuals present, did differ between
the two points and was generally higher at the outfall. Some species
disappeared at the effluent at certain seasons but were found in
abundance just outside of the effluent canal (thermal preference/
gradient). An increase in size of barnacles occurred at the outfall
and higher production occurred there even with fewer species present
(ca. 3-fold greater than at the intake). Summarily, in the epifaunal
community there were differences in species number (more, though
some species disappeared at certain months), total number (more),
biornass production (more),and species size (greater) as a consequence
of a thermal increment. During the warmest months (July, August)
fewer species were present at the outfall.
Barnett and Hardy (1969) in a summary report of marine ber.zhic
clams (Tellina tenuis) studied a coastal environment (Scotland) for
four years before a heated discharge appeared in the environment ar.d
for five years after. They report that there were large seasonal
fluctuations in Tellina but that none of the changes were attributable
no warm water effects. Conversely, Tellina grew more rapidly in the
post-effluent years with the greatest difference being in young stages
/L. ^Y^'^^O^X^o
and there was no evidence of*tne spawning characteristics between, the
two studies (pre-, and post-). Kowever, the snail Xassarius rericulatus
while not different in population density, showed thinner shells than
others in the species range which were not influenced by the thermal
increment. Advanced breeding and egg hatching occurred for a species
cf snail, 'a copepod and amphipod in the vicinity of the thermal i:is-
charge. These species are irrtertidal; no effects were observed in
sub-tidal bottom communities.
-------
2219
The scientific literature is available for anyone to obtain
examples of this kind. As I noted earlier, scientists have, and
probably will continue to present, examples that place emphasis
on various aspects of biotic responses to changes in environmental
temperature. Despite this, regulatory agencies are unable to set
realistic and meaningful limits concerning the use of natural
water resources for excess thermal discharges, —- because we lack
an understanding of the carrying capacity of them. As time passes
and more uses are planned for water sources we must cease to be in
this position and, in my judgement, only hard data will make that
possible.
Literature CjLted (in sequence presented)
U.S. AEC News Release, Vol. 1 June, 1970
U.S. Dept. of Interior, Fish and Wild Life Service (September, 1970)
Physical and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake Michigan
Acres, H. G., Lts. 1970 Thermal inputs to the Great Lakes 1968-2000.
Inland Waters Branch, Department of Energy, Mines, and Reservoirs
Canada Centre for Inland Waters. Niagra Falls, Ontario.
Unpublished Data, from De Paul-EPRO Project: Ecological Study of Lake
Michigan. (Data available from the Director)
Sorge, E.V. 1969 The status of thermal discharges east to the
Mississippi River. Chesapeake Sci. 10:131-138.
Cairns, J., Jr. 1969 The response of freshwater protozoan commun-
ities to heated waste waters. Chesapeake Sci. 10_:171-lc5.
Cairns, J., Jr. 1968 Rate of species diversity restoration follow-
ing stress in protozoan communities. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. _£:':
209-224.
Cairns, J., Jr. 1956 Effects of increased temperature on aquatic
organisms. Indust. Waster. .1:150-152.
Pearce, J.B. 1969 Thermal addition and the benthos, Cape Cod Canal.
Chesapeake Sci. X£:227-233.
Nauman, J. W., and R. L. Cory 1969 Thermal additions and epifaun:!
organisms at Chalk Point, Maryland. Chesapeake Sci. XO : 2LS--21 i .
Barnett, P.R.O., and B.L.S. Hardy 1969 The effects of tempcratur ;
on the benthos near the Hunt orston generating station, ficotlr...c.
Chesapeake ScJ. 30:255-256.
-------
2220
M« A* McWhinnie
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Professor McWhinnie.
(Applause)
Are there any comments or questions?
MR8 JETTERQLF: Tes.
Dr. McWhinnie, I believe you are speaking strictly
as a scientist who has been working in plume areas, and lest
there be any doubt, could you cite some of the sources of the
funds, the money that enables you to do this work?
DR. McWHINNIE: There is a moment every day when I
grow facetious and I never know when it is going to hit.
But let me say that a year ago, the Environmental Parameters
Research Organization was founded and incorporated within
the State of Illinois as a not-for-profit organization about
which I knew almost nothing. Only later did I come to know
about it. And I learned that its director and founder did,
in fact, on his own obtain from a proprietary interest of
his funds that would go into this non-proprietary organiza-
tion.
Perhaps like any power company or any other such
group, he reached out to try and find scientists who might
have a commitment to the environment, and thus he did come
upon some of us, and the program was worked on through
last winter and it was initiated in the field last springs
But the funds were rather limited, and I regret
-------
2221
M. A. McWhinnie
to say that in my own inimitable fashion I went screaming
to the president of the university and said, "I have to have
money.1* And, as everyone here would know, if you don't
request it a year ahead of time, and if you don't get it
written into the budget, there isn't any.
But somehow in his own commitment, which was
demonstrated when, as chairman of the department of biologi-
cal sciences in the early sixties, he held the first
privately sponsored water pollution conference in Illinois
— and I am delighted to say that Mr. Murray Stein was its
luncheon speaker in 1962 — I am not sure he remembers —
but, in any case, that man is now president and he brightened
my life and gave me a little money and we are once again at
the edge of those funds.
I have two choices. Let us not be so foolish as
to think that those of us who undertake such a project as
this are not attracted to those upon whom the press of
information is the greatest. You call them power companies.
Yes indeed, ladies and gentlemen, they have
attempted in, I believe, their own motivation to finance
this; they have tried to give us money. I am grateful
for a typewriter and a carbon copy. For anyone present,
we can demonstrate that in a state of destitution we had
the guts to say, "I am sorry <> I can't take your money."
-------
2222
M. A. McWhinnie
And, as the president said to me recently when
I said, "You know, I have these people on the payroll and
I don't have any money."
He said, "We will try and find it someplace."
How unfair is an American public that demands
that the burden of proof is on the user, and they deny the
scientist the right to use those moneys? But this is where
we have been put and given an infinite commitment to the
objective reality of truth, I should say, "By God, we will
do it." And I don't know where the money will come from.
MR. STEIN: Do you have any other questions?
Miss McWhinnie, I appreciate your statement, but
let's go over some of your points here.
As you know I am a lawyer. I know I have met
many old friends among the legal profession attending
during this week, as well as a lot of new ones. As
lawyers always do we have listened to the jargon of the
scientists and I have no quarrel with it; I appreciate it.
I think your paper is couched in those terms. But when
you talk about the discussion and use terms such as
"testimony," "witness," "cross examination" — and I
think I have allowed questioning to approach that because
it seems that is what the people want to do inasmuch as
in the profession that is the way they conduct their
business — I think you have to recognize that we were
-------
2223
M. A. McWhinnie
employing the jargon of the lawyers and that is how we
do our business.
This was in no way a trial. This was a workshop
and a discussion. However, the participants in this
workshop were lawyers — lawyers by long training and by
long experience. They didn't shed their personalities when
they came in here as the scientists didn't shed theirs, and
we have to expect that.
So I think in that sense those terms got into
this, but no testimony was given under oath. We permitted
the witnesses latitude in question. We didn't require proper
foundation or we didn't require the technical rules of
evidence. I really do think that we all understood the
rules under which we were working here.
So I wouldn't place too much credence on this.
I think we have an amalgam here of both the legal jargon
and argot and the scientific jargon. I have no preference
for either, but I think everyone has to do his own thing
and say it his own way if we are going to try to achieve
an accommodation in these matters.
DR. McWHINNIE: May I —
MR. STEIN: Yes.
DR. McWHINNIE: I would only caution that we do
not drive the wedge against the credibility of scientists
-------
2224
M. A. McWhinnie
across this land. Today did we not hear a Representative
use an expression "paid mercenary experts"? This has deep
impact,
MR, STEIN: Professor McWhinnie, if you are
sensitive to that — and I appreciate you might be — we
lawyers get called that all of the time and this is, I think,
a price you pay,
DR, McWHINNIE: That is the price I would not pay
'when, in fact, funds might have been available to carry on
a study that this Agency needs carried on,
MR, STEIN: Well, I think you are talking about —
the funds is another matter. As a matter of fact, I don't
know the details of that at all, I really don't,
DR, McWHINNIE: No, no, no. My point is: Do not
put us out of credibility. The American people need every
segment of society.
MR. STEIN: Surely.
DR. McWHINNIE: But already there is such doubt
cast upon the scientists that his data will convince no one,
MR, STEIN: It may. But here is the point. We
don't have a plutonian elite running our socity, Tou may
probably from your point of view point up those disciplines
that — that we have to get the answers. We can't get them
from "legal boxes." I don't believe we ever have "legal
-------
2225
M. A. McWhinnie
boxes" for those disciplines — physics, chemistry, biology,
meteorology, geology, engineering and the environment.
It would be nice, and I know you think it would be
nice to have this. But I think we have heard from the public
here, and long ago, as Clemenceau said, "War is too important
to be left to the generals." I think we have heard that the
public feels that the environment is too important to be
left to the scientists, the public officials and the lawyers.
(Applause) That is why they are here. We have to face
this.
Now, the hotel is signaling, and we will be out
in a few moments.
Now, the other point I think is that the lawyers
have a way of looking for the truth, too. It may not be
scientific truth, but it is the kind of truth as proven
by our society that can arrive at an accommodation within
our form of government where we can move forward to the
next step.
Truth in the abstract is always a problem. I
am not talking about that. But I am talking about truth
in the sense that when we have divergence such as we
have here it may be the great seamy part of society, but
that is the miserable job that we lawyers have in trying to
get all of these elements together — trying to get to the
truth as best we possibly can, groping toward it as expertly as
-------
2226
M, A. McWhinnie
we can tt come up with a conclusion so all parties know
the rules and we can at least hopefully move forward.
Now, I recognize that from many philosophic or
scientific points of view you may not consider this the
ideal way to move,
DR. McWHINNIE: I do not have any grief with
lawyers, if it is true — and I think that this is a science-
based problem — but then we must not close the door on
the scientist; we need his answers just like we need the
lawyer's answers,
MR, STEIN: That is true. But, ma'am, if we are
faced with the situation — I am reminded of Senator Hart's
telegram, and I don't think he said much different, I just
raise this as a question that you pointed out as a conclu-
sion, but I will get to that in a moment.
The point that Senator Hart raised was, in view
of the fact that we are dealing with a complex scientific
problem where every answer is not yet in, should we not
employ the technique that we have employed many times in our
society in getting some kind of change, either to society
or our environment, by using the principle of burden of
proof? And that is what he suggested, and I certainly have
not talked to Senator Hart about this. We have been having
enough discussions about mercury and heavy metals to get
-------
222?
M. A. McWhinnie
into other issues lately. But I think his telegram
seemed to me to get to the same point that I was making,
and I think Attorney General Scott made the same point.
Maybe this is the point that comes from our professional back-
ground, and when you get a complicated situation like that the
way you take the first step is to fix the burden of proof
and let the parties who are responsible come forward with the
scientific evidence or any evidence which will cause you to
move*
DR. McWHINNIE; I agree. But when the burden is
upon them do not deny them the only group who might be able
to provide it. And I regret that distinguished scientists
this week — one a member of the National Academy of Sciences
to which neither you nor I are good enough to be so named —
was not even allowed to scientifically answer the charges
against his work because he had gone home. And this is not
common in my community. Scientists speak freely to each
other. They don't get put into "legal boxes," so that they
cannot reach each other. This is all I seek.
MR. STEIN: Oh, we have another rule in the law,
and that is — and I guess we have to do this — what we do
is give people an opportunity to be heard, and that is just
an opportunity. If they are not here and don't avail them-
selves of it, what can anyone do? The hall is open. The
-------
2223
M» A. McWhinnie
notice is out. You have to show up in order to be heard,
and if you leave, that is your privilege, but there is no
way that we can chain a man here when we are not exercising
subpoena power*
DR. McWHINNIE: Whatever was the mechanism I do
not know. But I think those questions should have been placed
to those scientists by those who later stated them at the
time that it was fresh in the mind of the conferee and fresh
in the mind of the participant,
MR. STEIN: I have one last point, and I hope you
won't take this too personally. But you talked about some
"ticky-tacky" point on quotes from a "white paper" where part
of the information was put in and part not. I believe you
were here for most of the week. I believe you have talked
before public bodies in the past 15 or 20 years — congres-
sional committees and many other public bodies — and yet
what do I find? When you criticize the "white paper" — and
I am not commenting on your criticism of leaving something
out and putting something in — and from the precis I find
— after you have probably heard my views all week and
remember me possibly from 1962 — that I get a quote that
you attribute to me from a newspaper.
DR. McWHINNIE: Oh, please, sir, this I would not
do. Please read the text —
-------
2229
M. A. McWhinnie
MR. STEIN: Yes, I read it.
DR. McWHINNIE: ~ in which it was stated what
Mr. Stein said because I, too, have deep concern for the
accuracy of the press.
MR. STEIN: I have no concern, I repeat, I
have no concern about the accuracy of the press. I want
to say here that these concerns I hear about the press
not reporting things right is not a fair criticism. I
find we get fair reporting practically all of the time.
But, Professor McWhinnie, the question here is
that if we are seeking the truth, I would prefer to go to
your work that I have heard of, or your statement or your
verbatim testimony than use any quote in the paper.
However, I might rely on that paper as an expression of your
view.
DR. McWHINNIE: I must not speak clearly. That
quotation is only to emphasize the position that I think
has been taken — "The burden of proof is upon the user."
It is known everywhere. It is even said of Mr. Stein in the
Chicago Sun Times. Now, if this is true, don't close the
door.
MR. STEIN: Again, let me make my position
clear, because I don't think this is what I said. I raised
the question for the conferees. I didn't come to a judgment,
-------
2230
M. A. McWhinnie
I raised the question to the conferees. They have to
make this judgment; I have not come to the conclusion
but I am raising the question with them. This is the
essential point of this conference. One of the major
issues I hope to speak about.in the executive session
is: Is the way to handle this through the burden of
proof? If it is, on whom should that burden of proof
be? Should it be on the Government, or on industry,
or a city which wants to use a natural resource? This
is a judgment that they are going to have to make.
Now, I don't even know whether they want to take
this approach, but I have framed this question again and
again. I say independently a lot of other people have
come forward with the same kind of question. All I
ask is that I think this is a legitimate matter for the
conferees to consider, to see if they want to adopt that
approach. I have by no means said that I endorse at this
point the burden of proof rests on anyone or is the avenue
through which we will handle this case.
DR. McWHINNIE: May I just —
MR. STEIN: Just go ahead.
DR. McWHINNIE: I don't care upon whom the burden
of proof depends; either side will need scientists.
-------
2231
M. A. McWhinnie
MR. STEIN: Thank you,
I think we are all agreed. We are both agreed
on that.
Now, are there any questions?
MR. OLIN: My name is Harold Olin. I am not
a scientist, and I am not a lawyer; I am an architect, and
I am proud to say I am a conservationist.
I would like to cross-examine this witness with
your permission, but it will be brief.
MR. STEIN: Well, let me tell you —
MR, OLIN: It will be brief, sir.
MR. STEIN: Well, you know we have to be out
of this room.
MR. OLIN: Okay. Can you state categorically
from a scientific point of view that the 40 or 50 billion
B.t.u.^per hour which are being dumped into the lake at
the moment are not damaging to the lake ecology?
DR. McWHINNIE: No, sir, I cannot. May I ask
you a question?
MR, OLIN: As soon as I am finished with you.
Thank you.
MR. STEIN: Pardon, sir, I am afraid —
MR. OLIN: I only have one other question, sir.
MR. STEIN: All right. Go ahead. I am not sure
-------
2232
M. A. McWhinnie
how much there will be,
MR. OLIN: How long do you think it would take
to get consensus in the scientific community that it is or
is not damaging? How many years?
DR. McWHINNIE: I would say we do not seek
consensus, we seek evidence. I would further say that 2
years annual cycle multidisciplinary study preoperational
is essential; 3, 10 postoperational.
MR. OLIN: Possibly 15?
MR. STEIN: I am sorry. You can continue this;
we just have to give up the room.
MR. OLIN: Thank you.
MR. STEIN: I will tell you where the next
room is, and you can have the floor. We will reconvene in
about 15 minutes in the Randolph Room. You can find the
Randolph Room on the lower level. Take the entrance down-
stairs through the College Inn Arcade on the main level, and
we are all set up in the Randolph Room, and we will reconvene.
(Short recess.)
MR. STEIN: We will reconvene, if we may.
I don't know — Professor McWhinnie, do you want
to get up again? I think if any questions are going to be
asked, I am going to ask the person on the floor to get
near Mrs. Hall, of course, and speak loudly.
-------
2232a
M. A. McWhinnie
MR. OLIN: I have one final question. You have
indicated that you could not state categorically that the
heat is not damaging to the lake<>
You have also indicated that it would take some-
where between 12 and 15 years in order to do an exhaustive
study — scientific study, of course, and I am just wonder-
ing whether you are proposing that we continue our current
practices in the interim.
DR. McWHINNIE: May I ask a question? Given that
what you say is true, the answer is no.
MRo OLIN: What are you saying I said? I am
basing my questions on what you said, Professor McWhinnie,
not on what I said.
DR. McWHINNIE: Under the moment of confusion,
would you resay what it is?
MR. OLIN: Certainly. My first question was:
Can you state categorically that the 40 or 50 billion B.t.u.*s
per hour which we are currently dumping into the lake are
not damaging to the ecology of the lake? And if I might
remind you of your answer, your answer was that you could
not state categorically that it is not damaging.
My second question to you was: How long would
it take to get scientific consensus on whether the heat
discharges into the lake are damaging or not? And you said
-------
2233
M. A. McWhinnie
that it would take an initial 2-year study and perhaps a
10-year study after that.
And ray third question to you now, based on your
two earlier responses, is: Do you propose that we continue
the same current practice of dumping all of the heat from
industries and from powerplants, municipal treatment plants,
into the lake while these studies are being performed?
DR. McWHINNIE: With respect to the first, we do
not know. We have information on which we make reasonable
judgments.
I would ask you: Would you not expect to see
deterioration due to heat increments at the Waukegan plant
after 40 years of operation? May I ask if you would be kind
enough to try and answer that? Would you expect this?
MR. OLIN: May I suggest that you haven't answered
my third question and you are posing a question to me? I
will be glad to answer but, you see, I am not a scientist;
I am only an architect and an observer.
MR. STEIN: I am sorry. Again, I am going to
have to act like a nasty old lawyer.
MR. OLIN: I would like the record to show that
Professor McWhinnie has not answered my third question.
MR. STEIN: The record will show what you said.
Now, what I am going to have to ask is that you
-------
2234
M. A. McWhinnie
handle one question at a time.
MR. OLIN: Which I did.
MR. STEIN: J.ust ask one question at a time.
Do you have a question to ask or a comment to make
to Professor McWhinnie?
MR. OLIN: The question was: Do you propose that
we continue our current practice while these exhaustive
studies are being made by the scientific community which
might take, as you have indicated, anywhere from 10 to 12
or 15 years? That is my question. You have a choice.
DR. McWHINNIE: May I correct your 10 to 12 years
or 15? I said 2 years before, 2 or 3; or $ or 10 afterwards.
You only added up the last numbers. And there is a danger
in this.
It is my own plan and that of all of this
confederation of scientists that surely we shall have
supportable information 2 years, quote, preoperative; 3,
postoperative. But we are not satisfied with an interim
answer.
I would like to remind you that that lake does
belong to the scientists also who share the concerns of
everyone here. As a consequence, we will continue our studies
when the public has long since gotten tired, but we will
continue. For that you have your 12 to 15 years; not for
-------
2235
M. A. McWhinnie
an answer to the public,
MR. OLIN: Professor McWhinnie, I am not clear
on what your specific recommendation to the conferees is
with respect to a thermal standard, and that is exactly
what I am trying to get to. These gentlemen are here to
find out what you and the scientific community ought to be
doing about a problem which exists now, in the view of many
of your colleagues. And somehow your specific recommendation
to me at least is lost in all of the scientific rhetoric.
What is it you specifically recommend to these gentlemen
here?
DR. McWHINNIE: In answer to that, I included in
my testimony — Mr. Stein, sometimes called a statement —
the position expressed by implication by Dr. Gustafson,
by explicit wording by Mr. Harper. Let us, before debate
defeats us, recommend a moratorium, but let us have an
experiment and, thus, my recommendation would be in this
category within the options open to this board of conferees
but significantly also look at what the States of Michigan
and Illinois have recommended and, of course, the third
alternate, the Federal Government.
Based upon the probability, not the possibility
— anything is possible — it is indeed possible that when
I step out of this room, I shall be trampled to death by a
-------
2236
M. A. McWhinnie
team of elephants, but I don't think it is very probable.
Within the world of probability, I believe, that with the
information that we have, the recommendation from the
State of Illinois, does not bode badly for Lake Michigan,
and with a moratorium we can come to provide the answers
that are needed when the moratorium would be left,
MR, OLIN: What do you mean by a moratorium?
A moratorium on standards or a moratorium on thermal dis-
charges, Professor?
DR. McWHINNIE: A moratorium with respect to the
number of plants to be placed on Lake Michigan,
MR, OLIN: Is it your recommendation, then, that
we should hold the status quo and not permit any additional
plants on Lake Michigan?
DR0 McWHINNIE: I would feel that the plants
that are^or are in construction,would provide us the
experiment we need, I would leave it to this board of
conferees to make the decision, quote,"how manyJ'Mhow soon?"
MR, OLIN: Thank you,
MR, STEIN: Are there any other comments or
questions?
MR, READ: My name is Herbert Read,
Your comments about a number such as plus 5 on
top of 50 or on top of 70 interests me0 As I understand
-------
2237
M, A, McWhinnie
you, your number — a plus 5 may be acceptable under certain
circumstances but a plus 1 or plus 2 may not be acceptable
under other circumstances, is that correct?
DR, McWHINNIE: You, too, must be a lawyer,
Do not read what isn't there, I am saying that
it is unrealistic to say plus anything, and I carefully
kept indicating "or, etc." If, by example, I can use one
number, it is only an example, and, thus, the plus 5 or
the plus 1, or the plus 3» I am saying it is unrealistic
within the context of oscillating temperatures in an envir-
onment, variability in organism adaptation, they face from
32 to #5 every year anyway. What kind of sense could this
board offer to prove the reasonableness of why they said
plus something?
MR, READ: All right. In other words, since
there seems to be no consensus of plus 1 or plus 5 or plus
10, either over 50 or 60 or 70, would you say the only
way that we could be sure of anything is plus zero?
DR. McWHINNIE: If you are afraid of the
possible, and you have no interest in the probable, plus
zero, you are required to ask for, I face what is probable,
MR, READ: All right. In dealing with proba-
bilities, then, can you come up with any number — here again
dealing with probabilities — can you come up with any number
-------
223S
M, A. McWhinnie
that these gentlemen should consider?
DR. McWHINNIE: I have indicated that I believe
reasonableness is represented by what the State of Illinois
has been attempting to do.
MR. READ: Now, is that a number question here?
DR, McWHINNIE: I think this is a maximum #5 at
any time.
MR. READs I am from Indiana so I am not familiar
with the Illinois situation.
MR. STEIN: Mr. Currie.
MR. CURRIE: If I may clarify that just a bit.
There is an existing 85-degree standard in Lake Michigan
water quality standards adopted by the State of Illinois.
There is in addition a requirement that cumulative temper-
ature changes be not more than 5 degrees from the ambient
temperature, and that not more than 2 degrees difference be
permitted within any given hour. There are presently for
consideration before the Illinois Pollution Board two
proposals to change those standards, and the State of
Illinois has not so far either through my board or through
Mr. Klassen's agency proposed any thermal standard for this
conference.
MR. READ: All right* In view of the explanation
here, the State of Illinois, under the explanation that was
-------
2239
M. A. McWhinnie
just given, did de"al with figures, and government agencies
do have to ultimately deal with figures.
We had a figure plus 5 mentioned, plus 2, under
certain other circumstances. Then, is that the figure that
you think that we could live with dealing with the proba-
bilities?
DR. McWHINNIE: Dealing with the probabilities, I
would say that I think we could live with considerably more
than plus 5*
MR. READ: Well, then, what?
DR<» McWHINNIE: I am sorry, sir, I will not name
a number. There is no data that would support me.
MR. READ: Would you say that in the absence of
data the safest thing to do, then, would be plus zero?
DR. McWHINNIE: I don't like to take that kind of
logic to its ridiculous extreme0 But in the absence of
certainty that I am not going to be killed on the street,
I should stay in bed in the morning. On these grounds,
forgive me, but based upon the existing data, I would
suggest that plus 5 is restrictive; 80 to #5 is realistic,
in the receiving body. In those areas where plants are
presently operated — operating — because I must emphasize
the Waukegan fossil fuel plant has been operated for 40
years, and I am not supposed to speak until I have data ——
-------
2240
M. A. McWhinnie
but I can say this to you: that through 3 months of intensive
effort this summer, I am sorry, we ain't got the evidence to
support the position of concern which you show* I show con-
cern but I will not react to that which is possible.
MR, READ: All right. So I want to state that at
least I was able to obtain a statement of your position.
I have been trying to determine what that was, and thank you
very much.
MR. STEIN: Yes.
MR. COMEY: David Comey.
Miss McWhinnie, I am not a lawyer, so donft worry
about my cross-examining you. I used to be an attorney
though.
You spoke about the difficulty of finding funds
to conduct thermal research on Lake Michigan.
DR. McWHINNIE: Only as for funds so you under-
stand where I stand.
MR. COMEY: Well, I was in a similar position last
year, and had to turn down a very interesting 6 -figure
contract to do a thermal pollution study near Chicago because
the government agency that was funding it had some restric-
tions about publication which we didn't feel were consistent
with academic freedom, so we turned it down. So I think on
the moral level at least I can come into this conference
-------
2241
M. A, McWhinnie
with some sort of basis of perhaps equal with you.
The problem that I have is that I am basically
concerned now with the public reaction, and you talked in
your presentation this afternoon about capacities of the
lake. Now, I think really this is what the public is
objecting to and I would like to ask you —
DR. McWHINNIE: Excuse me, before you go on. I
did not speak about the capacities of the lake. I did speak
about the capacities of living organisms, and I think the
record will show that.
MR. COMET: All right. Could I extend that a
little bit further? Do you believe there are such things
as assimilative capacities to natural bodies of water for
distinction of pollutants?
DR. McWHINNIE: I love the expression. Presented
in the National Water Pollution Conference papers of I960
in which the, quote,. "Purifying Powers of a River, etc.,
etc., etc." — yes, I do believe in this. I would be a
fool to fly in the face of evidence that the living world
is in dynamic equilibrium with its environment, and it will
oxidize out, and it will take that which is organically
useless, return it to a usable form for plant life, and the
cycle goes on and on, and this was so ably pointed out
then. The only problem is, our inputs are now too close,
-------
2242
M. A. McWhinnie
and we get so that the normal biological processes cannot
carry on to completion what once they could, given the time.
MR. COMEI: You, I gather from previous statements
before this in the Illinois Pollution Board feel that field
studies are far preferable to laboratory studies.
DR. McWHINNIE: They are essential.
MR. COMET: Let me ask you this: Would you be
willing to conduct a controlled experiment on injecting
cyanide, lead, mercury, or other pollutants of this sort
not in a controlled laboratory situation but measuring
rather large amounts of them out into Lake Michigan in order
to determine exactly what the effect on the biota would be?
DR. McWHINNIE: I am deeply concerned over the
constant analogies which don't fit together.
You cannot ask of a living system a question in
the physical word, called thermal, and use as a fair example
a toxic compound. This abuses knowledge.
MR. COMEY: Well, I would extend the abuse a little
further, I would say that if a graduate student came to you
with funds proposing to measure a capacity.such as the
following: Exactly how many rapes per hour a woman could
tolerate; you would turn that down, and advise his graduate
advisor. Similarly you would turn down any biological
experiment on children with respect to how many beatings
-------
2243
M. A. McWhinnie
per hour they could take,
I think what the public is saying is: We are not
interested in measuring parts per million of pollutants or
B,t.u.'s per hour; if the technology exists, we want it all
out. And that is what they are saying,
DR. McWHINNIE: I understand their question.
I would like to know why you started to call it
thermal pollution. You made a decision. I am not prepared
to make it.
Earlier at this conference, Mr. Stein speaking
with some speaker — I have forgotten — asked: "Are you
turning to the possibility of enhancement?" And the reply
was, "Yes." And I wonder why we don't see two sides of every
coin.
Who started the word "pollution"? Could they not
have restricted it to thermal modification?1* Why has the
decision been made? But it has.
MR, COMEY: Well, I believe that when I first
began hearing the term in the middle 1960's, it was in indus-
trial magazines such as Chemical and Engineering News,
Nucleonics News attempted to change it in about 196$ to
thermal environment' but scientists changed it instead.
Well, I am concerned about the attitude that
you have expressed, and I think that, very frankly, if this
-------
2244
M, A. McWhinnie
thermal conference is unable to remember something of this
question and to adopt the idea of the zero standard, the
public is going to be very disappointed. As a matter of
fact, in Mike Royko's column the other night he talked
about a rather interesting gentleman in King County he
called Fox, who has been very carefully setting up outfalls
and covering over caps of smokestacks.
His most recent exploit was to dump in an
aluminum company the 50-gallon excrement that came out
of their outfall. And I am afraid that the public may
view this thermal enforcement conference as a test case
and if in several months nothing has come forward, I am
afraid the Foxes may multiply.
DR. McWHINNIE: May I speak to that?
The public should not be so ready to decide that
this scientist or that one or the other one who cannot
concur with them because of knowledge J-s their enemy.
Let the public further know that I loved that lake long
before they did.
MR. COMEY: But you also made the very patroniz-
ing remark —
DR. McWHINNIE: Let me finish. When the public
takes it into its own hands to step beyond the normal course
of events and hand it into the hands of our leaders who
-------
2245
M. A. McWhinnie
shall not act highhandedly, it shall be those who contribute
to the anarchic breakdown of a country I live in and love.
Let it be remembered that lake belongs to us. Our concern
is not different from yours. Our experience may help us
reach a solution that you too want. But don't you outdo
us with your anarchy. (Applause)
MR. PETERSEN: I think, Mr. Chairman, at the risk
of interrupting, we have been here for sometime. May I
please suggest that this not be a colloquy of questions that
are going to be asked. Let the questions be asked not
speeches from the floor.
MR. STEIN: Sir, the other night I was here very
late and let only largely representatives of the power
companies proceed in their own manner.
I think the admonition is well taken. But the
point is that in a workshop such as this we have to
remember that where we don't have professionals asking
the questions, they have to do this irrespective of their
personalities.
I asked you to be brief. If you can I think
this would help because I think Mr. Petersen has made an
excellent suggestion. And while philosophically, morally,
and emotionally I agree with him thoroughly, I don't think
in the exercise of my official capacity I can really enforce
-------
22^6
M. A. McWhinnie
it.
MR. COMET: I would only finish the comment I
tried to make before, and that was that I did regard your
statement that the scientists would be there after 15 years
caring about the lake when the public had long gone back to
its fun, games and dancers. I find that a very patronizing
remark.
DR. McWHINNIE: I do not mean it to be so. I
regret that you have taken that interpretation.
MR. STEIN: Are there any further comments or
questions?
If not, thank you very much, Professor
McWhinnie.
DR. McWHINNIE: I am sorry for the time.
MR. STEIN: It wasn't you.
Now, we have several people here who have filed
statements.
Ted Falls, President of the Porter County
Chapter, Izaak Walton League, had to leave and will submit
a statement next week. (See Pp. 2345-2349)
Mr0 Seymour Altman, Commissioner, Highland
Park Environmental Control Commission. (See Pp. 2248-2249)
Mrs. Bieker, Indiana Division Board, American
Association of University Women. (See P. 2250)
-------
2247
Mrs. S. Troy
And Mrs. Robert McKimpton, Independent Citizens'
Water Pollution Research, Inc., Hammond, Indiana. (See
Pp. 2251-2254)
They have all submitted statements for the record
and without objection they will be entered into the record
as if read.
Now, I have a job as an administrator as well as
doing this, and sometimes I recognize the force and the
reluctance of the scientific community to come up with a
figure or a definite answer on something. But when they
come in for the grants for a project, they sure want a
definite answer from me on what the figures are, and the
money they are going to get before they start.
John Berghoff, Is he here?
Mrs. Jack M. Troy.
STATEMENT OF SYLVIA TROY, PRESIDENT,
SAVE THE DUNES COUNCIL, MUNSTER, INDIANA
MRS, TROY: I am Sylvia Troy, President of the
Save the Dunes Council, a conservation group of 3,000
members, formed in 1952 to establish and protect the Indiana
Dunes National Lakeshoree
It will be bitterly ironic if after all the years
(Continued on P. 2255)
-------
ARCHITECT S
ALTMAN-SAICHEK ASSOC.
300 W WASHINGTON ST
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
October 2, 1970 PHONE 726-8,15
Federal Water Quality Administration
Great Lakes Region
Department of the Interior
Chicago, Illinois
Gentlemen:
I am Seymour Altman. I appear here as a representative of the City of Highland
Park Environmental Control Commission. I am also a co-chairman of an en-
vironmental organization, the Society Against Violence to the Environment, as
well as, an individual --a resident of a community bordering Lake Michigan and
in close proximity to the proposed Zion Atomic Energy Power Plant.
We have sat through these days of bearings, with increasing disquietude, as
industry has paraded forth an impressive array of very sincere, technicians and
engineers --to show us that it is impossible to prove that adding enormous
amounts of heat, albeit dutifully diluted, to our Lake will harm the Lake's en-
vironment. We are not certain whether we should be horrified by this nightmare,
or whether we are to laugh grimly and treat this as some satirical, existentialist
theatrical production. Apparently they would have us all believe that the burden
of proof is on the public -- that we must risk further pollution of the Lake now and
in the future.
Gentlemen, this summer the residents of Highland Park were made aware of the
effects of past pollution of our Lake based on the same premise. Our beaches were
closed for swimming. This came as a shock to people who had always considered
that they could enjoy the privileges inherent in living in a community on a Lake.
The closing of the beaches, in itself was a worthwhile symptom of the dangers to
which our natural surroundings are exposed. We have become increasingly aware
of the confluence of pollutants in our area. Add to this pollution large amounts of
heat -- what do we get? What is the cynergistic effect on the Lake and on us?
Industry would have us believe that the only way to find the answer is to "try it
and see. " We have been through that one before. Look where it got us.
-------
2249
- 2 -
The simple/and logical answer is this: nothing more in the way of additives which
might change the Lake is to be allowed to be introduced into Lake Michigan. This
Lake belongs to the people. As such it is our responsibility to protect it and safe-
guard it. If someone wishes to use it -- they must show, beyond any doubt, that
they will not harm it or us. Till such a time, it is our prerogative, and our duty,
to prohibit their transgression of our rights.
SA: s s s
^4w^wxW%
eymour Altman
-------
2250
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
Indiana Stale Division
October 2 1970
1154 Ridge Road, Munster In
46321
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
Sherman House
Clark and Randolph Sts
Chicago, Illinois
Gentlemen:
The Indiana Division of the American Association of University
Women wishes to go on record in support of the Department of
Interior's criteria for protecting Lake Michigan waters against
thermal pollution. This department has shown the most informed
interest in protecting the environment in the public good and
would be the best informed and dependable in guarding conditions.
We have waited too long for this Conference to bring forth a clear
protective policy. We have waited too long for our own state of
Indiana to enforce what standards we already have or to support a
strengthening of the criteria concerning lake water quality. We
see no bright hope in the states surrounding the lake agreeing on
a set of standards that would be to their mutual advantage and
equal enforceability.
We hope therefore that the regional Directed of the Federal Water
Quality Administration will officially designate the Secretary of
the Interior and his department as the federal authority estab-
lishing federal standards. We w ould recognize that they w ould be
pressured by heavily weighted vested interests who would gain by
freedom to misuse the lake. The Department of Interior has demon-
strated that they are capable of acting in the over-all public
good and we favor their firm stand on criteria that would not
permit lessening quality of the lake water.
Yours sincerely
rs. L. W. Bieker
Division Board
Indiana Division
AAUW
-------
2251
F3D3IIAL I7AT3R QUALITY
HEAD'
Chicago, Illinois
October 2., 1970
prepared by
i;-:D3Pi::.D3i;T cims^s1 WATER
PCILUIIC." .13S3A.CH, lire.
7515 I:ew Hampshire Avenue
Hanrnond, Indiana 45323
area code - ?19 344-1590
-------
2252
I.JI.J.J *. J. ~-i* *X -I.J
> 737^ •>'""T
' >
** ,
751 C -~ew Hampshire Avenue
Hammond, Indiana 45323
area code - 219 344-1590
The i:;Tr,?i2L.D2i:ir ciriz"-.:^1 ;;Arz^ POLLuric.: ^s?2Aiicn, i:.c. is
s unique non-profit organization in that it was created for ir.ore
than one purpose. \s its iia.no indicates, one of our primary pur-
poses is to sample and analyse waters, both public and private,
and to demonstrate the conditions of those waters. Another pur-
pose of our corporation is to keep the public aware of the condi-
tions of waters sampled and analyzed. A third purpose which ex-
cludes I.O.'./.F.n. , Inc. from being strictly an analytical corpor-
ation is our efforts to work for more stringent anti-pollutior.
statutes and regulations as a result of our studies and research.
.lepre Rents tiven of our corporation have coine in contact with
and dealt with governmental agencies such as the Indiana Stream
Pollution Control Board, the Federal .Jater duality Administration,
the Indians State Board of Health, the lake County Board of Health,
and the Army Torps of llii^ineers. In each instance in dealing with
each of these agencies, we have found an awareness of the sever-
ity of the present pollution problem?. In each instance in deal-
ing with each of these agencies, we have also found ineffectiveness,
evasiveness and. lack of direction.
For example, in thn statr of Indiana, the legislature has
established the authority for the creation of the Indiana Stream
Pollution Control Board, its powers and regulation of enforcement
-------
2253
o
2
in statutes 68-517 through 58-543 inclusive. These statutes allow
the. SPCB to establish and enforce stringent criteria and control
of these criteria, but the SPCB has not done so. The SPCB has,
instead, adopted weak and inconsistent criteria and regulations.
These criteria include Lake Michigan open water, Lake Michigan
shore water, Lake Michigan inner harbor basin, Indiana Harbor Can-
al, Grand Calumet River, Little Calumet ?%iver flowing into Illi-
nois, and Wolf Lake. The criteria for these interstate waters
were requested and approved by the Department of Interior. r,o
samples to be used for proof of a violation by any entity can be
from effluent discharges, but must be fro:n the body of v/ater it-
self after dilution; but no stipulation in given as to what con-
stitutes a dilution or mixing zone* The substances included in
the criteria for thses interstate waters varies so that not all the
same substances appear in all criteria lists.
It has been proven that industries, municipalities and indi-
viduals have not and will not atterapt to reverse their polluting
d£e to social conscience. The only solution, therefore, is
strength in the federal, and subsequently state, agencies respon-
sible for controlling, regulating and enforcing anti-pollution
regulations. The government is the only possible means through
which the pollution crisis in our country can be solved. Study
commissions, conferences and meetings of all types have proven
to be mere dead ends from which very little positive action
emits.
-------
2254
Public dissatisfaction grows stronger day by day with tha
ineffectual handling of our deteriorating environment, The
governasntal agencies, especially the F>ro.\, must begin immediately
to act with :.:ore authority. Compromise end ineffectual gestures
must coar.e. The 7:r^. must require compliance by the states in
stiffling the progressive deterioration of our water and air.
Ignorance is no longer a valid excuse. The health and welfare of
this country's people is now a necessary priority.
ihe .Tetter of t her r:\al. pollution is just another in the long
list of pollution sources. The ?:~^A has the opportunity and the
power to bs It this source before it is allo"-?er to become another
mfjor p o1luUant„
It is for these reasons stated that i::D2?3;-,DS.-.T Cini-^S1
TAiZ-L POLLUTIC.: "^iSIA^K, I'/C. recommends to the "acretary of
Interior that the ther.;>?l criteria be removed free the 2nforce-
::.er;t Conference ar;d pl?ccd directly in the authority of the Feder-
al :/ater ?;jality -.dninistration ap sn agency of the Department of
Interior.
-------
2255
Mrs. S. Troy
we labored to secure the National Lakeshore, its 13 miles
of beaches will not be usable by the public — and that is
a very real concern. The beaches farther west in Indiana
— at Whiting and Hammond — have already been closed to
public use*
All of Northern Indiana Public Service Company's
major electric generating facilities are on the shores of
Lake Michigan, despite the fact that the company services
the entire northern third of the State, They presently
have three plants and propose to build three more — a total
of six utility plants — on a 30-mile span of Lake Michigan
shoreline and five of those plants border land dedicated to
public recreational usec
At the proposed Michigan City plant at the eastern
end of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, #75»000 gallons of
heated water per minute (heated to a maximum of 25 degrees
above lake temperature in winter, though the company refers
to a 14-degree rise, when 14 degrees is the average
temperature) will be discharged adjacent to sewage effluent
coming from Trail Creek in Michigan City,
•,• Slide o••
I do have a slide, a map of the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore, Harold, would you mind indicating
where that Michigan City plant is? The areas in white are
-------
2256
Mrs, S. Troy
the designated areas of the lakeshore.
The currents here move in a westerly direction
along the shore and this area has been designated for
intensive public beach use. The shoreline erosion in this
area is particularly acute. According to the Army Corps
of Engineers figures, the erosion rate is 9 feet of shore-
line per year and is due primarily to the Michigan City
harbor breakwater which disturbs the natural littoral
drift. More than 300 lots are underwater and over a mile
of road has been washed away in the past year. The heated
utilities discharge moving along the shore will most
certainly melt or soften the natural ice barrier formed
along the shore which normally acts as a protective shield
to the ravaging winter and spring storms, aggravating and
accentuating an already critical erosion problem.
At the western end of the lakeshore, the Bailly
nuclear plant is being proposed. Here, the vast amounts
of heated water, trapped by the Bethlehem landfill and
joined by the chemical wastes of the Bailly coal-burning
plant and other wastes from Burns Harbor will be forced
to move in an easterly direction and have a similar melting
effect on the protective ice ridges along the shoreline,
thereby creating further erosion and pollution problems,
I would like to counter the statistical
-------
2257
Mrs. S. Troy
contortions of the power industry who are attempting to
prove that dumping of vast quantities of heat will not be
harmful to the lake — they even have the effrontery to
assert that it may be beneficial — with the evidence of
what is happening to Lake Michigan,
Here is algae collected from the east end of
Beverly Shores in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore near
the Michigan City plant of Northern Indiana Public Service
Company. This is a recent development and proof of the
acceleration of the eutrophication process. Each year
there is more and more of it along the shore.
Have industry scientists explored the synergistic
effects of waste heat in shallow water already heavily
contaminated with chemical and sewage effluent? Would
the electric power industry be willing to post a bond of
several million dollars or perhaps a billion dollars to
support their assertions that heat will not adversely
affect the fishing industry or recreation potential of
the lake or deteriorate its quality or disturb its biota?
What is the credibility record of the industries
along the Lake Michigan shores? What is the credibility
record of the utilities at the southern end of the lake?
Twenty years ago when my husband practiced medicine in
Whiting, Indiana, and phoned Commonwealth Edison Company
-------
225S
Mr s<> So Troy
State Line Generating Plant to complain about the air
pollution, the officials came to see him and assured him
that every possible measure was being taken to clean up
their stacks. Last week, finally, the city of Chicago
sued Commonwealth Edison for violations, NIPSCO's promises
on their Bailly plant were never kept. The dirt plumes
are visible 10 miles away.
Lake Michigan would normally have a life span
of 25,000 more years. Responsible biologists say the lake
may be dead in 15 years if we continue on our present
course. And is industry heeding this warning? No, They
are pursuing the same destructive, mindless, short-sighted
policies and they now propose to use Lake Michigan as a
heat sink as well. The quality of Lake Michigan has not
improved since 196 5» In fact, it may have deterioratedo
Here is the record of Indiana industries since
the passage of the Clean Water Act, U, S. Steel Gary Works
has actually increased daily discharges of oil. In 1965,
they discharged 54,000 pounds of oil daily. Now, 5 years
later, supposedly with enforcement procedures under way
they have actually increased their discharges to 67,317
pounds of oil daily and they dump 306,7$1 thousand pounds
of suspended solids as well.
Inland Steel Company discharged 23,791 pounds
-------
2259
Mrs. S. Troy
of oil and 103,617 pounds of suspended solids.
The figures for Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company
is 11,000 pounds of oil and 46,000 pounds of solids.
Perry Miller of the Indiana Stream Pollution
Control Board, ever an apologist for industry, is quoted
by Chicago Daily News, August k, 1970, as admitting industry
is still discharging large quantities of oil but says
"... these are large facilities and large bodies of water."
Ten years ago Blucher Poole refused to be concerned about
possible wastes from Burns Harbor.
It is no surprise that the industries and
utilities prefer Indiana State standards and State enforce-
ment and object vigorously to Federal interference.
The record of the Indiana Stream Pollution
Control Board in reversing water pollution trends in the
State is abysmal (with the exception of some recent
actions). The conditions of the Grand Calumet and Little
Calumet Rivers are as deplorable as ever. Lack of staff
and an antiquated and politically controlled judicial
system also hamper them. Governor Whitcomb has not acted
to request the State L egislature for maximum funding to
quality available Federal grants to build needed municipal
sewage treatment plants.
Industries prefer to locate in Indiana where they
-------
2260
Mrs. S* Troy
can manipulate and control the local and State regulatory
agencies* The extent of air and water pollution in the
Calumet region, despite the Federal Clean Air Act and Clean
Water Act in 1965, despite local and State laws, is a
National scandal and the record of the local and State
anti pollution agencies ought to be investigated.
There is an increased awareness by the public
of the threat to Lake Michigan as evidenced by the growth
and proliferation of conservation groups in Indiana and
the attendance of over 1,000 people at the public hearing
on the proposed Michigan City NIPSCO plant. We are prepared
to take legal action, if necessary, against the State Water
Pollution Control Board for failure to protect the public
interest.
We wish to applaud the courage and integrity of
the Federal Water Quality Administration and the Department
of Interior in taking a firm and unequivocal position
against thermal discharges into Lake Michigan. The feasi-
bility of alternate methods of cooling with costs that
will not be excessive to the public offer no excuse to
the utilities for not acting immediately to use this
technology. Utilities' threats of blackouts and brownouts
is reprehensible. Indeed it reflects their lack of
efficiency and organization. They prefer to put the blame
-------
2261
A. J. 0'Conor
on the conservationists,
A vigorous approach is necessary if we are to
save the lake.
May we urge the State of Indiana to finally come
into the Twentieth Century and approve the thermal criteria
as requested by the Department of Interior.
Thank you, (Applause)
MR, STEIN: Thank you, Mrs, Troy,
Any questions or comments?
If not, thank you very much, Mrs, Troy,
Andrew 0'Conor,
STATEMENT OF ANDREW J. 0'CONOR, ATTORNEY,
OF THE FIRM OF BERRY AND 0'CONOR, OTTAWA,
ILLINOIS
MR, 0*CONOR: Mr. Stein, members of the conference,
ladies and gentlemen. My name is Andrew O1Conor. I am an
attorney, for better or for worse, from Ottawa, Illinois,
LaSalle County, which is located approximately 100 miles
southwest of where you are sitting,
I am here on behalf of a group known as the
Brookfield Township Land Committee; the Illinois Agricultural
Association, a group of approximately 190,000 members; the
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2262
A. J, O1Conor
Illinois National Farmers Organization; the Illinois Farmers
Union; the Fox River Valley Community Action Council, which
consists of twelve locals of the United Auto Workers from
Streater to Woodstock, Illinois; and we are here to present
our position which to many of you may seem to be totally
unrelated to the thermal pollution of Lake Michigan,
Actually we are here because of what we think
is an attempt to avoid thermal pollution of Lake Michigan
by the Commonwealth Edison Company, which company services
part of the territory which I represent.
The relationship is direct and is caused by
their attempt to avoid violating the thermal differential
regulation which has been propounded by the Department of
Interior, as I understand it, since 196#, and which affects
the Illinois River, which is a Federal navigable stream,
and which receives into it the Chicago River, waters from
Lake Michigan, and the confluence of the Fox or the Kankakee
and DesPlaines Rivers to form the Illinois River in our
part of the State,
MR, STEIN: This is outside the conference area,
isn't it?
MR, 0'CONOR: Well, I think it is, Mr. Stein,
and in deference to you I did talk to Mr, Wright, and I don't
intend to really go beyond this except to — from Washington
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2263
A. J. 0'Conor
— and I did suggest that perhaps it was outside the con-
ference area, but he asked me to come anyway. This was by
telephone on Thursday, and I don't — Joseph Wright — I
don't attempt to presume on the time of the committee and
I will make it very short.
MR, STEIN: Yes, because I think if you have a
legitimate problem — and I don't doubt you do — this is
clearly the wrong place to take this up because we have
absolutely no jurisdiction in that area nor are we direct-
ing it there,
MR. 0'CONOR: Well, I think we have this message,
if I can put it this way: We have appreciated and do
appreciate all of the information we have received here
about the feasibility of the alternate means of cooling
for thermal powerplants'. I would suggest that they are
equally as applicable to our problem which consists of the
Commonwealth Edison wanting to take 7,000 acres of prime
farmland instead of taking 7>000 acres of idle, marginal,
unproductive land, and we feel that the information put
out by the Department of Interior on these alternate
methods of cooling, such as the towers, etc,, etc,, are
equally solving of our problems as they are for the
utilities around Lake Michigan0
The third and perhaps most important part of our
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2264
A. J. 0'Conor
message — and this I mention to you gentlemen and to the
people who are here from the various power companies —
I think if you feel that by removing these powerplants from
the Lake Michigan shores to an inland site, and thereby at
least appear to temporarily solve the thermal pollution of
our lakes, you have solved the problem, you are wrong,
because you will run into just as vigorous opposition
from land-based groups such as I represent unless the
selection of the site is compatible with the land use and
the land sought to be taken, in terms of what is good land
as opposed to poor land. And I would like to just make
that point for the conference. I think that is important.
MR. STEIN: By the way, 1 think I agree with
you. I think the way our Federal law is now, if it were
ever true in the past, that industry could go from one
place to another and avoid tight regulations, it doesn't
apply today. I am not just referring to the power industry,
because as many industries know — and I am not sure how
well they like to see me — they find wherever they go in
the country, there I am.
MR. 0'CONOR: Right, and this is precisely
our problem. (Laughter) Not you, particularly, but I
mean wherever the power companies go, that is our problem.
I didn't mean that in reference to you.
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A. Jo 0'Conor
We do feel, though, that before you relocate —
and you take this home — there is a lot more to just
relocating away from Lake Michigan or any of the Great
Lakes than simply picking out a site and looking at it
from an economic standpoint — that is from the company's
economic standpoint and thinking then that because you have
the supposed power of condemnation that all of the people
who are interested in this good land are going to surrender.
They are not going to do it, and there is going to be some
regulations, truly some ground rules laid out about land
use in relation to utilities in the future,
MR, STEIN: Thank you very much,
MR, 0'CONOR: Thank you.
(The following document was submitted for
inclusion in the record by Mr, O1Conor,)
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LET'S TELL IT LIKE IT IS!
In view of the confusion about and distortion of the
Brookfield Township Land Committee's true position in relation
to the Commonwealth Edison project, we herewith submit oui
position and the reasons therefor. This position and the
points supporting it has remained constant and unchanged since
the original announcement of the project in the spring of 1970.
1. Apparently some persons are under the impression we
desire to force Commonwealth Edison Company to leave this area
entirely. Such is not the case nor has it ever been the case.
We do desire and insist, however, that Commonwealth Edison Com-
pany not use the prime farm land which it now seeks but rather
locate the plant and its facilities upon idle, unproductive,
or marginal farm land, of which there are thousands of acres in
this area, both within and without LaSalle County. In this
regard, the original plan of Commonwealth Edison use was to a
considerably smaller tract of land (5600 acres) than that now
sought and which land was located directly along the south bank
of the Illinois River south of Seneca and three miles north of
the proposed site. Several thousand acres still remain in this
general area which we believe could still be used for the same
purpose and which could include a cooling lake. Despite the
assertions of Commonwealth Edison Company that it can not use
this type of land, engineering advices indicate otherwise. Full
engineering plans were and are drawn for this original site.
The land taken at Dresden, both for the first nuclear plant as
well as for the second nuclear plant, is for the main part
highly marginal, unproductive land. The same poor land quality
and characteristics prevail in large part in the Lake Kincade
area and we are informed the same marginal quality of land is
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sought to be taken in the Cordova, Illinois area near the
Quad-Cities. The Brookfield Township Land Committee acknowledges
the need for additional electrical energy. This statement has
been made repeatedly to Commonwealth Edison Company and to the
public generally. We are, however, unalterably opposed to the
taking of prime farm land for the present proposed site and
further oppose ^ropoood future similar takings of prime and good
t< 1.1
farm land, which must be taken according to the utility industry
press releases, literature and projections. If this is so,
why was the poor quality of land taken at Dresden, Cordova and
Kincade? On the contrary, there is in fact available to the
utility industry literally tens of thousands of acres of idle,
unused and unproductive land which can, through modern engineer-
ing techniques, be adapted to and for the construction of the
nuclear energy plants and facilities. Since the initial Common-
wealth Edison Company announcement was made in early spring, the
Commonwealth Edison Company has repeatedly stated that "its
studies" and "its engineering research" indicate that none of
the tens of thousands of acres of idle, unproductive lands in
this area or, in fact, throughout all of Illinois - which they
have allegedly reviewed and surveyed - are adaptable or useable
for nuclear energy plant sites. This we deny. Repeatedly, our
group, through its attorney and its various representatives,
has asked the Commonwealth Edison engineers to release and reveal
all of their so-called in depth engineering studies and data to
permit us and our engineers to analyze such data and research.
Not once has Commonwealth Edison as yet responded to such a
request. We again challenge them ago MI to here and now release
this information immediately so that we and all who are inter-
ested in the agricultural industry might have an adequate and
fair opportunity to thoroughly analyze and inquire into the
Commonwealth Edison studies. The only answer we have received
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from Commonwealth Edison engineers when such requests have been
made is "we are sorry, we can not release this information at
this time. Eventually you will receive it". Eventually, why
not now? We ask you, Commonwealth Edison, to play fair with
us and all of the agricultural industry and release all of your
studies immediately! Actually most of the Illinois Valley area
from a point immediately west of Seneca on through west of LaSalle
and Peru is all served by the Illinois Power Company. It is a
known fact that the electric power sought to be generated at
the Brookfield site will not be used here but will be transmitted
to the City of Chicago and the Cook County area. We have no fear
that Commonwealth Edison will leave this area if they are re-
quired to put this plant on idle, less productive ground.
Commonwealth Edison has every intention of being in on the
"economic kill" of this valley when it develops.
2. About the suggested job loss to this community: If
this plant is removed to the original site proposed for it by
Commonwealth Edison, to-wit, some three miles north of the
Brookfield site or to some other site in this area, no jobs
will be lost. Obviously, the jobs will still be there and
the economy of this community will in no wise be effected.
Persons regularly travel many miles daily to their regular
places of employment, i.e., Caterpillar-Aurora, Caterpillar-Joliet,
to Owens-Illinois at Streator from Ottawa, and from Libbey-
Owens-Ford at Ottawa from Streator, etc. Moreover, there might
well be more jobs created should Commonwealth Edison Company
abandon the cooling lake project and invoke one of the several
alternatives available to them as suggested by the Department
of the Interior of the United States Government, to-wit:
A. Dry cooling towers,
B. Wet cooling towers, or
C. Spray canals.
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While Commonwealth Edison has only casually referred to these
alternatives, they do exist and, in fact, are successfully in
use in dozens of places, not only in the United States but
throughout the world. They have proven satisfactory and are
constantly being constructed in lieu of and in preference to
cooling lakes.
Cooling ponds are objectionable in the following major
particulars:
A. Cooling ponds by their very nature have a low
heat transfer rate and thereby require large surface areas -
they have been considered by numerous engineering authorities
to be impractical.
B. The quality of cooling pond waters will decrease
with time as solids left behind by evaporation accumulate.
C. Cooling ponds by the nature of their construction
concentrate dissolved solids.
t. Cooling ponds further collect impurities since
large surfaces are open to the atmosphere.
The primary reason for cooling ponds ±a because they are one
of the cheapest and least expensive methods of water cooling.
Any environmental contribution is purely secondary and incidental
to their primary purpose and use.
3. Much is said about tax loss. Actually, there would be
not tsx loss but a tax revenue gain if Commonwealth Edison were
to build on the idle or marginal land, three miles to the north
of the proposed site or were to build on idle, marginal land
located elsewhere in LaSalle County. Remember Commonwealth
Edison also owns large acreage in the Utica area. Much of this
acreage is idle and unproductive.
Should Commonwealth Edison build on marginal land:
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A. The new plant and plant site would be located on
marginal land now producing very little tax revenue, and this
in turn would become high tax revenue producing land.
B. The present highly productive and highly taxed
prime farm land in Brookfield Township would still be available
for present and future taxation and would continue to contribute
its regular tax share.
4. About the right of condemnation or the taking of the
land: We have been advised by many of the land owners and tenants
that certain of the Commonwealth Edison land agents have indi-
cated that the company has the absolute right of condemnation
and that if the land owners and tenants do not agree to the
prices and propositions presently being offered by Commonwealth,
they will receive less at some future condemnation hearing date
than the prices and propositions now proposed. Such statements
are absolutely false. Neither the Commonwealth Edison Company
nor any utility in Illinois, has the absolute right of condemna-
tion. The Illinois Public Utilities Act, under which Common-
wealth Edison must file its application for a Certificate of
Convenience and Necessity, requires the concurrent action of
the petitioning public utility and the Commerce Commission to
vest the power of eminent domain. Commonwealth Edison does not
have the right of eminent domain under this act until and unless
the Commission issues its certificate finding that the public
convenience and necessity exists for the facility. Before any
action is taken by the Commission extensive public hearings
must be held under the law and will be held before the Illinois
Commerce Commission. If adverse to the Brookfield Group, the
decision will be taken through the entire appellate court
system of Illinois for adjudication. The final determination
of whether or not the power of condemnation, in fact, will be
granted is at least two or more years away and possibly
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considerably longer. For authority that Commonwealth Edison
does not have the power of condemnation, we refer you to the
case of Central Illinois Electric & Gas Co. v. Scully, 161 N.E.2d
304, at page 307, wherein the Supreme Court of Illinois (195S)
recited as follows:
"The necessity for the improvement requiring condemnation
and the manner of its construction are for the consideration
of the condemnor, subject to the decision of the commission
as to convenience and necessity. The condemning petitioner
does not have the right of eminent domain until the
commission issues its certificate".
We challenge Commonwealth Edison and its counsel to contradict
this holding of law announced by the Illinois Supreme Court in
the above case and which law governs today. Commonwealth Edison
has been totally silent on this point. Don't be mislead by
statements to the contrary!
5. The effect of deep wells on the surrounding territories
not taken: Commonwealth Edison admits it must sink numerous
deep wells in the area to supply the pure water needed for steam
generating purposes. Tens of thousands of gallons of pure
water will be needed twenty-four hours every day, 365 days a
year. This fact is not in dispute and is conceded by Common-
wealth Edison. The present average well depth in Brookfield
Township is now approximately 600 feet. Water is consistently
and regularly available at this level to Brookfield Township
residents for all purposes. Commonwealth Edison says it will
take water from deep well veins. All well enough! In recent
years industries locating near Ottawa and Seneca who likewise
take extremely high gallonages of water daily from deep vein
levels made the same statement before sinking their wells.
Ask the farm and city residents who live in northwest Ottawa
and beyond in the country, as well as in the Village of Seneca,
Manlius Township and parts of Grundy County, what happened to
their relatively shallow depth wells once industries started
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tapping the deep vein wells in these areas. You've guessed
it! Their wells went dry. Consider also the disastrous
effect on raising livestock, to say nothing of human needs
should this occur! Commonwealth has been totally silent on
this point.
6. The effect of the site and its facilities upon drainage
in Brookfield TownsKip: The area proposed to be taken presently
contains approximately forty percent of the total tiling systems
of the entire Brookfield Township area; Commonwealth Edison Com-
pany personnel have stated unequivocally that all drainage tiles
proceeding through this area will be permanently cut and termina-
ted; that the number of tiles proceeding through this territory
is, in fact, unknown both as to quality and quantity and that
for a long time subsequent to the installation of this project
there will be a severe and substantial backing up of under-
ground drain waters and permanent flooding of lands not to be
taken but presently under cultivation surrounding the perimeter
of the proposed site. Without question this constitutes a serious
and permanent threat to approximately an additional 2,000-3,000
acres of land adjoining the perimeter of the site proposed to
be taken. Based upon competent engineering advice, this committee
believes that regardless- of the technological efforts made by
Commonwealth Edison Company, it is both an engineering and
physical impossibility to keep the entirety of the perimeter
of 2,000-3,000 acres from being permanently flooded and destroyed
for cultivation to a greater or lesser extent. Commonwealth
Edison has been totally silent on this subject.
7. About Lake Brookfield: Again much has been said regard-
ing the recreational and conservational value of the proposed
Lake Brookfield. We invite you to examine and consider just
what Lake Brookfield will consist of. Firstly, it will average
about 10 feet in depth. It will average 95 degrees water
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temperature. It will be filled with whole, "live",untreated
Illinois River water. The Illinois River water contains a
high percentage of human and industrial sewage particulate
as well as a high brine content despite treatment processing.
The Illinois River further contains a high content of phosphate
and nitrates. Lake Brookfield will have a system of channels
separated by numerous dykes which will protrude above water.
We are advised Lake Brookfield will not be a solid uninterrupted
mass of water from one shore line to another in any direction.
It will resemble water canals as in strip mine diggings. Lake
Brookfield will evaporate an estimated 96,000 tons of pure
water every 24 hour period at an average annual water temperature
of 95 degrees - guess what will be left after normal evaporative
losses have been added to the high heat induced losses? Right -
you guessed it!
How recently have you enjoyed a refreshing swim in the
water
Illinois Rivex/? How recently have you enjoyed fishing in the
Illinois River, plus the further pleasure of eating the clean,
wholesome fish you have caught? How recently have you enjoyed
the delightful aroma from the Illinois River? How recently
have you noticed the green algae scum that forms on both the
Illinois and Fox Rivers' during the summer months when the water
"lake"
reaches a warm temperature point? Bear in mind this/water will
be totally untreated and will average approximately 95 degrees
annually.
In this connection, it is interesting to note a letter
recently written by Mr. Thomas G. Ayers, President of Common-
wealth Edison, under date of July 31, 1970 to Mr. Daniel N.
Beal, Cashier of the Verona Exchange Bank, Verona, Illinois,
wherein he states and we quote him directly:
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n The original water to fill this lake will come
from the Illinois River and the daily evaporative loss
will be made up from the river.
Because the Illinois River is biologically impure, we
are not sure at this point what level of aquatic life
the lake will be able to support "
And what about Lake Kincade which Lake Brookfield is
supposed to duplicate? Lake Kincade is fed by three natural
pollution-free water courses. It was formed as a result of a
dam on Clear Creek about a mile upstream from the south fork
of the Sangamon River. It has an average depth of feet.
Because of its low pollution content, it is able to support
aquatic life. However, at certain low water seasons of the
year there are extensive mud flats adjoining the perimeter of
Lake Kincade which prevent people from reaching any of the
waters thereof. The average annual temperature of the water
of Lake Kincade we are told is 45 degrees to 50 degrees because
Lake Kincade receives the discharge waters from the Commonwealth
Edison Kincade power station which is FOSSIL FUELED AND NOT
NUCLEAR FUELED. Fossil fueled plants discharge about 50$
less heat per kilowatt than nuclear power plants. The two
lakes are in no way comparable.
8. About the alternatives-to a cooling lake: Commonwealth
Edison as well as all utilities have been aware for years about
cooling towers, both wet and dry, as well as spray canals. The
United States Government, through the Department of Interior,
recommends the use of dry cooling towers or spray canals. We
would be pleased to hear from Commonwealth in this regard. It
is a known fact that cooling towers require no fan operating
power, occupy a fraction only of the ground space required for
cooling lakes, reduces hot and cold water piping costs, generate
no noise, and discharge their steam or vapor at a high level.
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We quote from "Cooling Tower Newsletter", Number 4, issued
April, 1968, published by Research-Cottrell, Inc., Harmon
Cooling Tower Division, P. 0. Box 750, Bound Brook, New Jersey,
as follows:
"For extremely large installations such as power generating
stations, natural draft towers should be considered. These
have significantly higher initial cost than mechanical
draft units, but they require no fan operating power,
they occupy substantially less ground space, they reduce
hot and cold water piping costs, and they offer minimum
maintenance over a long service life. In addition, they
generate no noise, and also discharge the steam plume at
a significantly higher elevation, thus eliminating the
problems of low level fog and drift."
9. Commonwealth Edison claims there will be little or no
fog arising from Lake Brookfield during cooler or cold weather.
You don't have to be an engineer to appreciate the fog potential
Lake Brookfield will contribute for many miles to the surrounding
territory. Based upon engineering advices serious air pollu-
tion conditions may arise throughout the year which will effect
a substantial number of lands and acreages within a several
~'.-r >»H
mile distance of said lake site, causing fog, mist /general air
pollution, and all of which will further effect and produce
abnormal weather conditions, thus possibly adversely effecting
the cultivation of large areas surrounding the proposed lake
site. None of these points have ever been discussed by Common-
wealth Edison Company.
10. Regarding the economic loss to the community: The
entirety of the 7,040 acres proposed to be taken, with the excep-
tion of the area taken for easements for roads and natural water-
ways, is highly productive and superior farm land, is rated
as Number 1 or prime farm land for eighty percent thereof, and
rated as Number 2 or good farm land for twenty percent thereof;
that the records and statistics of production of farm products
of all kinds, including livestock, grain, and allother farm
items produced by this agricultural community approximates one
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2276
and one-half to two million dollars worth of retail value annuallyJ
the value of all products and services consumed and purchased by
the Brookfield Township group, as a direct result of the agricul-
tural and retail economy produced by this area approximates
$700,000 annually.
The area proposed to be taken directly produces approxi-
mately 700,000 bushels of feed grain annually, together with
2,000 head of livestock annually, all for public consumption.
It is a fact that food shortages can and do repeatedly develop
throughout the world and that the present rate of soybean and
corn consumption on both the national and international market
has soared to thirty to forty percent within the last six months
alone to say nothing of the serious corn blight loss problem we
are now faced with. The actual feed grain reserves of this
country do not constitute in excess of one yearfs supply as
dictated by the needs of the national economy and will be further
shortened and reduced according to some agronomists.
That annually more than one million acres of land are now
taken out of production in this country due to developments of
one sort of another, i.e., highways, house and building con-
struction, and the like; that our populatipn continues to
expand and soar and is looked upon as one of the grave issues
not only for the present but in the future as well; highly
productive andsuperior producing Number 1 farm land should
not be taken out of permanent production when other totally non-
productive and idle lands available by the thousands of acres
can and could be utilized for nuclear energy site facilities.
ONCE THIS LAND IS TAKEN IT WILL BE TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY
REMOVED FROM PRODUCTION FOREVERMORE AND WILL, IN FACT, MOREOVER
PERMANENTLY ADVERSELY EFFECT A SUBSTANTIAL ADDITIONAL ACREAGE
SURROUNDING AND ADJOINING THE SITE.
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2277
11. Just what kind of land is Commonwealth Edison proposing
to take in Brookfield Township? Much has been said about the
average or inferior type of land proposed to be taken. Nothing
could be further from the truth. Of all of the 7,000 acres
proposed to be taken not one acre is in the soil bank. Approxi-
mately acres is in what is known as the Federal Farm Program.
This program is entirely distinct and separate and is formed
for totally different purposes. This is a year to year program
and is designed to balance supply and demand and to keep in
reserve a sufficient acreage for future food needs of this
country. This reserve, which has long been a factor in American
agriculture, is no different from the electrical energy reserve
Commonwealth Edison hopes to acquire for electric energy users.
It is simply a sensible way of controlling highly productive farm
land and has long been recognized by agricultural experts as a
method of insuring adequate food supply for the nation:' at all
times.
60% of the land proposed to be taken is classified as
Number 1 farm land by the United States Department of Agriculture.
Number 1 farm land is defined as land which will raise a minimum
of 125 bushels of corn per acre with an expenditure of not to
exceed $20.00 per acre for fertilizer, and would raise a mini-
mum of 40 bushels of soybeans per acre. The remaining 2Q% of
the land proposed to be taken is classified as Number 2 farm
land by the United States Department of Agriculture. Number 2
farm land is defined as land which will produce not less than
100 bushels of corn, with an expenditure of not to exceed $20.00
per acre for fertilizer, and produce not less than 35 bushels
of soybeans per acre.
To remove all doubt on this point we are indebted to Mr.
Truman Esmond, a local realtor for many years, and who has
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been the chief architect and representative of Commonweaxth
Edison in attempting to acquire the land in question. In an
interview with Kr. Esmond taken on February 26, 1970 by Joan
Hustis of the Daily Times under the lead title "Huge Land
Acquisition Proposal Under Study", Mr. Esmond had this to say
about the character and quality of the land he and the other
land representatives of Commonwealth Edison now dispute:
"About 7,000 acres, or almost 11 sections, of "prime
farm land" are involved in the proposal, according to
TrumarT Esmond, the local realtor representing the
corporation."
LET'S TELL IT LIKE IT IS I
Who is for the Brookfield Group? To name a few:
The First Presbyterian Church of Grand Ridge, Illinois,
United Methodist Church of Ransom, Illinois,
Brookfield Presbyterian Church of Marseilles, Illinois,
St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church of Grand Rapids Township,
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church of Ransom, Illinois,
Illinois National Farmers Organization,
Illinois Farmers Union
Fox River Valley Community Action Council, consisting
of United Auto Workers Locals 145, 184} 285,
872, 881, 904, 922, 954, 1030, 1088, 1175 and
1615, consisting of 8,000 members in locals from
Woodstock to Streator, Illinois,
First National Bank of Grand Ridge, Illinois,
Cooperative Grain & Supply Co.,
Laurence Gage, Ruth Gage, Michael Kennedy, Velma
Kennedy, Max Ugolini, Coleen Ugolini, Charles
O'Laughlin, Geraldine O'Laughlin, John Looft,
Cyrus Trowbridge, John Ryan, Louise Ryan, Paul
Ryan, Cyril Ryan, Helen Ryan, Joseph Heaton,
Mabel Heaton, Larry Heaton, William Heaton,
Jerome Heaton, Roy Spaulding, Robert Gage,
Doris Gage, William Ross, Lois Ross,
Plus an additional 5,000 people who have signed our
petitions in the last 90 days.
Respectfully submitted,
BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP LAND COMMITTEE
By Ruth Gage, Laurence Gage
Mary Ann Muffler, Donald Muffler
Jean Widman, Mark Vvidman, Jr.
Michael Kennedy, Velma Kennedy
Max Ugolini, Coleen Ugolini
William Ross, Lois Ross
John Looft, Ruth Widman, and
Robert Widraan, Co-Chairmen
KEEP THE FIELDS IN BROOKFIELD/
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2279
ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION,
On its own motion
vs.
COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY POWER
COMPANY, CENTRAL ILLINOIS UNION
ELECTRIC COMPANY, ILLINOIS PUBLIC
SERVICE COMPANY, CENTRAL ILLINOIS
LIGHT COMPANY, IOWA-ILLINOIS GAS
& ELECTRIC COMPANY, ELECTRIC ENERGY
INC., INTERSTATE POWER CO., MT.
CAEMEL PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANY,
PEOPLES GAS LIGHT & COKE COMPANY,
and NORTHERN ILLINOIS GAS COMPANY.
Investigation of Air Pollution in
the State of Illinois so far as
Illinois Public Utilities are
involved.
^
;«/'
55321
PETITION TO INTERVENE
Now comes the First Presbyterian Church of Grand Ridge, Illinois,
United Methodist Church of Ransom, Illinois, Brookfield Presbyterian
Church of Marseilles, Illinois, St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church of
Grand Rapids Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, St. Patrick's Roman
Catholic Church of Ransom, Illinois, Illinois National Farmers
Organization, Illinois Farmers Union, Fox River Valley Community
Action Council, consisting of United Auto Workers Locals 145, 184»
2#5, 872, BBl, 904, 922, 954, 1030, 1083, 1175, and 1615, First
National Bank of Grand Ridge, Illinois, Cooperative Grain & Supply
Co., Laurence Gage, Ruth Gage, Caroline Whittaker, George Whittaker,
Lillian Briner, Henry Briner, Gladys Hallowell, Clifford Hallowell,
Michael Kennedy, Velma Kennedy, Kathryn Fleming, Margaret Carey, Max
Ugolini, John Kennedy, Helen Kennedy, Stacia Hynds, Hugh Killelea,
Mary Danaher, Charles O'Laughlin, Geraldine O'Laughlin, James Kennedy,
John Budach, William Bieneman, George Looft, John Looft, Cyrus Trow-
bridge, Walter Chrest, George Chrest, Florence Marsh, Dominic Ugolini,
Arlene Ugolini, Ronald Briner, Caroline Briner, Emmet Kennedy,
Margaret Kennedy, Edwin Morrow, Donald Muffler, Mary Ann Muffler,
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2280
John Ryan, Louise Ryan, Paul Ryan, Cyril Ryan, Helen Ryan, Robert
Carey, Emmett Moran, Carrie Moran, Joseph Heaton, Mabel Heaton,
Larry Heaton, William Heaton, Jerome Heaton, Roy Spaulding,
Ronald Frye, Rose Frye, Luella Beacher, Mildred Myers, Thomas
James, Benoit Hallett, Marjorie Hallett, John Feidler, Nancy
Feidler, Margaret Kennedy, Robert Gage, Doris Gage, David B.edeker,
Darlene Bedeker, Raymond Bedexer, Elizabeth Bedeker, Carrie Lou
Cleve, Forrest Cleave, Caroline Gage, Melva Gage, Edward Caputo,
Venita Caputo, William Ross, Lois Ross, Kenneth Edwards, Parnell
Maier, Anna Maier, Elmer Maier, Felicia Maier and Orel Logsdon,
by Berry & O1Conor, their attorneys, and petitions this Commission
for leave to intervene in the instant proceeding and in support
of their position, allege as follows:
1. The various petitioners above named and described are
landowners, tenants and other persons, religious and lay organi-
zations and groups either residing within or residing closely
without and on the perimeter of the territory proposed to be taken
by Commonwealth Edison Company of Chicago, Illinois for a nuclear
energy generating plant site in Brookfield Township, LaSalle
County, Illinois. All of said persons, corporations, organizations
and groups have organized to promote and maintain the present and
long-standing environmental quality of agricultural and environ-
mental life which has prevailed in Brookfield Township, LaSalle
County, Illinois since its development as a highly productive and
highly valuable farm community and center for over 100 years last
past. These petitioners represent to the Illinois Commerce
Commission that they will all be subjected to a permanent and
total change in environmental land use and development both within
and without -the area effected if the taking of said land is per-
mitted, for the following reasons:
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2281
A. The entirety of the 7,040 acres proposed to be taken with
the exception of the area taken for easements for roads and natural
waterways for highly productive and superior farm land is rated
as Number 1 or prime farm land for eighty percent thereof, and
rated as Number 2 or good farm land for twenty percent thereof;
that the records and statistics of production of farm products
of all kinds including livestock, grain, and all other farm items
produced by this agricultural community approximates one and one-
half to two million dollars worth of retail value annually; that
the value of all products and services consumed and purchased by
the above persons, organizations, and entities, all of whom are
from the Brookfield Township community, as a direct result of the
agricultural and retail economy produced by this area approximates
$700,000.00(f«ven h"n*;rf? annually.
thousand dollars;
That the area proposed to be taken directly produces approxi-
mately 700,000 bushels of feed grain annually, together with 2,000
head of livestock annually, all for public consumption. That it
is a fact that food shortages can and do repeatedly develop
throughout the world and that the present rate of soybean and
corn consumption on both the national and international market
has soared thirty to forty percent within the last six months alone.
That the actual feed grain reserves of this country do not consti-
tute in excess of one year's supply as dictated by the needs of
the national economy.
That annually more than one million acres of land are now taken
out of production in this country due to developments of one sort
or another, i.e., highways, house and building construction, and
the like; that our population continues to expand and soar and
is looked upon as one of the grave issues not only for the present
but in the future as well; that highly productive and superior
producing Number 1 farm land should not be taken out of permanent
-------
2282
production when other totally non-productive and idle lands
available by the thousands of acres can and could be utilized
for nuclear energy site facilities; that once this land is taken
it will be totally and permanently removed from production for-
evermore and will in fact adversely effect a substantial additional
acreage surrounding and adjoining the site.
B. That immediately to the north and adjoining this property
lies approximately 5,000 acres of rough, unproductive land, a
large portion of which is already owned by Commonwealth Edison
Company; that this land is, in fact, available to the Commonwealth
Edison Company and its availability as an alternate site should be
considered and inquired into in depth by the Illinois Commerce
Commission in connection with its general inquiry into this sub-
ject matter.
That to date hereof the Commonwealth Edison Company has refused
to. reveal its engineering data or studies as to the feasibility of
developing this alternate site or any other alternate site, except
by general statements indicating increased costs would ensue but
without divulging any particulars. It is the opinion of these
petitioners, based upon competent engineering consultation and
advice, that in fact, the 5,000 acre tract adjoining to the north
could be equally utilized and developed for identical atomic
energy producing purposes; that the 5,000 acres of rough, unpro-
ductive land to the north produces little or no agricultural
products, is largely idle, and could well be utilized as an
energy producing site; that a visual inspection and comparison
Of the two areas clearly reveals a total and complete distinction
in soil fertility and productive capacity and quality.
C, That the area proposed to be taken presently contains
approximately forty percent of the total tiling systems of the
entire Brookfield Township area; that Commonwealth Edison Company
-------
2283
personnel have stated unequivocally that all drainage tiles pro-
ceeding through this area will be permanently cut and terminated;
that the number of tiles proceeding through this territory is. in
fact, unknown both as to quality and quantity and that for a long
time subsequent to the installation of this project there will
be a severe and substantial backing up of underground drain waters
and permanent flooding of lands not to be taken but presently under
cultivation surrounding the perimeter of the proposed site. That
this constitutes a serious and permanent threat to approximately
an additional 2,000 acres of land adjoining the perimeter of the
site proposed to be taken. That based upon competent engineering
advice, these petitioners believe that regardless of the technological
efforts made by Commonwealth Edison Company, it is both an engineer-
ing and physical impossibility to keep the entirety of the perimeter
of 2,000 acres from being permanently flooded and destroyed for
cultivation to a greater or lesser extent.
D. That these petitioners have further been informed that
the surface of the lake area will constitute approximately 4»500
acres; that the temperature of the water being emptied into this
lake, after cooling the generators to be located on the proposed
site, will vary between 70 and 110 degrees; that by reason thereof
these petitioners state, based upon competent advice and counsel,
that serious air pollution conditions may arise throughout the
year which will effect a substantial number of lands and acreages
within a several mile distance of said lake site, causing fog,
mist, general air pollution, and will further effect and produce
abnormal weather conditions, thus, adversely effecting the cul-
tivation of large areas surrounding the proposed lake site.
E. That these petitioners further state that the Common-
wealth Edison Company proposes to take from the Illinois River
tens of thousands of water a day and that this water, which
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2284
contains a substantial percentage of salt and sewage, will be
pumped into the proposed lake in the middle of the farm community
of Brookfield Township. That engineering estimates indicate some
60,COO tons of water will evaporate daily from this lake site and
that since mainly clean water will evaporate, the brine and sludge
particles pumped from the Illinois River will remain behind and
settle in the lake; that by reason thereof opprobrious odors may
well result and that further the environmental quality of the lake
will be seriously reduced and hampered due to the resulting sludge
and brine condition.
F. That to supplement the water supply to be taken from the
Illinois River, the Commonwealth Edison Company intends to put
down numerous deep wells to pump thousands of gallons of water a
day from the basic water table underlying all of Brookfield Town-
ship; that although the Commonwealth Edison Company proposes to
draw water from a deeper level than that presently serving Brook-
field Township, repeated similar deep well drawings heretofore
carried out by other industries in other parts of LaSalle County
have conclusively shown that the current water levels used for
general consumption by the public of this area located at 300 to
500 to SOO feet sublevel in these other areas have been greatly
effected and depreciated by such other deep level -withdrawals of
*-">ter. That, accordingly, these petitioners believe the value
of the remaining land will be greatly reduced throughout all of
the township despite precautions and engineering techniques
Commonwealth Edison Company might introduce as to this factor.
2. These petitioners further state that, in their opinion and
based upon competent engineering advice, it is technically possible
for Commonwealth Edison Company to locate their proposed nuclear
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2285
generating site upon and within the 5>000 acres of rough and
unproductive land located immediately north of the proposed site
or upon other unproductive lands located elsewhere in the State
of Illinois and thereby significantly and totally remove all of
the environmental loss which must and will ensue to the Brookfield
Community if the Commonwealth Edison Company is permitted to ob-
tain the proposed site.
3. The Illinois Commerce Commission has the responsibility
and power to protect the public safety and environmental welfare
by ordering the Commonwealth Edison Company to remove and relocate
its proposed site to either the site immediately north and which
is presently available to it or to some other site within the
State of Illinois; that, in fact, the Commonwealth Edison Company
has used lands of extremely inferior value, being those located
in Christian County, Illinois for their electrical generating
site near Kincade, Illinois; that further, in fact; the land
heretofore used and presently being used by Commonwealth Edison
Company at its Dresden, Illinois plant located outside of Morris,
Illinois, is inferior land and of extremely poor quality, none
of which is in any way productive or comparable with the Brookfield
Township properties proposed to be taken; that, in addition, the
site proposed to be used by Commonwealth Edison Company for its
plant located near the Quad-Cities, at Cordova, Illinois consists
of very sandy type soil and is of thin and marginal quality and
productiveness. That, in addition, to the rough site located to
the north and presently available to Commonwealth Edison Company,
there are literally thousands of acres of rough and unproductive
land located throughout the State of Illinois upon which all of
such proposed site could be located. These petitioners state
that current costs of transmission are no longer a factor as
witness the Kincade plant and Quad-Cities plant, independent
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2286
engineering counsel also confirms this. Accordingly, there is
available to Commonwealth Edison Company a multitude of sites
which should be considered and inquired into by the Illinois
Commerce Commission.
4- These petitioners further state, based upon the literature
available to them and published by the utility industry, that it is
the proposal, not only of Commonwealth Edison Company, but of other
utilities to install throughout all of northern Illinois plant
sites located upon similar land and that presumably 7,000 to 10,000
to 12,000 acres of farm land comparable to that proposed to be
taken will be needed for each site. That, accordingly, the pro-
posed Brookfield Township taking is indeed significant and will
set a precedent not only for this particular area but for the
entire State of Illinois and these petitioners respectfully and
urgently request the members of this Commission to make full and
due inquiry in all particulars and thus meet its responsibility
to these petitioners and to the public.
WHEREFORE, these petitioners request leave to intervene in
this proceedings and to be treated as parties to this proceeding
and ask the Commission to grant the following relief:
A. To order Commonwealth Edison Company to utilize
existing technology to the maximum feasible extent in relocating
its proposed nuclear energy site upon unproductive and unfertile
land lying idle and having no agricultural value, and
B. That the Illinois Commerce Commission expand its
inquiry on its own motion under and within its investigative
docket to include all activities of all Illinois utilities which
might create or cause deleterious effects upon or to agricultural
and all other environmental land uses as the same are subjected
to utility uses from time to-time.
-------
2287
C. Require the Commonwealth Edison Company to show
that it has exhausted all reasonable and proper alternatives to
the proposed Brookfield site.
D. That it deny to the Commonwealth Edison Company any
use whatsoever of the proposed Brookfield site for nuclear energy
generating purposes.
E. To grant such other relief as will protect the health,
safety, agricultural and ecological environment of the Brookfield
Township area and the citizens thereof.
Respectfully submitted,
BERRY & 0*CONOR,
Attorneys for Petitioners,
STATE OF ILLINOIS )
) ss.
COUNTY OF LASALLE ) VERIFICATION
ANDREW J. 0*CONOR, being first duly sworn upon oath, deposes
and states that he has read the foregoing petition by him sub-
scribed and that the matters therein alleged are true and correct
to the best of his information and belief.
Andrew J< 0'Conor
Subscribed and sworn to before me
this /f**- day of August, 1970.
,*<>
Not
otary Public.
BERRY & OfCONOR
Attorneys for Petitioners
130 East Madison Street
Ottawa, Illinois
Telephone: (&L5) 434-6206
-------
22&B
D. D. Comey
MR. STEIN: I have a statement from an old friend
of the conferees, I guess, John Chascsa, Lake Erie Cleanup
Committee, and I would like to put it in the record as if
read without objection.
(The statement above referred to follows on
Pp. 2239-2290.)
MR. STEIN: Do we have Frederick M. Brown?
David D. Comey? He was here before. There
he is.
STATEMENT OF DAVID D. COMET, DIRECTOR,
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, BUSINESSMEN FOR
THE PUBLIC INTEREST, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MR. COMEY: Mr. Stein, a funny thing happened to
me on the way to the conference. A couple of weeks ago I
wrote to Mr. Klassen and asked if I could appear today,
and I didn't get an answer from him. But yesterday his
secretary called my secretary and said that I should be
prepared to testify at 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, October 6, and
I find when I come here today that, alas, we are not
scheduled.
So since I have taken so much time already today,
I would like with your permission to submit a written
-------
2239
September 23, 1970
Lake Michigan Snforcercent Conference
Sherman House
100 tfest Randolph 3treet
Chicago, Illinois
Attentipns Chairman, Murray otein, Chief iinforceaent Officer
Interior's Federal .Vater Duality Administration
Dear i'ir. 3tein:
It is indeed encouraging to learn that all types of Pollution are being
investigated by your Coraraittee.
'.Ve have, on many occasions, heard that one type of waste after another
is responsible for the condition of our Lakes, Hivers and streams. In
some instances we have condemned the use of our waters ar> durapAn-^
grounds or hiding places for unwanted waste sewa/je, rofuse and hot water
from large Industries, However, it took our President, Hichard .•;. Nixon
to open our eyes to the serious dangers involved in permitting Thermal
Pollution to further complicate our Snvironaental problems. 3o, if
Hiscayne Uay can Beccrae a living mass of Algae interspersed with dead
and dying marine and bird life, this could and would crente a very
nauseating stench in the area, (which by the way is the location of
our Southern «hite House, it inn't used much, but it i« th-ire.) You
can im'.r^ino what could ha j?p«n to Lake Michigan, Lake Srie or for that
•natter any of our inland Lakss. La're Michigan is the moat vulnerable
though, and then Lake -Srie.
Lake Michigan from Muskegon to -'^»ry, Indiana, and then on to Chicago
is (as you km--") the natural pocket with no pl^ca for the water to flow.
This area has for many years received all sorts of wnste, it has been
the cause of many illnesses, much fish and wild fowl rnort slity, and
could become a hot bed of mora of the same, if permission to use Lake
Michigan ware granted to cool industrial or municipal hot water.
Why must the general Public have to accept the loss of the use of a
Public Lake, Stream or River, and be ex ected to pick up the tab for
cleaning up the mess when it becomes too unbearable?
There are, as you have pointed out, many ways to cool and purify water
and there are some that have not even been considered.
-------
2290
page 2
Mr. M. otein
Sept. 23, 1970
Perhaps the state of Michigan's Fisheries Departaent are expecting to
use the warmer water to escalate the growth of the Coho that is being
planted by them, or perhaps this is a good way to get a ready cookad
meal*
Seriously, the Lake Krie Cleanup Committee supports your stand on pro-
hibiting the use of our Lakes as a depository of Thermal Pollution, or
any other form.
Knowing the area around Ludington, I would suggest that these combined
systems be used - such as an inland cooling Pond with spray and return
canals for re-use in the plant or into the Lake.
Due to unforseen circumstances I am unable to attend this conference,
but would Like to take this opportunity to voice the opinion of the
Lake Srie Cleanup Committee, and the Monroe County Hod and Gun Club ,
and to thank you for this presentation.
for a better Environmental tomorrow, I remain.
Sincerely,-,
John Chascsa, President
./Lake Srie Cleanup Committee, Inc.
ec: Conferees:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources,
Indiana Stream Pollution Control Soard,
Michigan Water Resources Commission
-------
2291
D. D. Comey
statement to be entered into the record at a later time«
MR. STEIN: Can you get that in next week?
MR. COMEY: I will get it to you by Tuesday.
MR. STEIN: It will be included in the record.
MR. COMEY: Thank .you very much.
MR. HARPER: Mr. Stein, since this gentleman —
MR. STEIN: Come on up here. We can't hear you.
MR. HARPER: I am John D. Harper, and I would
like to know what this gentleman's testimony will relate
to next week. I want to know if I am going to be missing
anything as to what particular line of thought he has on
this. I wonder if he could just very briefly — since he
has previously expressed himself — if he could very
briefly just encapsulate a couple of his views. Would you
be kind enough to do this? This is with your permission.
MR. STEIN: Oh, surely, he can respond to this
if he wishes.
MR. FETTEROLF: May I ask who Mr. Comey
represents ?
MR. COMEY: I am representing Campaign Against
Environmental Violence, a Chicago not-for-profit corpora-
tion organized in April 1969.
MR. STEIN: I guess I might have read that.
Do you want to respond or not?
-------
2292
D. D. Comey
MR. HARPER: I can appreciate that off the cuff
it may be difficult, but it would be appreciated if you
could just encapsulate somewhat briefly your views while
we are all present.
MR. COMEY: Well, briefly what I was going to
talk about, Mr. Harper, was that it is my feeling that the
time for research and for study is past. I think — I won't
say is past, but with respect to setting a thermal criterion
for Lake Michigan, at the present time, I think it is past.
I think that at the present moment the Federal
paper which was presented last week to the public ought to
be supported by the four other conferees, and I hope that
if they see their way to supporting that, this entire issue
will be resolved before the enforcement conference wends
its way through the ISO-day procedure.
MR. HARPER: I concur with you and I have indi-
cated in testimony I too support this. I support this on
the basis of the last conclusion for ecological reasons,
and I am sure you do. I think we are all people of good
intent. For ecological reasons we support this. But for
ecological reasons we should not be in this auditorium.
The carbon monoxide level here right now may be 9 or 10;
the permissible level is 13 p.p.m. So,"for ecological
reasons "does not always govern, and I just make this point,
-------
2293
D. D. Comey
that we live in a society that is a rather magalopolis
from Milwaukee to Gary, and you must take into context
a number of these factors if we are going to present to
the board all of the testimony for the past week or 10 days,
I am glad to have your view. I agree with you
wholeheartedly. For ecological reasons we should stop the
heat — for ecological reasons. Something I am far more
concerned with is the chemical degradation, but ecological
reasons do not always govern. It is unfortunate but that
is the way of life. I didn't mean to —
MR. COMEI: There is probably one other thing
that I shall point out in my written statement, and that
is that based on all of the industry projections — and
these were brought out in the Federal paper — the number
two paper on the alternatives to thermal discharge — the
incremental cost of providing alternatives of cooling are
very small.
Now, the Federal paper chose to use busbar costs.
I think that is somewhat unfortunate because the public is
not aware that the percent increase in busbar costs is
considerably higher than in the incremental cost to the con-
sumer. Normally busbar costs are about 21 percent of power
charges. So that even assuming that the 9 percent
for just cooling towers is the busbar incremental cost,
this would represent less than a 2 percent additonal cost,
-------
2294
D. D. Gomey
and that on the average house-holder's bill it would be
approximately 24 cents a month. Now, for a quarter, if
we save Lake Michigan —
MR. HARPER: For a quarter, I am sure, for a
dollar even. But if you put this off on the American public
what are they going to do? What has the experience been in
the proliferation of trash? We are no better.
But for a quarter — and what is before the
board here now is the determination to come up with either
a standard or some means that is consistent with the needs
of society and the people that vote, and these people have
in mind that, "Oh, it is all right; let the American public
pay another 25 cents.H As you say, it may not set too well.
It is unfortunate but it may not.
So we are in agreement there, and I am glad to
have your views. I think the value of this whole confer-
ence is the diversity of opinion, and as long as we have
this forum, it is essential. I think that this board — if
I might just proselytize a little — Mr. Stein has shown
remarkable objectivity to me — not to me personally but
to the diversity of views. How these gentlemen can sit
through a week of this is beyond me. We are drawing to a
conclusion now, fortunately, I would imagine.
I think that the point is well taken, but I
-------
2295
D. D. Comey
would just like to emphasize the ecological reasons do not
always govern, unfortunately. The pristine purity of Lake
Michigan can never be restored to the time that Kinsey was
first living on its shores,
MR, COMEY: Mr, Stein, may I be permitted to
ask you one question?
MR, STEIN: Tes, Is the colloquy completed?
MR, HARPER: Yes, thank you,
MR, STEIN: Go ahead,
MR, COMEY: Supposing by December the other four
conferees from the States are unable to agree upon any
standard or criterion for thermal discharges to Lake
Michigan? Is it possible for the Secretary of Interior
upon recommendation of the Federal Water Quality Adminis-
tration and other constituent bodies with the Department
of Interior to lift the thermal criterion out of the
enforcement conference and set Federal standards?
MR, STEIN: Well, whenever you ask a question
of a person in the field you get the same kind of problem
we had when we asked Professor McWhinnie something in her
field.
One, I would suppose that — because of my
past experience with these conferees, and I have been
working with these States for a long, long time —
-------
2296
D. D. Comey
we are going to come to an agreement, and I am very confident
that we will.
The remarkable thing about our process of govern-
ment or this process is, untidy as it may seem to many, we
can resolve problems and come up with solutions even though
we can't agree on philosophy, professional discipline,
jargon, or what we think is the right way to express some-
thing.
However, we have two operations here: One, we
have an enforcement conference; and, two, we have a standard-
setting procedure. If we adopt the standard-setting pro-
cedure and we hold a Federal standard-setting conference,
we have to give notice; we have to put that out. We will
have to give the States six months to protest, and it is
all built into the law. That is a rather time-consuming
process.
MR. COMEY: You are talking about the ISO-day
procedure?
MR. STEIN: No, I am not talking — as I say,
the law is very complicated. If we would set a Federal
standard, we hold the conference with the State, have all
you people in again, make another record, and then we set
a Federal standard. Then we publish that in the Federal
Register — first, we publish it before we go out, then we
-------
2297
D. D. Comey
publish it again. Then we give the State six months to file
a disagreement. Then if they do, we have a hearing. We
are in a process like that with Iowa thermal standards,
among other things, and that is taking quite a time.
I think if I sensed the feeling of the four
States here as well as the Federal Government, we recognize
the urgency of this problem and except as a last resort we
will not permit ourselves to embark on a confrontation
course between State Government and Federal Government which,
by virtue of the time consideration, that is built into our
statute, would place a resolution of this problem maybe a
year off.
So I think we are all going to make a valiant
effort to try to solve this by negotiation and discussion
through this conference technique. Otherwise if we go the
other way, it is at least going to be probably a year away
before we can promulgate a Federal standard which should
stand up, assuming that it is not modified in any way by the
procedures that we have to go through in between.
MR, COMEY: So I take it that what you are
saying is that this will be solved far sooner than the
one year that would be necessary under the other
procedure,
MR, STEIN: I am always optimistic. That is why
-------
22 9S
H. B. Olin
I am here, and that is why we go into the night* There
isn't a place we won't go, nor a place or something we
won't sit through, and patiently sit through, all of the
evidence to try to cut that time down. If we wanted to
sit on our bureaucratic doubts and just act the way we are
authorized to act under the law, sure we can kick these
procedures off, but it will take a long, long time before
you would get a resolution, I think this is the best way
and the fastest way, I would like to give it a chance,
MR. COMEY: Thank you,
MR, STEIN: May we have Harold B, Olin?
STATEMENT OF HAROLD B. OLIN, AIA,
MEMBER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS, LAKE
MICHIGAN REGION PLANNING COUNCIL,
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
MR. OLIN: Mr0 Chairman, members of the con-
ference, ladies and gentlemen, I am appearing today on
behalf of the Lake Michigan Region Planning Council, a
4-State planning organization sponsored by the American
Institute of Architects Chapters of the States of Wisconsin,
Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. It is the objective of
the organization to study resource problems from a
-------
2299
H. B. Olin
regional point of view and recommend courses of action to
governmental units and agencies.
The shores of Lake Michigan are ringed with a
deadly necklace of some thirty power generating plants and
a multitude of industrial plants spewing their waste
effluent into the lake in ever-increasing amounts* Power-
plants alone in 1963 were dumping almost 30 billion B.t.u.Afe
per hour of waste heat into the lake and the total for all
industries and sewage treatment plants is over 40 billion
B.t.ufeper hour. By the year 2000 these figures are
expected to increase almost 11-fold to431 billion B.t.u.Vs
per hour.
Department of Interior and independent scientific
studies document the devastating effect of these thermal
discharges into the lake. Professor John Bardach of the
University of Michigan, whom you heard earlier today also
testified recently at several hearings on powerplants as
follows:
"One electrical generating plant will have some
adverse effect and several of them would exacerbate
conditions in a more than additive manner, due to the
prevailing hydrographic conditions set forth below0
vSome scientists believe that heated water
remains on the surface and quickly loses heat to the
-------
2300
H. B. Olin
atmosphere rather than to the water. However, present
knowledge of water-air heat exchange and heat exchange
between water masses in the regions of Lake Michigan to be
affected is incomplete as there is not available informa-
tion on all possible weather conditions such as patterns
along the shore under which these exchanges would take place,
Nevertheless, and especially if there are a dozen electri-
cal generating plants along the shoreline and if the
currents flow along this shore as they are indicated to
do, long-term adverse effects of heating the shallow water
are likely to occur and eutrophication is likely to be
accelerated,"
The First Annual Report of the Council on
Environmental Quality states the problem in different
words but with the same thrust. It also highlights the
need to curtail thermal discharges, and I quote:
"Waste heat is one of the most serious emerging
sources of water pollution. The electric power industry,
which currently discharges over #0 percent of all the
thermal heat into the Nation's waters, doubles its capacity
every decade. The trend toward larger, nuclear plants,
which creates 50 percent more thermal pollution in water
per unit of power than fossil-fuel plants, could result
in damage to aquatic systems, if it is not controlled.
-------
2301
H. B. Olin
With the tremendous thermal pollution potential of
projected power production, it is fortunate that waste
heat from electric generating plants can be adequately
controlled. Waste heat and thermal pollution can be
reduced by improving the efficiency of the plants; by
making productive use of heat; and by the use of cooling
towers, cooling ponds, or spray ponds."
Recognizing the need for additional power to
serve the needs of a burgeoning economy, the Council's
report recommends a National power policy based on broad
based regional criteria of sound planning and environ-
mental protection, which we heartily endorse. The Coun-
cil's report says:
"For example, the need for a National energy
policy is clear. As the demand for power increases
rapidly, new power facilities have to be built. Power-
plants will pollute the air with oxides of sulfur and
nitrogen, the water with heat, and the landscape with
mammoth towers and obtrusive power lines."
In his message to Congress transmitting the
report of the Council, President Nixon emphasized:
"Unless we arrest the depredations that have
been inflicted so carelessly on our natural systems —
which exist in an intricate set of balances — we face
-------
2302
H. B. Olin
the prospect of ecological disaster ....
"Natural systems are generally 'closed systems.
Energy is transformed into vegetation, vegetation into animal
life, and the latter returns to the air and soil to be
recycled once again. Man, on the other hand, has developed
'open* systems — ending all too often in an open sewer or an
open dump.
"We can no longer afford the indiscriminate waste
of our natural resources; neither should we accept as
inevitable the mounting costs of waste removal. We must
move increasingly toward closed systems that recycle what
now are considered wastes back into useful and productive
purposes. This poses a major challenge — and a major
opportunity — for private industry."
The concept of closed systems endorsed by
President nixon implies not just minimal discharges, but
zero discharges into the lake. We support that stand and
urge this conference to adopt a standard which would
prohibit any thermal additions to the lake from any
source.
Thank you.
I have a personal remark at this point. I am
reminded of a statement made by a knowledgeable observer
about a year ago, who pointed out that Lake Michigan, and
-------
2303
H. B. Olin
especially the southern tip of it, is very much like a
pus-filled appendix on the "bowel of civilization." I
myself could use simpler terms to describe the same
phenomena but in any case I want to point out that the
patient is critically ill and surgery is needed immediately
and I urge the conferees to take appropriate action — very
drastic action — as soon as possible.
Thank you.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mr. Olin.
Are there any comments or questions?
If not, thank you very much, sir.
I have a statement I would like to put in the
record as if read from A. J. Boehm, Executive Vice Presi-
dent of American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association.
(The letter above referred to follows on P.
2304.)
MR. STEIN: I think we called on these names
before.
Mrs. Paul Kaefer.
(The following statement was submitted to be
entered into the record as if read.)
-------
CENTRAL 6-0565 • AREA CODE 312
2304
AMERICAN FISHING TACKLE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
20 NORTH WACKER DRIVE • SUITE 20M
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60606
October 2, 1970
Mr. Murray Stein, Chairman
Lake Michigan Environment Conference
Sherman House
Chicago, Illinois
Statement of A. J. Boehm, Executive Vice President
American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association
Over the past four days much has been said pro and con about
heated water from atomic power plants damaging Lake Michi-
gan. We do not propose to reiterate these arguments; rather,
we desire to have the records show that this Association sup-
ports the U.S. Government's proposed maximum of one degree
heat rise in waste water discharged into the Lake from power
generating sources.
Also, we would like to speak for the fisherman. Approximately
25 per cent of the 30-some million people who live in the four
states surrounding Lake Michigan are fishermen. As fishermen,
they violently oppose taking any risk that may jeopardize the fish,
their sport, and also as a food supply.
The public is aroused and rightfully deeply concerned. The public
is not of a mind or mood to accept any tinkering with their natural
resources. The public is not objecting to any increased costs for
the installation of cooling facilities at generating plants. The pub-
lic has learned that it is much easier to prevent pollution before
it starts than it is to stop it after it has begun. Lake Erie is cer-
tainly an example.
True conservationists who have studied the deterioration of our
environment recognize the need for caution. Their watchword is
"When in doubt, don't".
Signed
A. >J. Soehm
Executive Vice President
-------
2305
Mrs. P. Kaefer
STATEMENT OF MRS. PAUL KAEFEE, CITIZEN,
NORTHBROOK, ILLINOIS
MRS. KAEFER: My name is Mrs. Paul Kaefer. I
live at 3921 Oak Avenue, Northbrook, Illinois.
As a citizen I feel that the lake is my resource.
A
When I use it I have a responsibility to not abuse it. All
citizens, utilities, and industries have this responsibility,
None of us must interfere with the nature of the lake. I
ask you to set standards that would permit no heat to go
into the lake.
In this age of space travel and other technical
achievements, it is imperative that utilities and industries
use such technological knowledge and devise methods so that
no heat enter the lake.
I have a family to return to and my responsibili-
ties do not permit me to stay past 11:30. I came at 9:30.
I want my testimony entered into the record.
MR. STEIN: Mrs. Robert Herlocker.
-------
2306
Mrs. R, Herlocker
STATEMENT OF MRS. ROBERT D. HERLOCKER,
CALUMET AREA BRANCH, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, MUNSTER, INDIANA
MRS. HERLOCKER: My name is Mrs. Robert D0 Her-
locker of Luast^r, Indiana. I am representing the Calumet
Area Branch of the American Association of University Women.
The thermal standard proposed by the Department
of the Interior gives us a ray of hope that man will have
the intelligence to take action in time to avert disaster,.
We do not ask, we do not request, we do not urge,
we demand that the States adopt the recommended standard.
Most of our members live in Indiana in the
Calumet region. In efforts to do something to clean up
our environment, we encounter nothing but excuses and buck-
passing between the State and local agencies:
"We don't have the manpower to do the job."
"fcfe don't have the monitoring equipment."
"We don't have the money."
"These things take time."
"The laws aren't strong enough."
"Industry has a timetable."
We say to you now, and I address myself primarily
-------
2307
Mrs. R. Herlocker
«, the Indiana representatives, all y.u need is the «isdom,
Q«H the backbone to accept these recommenda-
the integrity, ana ™
ou are net servants of the Republican
~aMr *rty, <»r of industry; you are
Party, of the Democratic
servants of the people
-_ said: "To every thing there is a
Ecclesiar
^o every purpose under heaven." This
season, and a tiff
.fill your purpose in the public interest.
is the time to
fEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Herlocker.
MF
MILLER: I only have one comment.
* all my time in public service if there is
know it is that I am a servant. I always have
one tr
ilways will be.
MRS. HERLOCKER: And you tell them in Indianapolis
.blic is after you and they have got to do something.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Herlocker.
May we have H, R. Thoke? Is H. R. Thoke here?
Mrs. Winston?
Mer. Berghoff?
Mr. James Sloss? (See P. 230S)
Mr. Michael R. Rouse? (See P. 2309}
Mrs. Maynard J. Seidmon? (See P. 2310)
Mrs. Lyman Barr? (See P. 2311)
Mr. Aaron Wolff? (See P. 2312)
-------
JAV1ES SLOSS
SOS SKOKIE LANE
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS SOO55
U
rta
RECEIVED
SEP28S70
,,- r
i
-------
I \ I
\1
(
0
-------
-------
2307
Mrs. R. Herlocker
to the Indiana representatives, all you need is the wisdom,
the integrity, and the backbone to accept these recommenda-
tions. Remember, you are not servants of the Republican
Party, of the Democratic Party, or of industry; you are
servants of the people.
Ecclesiastes said: "To every thing there is a
season, and a time to every purpose under heaven." This
is the time to fulfill your purpose in the public interest.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Herlocker.
MR. MILLER: I only have one comment.
In all my time in public service if there is
one thing I know it is that I am a servant. I always have
been and always will be.
MRS. HERLOCKER: And you tell them in Indianapolis
the public is after you and they have got to do something.
MR. STEIN: Thank you, Mrs. Herlocker.
May we have H0 R. Thoke? Is H. R. Thoke here?
Mrs. Winston?
Mer. Berghoff?
Mr. James Sloss? (See P. 230#)
Mr. Michael R. Rouse? (See P. 2309)
Mrs. Maynard J. Seidmon? (See P. 2310)
Mrs. Lyman Barr? (See P. 2311)
Mr. Aaron Wolff? (See P. 2312)
-------
2303
JAMES SLO55
EOS 5KDKIE LANE
GLENCDE, ILLINOIS BOO52
RECEIVED
ENVIRONMENTAL Pf.CTECHDft AGi^Ci
STATE Oril'JSKS
-------
2309
uv RECEIVED
'~VN _-A / '
I . t^t t>c w -^ w* dt&Jc- fciM-^tt c csW |A £WN tc g^p 2 9 1970
' — StSS ""
. G&A
: e( 4 &
It
C ^.-t
x u . ili ^^i LJ , at
- C C cuJ^C;a- l^c^Xxi-^
'-^^^^t«,<^- ^^>^t^
. Vt ^ t ^
-------
2310
MRS. MAYNARD J. SEIDMON
1064 SKOKIE RIDGE DRIVE, GLENCO£, ILLINOIS 60022
, _ RECEIVED
SEP 28 1970
l~~4.^ ^£*<
XJU, .XU-A^
-------
2311
(The following letter, dated September 25, 1970,
from Mrs. Lyman Barr, 1005 Wade Street, Highland Park,
Illinois 60035» was received by the Environmental Protection
Agency, State of Illinois, on September 23, 1970, and was
submitted for inclusion in the record.)
Mr. Clarence Klassen
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
535 W. Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62703
Dear Sir:
I feel it is of the utmost importance that
the k-State Enforcement Conference on Lake
Michigan Pollution should adopt the strictest
possible standard in respect to thermal
pollution — that announced by the Department
of the Interior. I urge you to do everything
you possibly can to bring this about.
Yours truly,
(Signed)
Lucy M. Barr
-------
SEP 2 8 1910
2312
AARON S. WOLFF
II SOUTH LA SAULE STREET AREA CODE 312
CHICAGO 6O6O3 FRANKLIN 2-5461
,\ r '
l!" '•""
September 24, 1970
Mr. Clarence Klassen
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
535 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Dear Mr. Klassen:
Since you are head of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, I strongly urge that
you do all in your power to avoid thermal pollution of
Lake Michigan. At the forthcoming Federal-State
Enforcement Conference on pollution of Lake Michigan,
I certainly hope that you will push for adoption of the
strictest standard under consideration. This would be
that of the Department of the Interior which would
sanction only the minimum possible waste heat to be
discharged into Lake Michigan or a 1° F. rise over
ambient at the point of discharge, whichever is less.
Very truly yours,
Aaron S. Wolff
ASW:sf
-------
2313
Closing Remarks - Mr, Stein
MR. STEIN: I guess that is all the people's
names I have.
Now, does anyone who hasn't been called feel that
they want to say something now, because we are going to
close?
If not, I would like to thank a lot of you for
bearing with us. I know some of you have stayed with us
all week, and I think we have amassed quite a record.
There is one thing I would like to say for this
process, and I have always been proud of this in a way.
I think we have a document here in the transcript
of this conference which is going to be invaluable. I find
when we finish these things that the researchers, the planners,
the analysts through the years in going for hard information
that they can use constantly turn to these transcripts.
Now, again, the pride I have is this: If
Government — I don't know, maybe industry is a little bit
wealthier — but if the Government were to amass this kind
of thing through the other processes that they have in
grants or contracts, I will bet that this would cost about
a half a million dollars — what we have here.
We got this and a good portion of this has been
a contribution to the public good, and we couldn't have
gotten it without the volunteer action of the citizens,
-------
2314
Closing Remarks - Mr, Stein
the municipalities, the industries, the State Government,
concerned. And certainly all of these groups have brought
in scientists, consultants, other interests that one would
have been beyond the capacity of the Government alone —
any government — to assemble, and certainly beyond our
budgetary capacity.
That is one of the great things about these
democratic institutions—that we have drawn on the kind of
talent and the considered statements that we could draw
on for the past week, and we were able,without I think
getting really out of hand from the standpoint of a
disciplinary way,to have a cross-examining of ideas and
questioning as far as we could,
I think you all must appreciate that this is
a very difficult thing to do, because we have people from
disparate backgrounds, disciplines, and ways of doing
business coming here. These conferences are a lot easier
to handle when we just have the conferees asking questions,
or you have a much easier job if you just have lawyers
arguing back and forth or questioning back and forth or
presenting evidence under their rules — at least what
we think are rules — or if you have biologists or you
have engineers or architects who know how to operate,
I think the wonderful thing is that we could
-------
2315
Closing Remarks - Mr» Stein
hold a meeting like this and get all of the people with
different backgrounds and different disciplines to focus
on the problem, and I think that the people who have been
here — I would say about 99»44 percent of the material put
in was germane — germane to the problem, and that also is
wonderful. You may not have agreed with it, but it was
what someone thought we should know about the problem.
Now, I have this to suggest to the conferees,
and I don't want anyone to think this is a suggestion that
I haven't floated around for the past day to see what its
acceptance would be.
In view of the complexity of the matter, I would
ask that the conferees go back to digest this material,
caucus and advise with their technical staffs, as I will.
I know next week a lot of us are committed to be in Boston
where the Water Pollution Control Federation is holding its
meeting and we are going to need the week anyway.
I would suggest possibly the week after that, I
would ask the conferees — and I would like to keep this
meeting as small as possible, if we can, for participants,
because we are going to try to come out with an agreement
and a program — that the conferees meet with their views
and their proposals, and we sit down and try to come up
with conclusions and recommendations which we can present.
-------
2316
Closing Remarks - Mr. Stein
I would urge the conferees to get together with
their neighboring States, Federal representatives, and
others, caucus as much as you like, and I think the more
caucusing you do before you get there, the better off we
are going to be, whether you do it in Boston or over long
distance telephone, or any other place . I am optimistic
that we will be able to arrive at a conclusion when we
meet, say, the week after next. But if we can't, at least
see how many areas of agreement we can sign off on, and
whether there are any areas that we have to put off because
we can't come to an agreement.
There is just one more thing. This problem is
on us. I don't think it is going to go away, I don't think
it is going to wait, and I don't think — while I haven't
made a poll, I don't think the public is going to wait
very long for an answer.
I want to again thank you people. Right now the
ball is on this side of the net. The Federal and State
officials have got it right in their court, and I think
we will have to move from there.
Do any of the conferees —
MR. CURRIE: Yes, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to introduce into the record a
letter which I sent to Secretary Hickel on September 17>
-------
2317
Closing Remarks - Mr, Stein
making certain suggestions for the format of future pro-
ceedings in the conference, among other things suggesting
that the conference publish an agenda in advance so that
we know what we are to discuss at our meetings; in addition
that conferees and expert witnesses be asked to supply
reports in advance so that we have time to understand them;
and among other things reconvene the conference every three
months 0
And I would like to make that suggestion now,
Mr. Chairman, that we meet again in three months after we
have solved, if we have solved, this thermal pollution
question, in order to consider other pollution problems
that are equally pressing,
MR, STEIN: We will consider all those sug-
gestions and, I think, without objection, that letter will
appear in the record,
(The letter referred to above follows on Pages
231S-2320.)
-------
2316
STATE OF ILLINOIS
OOLLUTIOM carvrrROL. BOARD
189 WEST MADISON STREET
CHICAGO. ILLINOIS 6O6O2 _
TEL. No.
312-793-3620
September 17, 1970
Secretary Walter J. Hickel
U. S. Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 20242
Dear Mr. Secretary:
On September 28 the Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference will
reconvene in Chicago for a five day "workshop" session. The Illinois
Pollution Control Board is the agency charced with statutory respon-
sibility for the adoption of water quality and effluent standards.
In view of the Conference's concern with state regulation as well
as with the collection of information, Mr. Clarence Klassen, Director
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, has written to the
Conference Chairman, Mr. Murray Stein, requesting that the Illinois
Pollution Control Board be designated an official participant, in
the Conference.
In anticipation of our designation as a participant in the Con-
ference I am listina below some proposals designed to make the Con-
ference a better vehicle to accomplish its purpose to save Lake
Michigan. Conies of this letter are being sent, to other parties in
order that they may have sufficient time to comment or endorse these
proposals if they wish.
The Council on Environmental Quality in its first Annual Environ-
mental Quality Report to President : ixon has criticized water pollution
control enforcement conferences and recommends new legislation. The
proposals listed below will make the coming Enforcement Conference
and future sessions more democratic and more responsive to public
interest as well as better directed toward Lake Michigan's specific
problems.
The following proposals which can be put into effect without
new legislation are offered:
1. Publish an agenda for the Conference immediately.
The notice of the Conference is not clear as to
whether the Conference will deal only with the
proposed thermal pollution standard or with all
pollution matters affecting Lake Michigan.
2. Require that all reports by parties to the Con-
ference and by expert witnesses be submitted in
writing in advance to the Great Lakes Regional
Office of the Federal Water Quality Administration,
there to be made available for public inspection.
-------
2319
-2-
Secretary Walter J. Hickel
September 17, 1970
In past Conference sessions, voluminous and detailed
reports have been presented with no time for the
conferees or the public to thoroughly review them.
Comments and questions would be much more meaningful
if advance copies are required.
Permit questioning of witnesses and agency represen-
tatives by the public where new information can be
gained. This procedure is followed by our Board
in its public hearinqs, and it would serve to make
the Conference more democratic and more informative.
Reconvene the Conference every three months until
December 31, 1972. Every State has already sub-
mitted seven checkpoint dates for all construction
required by listed polluters. Frequent and public
checks on adherence to these dates will be necessary
in order to avoid the excessive time slippage en-
countered in the Lake Erie Conference.
Publish within three months a comprehensive waste
inventory for Lake Michigan to be prepared by FWQA
with the assistance of tne States. A Chicago Daily
News story of August 3, 1970 based upon FV.'OA data
argues that 51.3 tons of oil and 223.2 tons of
suspended solids are now being discharged into Lake
Michigan every day by just three Indiana industries.
No one knows the total amount of oil, solids, phenols,
chlorides, and other significant pollutants going into
Lake Michigan every day. Yet this information is
easily obtainable through the States and merely needs
to be compiled. It would serve to identify the major
problems and major sources.
Identify, with FV7QA assistance, all significant pollu-
ters affecting Lake Michigan and not presently listed
by the State of location as coming under the Conference
jurisdiction. Four industries in the Manistee, Michigan
area are said to discharge almost 1,500 tons of salt
to Lake Michigan daily and yet are not under the Con-
ference purview. We evidently cannot let each State
be the judge of what constitutes "significant" pollu-
tion of Lake Michigan, It is most important that
pollution discharges to tributaries of the Lake be
included and controlled.
-------
2320
-3-
Secretary Walter J. Hickel
September 17, 1970
Accelerate the deadline for phosphorus removal at
municipal and industrial sewage treatment plants
from Decert\ber 31, 1972 to December 31, 1971.
Phosphorus renoval technology is well known and
can be installed at any stage of any existing sex^age
treatment plant, and reinstalled in a plant expan-
sion. If phosphorus removal is indeed the key to
Lake Michigan's survival then we must keep as much
phosphorus out as soon as we can.
Very truly yours,
David P. Currie
Chairman
DPC: jb
CC: Board Members
Mr. Clarence Klassen
Ass't. Secty. Carl Klein
Comm. David D. Dominick
Asst. Comm. Murray Stein
Mr. Francis T. Mayo
Mr. Ralph Purdy
Mr. Thomas Frangos
Mr. Blucher Poole
-------
2321
Closing Remarks - Mr0 Stein
MR. SHELDRICK: Michael Sheldrick, McGraw-Hill.
Can you tell us where the meeting will be, and I
assume — am I correct in assuming that it will be an
executive session? Where, what time, pertinent details?
MR. STEIN: We haven't decided on a place yet
and I generally don't decide on a place until I confer with
the conferees and the people back in Washington. But this
will be made known to you, and the kind of meeting we will
have will be determined by the conferees. It will be an
executive session.
MR. SHELDRICK: Can you give us the date
perhaps?
MR, STEIN: No, I can't.
MR. SHELDRIGK: Other than a week.
MR. STEIN: No, again, we have all been away
from the office for a week.
Let me just go off the record here.
(Discussion off the record.)
MR. STEIN: Back on the record.
The putting together of a 4-State conference
with Federal officials, given the pulse and the mandatory
appearances of these people, is something that we have to
work out. We have always worked them out in the past, but
I don't think that until these people, who have been away
-------
2322
Closing Remarks - Mr» Stein
from their offices, could get back and touch base that we
can set that up now,
MR, SHELDRICKs Did I hear you right when I
thought you said that you were hoping to meet the week
after next?
MR. STEIN: That is right. That is what I was
hoping for,
MR. FETTEROLF: Mr, Stein, did you make a
decision that it would be an executive session?
MR. STEIN: WeHl, yes, in the terms — you
know what we mean by executive session? Only the conferees
will speak. I can't say yet whether it would be open or
closed.
MR, FRANGOS: Mr. Stein, just in response to
Mr. Currie's suggestions on meeting, I believe that you
also have a request or a suggestion from the State of
Michigan concerning the frequency of meetings and, as you
point out, this does take a considerable amount of time,
and it drains not only our own capability but our staff's
capability.
Perhaps rather than increasing the frequency
to every three months we might be able to devise a better
communication system so that these conferees know what is
going on in each of these States, and then indeed if there
-------
2323
Closing Remarks - Mr. Stein
are some questions, we can meet, but my own feeling is
that three months is awfully soon.
MR. STEIN: Sir, I would prefer at this stage —
I know Mr. Currie has made some suggestions. I said if it
is agreeable. I think we should hold those off because
I know a discussion on these — I know the conferees and
other people have had experience here, and they have many,
many differing views on the mechanism of holding the
conference, and they run the entire gamut. I know repre-
sentatives of other States have quite different views, and
I think another place is the place to discuss procedure
which is only of interest to another bureaucrat rather
than here at this time.
So I would like to set that off for a little
while. We will discuss it when we hippopotami get
together by ourselves.
Are there any other comments or questions?
Again, I would like to thank you for coming and the workshop
stands adjourned.
(The conference adjourned at 5:5^ p.m.)
(The following documents and communications
were received following the conclusion of the conference
for incorporation in the record.)
-------
2324
"~ " T°: C. 7. Kl?ssen, -Technical Secretary, Illinois Sanitary
,ifjter Board, 6l6 State Of i ice Building, Springfield. 111.
S r\nf. *
SEP 281970 62706.'
f* SOtaiENTftL FKOttCTiOH ftiiiu*
We, the undersigned, believe that It is both technically and
economically feasible for industry to aeet the proposed Federal
Water Quality Administration's temperature standards of a one
degree P uaxlmua teipersture i,ncre.ise of all -raters returned
to Lstke Michigan. Thus, we urge ths adoption of these standards
in the state of Illinois.
Hespectfully,
Concerned Citizens
rf)
o
V/ K> TMLsJ.* j
;^ <{;'> ..\>/^J . t'f/IJS
-
-------
2325
379 Jacks on Ave,
GJencoe, 111. 60022
Sept. 24, 1970
Mr. O.W, Klassen . ~ vl
Director " ":
Environmental Protection Agency ,. ., • ,"•""}
c/o Illinois Sanitary Water Board '> s1
1717 W. Taylor T
Chicago, Illinois ' f ; " ^rr ;fe t
, i>?:.'rt f EH!»:
Dear Mr. Klassen:
Thank you yery much for keeping me informed on the Septem-
ber 28-October 2 Workshop of the Lake Michigan Conference.
The Glencoe League of" Women Voters will not be testifying
at these workshop sessions, but I understand that the Lake Mich-
igan Interleague Group plans to speak on thermal pollution stan-
dards. I am very interested in the subject matter to be dis-
cussed, as I have personally studied thermal pollution problems
and standard-setting questions. However, our League has nox
yet completed a formal study and consensus position and is
therefore unable to testify.
I plan to attend at least two of the sessions; and I hope
to be able to thank you personally for so considerately offering
our League time on the agenda and keeping us up to ,date on the
content of the Workshop sessions.
Very truly yours
' Mrs. Richard Schnadlg
Action Chairman
Glencoe LWV
-------
2326
- V?
Orchard Lane
Benton Harbor, Michigan Ii9022
September 21, 19?0
Mr. Murray Stein, Chairman
Federal-State Enforcement Conference on Pollution of Lake 1,'d.chigan
Federal Water Quality Administration
Room U10
33 East Congress Parkway
Chicago, Illinois 6060£
Dear Mr. Stein:
Your announcement of August 31 of a ivorkshop for presentation
of viewpoints on pollution of Lake Michigan has been received,
Speaking as a private citizen '.vhose water supply and many
recreational pleasures come from Lake Michigan, I am opposed to the
siting of any nuclear power plants on the shores of Lake I£ichigan.
In terms of the risk of radioactivity and thermal pollution nresentad
by these plants, the benefits of siting on Lake Michigan are inadequate,
particularly since alternate sitings are technologically feasible
and economically -within reach. A more complete statement asking a ban
on placement of nuclear reactors on lake Michigan is presented in ray-
letter to Governor William Milliken of my home state of Fdchigan, a
copy of -which is attached.
If it be -within the scope of the format of the workshop, I
would ask that this letter, as well as the attached letter to Governor
MLlliken, be read into the record on September 28 or 29, days listed
as dealing with problems of Public Utilities,
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Very trulv yours,
W. D. HDHR, P.E.
cc: Mr. Francis T. Mayo
FlYQA, Chicago
-------
2327
152 Orchard Lane
flenton Harbor, Michigan U9022
July X, 1970
Governor William Milliken
Office of the Governor
State of Michigan
Lansing, Michigan W903
Dear Governor Millikeni
This letter is to request that you and your administration
actively seek a ban on nuclear reactors on the shores of lake Michigan.
Background
The hearings in progress at Kalamazoo by the AEG Licensing
Board with regard to the provisional operating license for the
Palisades Plant of Consumers Power Company have produced indication
that the AEG will seek or consent to oversee water quality effects
of nuclear reactors, including thermal effects* The passage of laws
by the Congress of the United States in 1969 and 1?70, namely, the
Federal Water Quality Act, and the National Environmental Protection
Act, require both a broader interpretation of the Atomic Energy Act
than the AEC has previously been willing to assume and active steps
by the A3C to enhance the environment.
With the A3C about to enter juriadiction formerly held by the
Department of Interior and the several states, a new opportunity
arises to control our environment* Concise leadership on the part
of the State of Michigan, due primarily to our central location and
important dependence on the Great Lakes, can be greatly rewarding
for decades and centuries to come.
Specific Technical
Elimination of thermal effects by use of cooling towers,
and prohibition of discharging radioactive liquid waste* to the lake
as an operational practice, may well come from AEG activities*
These raoves are inadequate to protect Lake Michigan*
The naxiaiua accident involving a nuclear reactor on the shore
of Lake Michigan is to picture it chopped into small bits and dumped
into the lake. This accident, however remote the possibility, would
be unpleasant to Michigan. The 100-year holdup time of Lake Michigan
would mean elimination of the resort and farming industries for
decades. . The source of drinkingwater for millions of people would
be contaminated. The radioactivity passing through the Great Lakes
and the St. Lawrence River would imperil millions more.
Boonomic
If the alternative were EITHER nuclear reactors OR no
electricity, this letter would not be written. But in truth, the
-------
2328
- 2 -
Governor William MilUken July 1, 1970
economic tradeoff involved in this matter has not been discussed,
let alone decided in a dispassionate Banner. And an economic tradeoff
does exist* tticlear reactors sited on Lake Michigan get cheap cooling
water. Non-evaporative cooling towers, which would permit the plants
to be sited in inland regions of low population density, add to the
cost of plant investment* The question involves "How much?" and
"Is it worth it?" A Maryland report on the Calvert Cliffs plant
presents estimates of $28 million and $itO million for additional plant
investment on a base plant size of $200 million* Estimating plant
investaent increase at 20$ for non-evaporative cooling towers, and
recognizing that the cost of producing electricity is a minor fraction
of the "delivered*1 charge to the consumer, the added cost to the
public would be less than 1D% on the electric bill*
Evaluation
TKe evaluation requires the tradeoff of leas-than-lD^ on the
electric bill, known and regular, against the cost (colossal) of an
event of unpredictable rarity (gross disintegration of a nuclear
reactor)* Considering the unique properties of Lake Michigan, true
wisdom requires us to choose the course of accepting the nominal
increase in exchange for preventing the rare possibility of catastrophe
to the lake.
Practical Present
It is tny request that you, as Governor of this state, take
the leadership in the administration of state government by undertaking
steps that will produce a ban on nuclear reactors on Lake Michigan.
In consort with the AEG, the Department of Interior, and the governmental
units of the other states fronting on Lake Michigan, this ban should
be worked out with dispatch.
Very truly yours.
W. D. MOHR, P.E.
General Distribution
-------
2329
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-------
2330
October 8, 1970
11653 N. Wauwatosa Road ?6 W.
Mequon, Wisconsin 53092
Mr. Francis W. Mayo,
Regional Administrator
Federal Water Quality Administration
33 W. Congress Street
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Siri
My- understanding, according~io-Krs» Rheta Pierre, .Secy, to Murray Stein^ is
that the written statements may be submitted for the Official Record of The
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference, Chicago for one week, following the close
of oral presentations, Friday, October 2, 1970„
I would please request incorpoation of the enclosed letter into the official
record, which indicates very recent "happenings?* as the licensing of Point
Beach, on Oct. 6th by AEC.
I would appreciate receiving a. copy of the Lake Superior 1970 Enforcement Con-
ference proceedings, I received copy of the Oct 1, 19&9 proceedings today, and
have already Underscored the text through to Page 24-9*
CONSERVATIONALLT YOURS,
-------
2331
LAKE MICHIGAN ENFORCEMENT
CONFERENCE
It was my understanding that the thermal decree of 1 degree was enforced as such,
though* still in question and "still negotiable". It would have been comforting if
it would not be the burden of the public to "defend" same, for 1 day, while power
companies (by coincidence had their convention in Chicago simultaneously with their
presentation dayso».Monday, Tues. Wed, 9-28-29-30) One can only guess the impact of
expense paid testimony,by experts, versus presentations by citizens,laboriously and
expensively establishing their own private environmental data libraries, subscribing
on their own to outga'-geo'usly expensive scientific periodicals and publications,
without benefit of a federal agency repository for scientific research (research.
grants paid for through taxes and oft with FtfQA funds.)
Since the newly created Environmental Protection Agency wviich became effective Oct.
Ihjftddjybut had a 60 day "grace" period, requested by the President, just in time to
LICENSE POINT BEACH NEUCLEAR PLANT at Two Harbors on October 6th, 1970, Tuesday. So
things weren't in Limbot In effect, while FWQA incites and excites the engineering
debate of the century, negotiating under corporate & political pressure, buying jus.t
enough time for a' fox to his piece de resistance. (EPA includes FWQA., NAPCA, Bur.
Solid Waste Mgmt, Bur .Water Hygiene & Environmental Radiation protection functions
of AEC & p^esticide registration of USDA.) All this, under direct control of the
President (to whom all things are negotiable). (As if corporate structure hasnft always
known political pressurepointsj
Please refer to FWPCA bulletin of Sept. 1969 "HEAT CAN HURT - Better Water for America"
indicating research being carried on at the Natl, Water Quality Laboratory at Duluth
(I've toured same & don't remember the project) & reference to research at the Natl.
Marine Water Quality Lab., W. Kinsington, R, I. WET wasn't the benefit of this research
introduced to advocate the Public's and Taxpayer's re-vested interest?
-------
2332
2.
I refer for your research 'people (if you are not already aware of the article,)
"Thermal Pollution & Adquatic Life by John R. Clark, in Scientific American, March 1969.
I have dozens of papers from scientific journals, and 1-| inches of articles clipped
out of newspapers, touting public interest and concern. It is suffice to say, that
inasmuch as you are charged with the responsibility to protect our public waterways,
(fron whatever deleterious matters, and affects from whatever source) regardless of
political and corporate pressure, 'from WHATEVER source, for whatsoever reason, do so,
forthrightly and with integrity.
Given the foresight to, predict, even with 100$ total inaccuracy, in FAVOR OF the
total environment and the citizens of the Great Lakes Basin Region, it' would be a far
wiser error, than with hindsight, in retrospect 50 years hence, to discover that our
beautifully precious Lake Michigan (& Superior) have attained the dubious distinction
of becoming another errie "Erie" becaused you "chanced it".
Stick by your l^F thermal decision, let technology & cryogenics manipulate the means,
and dedicate yourselves immediately to pesticides, phosphates, chemicals etc. Since
the Bureau of the Budget regulates your questionairre activities from Industry, do not,
in the name of justice, thwart pollution evidence, from whatever state or source, by
keeping it from the printed record.
When will the DETERGENT industry, PETROLEUM & CHEMICAL cartels be confronted, as was
Reserve Mining in the L. Superior Enforcement Conference?
^
Please keep in mind a. potential *xium...THE QUALITY OF OUR ENVIROlMSllT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE.
J^VA
( ConservationaJJttp'jcd^rs , )
\* ^Cv
GRACE
11653
Mequoh,
Member of Natl. & Milwavucee Audubon Society (Bdard) & L'eglslativertbtee for
Audubon Society Natl. Convention - 1971 - K
Wisconsin Resource Conservation Council League
Milwaukee River Restoration Council -Save LakevWiperior Association
Citizens Natural Resource Association Wise. Acade'my of Science, Arts & Letters
National Wildlife Federation - 1970 Conservation Summit, Estes Park, Colo.
-------
2333
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-------
2334
September 28, 1970
Mr. Murry Stein, Conference Chairman
Thermal Pollution Workshop
Sherman House
100 West Randolph Street
Chicago, Illinois
Dear Mr. Stein:
Enclosed you will find a copy of the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce's
Policy on Thermal Effects which was adopted by our Board of Directors
on January 21, 1970,
Ptease enter this into the proceedings of the Department of Interior's Thermal
Pollution Workshop currently underway in Chicago.
Sincerely,
George P. Graff,
Manager, Natural Resources
GPG/sfc
Enclosure
cc: Francis T. Mayo x
Ralph Purdy
-------
2335
MICHIGAN STATE CHAMBER POLICY ON THERMAL EFFECTS
The Michigan State Chamber of Commerce has long recognized the need to
and enhance the quality of the environment in the State of Michigan.- Cooperative
efforts of both the public and private sectors are necessary to effectively promote this
objective.
The Waters of the State of Michigan are an important segment of the environ-
ment and should be so respected. The potential effects of thermal discharges to these
waters are not fully understood. However, it is known that in some instances these
effects are detrimental to legitimate uses, while in other instances they are beneficial.
Recognizing that there are many,needs and objectives in society, and that they
cannot all be satisfied in their entirety, the State Chamber strongly recommends that
the Michigan Water Management Program, with particular reference to thermal effects,
be guided by the following principles:
1. That no single set of regulations is adaptable to all situations.
2. That the management program provide for beneficial water uses, with joint
consideration of alternative costs to society and the objective of preserving environmen-
tal quality.
3. That water quality standards regarding thermal effects adopted by the State
are consistent with the water use management program which recognizes the needs of
our society and further that Michigan industry will comply with all state standards.
4. That any use which has potential of causing significant environmental effects
be carefully monitored to determine theo extent of any effects and the possible need for
corrective action.
5. That prompt corrective action be taken whenever effects detrimental to
legitimate uses are detected.
6. That thermal effects research be promoted in an effort to obtain sound data
from which intelligent judgments can be based regarding thermal discharges.
The State Chamber commends the responsible State agency's accomplishment?
in the area of water quality control and pledges its continuing support and coopera-
tion in efforts to provide an improved environment and high quality water in the State
of Michigan.
-------
2336
F. SCAMMON BARRY
611 HUNTER RD.
BLENVIEW, ILLINOIS
Sept. 27,1970
Francis T. Mayo, Dir.
Regional Office, US Dept. of the Interior
Federal Water Duality Adm.
33 East Congress Pkwy Hm 4-10
Chicago, 111. 60605
Dear Mr. Mayo:
I urge you to use all of your
influence to get the 4-state Enforcement
Conference on Pollution of Lake Michigan
to adopt the strictest standard under
consideration for thermal pollution. I
believe that is the standard announced by
the Dept. of the Interior.
This opinion states: "the
minimum possible waste heat shall be
added to the waters of Lake Michigan. In
no event will heat discharges be permitted
to exceed a 1 degree rise over ambient at
the point of discharge. This will preclude
fche need for mixing zones."
^
lours truly,
/F. Scammon Barry
-------
2337
September 28, 1970
Mr. Francis P. Mayo
Director, Great Lakes Regional Office
IT. S. Dept. of Interior
Federal Water Quality Administration
33 E. Congress Expressway Room lilO
Chicago, Illinois 6o6o5
Dear Mr. Mayo:
I would like to voice my support for the establish-
ment of strict standards controlling heat discharges
into Lake Michigan and other waterways0 There should
be no difference in waterway and discharged water
temperature that cannot be attributed to error in
measurement.
It is time to take decisive action. Caution must be
exercised now. It will be easier to ease restrictions
in light of future findings than it will be to view
useless bodies of water and wish there had been more
foresight.
Yc/urs truly,
C,' .'" f ^ *«,
E. M. Davey
-------
233S
September 26, 1970
Kr. "Francis T. Kayo
U.S. Dept. of the Interior
Federal Water Quality Administration
33 E. Congress
Chicago, 111. 60605
Dear Sir:
I am a member of and dissentient from the Committee on Lake
Kichigan Pollution. I have several comments on heating of
the lake .
1. The bad effects of heating are not now proved. The hot
water discharge from Waukegan steam plant of Commonwealth
Edison has made good fishing for years. Likewise, the waters
of the warm Carribean have good fishing.
2. The real problem faced is what to do about Lake Lichigan
when we think the heat discharge may have deleterious effects.
These effects must be balanced with the effects of a shortage
of electricity.
3. Ecology is important; so is justice. It is not just to
have several government bodies approve the Zion nuclear plant,
and then demand that L'dison spend more millions than planned.
This is particularly the case when the alternative heat exchange
to the atmosphere has unknown effects, also.
4. The proposed standard of the Dept. of Interior that will
prohibit heat discharges of more than 1° above ambient is
absurd. It would prohibit swimming. It would prohibit small
motors. It would prohibit dumping a thtnblefull of boiling water.
It would permit the discharge from Zion nuclear station as long
ss Edison spent uoney on more puraps to push thru a larger volume
of water. If there is any kind of limit, it should be stated
in btu's per minute, or other units of power, .and it should
not apply in the -.'inter.
Yours very truly,
nobert Dover
917 Chestnut Ave .
V/ilmette, 111. 60091
copy:
James ;jriffith
. on L. I ich. irollution
-------
2339
PETIT, SAFEBLADE, LITTLEJOHN & GLASS
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
~T,«= -r.-, HARRIS BANK BUILDING
ADELOR J. PETIT, JR. ADELOR J. PETIT (1892-1951)
JOHN A.SAFESLADE I" WEST MONROE STREET
WILLIAM L.LITTLEJOHN CHICAGO 6O6O3
BRADLEY M. GLASS
EDWARD ATLAS AREA CODE 312
DAVID C. FALLS 726-IO25
JAMES P. MSCARTHY, JR. 263-3O6O
ROY E.OLIN
OF COUNSEL
September 30, 1970
Clarence Klassen
111. Environmental Protection Agency
535 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Murray Stein, Conference Chairman
Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration
Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 20242
Francis T. Mayo, Director, Great Lakes
Regional Office
U. S. Department of the Interior
Federal Water Quality Administration
33 East Congress Parkway, Room 410
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Gentlemen:
I am taking the occasion of this week's Enforcement
Conference on pollution of Jiake_Mi.chj.ganL to register with you
my deep concern for the need to establish and enforce strict
thermal pollution standards.
Commonwealth Edison has been quoted as urging reten-
tion of Illinois' present standards (permitting a water temper-
ature increase of up to 5°) on the ground no evidence exists
proving conclusively that heated water discharges will adversely
affect the Lake.
I disagree with this approach. In this matter, so
directly affecting the public interest, the evidence must prove
conclusively that such discharges will not adversely affect the
Lake. Our Lake belongs to the people. It cannot be replaced.
-------
2340
Page Two
Clarence Klassen
Murray Stein
Francis T. Mayo
September 30, 1970
No harm must come to this priceless resource. Whatever legi-
timate doubts exist regarding the safety of discharging waste
heat into Lake Michigan must be resolved in favor of the over-
riding public interest.
Accordingly, I wish to pledge my support for the pre-
viously stated position of the U. S. Department of the Interior
that: "The minimum possible waste heat shall be added to the
waters in Lake Michigan. In no event will heat discharges be
permitted to exceed 1° F. rise over ambient at the point of dis-
charge."
Yours very truly,
Gl
fa. Mb**-—
Bradley M. Glass, Republican Candidate
for Representative in the General
Assembly, First District
BMG/ak
-------
MRS. LYMAN BARR
1005 WADE STREET
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS 60033
2341
%.
£$JL 0 o b o v
-------
2342
Mr. Francis T. Mayo
Re?io---il Dlroot.Tr Federal Water Quality Control Administration
55 E- O-v-e-js parkway
iouyj, Illinois
Dear Mr. Mayo:
DO NOT PLUNGE US INTO HOT WATER!
THERMAL POLLUTION
is th'j
deleterious change in the normal tenporaturs of water caused by
the discharg-3 cf Kn-jte heat.
THE RISK OF TAMPERING WITH THE LAKE MAY CAUSE THESE DISASTROUS
EFFEC1S,
1. Fill fish
2- Sp.= ad the aging or eutrophiCation (decrease the oxygen) process
of the le
-------
2343
He I e n Ku toj ov
5493 Cornel I
Chicago, IL
Karel Wo Ifson
5210 Dorchester
Ch icago, IL
Mr. & Mrs. R. V. Wee lew
5429 South Harper
Chicago, IL 60615
Diehl Cohen
1357 E. Park Place
Chicago, IL
Brian Dosch
5403 Wood I awn
Chicago, IL
Bruce Fischer
1414 E. 59th St.
Chicago, IL
Nancy Stetton
5950 Dorchester
Chicago, IL
Jean Spencer
5201 South Cornel I
Chicago, IL
Mrs. Seals Sayles
1337 Beechwood Boulevard
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Marc Kaplan
5112 Hyde Park
Chicago, IL
A I i ce Ru bov i ts
4940 East End Avenue
Chicago, IL 60615
Wei I and F. Buchanan
5555 Blackstone
Chicago, IL
John D. Alexander
6219 S. Chapel
Chicago, IL
Evelyn C. Trugran
1606 E. Hyde Park
Chicago, IL
Joyce A. Solomon
1410 S. Rockdale Place
Chicago, IL 60615
Harvey Mantel
1005 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
J. Albrechs
1462 E. Park Place
Chicago, IL 60637
K. Majewaki
5314 Cornel I A
Chicago, IL
Diane Broadbart
5824 Kimbark
Ch icago, IL
Paula Foster
5749 Dorchester
Chicago, IL
Marjorie Feren
5738 Blackstone
Chicago, IL
Pam EmiI
5450 East View Park
Chicago, IL 60615
Helen Bergstrom
5405'S. Wood I awn
Chicago, IL
Judith A. Baer
5345 S. Ellis Ave.
Chicago, IL
Pamela H. Pearson
5541 1/2 Wood I awn
Chicago, IL 60637
Ann Palkovich
5824 S. Kimbark
Chicago, IL
Mary Kay O'Brien
5824 S. Kimbark
Chicago, IL 60637
-------
2344
Eric Anderberg
4821 South El I is
Chicago, IL 60615
Robert E. Mann
5539 S. Horner
Chicago, IL 60637
-------
DEDICATED
THE PRESERVATION OF OUTDOOR
2345
AMERICA
9?aafe Walton league of America
PORTER COUNTY CHAPTER, CHESTERTON INDIANA 46304
To: Federal Conference on Lake Michigan and Its Tributary Basin,
Federal ¥ater Pollution Control Administration,
October 2, 1970
Submitted by: Ted Falls, Pres., Porter County Chapter, Izaak Walton League,
Wheeler, Indiana Ij6393.
Gentlemen:
I would like to offer these observations on some of the papers presented to the
Conference this past few days, to stand on their own merits and without further
qualifying myself. I must take personal responsibility for the technical matter
here presented, but my Chapter stands committed to the position I 'state.
My first reference is to the discussion of the value of Dr. Peter J. Colby's
labotatory work on the effect of temperature on the time for hatching eggs of
one species of whitefish. Dr. John C. Ayres has condemned this work in a widely
published paper, and made reference to this position in his talk before this
Conference. "Evidently, nature knew something important that did not bear in the
laboratory-tank experiments, but what was it?" he wrote. "Patently, laboratory-
tank biology was not what was going on in that warm-water plume." A remarkably
strong effort was made, in the questioning following Dr. Colby's presentation to
this Conference, to discredit his work as inapplicable to actual Lake conditions.
There was an important point to Dr. Colby's work that was not brought out in the
discussion. So long as temperature remains within certain boundaries, the
fundamental process of germination responds to temperature so as to increase the
rate of germination as temperature increases above the lower boundary, then
decreases as the upper boundary is approached. The relationship of temperature
and time is non-linear. A study of the temperature effect on a particular
species in the laboratory will permit the determination of a temperature-time
constant for each temperature, provided that all other factors are controlled to
duplicate the conditions in nature. In a field application of laboratory
findings, two things will be verified: tha applicability of the temperature-time
constant, and the precision by which the other conditions of nature were dupli-
cated.
To discover the values in a curve it is necessary to measure at least four points.
preferably five, if the curve is always rising, or always falling. It is of the
utmost importance to learn if Dr. Colby used this technique. In fact, the curve
he studied rises to a peak as temperature increases, then falls as it approaches
the upper limit of temperature. With this in mind, Dr. Colby evaluated nine
points in a 12 deg. C range. This gave him, in essence, five points for each
-------
2346
FCET5R COTKTY CHA-FTBR. I2AAK WALTCK LEAGUE Sheet 2.
direction. His result was a continuity of the temperature-time constant useful
for field application.
Nature sums the temperature-time constants through the succession of temperature
changes, producing a hatch when the sum reaches its proper point. Every farmer,
and most students of biology are aware of the occurrence of early and late crops
in different years due to the vagaries of weather, and correctly recognize the
importance of temperature in this effect on the many functions of plant and
cold-blooded animal growth. Mien Dr. Colby turned to the field, it became necess-
ary to measure the succession of temperatures in order to sum the temperature-time
constants he found in the laboratory, which he did. The 98$ precision he claims
is an achievement of the first order: a 90^ precision would be highly credible,
and useful in future predictions.
\'e are able to observe the temperature-time effect in many phases of plant and
cold-blooded animal growth. The phenomenon has been discussed in scientific
literature for two or three generations. For many years it has been roughly
approximated in the mean annual temperature of the region. Hence, the northern
boundary of the growth of wild palmettos in the Carolines has been related to an
isotherm stated to a tenth of a degree, soil conditions being equal; and the
development of these plants increases southward as the mean annual temperature
increases. Spanish moss grows wild at the southern tip of few Jersey along the
coast due to the warming effect of the Gulf Stream, far north of its normal
habitat: the mean annual temperature indicates a suitable sum of the temperature-
time constant within the boundaries required by this plant.
"•Dach species has its own temperature-time constant and boundaries. When nature
has established a regular succession of temperature changes, with only minor
variations from year to year, various species will become established according
to their adaptation and adaptability. The fact that there are local, natural '
temperature changes of the waters of undisturbed Lake Michigan is irrelevant:
these are normal for each season, and are repeated year by year. They are
within the boundaries tolerated by the species that have become established.
.Jhen the temperature-time summation and the temperature boundaries are changed,
there will be changes in response of established species; and as the factors
change progressively there will be changes in the species present.
It is obvious, with a cursory inspection of the shoreline of Lake Michigan, that
the present undisturbed Lake is at the lower boundary for growth of certain
alqae. A mile away from the present Michigan Citjr power plant there is a growth
of algae on piles and rocks that has appeared in the last ten years, and was
never there before. That there is a probable increase of temperature is confirmed
by several statements to this conference, reporting the results of careful studies.
The vigor of the growth of algae increases as the power plant is approached, and
is rank close to the outfall where the temperature-time summation is greatest.
It is true that there is a discharge of nutrients from the Michigan City sewage
disposal plant ofl Trail Oreek, and from the nitrates formed in the combustion
chamber of the power plant. ~"e would expect the dispersal of the nutrients into
the outer waters of the Lake to be much slower than the dissipation of the heat,
favoring a more uniform growth of algae along the shore if heat were not an
effective factor.
I hold that Lr. A^-res is greatly mistaken to attack the validity of the work of
Lr. Colby, and that he has failed to take into account directions for study that
are of the greatest importance in evaluating the impact of huge quantities of
heat on Lake Michigan.
There are certain characteristics of a plume that seem to be ignored or not
realized in most of the discussion of this Conference. The water of the plume
-------
2347
PCRT3R COUCTY CHAPTER. IZAAK •ffiLTOy L5AGIT Sheet ;.
moves through it at a relatively rapid pace, disappearing eventually in the body
of water in the Lake. The plume is persistent. Tor it is continuously supplied.
The plume wanders over a fixed area greater than that of the plume itself, in a
slow march as it is affected byi currents.
The rapid rate of flow within the plume has a direct effect upon the water-borne
planckton and nymph stages that might be caught within it. These forms do not
have the means of locomotion to move out of it with any rapidity. Such as may
survive the heat shock of the passage through the condensers do not have time to
increase before they are swept into other waters in the Lake, where they join
their fellows. The question of eventual survival, having withstood the condenser
shock, is an easy one to answer, for a sample can be taken almost without contam-
ination by unshocked individuals from the surrounding water. These can be studied
in the laboratory tank under optimum conditions, comparing them with samples from
the surrounding Lake as a control. In the papers giver. I missed a comparison of
samples from the condenser discharge and from the area close before the intake,
to show the immediate effect of heat shock,
I would like to quote from the article by Er. John C. Ayres entitled "Remarks On
Thermal Pollution In The Great Lakes", a passage in the Position Paper distributed
by MPSCO in August and subsequently: In the plume "there was no cloud of excess
algae in the warm water and no aquatic insects emerged for mating flights into
air that was too cold to let them fly". Er. Ayres forgets, or chooses to ignore,
the fact that the temperat\ire-time constant summation for the tine to pass
through the plume is very nearly zero in the division cycle of algae and in the
life cycle of aquatic insects.
The persistence of the plume is another matter, affecting all the fixed life
forms that it can reach. In this category are the forms of algae that grow
attached to stationary objects, and the fish eggs attached to the bottom or to
debris locked to the bottom. These are subject to shorter or longer exposure to
temperature from the plume, responding to the temperature-time constant and the
boundaries. The effect is very real, and under certain conditions must be
deleterious.
The wandering of the plume negates the conclusions based on the concept that the
plume is a fixed body, and gives us a key for an analysis by which we can predict
the effect with some accuracy. Since the response of fixed life forms is the
summation of the temperature-time constants, the analysis of a plume should be a
mapping of the area over which it will flow in the course of time, taking into
account the temperature-time factor. This will show the true area affected by
the plume: heat-sensitive pictures of a plume at any instant are deceptive.
In Dr. Donald W. Pritchard1 s paper, the concept of the plume in Case IV is very
attractive on first consideration. There are several controversial points,
however. J'o doubt Er. Pritchard made sure that there is enough energy in the
stream at the outlet to create the turbulence that is the key to the reduction of
temperature that he predicts. This is the essential factor in his proposal.
It is important to picture the nature of turbulence to evaluate this proposal.
There seem to be several conditions of flow in a tvirbulent fluid body: vortices
of great and small dimensions; sheets of varying thickness and shape, and of
short duration; and pencils of odd shape of cross-section and varying dimension
and persistence, all forming and reforming progressively outward from the source.
One can see the process in slow motion in cigarfctte smoke floating in a shaft of
sunlight in an apparently still room: in a space of such large dimensions there
is turbulence even though we are not aware of it by the feel on our skin. In the
case that Er. Pritchard sets up, turbulence will be rapid and massive.
-------
2348
PCRTSR COUNTY CHAPTER. IZAAK mLTON LEAGUE Sheet h_.
In turbulent water, the laws of heat interchange will still apply. Bodies of
water will interchange heat as they are mixed, assuming the median temperature,
just as in the mixing of cups of water in the Hi&h School laboratory. This
means that there will be a temperature gradient from the discharge stream
outward, just as in any plume, considering temperature measurement with ordinary
instruments that average the condition in the medium in which they are immersed.
An instrument capable of instant response, fixed in a flowing plume, would show
a rapidly fluctuating temperature as the various vortices, sheets and pencils
pass by. The range of the temperature fluctuations would decrease as the
instrument is moved outward from the initial stream.
In this turbulent body planckton entrained in the original stream will be caught
in the turbulence as the stream "peels off". Mostly, they will follow the
bodies of water involved in the process of dispersion, suffering such temperature
change as might occur in the mixing process. Some will transfer directly from
warm water to cooler water adjacent, perhaps a temperature shock. Further, all
planckton entrained in the cool water drawn into the turbulence will in their turn
be subjected to a sharp temperature change as their water is mixed with the
warmer water from the initial stream. This temperature change will be graded
according to the temperatures involved. Some of it will be extreme. All in all,
it seems that more destruction of planckton will occur in Case IV than in any
other proposal. Unfortunately, the case is offered to justify the highest
temperature discharge of any of the several methods.
Dr. Pritchard is quite correct to predict that the highest temperature to reach
the surface will be materially reduced from the temperature a£ the discharge point.
The average temperature of the plume at the surface will be much less than that
of a flume spreading the hot water over the surface. The consequence of this is
that heat dispersion to the atmosphere by radiation and evaporation will be
reduced: a greater quantity will be retained in the Lake. In turn, the
summation of the temperature-time constant will be effective over a greater area
of the Lake.
Further, turbulence is induced over 360 degrees of the section normal to the
direction of the originating stream. This means that heat will reach the bottom
of the Lake as well as the top. This will affect any plant or animal life that
might inhabit the area.
From the consideration of the heat effects of Case IV, we cannot accept the
proposal as a likely solution of the heat problem in Lake Michigan.
In our personal experience we have learned that there is more chance that an
unforeseen gimmick will destroy an attractive idea than that the idea will be
successful. With this in mind, we have scanned a number of possible side effects
that might develop in the application of Case IV. Two need to be examined. There
is a possibility that a hydraulic jump will form near the end of the jet of hot
water before it is entirely dissipated. It can be avoided by controlling the
velocity of the discharge: it could very well be that the planned velocity will
not be of a value to produce the condition. More likely is the possibility that
the discharge from the pipe will produce a rip. Both will be a hazard to small
power boats that will want to use the area. Theseaand other problems can be
resolved by a model study.
We are intrigued with certain aspects of the economy of power production. The
heat discarded by a power plant is money, as was remarked this week. Looking
at this cursorily, a fossil fuel power plant with a revenue of ?;!?00 million
annually for the sale of electric power is discarding a potential market value of
$563 million or more, and spending money to do it, if electric power is truly
competitive with other forms. For a l^OO million annual revenue from nuclear
-------
2349
PCRTSR COOMTY CHAPTER. IZAAK WkLTOK LEAGUE Sheet 5.
nuclear power, the value of the power discarded becomes more than $1 billion ann-
ually. These values must not be confused with the actual cost of the power
discarded, which, of .course, is much lower but still formidible. In either case
the gold vein is worth prospecting. The electric companies have been peculiarly
reluctant to develop and market by-products. Revenues from the discarded heat
amounting to only 20f? of the above figures will support a heavy investment in
research and plant.
T.Je believe that the ultimate development of power companies will be to locate in
the center of an industrial park, surrounded by heat consuming industries,
or other heat consuming activities requiring space. With proper planning there
will be the necessity for a relatively small dry cooling tower to balance the
demand for heat with the demand for electric power. By locating on a lake shore
a power company is reducing its areafor this option by half; located on the lake
shore between a large public park and a high level residential community, the
option is barred entirely.
Considering that the evidence is clear that heat degrades Lake Michigan in more
than a small degree, and that the increase in generation of electric power, coupled
with the additional heat discarded by industry will approach and exceed the
tolerance of nature; and considering also that the proposals offered for the
control of heat disposal are inadequate, we take- the position that it is correct
to limit all discharge of water to a. delta T of 1 degree. We think that industries
that cannot meet this specification should locate elsewhere. We feel very keenly
that Lake Michigan is of the greatest value as we found it, and that it should
be preserved.
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2350
AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER Service Corporation
2 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10004
•(212) 422-4800
October 8, 1970
To The Conferees
The Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
Mr. Murray Stein, Chairman
Mr. David Currie
Mr. Thomas Frangos
Dr. F. T. Mayo
Mr. Perry Miller
Mr. Ralph. Purdy
Gentlemen:
At the conclusion of the Workshop Session of the
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference, on Friday, October 2,
you heard discussion of a vital point that-needs further
consideration. This was the dialogue on who should bear
the responsibility for measuring the effects of warm water
discharges. Chairman Murray Stein and Dr. M. A. McWhinney
set forth only part of the problem. In this matter, as an
observer of the five days of your Workshop, I would like to
present additional comments.
The bearing of responsibility should be recognized
for two purposes - for enforcement, and for support of a
permit of use. For an enforcement action, many states have
laws that require that the enforcement agency must obtain
and present the technical evidence used to judge and convict
a violation. For the use of a resource such as a public
water, many states insert into permits for withdrawal or for
discharge, the requirement that the user must obtain and
submit suitable observations to determine whether or not he
is doing harm by the specified use; and these states reserve
the right to withdraw or revise the permit if harm is found.
In the discussion between Chairman Stein and Dr. McWhinney,
there may have been some confusion as to which type of
responsibility was to be borne by whom.
-------
-£- J.U/0//U
2351
Certainly, the federal agencies and the state
agencies should collect and present evidence used for any
enforcement action. In addition, they should maintain a
degree of observation sufficient to verify the conclusions
offered by the user from his own studies.
It should be required that the user of a resource
bear the burden or the responsibility of supporting sufficient
evaluation and research to, show that no harm is done by his
use. This evaluation and research should be according to
advance plans that have been approved by the agency that is
authorized to permit the use.
It is often to the benefit of the whole community
to have a third-party evaluation - a citizens group that is
free of the possible biases of the permit issuer and the
permit recipient.
The type of study or research and the processes
of decision are often confused. Should these be investiga-
tions using all of those scientific disciplines that should
be applied? Should the validity of judgments of these
scientific studies be subject to legal review? Or, should
the rule of "the street people", the pressure of hysteria,
replace such deliberative actions? Last week, we heard
intimations of unlawful actions if the governmental agencies
did not move quickly and to the satisfaction of the "street
people."
Should the scientists be considered as capable of
maintaining objectivity without regard to the source of their
financial support? We have heard a great deal of talk suggest-
ing that any scientist who accepts support from an electric
utility is bound to find biased data in his studies, and to
give dishonest conclusions. We have heard this claimed even
in cases where the utility paid no money directly to the
scientist but only had a contract v/ith his university.
Such a financial contamination process could be applied to
other scientists from the same university - even to those
who have expressed contrary conclusions.
If the utility will contaminate any scientist whose
university accepts a research contract with the utility, and
if the utility will contaminate any scientist who works more
directly for the user, how can the utility find out the
truth? And,-how can it obtain evidence showing whether or
not it does harm by its use?
-------
-j- lu/o/yu
2352
If financial support is a basis for disqualification
of scientists, how can either side of a dispute present expert
testimony? Will only the expert testimony of third parties be
allowed?
Chairman Stein and Dr. McWhinney touched on a little
of this, in their noteworthy discussion in Chicago.
In many cases today, the electric utility is required
to support elaborate research by experts who were approved in
advance by the responsible agencies. Then, the work done by
these experts is checked by various of the government experts.
This process is yielding a vast amount of honest information
on the effects of warm discharges. This process should be
continued - and even expanded.
Very truly yours,
T. A. Miskimen
Senior Engineer
TAM/fkr
-------
2353
MRS. MAXWELL MCCROHON
ROUTE i. STUENKEL ROAD September 30, 1970
CRETE, ILLINOIS 6O4I7
Dear >ir. l-layo;
Please be vigorous in opposing any installations
alon% our lakeshores v;hich discharge ^ater heated
more than one decree over the normal lake
temperature.
I am also disturbed about the improper land use
which accounts for industries situating on
disappearing scenic and recreational v/aterfronta^es
which are already inadaquate to the bur^eonin^;
metropolitan populations.
By denying the nrivala^e to private companies to
make use of the lakeshores tnere will be more
impetus to findin,;; adaquate alternatives.
Thank-you very much for your kind attention.
Very truly yours,
-------
->^- 2354
DAN HARPER -BOX £t©, ROUTE 3, CRETE, ILLINOIS
6 * y • 7
ui.s. 07
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ROBERT McCLORY
12TH . '(STRICT. ILLINOIS
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
SUBCOM MITTEESi
ANTITRUST
SUBMERGED LANDS
I.S. INTERPARLIAMENTARY
UNION DELEGATION
2355
Congre&S of tfje 33niteb
of Eepresentattoe
, 33.C. 20515
ROOM 426
CANNON HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
(202) 225-52Z1
DISTRICT OFFICE:
POST OFFICE BUILDING
326 NORTH GENESEE STREET
WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS 60085
(3U) 336-4554
September 9, 1970
The Honorable Carl Klein >-A
Assistant Secretary of Interior
Department of Interior
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
It has come to my attention that conferences will be held in
Chicago from September 28 through October 2 to consider a new
Federal policy directed against Thermal Pollution of the waters
of Lake Michigan. At the time of the application for authority
to erect the nuclear power plant for Commonwealth Edison at
Zion, Illinois (in my Congressional District) 1 called attention
to the need for careful study and resolution o*f the Thermal
Pollution problem.
Notwithstanding the Commerce Department and AEC approval of this
application, the various charges persist that a dangerous level of
heated waters will be discharged into the Lake with possible adverse
effect on marine life and other appropriate uses of the Lake waters.
While it would appear to be most unreasonable at this juncture to
impose new standards which were not anticipated by Commonwealth
Edison Company at the time its nuclear generating project was initiated,
I feel it is entirely appropriate to require that company to utilize
such technology as may reduce to a minimum the heat which may be in-
volved with effluents from its nuclear generating plant. It is my
further hope that your hearings may lead to information or research
which can eliminate thermal pollution entirely.
I regret that 1 will be unable to attend your conferences personally.
However, 1 hope to have a representative present and that I may sub-
sequently receive a report of the conferences which you have arranged.
Robert McClory, M.C.
RMcC/gc
cc: The Hon. Clarence W. Klassen, Director, 111. Environmental Protection
Agency.
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33 ^
2356
JAMES 5LO5S
EOS SKOKIE LANE
GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 6DD22
v 35 y j. Z-6- ^7o
Ln,***-,*- *s* >
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-------
2357
MRS. MAYNARD J. SEIDMON
1064 SKOKIE RIDGE DRIVE, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS 60022
-------
2358
AARON S. WOLFF
M SOUTH LASALLE STREET AREA CQDE 3|2
CHICAGO 6O6O3 FRANKLIN a-5481
September 24, 1970
Mr. Murray Stein, Conference Chairman
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 20242
Dear Mr. Stein:
Since you are Conference Chairman of the
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, I
strongly urge that you do all in your power to avoid
thermal pollution of Lake Michigan. At the forthcoming
Federal-State Enforcement Conference on pollution of
Lake Michigan, I certainly hope that you will push for
adoption of the strictest standard under consideration.
This would be that of the Department of the Interior
which would sanction only the minimum possible waste
heat to be discharged into Lake Michigan or a 1° F.
rise over ambient at the point of discharge, whichever
is less.
Very truly yours,
Aaron S. Wolf]
ASW:sf
-------
2359
AARON S. WOLFF
II SOUTH LA SALLE STREET AREA CODE 312
CHICAGO 6O6O3 FRANKLIN
September 25, 1970
Mr. Francis T. Mayo, Director
Great Lakes Regional Office
U. S. Department of the Interior
Federal Water Quality Administration
33 East Congress Parkway - Room 410
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Dear Mr. Mayo:
Since you are the Director of the Great Lakes
Regional Office, I strongly urge that you do all in your
power to avoid thermal pollution of Lake Michigan. At
the forthcoming Federal-State Enforcement Conference on
pollution of Lake Michigan, I certainly hope that you
will push for adoption of the strictest standard under
consideration. This would be that of the Department of
the Interior which would sanction only the minimum pos-
sible waste heat to be discharged into Lake Michigan or
a 1° F. rise over ambient at the point of discharge,
whichever is less.
Very truly yours,
Aaron S. Wolff
ASWtsf
-------
2360
MRS. LYMAN BARR
1005 WADE STREET
HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS 60035
^ &*jfc*$ GU/Hv
S^AAjLlA/L^.--
-------
2361
F. SCAMMON BARRY. M. D.
1761 RIVER DRIVE
GLENVIEW, ILLINOIS
— Sept. 27,1970
GL. 1-5353
Mr. Murray Stein, Chmn.
Federal Water Pollution Control Adm.
Dept. of the Interior
Washington, D.C. 20242
Dear Mr. Stein:
I urge you to use all
of your influence to get the 4-state
Enforcement Conference on Pollution ©f
Jake Michigan to adopt the strictest
standard under consideration for thermal
pollution. I believe this is the stand-
ard announced by the Dept. of the
Interior.
This opinion states:
"the minimum possible waste hear shall
be added to the waters of Lake Michigan.
In tho event will heat discharges be
permitted to exceed a 1 degree rise over
ambient at the point of discharge. This
will preclude the need for mixing soneA."
3
F. ScamMon Barry
-------
2362
Lake St. Clair Anti-Pollution League
P. 0. Box 63
St. Clair Shores, Michigan ^080
Mr. Murray Stein
Chairman
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
c/o FW/QA
33 E. Congress Parkway
Room *HO
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Dear Mr. Stein:
We wish to thank you for this opportunity to express our views regarding thermal
pollution of Lake Michigan. As you may know the pollution of our lakes, rivers,
and oceans is of primary concern to our group.
It is our contention that pollution in any form is detrimental to the health and
well being of the citizens of this country and the world, and is becoming quite
acute. The argument that only a small amount of hot water will be dumped into
Lake Michigan will not, so to speak, hold water. This pollution added to all the
other pollutants that are being dumped into the lake will only make the problem
worse. As noted in the Clean Water News , thermal pollution will, according to
a report from the U.S. Department of the Interior, have a significant adverse
ecological effect on the lake.
We feel therefore that thermal discharge into Lake Michigan should not be
condoned or allowed. As there are cooling systems available which will apparently
work and are feasible to use, we feel adequate cooling systems should be
made manditory for water cooling before dumping into the lake. Careful site
selection surveys should be made to prevent other potentially dangerous
ecological changes from occuring.
Thank you again for this opportunity.
-------
T -S-Ol
D
V\. *
2363
. .OLLxfi t^£-ii.v oJL .'t
-------
2364
September 28, 1970
Mr. Murray Stein
Conference Chairman
Federal Water Pollution Control Adm.
Dept. of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 2021*2
x>ear Mr. Stein:
I would like to voice my support for the establish-
ment of strict standards controlling heat discharges
into Lake Michigan and other waterways. There should
be no difference in waterway and discharged water
temperature that cannot be attributed to error in
measurement.
It is time to take decisive action. Caution must
be exercised now. It is easier to ease restrictions
in light of future findings than it is to view useless
bodies of water and wish there had been more foresight.
Tours truly,
E. M'. Davey '
-------
2365
-------
2366
Summary
Preli.tmin.ary Report on Sanitary Sewerage System
and Water Pollution Control Facilities
Whiting^ Indiana
- Russell, Schubert, Hanilton and Associates,, lac,,, Indianapolis
1» Existing (a) Dry weather flow to Haramoad for treatment with
effluent discharge to Grand Calumet River west
to Illinois Waterway o
(b) Combined sewer overflow (intermittent) to Lake
Michigan,- Storm water pumping station discharge
to Lake Michigan,
2. Proposed (a) Plan A & B - Dry weather flow to Hammond :, storm
water disinfected and discharged to Lake Michigan -,
(b) Plans C9 D and E • All flow treated and discharged
to Lake Michigan with alternate for discharge to
Indiana Harbor Carialo
Plan A and B •• $7 s (A 3, 000 and $75022,000,, respectively
Flan C, D and E - $6,2^1,0009 $63,360^000 and $5,338,,0005 respectively
Alternates for discharge to Indiana Harbor Canal $260,000 to $380^000
DiEcu3sj.pn
Whiting is served by a coinbined sewer system,, Tlie dry weather wastevater
flov, from the City of Whiting is discharged to the Hamnond Sanitary District
at the Robertadale pumping station for treatment by Hammond <> This procedure
has been in effect since the late 40 ''s* An overflow a-c one point in the
Whiting sower system near -ohe Lake discharges to the Lake -when the lift
station malfunctions or when the newer dovmstream from the lift station is
surcharged,, Whiting also maintains a storm water pijmping station near the
Robertsdale pumping station* At times of runoff fyom rainfall, storm water
is discharged to Lake Michigan.
The Implesnentation plan of the Water Qualj.ty Standards required Whiting
to prov5.de treatment and disinfection of sewage snd storm water overflow on.
or before the end of 1970, When it became obvious that the City would not
aeet this schedule ^ the Board scheduled acci issued an administrative order
to provide the necessary facilities <•• the final order which was issued on
July 21 ,, X970j provided for completion of a project to provide for treatment
and disinfection of sewage and storm water overflow by May I, 19?lc The
order also recommended that Whiting continue to pump its wastewater to ttie
Hammond Sanitary District <-
-------
.?„ 2366-A
Suiatiaty
,
^f.d^'-r^^l. - Tae, preliminary report. which was received on September 8
.i.9?Uj,Tiraf ' copy rfccuivsd Augus. 14-1 provides information on 5 plans aad
recommends Plan E as IL^ most Favor able .
i, Flans A arid B. which ai^e essentially the same, provide for separation
of th-i sewer system with discharge of wastewater to Hammond and
disinfection of storm va'-e-r with discharge to LaJkf Michigan. The
acawx separation construe'! ion coat is estimated to be in excess of
$3.,cto»,ooo.,
-?., Plans C_ D, rir.d E propxse minor improvements to the, sewer system* a
3 raga aeti.T'atv>d slodge-'.ype ^reatsient plant and a 30 sag storm water
dttt,«5ntion bdsiri., with provision for treatment of storm water at the
rate of I mgd prior T>o discharge of effluent, to Lakt Michigan «
\JLternat«;£ are indicated for tertiary treatment at an estimated cor.t
of $500,000 and discharge of the effluent to the Indiana Harbor
Canal in lltr.u of" to Lake Michigan.
Comnifcnts
Sufficient detai.'t is nut provided on the proposed treatment facility
arid tertiary treatment undur plans C, D? and S to determine whether
or not the cost estisaatt is feasible-.
Sufficitnt data are not provided on stor.ro water runoff to assure that
a 3^ fl^S storage basin is adequate to retain all fltsws with treatment
capability of only 1 mgd above dry weathar flo\v\-
Cost, data is rot provide-;} on estimat&c! operation and maintenance <*ost»
in oi-dtT to cuapartj the annual cost to Whiting if it built its own
plant vi th «:h*: cost of continuing to discharge to Hammond „
Ko i/ifonnation is provided on the feasibility of utilizing the sewer
piitns and detention basins a.&. proposed under plans C8 B,, &nd E with
dlsertargt- to haraaorid on a scheduled basis rather than construction --f
a V*«rrt- b
'> Th<; repcrt con-,tjaree thfc (.-onstrucTioft ctjst only of Plan E with th«
Construction cost and Li"eatHK-nt charge by H
TVi'.'f« 4iC inccnsistsncie-^- and obvious errors in the report, so th«t a
proper i-, valuation of all uspecf;s Is not possible.
Tbt proposal by Whaling to provide its own trt5at.nH.-nf provide* for
dirfect discharge T-O fch<; Laku or via the Indiana Harbor Canal,. Whit'. ".;''
plat.i r>n ,
on - Thar i hf proposal, fcr construction of a treatment pl*nt
and dischargf- v,o LA\«: Michigan or a trib^rtary thereto no-v be
OKHer;;;
9/30/70
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2367
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mbol.
The filing time shown
32)UUMA170
M «KAt®3 AS ?1F WAUKESHA «1S 2 *07AC1T
HURRAY STEIN
CARE LAKE MICHIGAN ENFtRCEWEUT CONFERENCE SHERMAN HOUSE CHGO
FAVOR STAN1 AGAINST WATER POLUTION. AM OWNER OF 10N1S IN CONSUMERS
POWER ENV1ROMENT MOST IMPORTANT
MRS 1ETTY PRIEBE
SF120KR2-65)
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Klfits. DAN HARPER-BOX 216, ROUTE3, CRETE, ILLINOIS
2367
O.C. ic ;i^
^ >:i <— .
c-1 t W^ s
,
,,
J -
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TELEGRAM
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-p ^International
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CT 2 AM 9 17
2368
SNA003 <32>
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m 3 AM 9 [7
W MWAS23 EM NL P» < EX MILWAUKEE MIS i 2
SN
CHAIRMAN MURRAY STEIN, ILY 75
FEIL WATER PtLLUTItN CtNTR«L A1VINISTRATIVE HEARING
SHERMAN H«USE CHGt
WE URGE YtUR CtNTlNUEl EFFtRT T« SET STAN1AX1S FtR LAKE MICHIGAN
AT THE TtLERAlLE LIMIT *F WE PERCENT THERMAL AllITItN AB»VE
WATER TEMPERATURE ACC«R»ING Tt SECRETARY tF THE INTERIOR WALTER
HICKEL STATEMENT. WE THE GENERAL PU1LIC MAY NfT IE V«CAL 1UT
YfU HAVE »UR FULL SUPPiRT. HAPPY NEW YEAR BEAR MR STEIN T«
Y«U AN1 YOURS
STAFF «F VIRGINIAS 1EAUTY SALfN 49< EAST SILVER SPRING ELEANfRE
GRACE MANAGER.
SF1201(R2-65)
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\\7 1L1 CV 1
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1970 OCT 2- AM 9 I?
2370
SNA992 (25)(10)MC®3i SN
M SB A003 SV NL ft SHEBWGAN VIS »CT 1
MURKY STEIN
SHE1MAN HtUSE CHGt
THE SMEBtYGAN CHAPTER tF THE IZAAK WALT«N LEAGUE tF AMERICA
AN1 THE SHEBtYGAN CHAPTER MEMBERS SERVING AS OFFICERS ANB BIRECTtRS
9 THE STATE LEAGUE HARBLY ENBtRSE THAT THE WATER TERMPERATURE
INCREASES BY NUCLEAR PtiER PLANT LtCATEB tN LAKE MICHIGAN BE
HELB Tt tNE BEGREE THE STATE LEAGUE IS REPRESENTEB BY
MEMBERS ANB THE SHEBtYGAN CHAPTER BY 215 MEMBERS
E K B«RN PRESIBENT*
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SNA00J
M WSA043 JB PB ASV STEVENS POINT WIS 2 1100A CBT
MURRY STEIN, SHERMAN HOUSE
CHGO
THE CITIZENS NATURAL RESOURCES ASSOCIATION OF WISCONSIN STRONGLY
SUPPORT SECRETARY HICKELS STANBARB OF ONE BEGREE INCREASE IN
WATER TEMPERATURE FROM ATOMIC POWER PLANTS
F « 1AUMGARTNER PRESIBENT CNRA
(1130).
2371
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SNA005 <33M15)MBOf3 CL065
CC SNAOQ4 BY PBC 5 EXTRA SN CHICAGO ILL 2 >OSA CBT 1970 OCT 2
MURRAY STEIN, CHAIRMAN, CARE SHERMAN HOUSE
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SNAOOg (07)(05)CTBO?2 WJ019
W SNB002 HH GOVT PBB SN WASINGTON 1C 2 1©43A EBT 2373
K'URRAY STEIN SN
SHERMAN HOUSE HOTEL CLARK ANB RANDOLPH ST CHGO
BEAR MR STEIN*
IT IS MY UNBERSTANBING THAT THE FWQA WILL BE .CONCLUBING
AN ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE TOBAY CONCERNING THE POLLUTION PROBLEMS
OF LAKE MICHIGAN ANB THAT THE MAJOR PROBLEM ON THE AGENBA MILL
BE THAT OF THERMAL POLLUTION FROM POWER PLANTS.
WHEREAS THE SCIENTIFIC EVIBENCE REGARBING THIS PROBLEM
IS ABMITTEBLY INCONCLUSIVE, IT IS MY HOPE THAT IT WILL BE REGARBEB
AS SUFFICIENT TO PERMIT AGREEMENT ON A SPECIJIC THERMAL STANBARB
FOR ALL PLANTS ON THE LAKE. ANY SUCH STANBARB WILL .NCESbSARILY
BE AN IMPERFECT APPROXIMATION OF WHAT IS NEEBEB. YET IT WOULB
APPEAR NONETHELESS TO BE AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE CURRENT SYSTEM
IN WHICH BIFFERENT PLANTS ARE HELB TO BIFFERENT STANBARBS OF
SF120I(R2-66)
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2374
i^aafe Walton league of America
INCORPORATED
DEFENDERS OF SOIL. WOODS, WATERS AND WILDLIFE
DIVISION
Of FICFRs
Sept l'!70--Sept 1971
\\OMFV-) VI'
919 Uc>* 4Vh -We.
Gary. Indiana
46408
PRESIDENT
Wajne Stapf
1 i34 E Raymond
plamfield, Indiana
46\w
sOU'lHWEST VP
RR3, Box 233
Maitmbulle, Ind.
4bl51
SECRETARY
Mrs. Barbara Rux
1613 Washington
Michigan City, Indiana
46360
NORTHEAST VP
260 Manchester Ave.
Wab,ish, Indiana
46992
TREASURER
Gale S Atwood
3625 Lincoln St
Gary, Indiana
46408
E CENTRAL VP
416 W. Foster
Kokomo. Indiana
46901
W CENTRAL & lfat VP
George Leedy
RR2, Box 47
Plamfield, Indiana
46168
NORTHWEST VP
5808 E. 10th Ave
Gary. Indiana
46403
EXECUTIVE SFCKLFARY
las E Dustm. 1802 Chapman Rd , Huntertown, Ind 46748 . Ph. 219-637-6264
October 2, 1970
To: Federal Water Quality Administration
Statement of:
E. Eugene Minney, President
Interchapter Council
Indiana Division, Izaak Walton League of America
228 N. Raymond
Griffith, Indiana
Gentlemen:
I am E. Eugene Minney, president of the Interchapter Council, an
association of Izaak Walton League Chapters in the three northwestern
counties of Indiana—Lake, Porter and LaPorte. These are also the
Lake Michigan counties of our state, so we know you will appreciate
our exceptional interest in this Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference.
In our region of the state are approximately 1200 of Indiana's League
membership, the vast majority of whan see Lake Michigan almost daily,
and use it recreationally many times each year—for swimming, boating,
fishing, and simply enjoying the change of pace which the Indiana dunes'
region uniquely provides.
We commend the Department of the Interior for recommending a 1°F limit
for temperature elevation in Lake Michigan. We would like to observe
that there has been a good deal of utility propaganda flowing from this
Conference, most of it, we suspect, for public consumption in far off
places, and not especially for the edification of the Conference.
Perhaps some of the officials of the four Lake Michigan states may feel
you have been overly restrictive in recommending a virtual zero-tolerance
for Lake Michigan thermal pollution. We don't think so, and we fully and
without qualification endorse that recommendation.
If in recommending that tolerance you mean to tell the utilities to move
off our Lake Michigan shoreline, and to design inland plant capacity with
completely self-contained pollution control systems, then our endorse-
ment is just that much stronger. Because that is what we think they should
do also.
The utilities have made much point about choosing between more electricity
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Page 2.
2374-A
and the maintenance of high environmental quality. We don't think this is
a choice they should be able to make. Lake Michigan does not belong
to the utilities; it belongs to all of the people, and we are all
entitled to it in an unimpaired condition.
The utilities have produced nothing at all to suggest that their thermal
effluents will be harmless to Lake Michigan. And a great deal of expert
testimony and documentation suggests that it will be very harmful indeed.
It is not gur burden to prove that their activity will further destroy
Lake Michigan. We are not dealing in :the_ir estate; they are dealing in
ours. And this is a distinction the public and its agencies have not
made very well in the past. Other than a lone biologist who seems
willing to be quoted by the utilities—and whose views have been contra-
dicted by other more independent experts—there is no basis at all for
allowing any more utilities to discharge warm water to Lake Michigan.
It would be maddness on our part—raw maddness—to bet the life of Lake
Michigan on the say-so of one or two company-retained biologists, who have
at very least the appearance of conflict of interest. If our Federal
or state agencies allow so much as one more utility or any other industrial
installation to add its pipe to the lake, to discharge anything warmer or
of poorer quality than natural lake water, then such Enforcement Confer-
ences as this one will no longer have a shred of credibility.
We have not rolled back the wave of pollution here in the past five or
six years. The very best that can be said is that the lake is getting
worse at a slower rate. This is because neither the people nor their
governments at various levels have stood firmly enough. We have rational-
ized and equivocated.
Let me point out just one evidence of the grave environmental injustice
the utilities are expecting all of us to absorb. The National Water
Resources Council has predicted an immense increase in water needs by
the year 2020. Water development agencies are more than pleased to flash
these gross figures around, in order to stimulate public support for the
billions of dollars it will take to provide that water. But what the
people DON'T realize is that while municipal, agricultural and industrial
interests account for a relatively modest part of this increased need,
it is the utilities which account for MORE THAN 50% OF THE ENTIRE INCREASE;
and that is for cooling steam generating plants. The immense cost of pro-
viding that water is to be borne by the public. Why should WE pay for
their hot water pollution, and then face them again in an iron ring around
Lake Michigan—polluting our water, graying our skies, and uglifying our
shorelines.
It is long overdue for a reckoning and a re-balancing of these environ-
mental books. The utilities scream to the people of this land that they
must double their capacity every 10 years to stay abreast of demand; then
they go forth and create that demand. They ominously forecast blackouts
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Page 3. 2374-B
and brownouts when their 19th Century methods of operation are questioned.
But if such methods are calculated to pave the way for a new permissive-
ness toward untreated high-sulphur fuels or a free hand in thermally
polluting Lake Michigan, those methods will fail.
The fact is that in environmental engineering the utilities have done
a miserable job, born of regional monopolies and other exclusivities.
It is too bad we haven't yet come up with a way to put the utilities in
the cauldron of competitive economics the way the rest our society has
to operate. At this time, we can't buy somebody else's product if we
don't want NIPSCO's.
But if we can criticize the utilities—and they have much of it coming—
it is also up to all of us to help them make the transition from laissaz
faire environmentalist!! to ecological environmentalist!!. They are right
when they say the cost will be great. They are wrong when they fail to
begin creating the atmosphere in which the cost will be acceptable. They
are wrong when they oppose every effort to tighten anti-pollution laws;
and they have done this, at every hearing in the state of Indiana, where
our representatives consistently testify for better conditions.
If the utilities cannot support the clean water and air proposals that
Interior and H,E.W. have been making, we would think the least they could
do is to relax their fight against these efforts. By following such
a course, their position in requiring all of us to help with the costs
would be quite understandable and defensible. Their present position
can only lead to the conclusion that their primary interest is in corpor-
ate profit, not public service. They apparently see themselves apart
from the rest of us, instead as a member of the same team.
We will have to recognize our share of the cost burden, but the utilities
will have to recognize that the environment they are polluting is not
theirs to pollute, but ours—everybody's—to enjoy and live in harmony
with.
On September 20, the Indiana Division of the Izaak Walton League—with
the full support of our northwestern chapters, adopted a 10-point proposed
policy for Lake Michigan. It accompanies the testimony of our state
executive secretary, and I will not reiterate it here.
But we feel that policy could be the start of the kind of new attitude
toward Lake Michigan which can begin to produce results. Whether some
of its points need changing, or other points added, it recognizes Lake
Michigan as an integral environmental unit. Our generation MUST stop
seeing Lake Michigan as an estate that can be chipped away piece at a time.
It must be seen as a whole, and we must soon decide what kinds of activities
are acceptable in its context, and what types are unacceptable. ANY more
thermal pollution must be judged unacceptable. And 100% effluent standards
must be the next goal we set. If are serious—genuinely serious—about
saving Lake Michigan, then there are no real alternatives to such a policy.
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2375
' i -v v
vi/\
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/J
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^
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2375-/?
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Oct. 3, 1970
Mr. Murry Stein,
Federal Yfater Quality Administration,
Department of the Interior,
'.Washington, B.C.
Dear Mr. Stela*
I found the following telegram awaiting me when
I returned home from the Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference - Octe 2nd.
I -was sorry that I did not have it in time to include it in the statements
made that day - but would like to have you enter it into the records -
Telegram -
"Regret I am unable to leave "Washington to attend the
meeting to be held in connection with standards to prevent
the further pollution of Lake Michigan on October 2nd at
the Sherman House0
Wholeheartedly support a program to make certain that
no significant heat be allowed to enter the lake from Nuclear
Plants. As my activities in the past have demonstrated,
particularly as they apply to halting the dumping of dredgings
into the Lake by the Corps of Engineers, reflects my deep
concern with the problem of pollution not only of Lake Michigan
but all the Great Lakes. Please feel free to call upon me at
any time if I can be of assistance in my capacity as an
Illinois Congressman in pursuit of efforts to improve ecological
conditions."
Congressman Harold R. Collier
10th District - Illinois
Do hope something constructive and positive comes
out of that meeting - to assure the safety of the Lake,, The loss of it
would be a major catastrophy for millions of peoplel
Sincerely, _^
The time to take action is nowll
MRS. J. F. VOITA
229 North Taylor Ave.
Oak Park, Illinois 60302
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State of Wisconsin \ DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
L. P. Voigt
Secretary
October 8, 1970 MADISON, WISCONSIN 53701
Mr. 'Murray Stein
Assistant Commissioner
Federal Water Quality Administration
Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 20242
Dear Mr. Stein:
Enclosed is a copy of a statement of the Wisconsin Wild
Life Federation submitted by Mr. Les Woerpel of Mosinee,
Wisconsin.
I would appreciate your including this statement in the
record of the workshop sessions of the Lake Michigan Enforcement
Conference.
Very truly yours,
Division of Environmental Protection
Thomas G. Frangos
Administrator
Enc.
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Wisconsin Wildlife Federation
Affiliated with
National Wildlife Federation
Post Office Box 7, AAosinee, Wisconsin 54455
September 30, 1970
STATEMENT TO BE ENTERED IN THE CONFERENCE IN THE MATTER OF POLLUTION OF LAKE MICHIGAN.
The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation would like, first of all, to express it's
approval of the United states Department of Interior's proposed regulation not
to allow waste heat discharges into Lake Michigan to exceed one degree Fahrenheit
rise over ambient at the point of discharge.
The question of thermal pollution must be decided now, because, if a tight
limit is to be kept on heat discharges into the lake the pattern of building
future plants will be affected, and it may be equally as economical to build
plants in other locations than on the shores of ready water supplies. If Power
plants are permitted to discharge waste heated waters into the lake the precedent
will have been set for future concentrations of these plants around the lake.
If allowed to dump heated wastes more leniently the time will surely come when
the orders will have to be tightened up, and it will be next to impossible to
secure compliance with desired waste heat discharge goals.
Regarding Industrial and Municipal discharges of wastes into Lake Michigan
or any of its tributaries, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation has long been on
record that they should be mitigated and stopped as soon as is humanely possible.
No material progress in cleaning up these waters can be made with a lienient
attitude toward polluters, whether of private or governmental origin. An example
is the doubling of the solid waste load in the Wisconsin River over the past ten
years, a period when everyone thought great effors were being exerted to cut the
amounts of such wastes being discharged into the river. We therefore urge that
every effort be made by the various state pollution agencies and the Department
of Interior to set standards which can realistically attain a goal of lower
discharges into the waters of Lake Michigan and its tributaries in a reasonable
period of time, And that the goal not be reduced percentages of waste from a
plant or municipality, but reduced total discharge regardless of expansion of
operations.
Signed,
Les Woerpel, Secretary
Wisconsin wildlife Federation.
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STATF OF ILLINOIS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS 62706
October 9, 1970 AREA 217 ' 525-6580
Mr. Murray Stein
Conference Chairman
Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
United States Department of the Interior
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
Washington, D.C. 20242
Dear Chairman Stein:
The authors of the enclosed letters were unable to be present at the
September 28 - October 2 Workshop relative to the question of thermal discharge
into Lake Michigan. They therefore would like to have these letters made a part
of the official record of the Workshop.
Sincerely,
C.W. Klassen,
D i rector
Ends.
THE NEW ILLINOIS
imodato
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bOA 2rar, nuU i t Jfr, CHt 1t,
<"<"//7
n
, I*
,,
RECEIVED
-v^'f-1- pr.oTECT!:;j. AGCNCY
TATE orra'-!:io:3
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MRS. MAXWELL MCCROHON
ROUTE I. STUENKEU ROAD
CRETE. ILLINOIS 6o4i7 September 30, 1970
Dear Mr. Klassen;
Hopefully you will support Open Lands and all the
environmental organizations which oppose the
discharge of heated water into Lake Michigan and
propose a standard of discharge no higher than
1 decree at the point of emtrdssion of heated water.
The effects of heated water are not known at this
time. V/e can no longer afford to pursue traditional
practices which have accounted for the cesspool
conditions affecting our inland waters.
Thank-you for your attention.
Very truly yours,
EiVED
OCT 51970
rrj. PROTECTION AGENCY
STATE OF
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6 \J '3 I *•>
p. SCAMMON BARRY, M. D.
I7SI RIVER DRIVE
Sept. 2?
,„
» OLKNVIBV.miNOl.
SIM -
Clarence Klassen, 111. Environement
Protection Agency
535 W. Hefferson St.
Springfield, 111. 62706
Dear Mr. Klassen: I urge you to use all
of your influence to get the 4— state
Enf6rcement Conference on Pollution of
Lake Michigan to adopt the strictest
standard under consideration for thermal
pollution. I believe this is the standard
announced by the Dept. of the Interior.
This opinion states:
"the minimum possible waste heat shall be added
to the waters of Lake Michigan. In no event
will heat discharges be permitted to
exceed a 1 degree rise over ambient at
the point of discharge."
Thank you. for your attention.
Yours truly,
P. Scammon Barry
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NINETY-FIRST CONGRESS
_
EDWARD A. GARMATZ, MD., CHAIRMAN
LEONOR K. (MRS. JOHN P.) SULLIVAN, MO. WILLIAM S. MAILLIARD, CALIF.
FRANK M. CLARK, PA.
THOMAS L. ASHLEY, OHIO
JOHN D. DINGELL, MICH.
ALTON LENNON, N.C.
THOMAS N. DOWNING, VA.
JAMES A. BYRNE, PA.
PAULO. ROGERS. FLA.
FRANK A. STUBBLEF1ELD, KY,
JOSEPH E. KARTH, MINN.
WILLIAM D. HATHAWAY, MAINE
WALTER B. JONES, N.C.
RICHARD T. HANNA, CALIF.
ROBERT L. LEGGETT, CALIF.
MICHAEL A. FEIGHAN. OHIO
FRANK ANNUNZIO, ILL.
SPEEDY O. LONG, LA.
MARIO BIAGGI, N.Y.
THOMAS M. PELLY, WASH.
CHARLES A, MOSHER, OHIO
JAMES R. GROVER, JR., N.Y.
HASTINGS KEITH, MASS.
G. ROBERT WATKINS, PA.
HENRY C. SCHADEBERO, WIS.
JOHN DELLENBACK, OREG.
HOWARD W. POLLOCK, ALASKA
GEORGE A. OOODLING, PA.
WILLIAM G. BRAY. IND.
PAUL N. MC CLOSKEY. JR., CALIF.
LOUIS PREY, JR.. FLA.
JACK H. MC DONALD, MICH.
ROBERT J. ABLES
CHIEF COUNSEL
ROBERT J. MCELROY
CHIEF CLERK
{jETOttttttlttCC Olt
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%)tmst ©ffice JBuilbins
i, B.C. 20515
October 12,
Honorable Walter J. Hickel
Secretary
Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Secretary:
I wish to bring to the attention of your agency certain
matters with regard to the Four State Lake Michigan Enforcement
Conference dealing particularly with waste heat emissions into
Lake Michigan.
It is my wish that this communication be included in
that record and that it be carefully considered by you in con-
nection with actions to be taken on heat emissions into Lake
Michigan.
I would call to your attention your responsibilities
under Public Law 660, as amended, dealing with different forms of
pollution, including heat emissions. In addition to this, I would
very forcefully direct your attention to the Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 which imposes upon you the duty to interpret your
fundamental statutory and regulatory authority and responsibilities
so as to assure a clean, wholesome and desirable environment.
Your agency is even required under Section 103 of the
Environmental Policy Act to submit statements as to how you pro-
pose to bring your regulatory and statutory authority into con-
formity therewith, and upon failure to be able so to do, to report
to the Congress advising this body of how your statutory powers,
duties and authorities should be changed to come into conformity
with the policy statement of the Environmental Policy Act.
Pollution of the Great Lakes system is a major aesthetic,
conservation, environment and resource problem. Lake Michigan is
perhaps the most endangered of all the Great Lakes because of the
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- 2 -
low level of flow into that Lake and the long time that pollutants
of different kinds remain there before being carried out by flow
of water. Massive heat emissions of the kind contemplated by the
chain of thermonuclear and conventional generating plants around
its shores not only will be a major source of pollution, but will
constitute forces bringing about significant changes in the ecology
and environment of the Lake. In addition to this, massive heat
emissions will increase the effect and hazard of other pollutants
dumped into the Lake by industry and cities.
It is my understanding that most of the operators and
those associated with the nuclear and conventional generating
plants which have appeared before your agency have given you to
understand that the choice is between heat pollution and no plant.
I wish to bring to your attention that this is not the
choice, but that there are a number of alternative methods whereby
the emission of heat into the Lake may be reduced or avoided
altogether. Cooling towers, settling ponds, holding basins and
dilution of the water by pumping of extremely cold waters from the
depths of the Lake are all available to the users in addition to a
number of other technologically and economically feasible devices.
I specifically call to your attention the fact that the
National Science Foundation has made a significant grant to Scripts
Marine Laboratory in California to study pumping of water from
extremely deep levels to be used both for cooling and dilution of
cooling returns so as to restore the water to temperature approxi-
mating that of the surface levels of the recipient water body.
I wish you to know of my strong feelings on this matter,
and I sign this letter as Chairman of the Subcommittee having
jurisdiction over the Environmental Policy Act, which I would have
you know imposes a far higher lej«»±-«f responsibility on you than
many of the witnesses appearing before you have had you believe.
John D. Dingell. Chairmant
Subcommittee on Fisheries
and Wildlife Conservation
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Oct. 13, 1970
Mr, Murray Stein,
Federal Water Quality Administration
Department of the Interior,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr, Stein:
On the last day of the Lake Michigan Enforcement
Conference (October 2, 1970), mention was made of the fact that
additional statements would be accepted for the records, if mailed to
you during the following three or four weeks.
There is so much I would like to say in this
regard - much of it already said by other excellent speakers that day -
and yet I would like to add my part to all the opinions expressed. I
thought it could probably be best said by a letter I recently wrote to
Mr. Donald C. Cook of the American Electric Power Company, for whom the
Nuclear Plant at Bridgman, Michigan has been named. And so - am
enclosing a copy of the letter, together with the enclosures I sent to
him - all of which are relevant to this matter.
Please consider these copies as my statement.
Thanking you for this opportunity to
help in the matter of trying to save Lake Michigan for future generation si
Sincerely,
MRS. J. F. VOITA
229 North Taylor Ave.
Oak Park, Illinois 60302
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Copy to - ftr. f»10aa
wr« ;ioaal r,tt«ad^ijo« all three d*-yt of fch« hn^ri (-; i«
to the iftllsados --tomie -sorgy Hl«nts - hold la Salaraazoo roe&atly, IM only ^lonned on
»tt»rKti:i{* tho seseic-.is the first day, bat fotiad them aa ifeaoinmti.if; that It srfta im-
possible to stay away,
y-u to Juaw -was that 1 was doll-htsci with the
•asy yo« oc/wlaofoM t.*» ma^ti-tg » ye»-sr opwjj-ratadednsBs throughout • ec«J y«;r ^irana
ir. »rfi»t I felt tae tho right 'c . ~. wlu si" '» of tba rao;rfci;sg» For, swrel^', as you eul<2,
f^ero i»r-*> setters that nrarie.* fUrthar co.it; idaruti it bofors ths> permit oo-.ld be
i^^pueti. •..•«» so ia to be *»t a turni.'ig polat in the history of btonie «3n-jri*yt wh«n vt»
med to -dve nore CDAsid^mtion to th» tot»l imp«iet an the savirojiaeiat, wiich its so
important for th-s ruturn of out o«j-mtry» purely iss need elaotrioity smd aauelear B
ew«Bi to bfi the u.ie?wr, but thnr^ u.ro -flays th»t c^jr air f«»d w\t-ar oun be protected sad
xvo n«n»d to 9R^»i»i8o this to th© fNllwat ia devels^jiHg this oar osarirorwjntal or i s^a wo b«gia.d«^ fco foro« us
to a ;aoro r«»tlG«ui ii» tho n*»r future &a Sipj.>roaoh to the resional, aatir«ial 'ad
Q intermti->r;s*l pjManing of pO"*«r pl'yst siting thut will ooasidor
bftsfe will iicluda eavlrmMasitital effects such a* than**.! «C'£«ets oa
r s?y3ttjns, fair pollution problems BS det«rmi"ic<} by reci!>-ig-l
itl :s fxod populati.'M daasities, thatlo.;s &ad ja^ay othor factors that ar« ncrt now ooiitrRl oon»
'se in the aiti'v; of poiior plants, aot to ;«»jntiai the plsuitd::^ of
raore ir,^;jimttiv© tn^rfy syat«ns • * . . » Local th«riafil effects ar«i a nueh
<;ror.J;»r ~>robl9;i «ixl arr- alroiidy noWc^blo, -*e will havo to Disperse the hoat
pro^.'ueo*! -»orH eJ'r^fiilly, Curfcaial,; if in are coinj; to uae our energy to continue
to hoawfit {!au» »a*3 not harm hi» or his anvirtajwoat, we will h&vo t;> / ivc fw
grodtor oo.mideratlon to th*» wiisag«JKont of whftt le now our -?»ste lios-t. I boll >w
tMs «r-a bo d-»i« by better slta planning, funti Tdth th» pro^r us® of now »ad
olijig tf9chnolof;i«o, such as ooo'i-ig toworo - of bot;i th*> wot und dry
ty - hol<)i ^ po/-M3a, oanals, c«d other aotnotis."
So - 1 fe^)9/
n is r^sRiasd an July :ilst. I hfjpe to bo pr*»"-«nt -o*ki v*vnt to tii^nk v
y for ,yo-r o?'rort8 in t/-.!a ar.ttor, fta«l for yc^u*
-------
Copies to - Secretary he ear Ur, #ranois T» myo
Senator idmurd amide Oov, '«aa» G. adl liken
Senator Philip »rt Michigan j*pt«, of Natural Useources
secretary waiter J. liiekel Carl L. Kloin
Donald C, Cook Br, Glenn aeaborg
July 9, 1970
Col, Jaraee T* Ifoite, Jr.
Amy Corps of Ssfceineers,
?, 0. BOX 1027
Detroit, Mich. 48231
Dear Col, Whlt«t
!*st week my husband And X visited the nor completed inf orafttion
end Visitor e' Center at th« Donald C, Cock Nuclear flwit, Brtdg»m, Michigan, There
X learned you havw not yet granted the permits for the proposed temporary harbor, or
for the installation of the pipes for the "cooling qyeteW, You oan believe X HAS very
thankful to le&rn this fact.
&ee*ntly 1 have attended several hearings which have been jaoat
in tore sting, -jjd which X believe represent a turning poiat ir, the environmental nrot«o>
tlon story, which will influence what is to b* dona in the future to stop pollution tu
all its forma*
Fir at * the I**ke MiohJ^n 'nforoenent Conference, held in Chicago
on Jfey 7th, established tho fact that th» i'epartraent of the Interior thought it advis-
able to set a new standard in rogard to tharraftl pollution, as followoi "The
isaat« heat chall b» added to the waters of Lake Michigan, Xa no oireaat trill
heat disoharges b* poraittod to ejco»«d 1 degree F* over aabiant at tho point of discharge,
This Trtll preolude th» ae«d for mixing semes*" X undsratiand that the four states border-
iag on Lake Michigan are now eoneideriag this net? standard, to put it oa a working basis,
Second • the abating held ia Balaoasoo, tiiohig&n on Jttne 23,
24 and 25, in \-zhlcJt the ^Socdo aorgy Coenisai >n oaoduetod & hearing In regard to grant<»
lag a prorisi >oal oporating license to the Consumers Power Company for the opening of Its
BOW ooopletad falisadas ftoolear Pl^at, Four eaviroi^wntal groups, joitied by the sierra
Glob, together with aersral lasers i^to gaim their sendees vithoat pay, brwght ia enough
evldanoe that Mr* 'jam Jeasoh of the ^tonio Safety and Licensing Board adjoined the tasotiag
after three days of testinooy, sineo he beoarae co-nrl^ced there were too nany issues to be
resolved, requiriisf, furthnr InforavblJa on all types of possible pollution connected with
the operation of the plant* Therefore ho called for & reoess, without issuing &ny permit,
askine that further data be presontod by all parties involved - the hoarlng then to be
reconvened oa July 21st, The deciding factor in all this, it se4nat«v«^r the final outoos-« of this Atonic .nor^y
Coanission hearing is, it will also be pertinent to the Done Id C, (took Plant, and we wot
to be sure that the necessary changes in their plans are considered notr*
Just this morning ia the news report, *e learned that president
Hlxon has organised a new Federal SBvlronmantal Protection Agency, that -will hnve coo-
plete charge of all Hatters pertaining to the protection of the enviromant. With all
these new agencies and laws beinf, sot up, it eeoas to us that the Ansy Corps of 'Acineere
should not grant any permits to the Donald C* Cook Pleat at the present; tisw, awaiting
the new standards that will inevitably be set to govern the development of nuclear
energy. You sorely wo-;ld be doing the Indiana and Michigan hleotric Coop&ny a real ser-
vice cy delaying the granting of these per nit a, so that they will aUoB no costly nistokes
that will later have to be rectified.
Wli do hope you will add the Aray Corps of engineers to the list
of organisations who are now actively concerned in all fonts of pollution - and assure you
•ns will greatly qpprooiate your efforts in this regard.
Sincerely,
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Copies to - Senator Philip A. Hart
Michigan %tor Resources Commiseioi.
Mr, Donald C. Cook, Pres. fan. Power Co,
Col. James T. White , Army Corps
July 9, 1970
GOT. 'to. G, Mil liken,
State of Michigan, Lansing, Mioh. 48926
">ar Gov. Millikent
Ifey I preface my remarks by saying that for the past thirty-three years we
have been spending our summers in Michigan . and have come to feel that it ranks above most
any state in the union for sheer beauty and enjoyable features. We have adopted it as our
favorite place to be - and in the very near future hope to make it our permanent home*
Heedless to say, it is the big lake itself that is the most appealing aspect of our lor*
for Michigan and we are very rauoh disturbed by what has been going on in recent months to
undermine this moot ealient and important natural resource*
Ju.rt two wsaks ago I attended a three day hearing at Kalaraaeoo, in which the
Consumers power Company was seeking a license to operate its now completed mlisades Nuclear
Plant, Zt was a most interesting and surprising meeting in the fact that the Atomic Energy
Commission completely reversed its thoughts that it -was not concerned with the thermal
pollution that would result in the heated water to be introduced into the Lake at 28 degrees P.
As you are aware, I am sure, the meeting was adjourned, without the granting of the permit,
in order that more avidonce and factu*l material be produced by all parties concerned -
to be reconvened on July 21 et. There is no way to predict what the outcome will be - but at
least we conservationists feel there is hope}
Now - what I am moat concerned about is that during this moating the fact
wae constantly brought out that the state of Michigan has set no standards in regard to
Lake Michigan* Your attorney general (or it might have been someone who represented him)
gave evidence to this fact and could promise nothing in the way of future regulations*
This is hard to believe in the face of the fact of how important the Lake is to the entire
state in ways that wot Id take pages to enumerate. Via cannot understand the reason for this
- and do hope that in the near future steps will be taken to correct the matter - which is the
reason I am calling it to your attention*
I am sure you are aware of the importance of this matter, when the Department
of the Interior proposad t. limit of no more than one degree rise at the outfall of each
plant. As I understand it* this propos&l must be acted upon by a conference of the four
states involved. Hay v* say, we are hopeful that the state of Michigan will fulfill its
obligation in this matter, setting a state standard as nearly in accordance with this propo-
sal as is pfaotio&lly possible. If this happens, our confidence in the leadership of this
glorious state will be renewed and intensified*
May I suggest that before you and your colleagues come to any definite
conclusion that you look carefully into the regulations set forth in two acts passed by
Congress since April 1, 1970 - both the National Environmental Policy and the Wter Quality
Act, It was facts brought out in regard to these two recent Congressional acts that caused
the Atomic Energy Conmlssion Licensing Board to look further into the matters involved and to
continue the abovo .mentioned hearing at a later date*
The Palisades Plant was designed and built, meeting the standards (or lack
of standards) - and now it is ready to begin operations - and so far cannot obtain the license
to do so. It surely is not fair to the Consumers Power Company or to the Indiana & Michigan
Power Company to plan their facilities under conditions like this. Our sumitwr home is just
a mile south of tho Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant under construction. They at the present
time are endeavoring to get a permit to introduce heated vt&t&r into the Lake at 21 degrees P.,
and •".£ far as I know the Army Corps of Engineers have not as yet issued the license, What
must be hold it up is the uncertainty as to the laws of the state of Michigan,
1-0 vdll ^ea*ly appreciate your efforts to rectify this situation, keeping
in mind that nothing should be permitted that would in any way cause the deterioration of
Lake Michigan.
Sincerely*
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14, 1070
Hr» Dem 3d C. Coda, Pro aidant,
•fiaoriofta !il@etrlo power Cor^jfiay, Iae«,
2 Broodisay, Hew York, 1«Y, lOOQ-i
Dear ISr. Cooki
Ifc tea bean soae time ainoe \» hssve been if} eaetnunioafeion. So sa»fe
hag happened in just the past few weeks - and thore Is so EJEWA to talk about, 1
knew *or0 to begin, Since you hwe b«sa kSnd enough to giro attention to
letters to yo>», 1 am again taking the opportunity to talk with you about
first, I tjonltl like to toll you about the pl««aitro t» fed on s reocsat r&Jay
of beiar: guests of the Indiana and MiehlfWj i^ver Congmny at your recently atoned
Cook 'tableo? Crater, Kr. Pruolasffiiller sent all of us Sa the aroa a letter oi* JL
tioo a«J M-ay todt atl?nnte/;o of the opportuaivy to l«an» what is boiii^ doas ^«Jd of tho
progress thp.t heta bean a&de. The Center surely is aw aro<oe-iisrsl gats, uafl tho l**na»
aoaplng is b««utiful --JKI so 4ppronriut« to the OT$!tnt ot i'-aliaaaeo P&rk,
Two moat tmoxp^ct'X? rteTBlojnonts hnvs cons out of these
(1) The propoaal that "in no erent tdll hf«t tfi0cjj*.r§os be
to 9-XSG9& 1 dsgr3« F, rise over asibiont at the point of disohftf ge, thus precludlr'K
need for alxlng *«9o»''» • this beiag propoaed by ti» Bepartrneafc of tSto interior, AS I
under cfearstl it, the ftair statoe bordering on lutea Miohigan ore now to the process of
ew&luofei&ij tl\ia proposal In the hojw of arriving at a worJaable solatii,n, 1« dstemlning
jusS vAat hiss safe, porsisiagabla tessgjeratur* ahould be for water returned to the?
fhls -sdll in oil probability tftk® R,t lo^st tfljt to nine nusjths to aoooaallah, So -
huvr to «ait to SB© whut oorasg of
(2} Tho a0otia^ at Kalomaaoo, oo£id«otad by a .:;o4^rfl o.? tfoe taaie
t, in regard to thfj grtuit'ng of a liconee to op-Tat© to the Congisaers i*£r «r
for its now ocrapleted plaint at faliaadea - prodtwxx* a moot aaaapeetod txtaujt -
a complete rsvcreal of a sfciiatl"tho .Atonic '-acrcy ConRlaaiiin has t«*4sea la the gnot, AS
t«Rs sfcatfld by tJwt Board wipwatgdly at t:« opoaiag of the meeting* it oae act otaioeraoij
with the probl*«3 of "'tharaal pollution'1 - but at the end of tiro© dayo a reoesa \iaa
oallod so that further srlrionoe ootild be brought in by ail parties oc.'soeriio^, I ea
onolosing a oow«sap«rr report -wtfdoh covors fcfk> throo day hearrLig -mito adeqnatoly« but
wish to aay furtbar, that tho latter who gpvo bis oervieas without ohairge, pros««i*-,Gd his
oese for the esnaarrotioa Sf*s£>« in a brilliant manor, les^i.iG no doubts thut tte racozatly
passed Congressional Acts (both Sho -wriromonrtal Art anfl the *ktor ^ii-lity Act)
a ooajjl:-te review of Btanelards thnt hsw» boon f®lt adot^uate Ln the past, AJ-d so, ae
sfcatoS above, tho haRring ^as recessed after three days, to 00 reooiWsjaiod CM July
I ho;>e to be present at ttot tine,
With the above la mind, yfca oan toMgl-ie ho-,? aurpris-^ %afl
TW all *«re to learn that th» Angy Corps of an^iaews just within the aasfc week ma
granted tho t"X> panaits *loh i««pe boinc oo:ite8to<< by rarity grow^a aw? iixlivlduftle !.•« this
area . In i-Js® face of th* fact that so wuoh is developi:is &!»>?,, tsio lino Just at tMs
It aeeras to en thi« is wost shorU-oi^hted at a tins vjh>?n ncn7 ofcf -.^fiJTc' s &re in the
-------
- 2 .
process of being set * aad before all the evidence it in, For* surely, i&at happen*
at the aeettng la Ealaaajjoo aext mek all! apply to the Donald C. Cook Plant as well,
A* I an sure you are aware, president Utxon le at present setting up
a a*w InnriroasMotal Protect Icn Agency, dravrlng the mt.Jor eleraonte of pollution fighting
agencies under one unfcrella, for a concerted battle to clean up the nation' 9 air and
water, Sorely this aew a^eacy will bo above the Anqr Corps. if it is to be effective at
all* and at last the long history of horrible instances of envlranaozital deterioration,
which has rightfully bean pluoed At tha doorstep of the Corps, will be brought to an end.
2 ftj* asking that you give consideration to the copies of letters X have
written to various concerned people - especially to the letter to Hr, tea Jeneoh, la
nhfteh I how> quoted frca a roeeat speech by Or* Glenn Seaborg, which bringe out th»
fast that be too is baooatne «m*re that new standards i»v« to be set, as fppiied to
atonic energy, to protest the enviroas»nt«
Then •> there is the article about new plans to u*9 the hot water
of Suolear Plants * a study being eoadooted at the Oak Kidge flational l«tbore.tary *
t
whioh show that new and oongtructire mays are being earisioas4 for the use of «mat is
now "wast,® heat1**
X know you do feel that there trill be ao ham to the take by adding heated
water. But from all the eridttwe I htvre heard* there is «wmh fooling «ad knowledge to
the ooatrary. The Open Unds Project (entirely funded by oonoerasd buainass aea and
individual aitisens) begpn in a siall «ay, being interested ia preserving the eaviroaoent
in the Ghioago area, KM now, just irtthia the last few troek's, extending their aotivitiu*
and o'MCernfl to the satire Lake Michigan area, including all four states bordering on
its shores, «o that with this larger organization they oaa becows more effective ia
their efforts* they are t»ry «wh oonoerned with the thenaal pollution aad are putting
all their efforts and wiantlfio toowledgs to work to stop it.
As you aight r«iaeaA>er, m haye spent over thirty euoraers on the late
in this area (Just & Mile south of the Cook Plant) sad I have seen the iafee constantly
deteriorate, '** now hnw algae most of the tine * ss-wthinc t^t ttas onJmown a few
years ago - all due to the aisttae of the l^e» by industries ^ad isunicipeJLiti@s over a
long period of tins* So, the adding of "heated wator" is <& real danger* especially a»
it is ridded to tho pollution that already ia present in leJco Miohi^o* Dr» Ayros hiaeolf
admitted at the open hearing in Bridgpitt this spring that there would be algae in the
immediate vicinity of the Pl&nt and whan pressed for <*a anewor as to hotr far, as said it
wiltf probabl;; cover & adle or two eftoh T»y. This is terrifying to us who are within
that vicinity, but also for w^ny others mho coma to the beaches for relaxation and
reoroation, Ia the past two sunasrs ne havw had days wh0a the algae «ag so severe us
had to stay eaay from the lake until the condition iiaproved* .« would read ia tie
paper - ^Donuld C. Cook, president of /werioaa Fo*r Company, has node the decision to
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• 8 -
|»~farther * that
«A.th all that has been happening in the past few wok* * all the reeest f ladlnge anA
rrriead theorise that has been of concern in high place** from President Nixon on daw
through the various bureaus ftnd ocnaisaions ia the goveraasnt - you will proceed aoro
tloety end with aore thought in *11 thcdt is being pltMtasd for the Donald C, Cook Plant*
X do hope that sone tin* tie Right aeet* As X told you in a previous
letter, X had the pleasure of nesting several of your toy sen from the Hew York sjrea,
«*xan they were present at the publis hearing at Brldg«a» this spring - and so &» hoping
that in sosao future visit in our area, it ndght be ny privilege to meet end talk with
you* You are cordially invited to be a gn^st in our hotae in Oanewoodl, on the l
-------
An article from "The Rational Enquirer*
1BW PLOT WILL USE HOT WATER WASTE CF NUCLEAR PLANTS TO HEAT AND
coca. CITIES
Instead of polluting lakes and streams and klll& g fish by the thousands
as it does today, the hot water expelled from nuclear power plants could be of vast
benefit to nankind, a noted atomic eeientict says*
It oeuld be used to heat and eool entire cities, maintain huge greenhouses
for food crops, and even help solve other pollution problems such as waste disposal.
This is the picture painted by Sanu&l E. Beall, head of the Nuclear Reactor
Division at Oak Ridge national laboratory in Oak Ridge* lean, Beall says much of the
energy generated by atomic reactors is lost in the water used for cooling then. By
utilising this wasted power, he told The Qdqulrer, industry eould turn a potential
environmental ft aaster into a blessing*
With this in mind, he noted, a new division of Beologiaal Sciences has
been set up at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to search for ways to turn the
liabilities ef nuclear energy into assets* "A large eity could be heated and cooled
with the throw-away heat from nuclear plants, and it could be done more cheaply than
with electricity", Beall said, B» explained that the hot water could be piped into
the city and used to operate heating and refrigeration equipment*
The hot water could also be used to heat giant greenhouses, thus creating
additional food supplies stt to feed entire cities, Beall suggested* "With a constant
flow of hot water, temperatures and humidities could be regulated in greenhouses to
greatly increase the productivity of existing acreage* By using the land All year round
for three separate crops, one acre of land under such a greenhouse could produce up
to 600,000 Ibs. of tomatoes, for example - or 10 times ae much as an average outdoor
acre."
The otherwise wasted heat from nuclear reactors eould also be used to
evaporate waste water in sewers, Beall said. Then the purified water produced by
the evaporation eould be recycled into water treatment plants for human consumption
- without costly purification procedures*
A team of 60 scientists, headed by Dr. Stanley Auerbaoh, will work in
the now Ecological Sciences Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Their
findings will be used in planning all types of industries in order to provide maximum
benefits with a T^M""* of environmental pollution*
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H J DUNSMORE
DIRECTOR-ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
October 26, 1970
Mr. Murray Stein
Conference Chairman
Federal Water Pollution
Control Administration
Washington, D. C. 20242
Dear Mr. Stein:
Third Session - Federal Conference
on Lake Michigan and its Tributary Basin
United States Steel Corporation wishes to have the following
statement included in the official record of the Workshops on Lake
Michigan held in Chicago, Illinois, on September 28 - October 2, 1970:
Three plants of United States Steel Corporation, namely,
South Works , Gary and Waukegan Works , are located on the shores of Lake
Michigan and would be directly affected by standards limiting temperature
in the waste water discharges from these plants.
Although the temperature and volume of these discharges are
substantially lower than those of the power industry, a requirement of
recirculation or other closed system method to control heat would present
substantial problems to United States Steel Corporation as well as , we
expect, to all other industry.
The general tenor of the scientific testimony at the Conference
indicated the lack of substantial knowledge of the present and future
effects of thermal discharges to Lake Michigan, but that significant
study programs on the question are in progress. In light of this we
recommend maintaining the existing standards until such time as these
studies and others demonstrate the nature and extent of needed change,
if any.
Very truly yours,
HJDrujw
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AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER Service Corporation
2 Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10004
(212) 422-4800
October 2?, 1970
To The Conferees
The Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference
Mr. Murray Stein, Chairman
Mr. David Currie
Mr. Thomas Frangos
Dr. F. T. Mayo
Mr. Perry Miller
Mr. Ralph Purdy
Gentlemen:
At the Workshop Session of the Lake Michigan
Enforcement Conference on September 28 - October 2, there
was some discussion of the thermal bar. The "White Paper",
Physical and Ecological Effects of Waste Heat on Lake
Michigan, based much of its argument on the occurrence of
substantial, long-period build-up of temperature and of
chemical concentrations behind a barrier at the "thermal
bar" that prevented mixing. Attached is a discussion of
this concept prepared by Dr. John C. Ayers.
TAM/fkr
(attachment)
Very truly yours,
T. A. Miskimen
-------
Comments on the Thermal Bar as a Barrier to Mixing
John C. Ayers
The concept that the thermal bar is a real physical barrier to horizontal
transport and mixing appears to have had its origin in misinterpretation or in
misapplication of the conclusions in the papers of Rodgers (1965, 1966, 1968).
As I read these background papers I find Rodgers to be writing very cautiously;
the strongest statement that I find in these papers is in his 1966 paper where
he says on p. 371: "In the case of Lake Ontario there appears to be some
validity to the concept of the thermal bar as a barrier." It should be noted
that the wording is: 'appears to be some validity'; this is no statement that
the thermal bar is a barrier.
The first bald statement that the thermal bar is a barrier to horizontal
mixing and transport is in the' publication "Lake Currents" (Lake Michigan Basin)
by the FWPCA, Great Lakes Region, Chicago, Illinois, November 1967. In this
publication there is a strange drift from a sensible discussion of the annual
temperature regime of Lake Michigan on pages 19 through 21 (in which it is
pointed out that in spring the thermal bar as described by Rodgers may develop),
to a firm conclusion on p. 353 which says: "Thermal barrier conditions during
the fall, winter, and spring period limit the outward extent of the effective
mixing volume. This factor appears to be responsible for unusual solids build-
up in the nearshore waters during this period."
It appears that the latter conclusion has been picked up by the USBCF in
the preparation of their "White Paper" and that it has been the basis for their
definition of an inshore zone that does not mix with the rest of the lake.
In view of the FWPCA's conclusion that unusual solids build-ups occur in
the nearshore waters in fall, winter, and spring, it is proper to test their
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-2-
hypothesis by examining available independent data for evidence of unusual
solids build-ups. The suitable long-term data available are those of the water-
treatment plants on the perimeter of Lake Michigan. These plants draw their
water from the very same nearshore waters in which FWPCA found or postulated
unusual solids build-ups. If the thermal barrier conditions in fall, winter,
and spring do limit outward mixing, the records of the water-treatment plants
should show higher levels of "solids" in those seasons. Indeed, if the thermal
barrier condition is continuous throughout the fall, winter, and spring seasons
(as the FWPCA implies) the record of "solids" in the nearshore waters should
begin to rise in fall, continue to rise in winter, and reach a maximum sometime
in spring before "spring storms destroy the thermal bar."
I have examined the available records of longer-term conservative (not
influenced by biological activity) "solids" at Michigan City, Indiana; at Gary,
Indiana; at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The results are presented as annual graphs
of the available "solids" parameters in Figures 1 through 4.
Figure 1 presents the results of samplings by the State of Indiana for
specific conductivity a"t the Michigan City water plant for the years 1957-1967
inclusive. There is a small rise in specific conductivity in the months March
through May which may or may not be significant, but certainly there is no sub-
stantial rise in this "solid" beginning in fall, continuing through the winter,
and culminating in a maximum in spring.
Figure 2 gives the levels of chlorides (as chlorine) in the Michigan City
intake records for the years 1957-1967 inclusive. The graph shows no difference
in chlorine in the nearshore water from year's beginning to year's end. That
the contribution of chlorine from the early-spring melt-off of road salt is not
detected by the local water plant indicates that there was substantial escapage
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-3-
to the open lake and that the spring thermal bar at Michigan City was not
operating as a collector of pollutants.
Figure 3 shows the annual distribution of total dissolved solids at Gary,
Indiana, for the period October 1959-September 1962 inclusive. Levels of IDS
in January, February, and March are slightly higher than for the rest of the
year, but there is no evidence of a rise beginning in the fall, continuing
through the winter, and culminating in a maximum in spring.
Figure 4 depicts the year-round condition of total dissolved solids at the
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, water plant from August 1960 through September 1962.
Here the data show no change from year's beginning to year's end. There is no
evidence of a collection of "solids" behind a thermal barrier in any part of the
year.
In summary, the independent data available with which to test the FWPCA
hypothesis that thermal barrier conditions in fall, winter, and spring collect
unusual levels of "solids", do not support the FWPCA hypothesis.
References
Rodgers, G. K. 1965. The thermal bar in the Laurentian Great Lakes, pp. 358-363
in Proc. 8th Conf. on Great Lakes Research. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Rodgers, G. K. 1966. The thermal bar in Lake Ontario, spring 1965 and winter
1965-66. pp. 369-374 in Proc. 9th Conf. on Great Lakes Research. Univ. of
Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Rodgers, G. K. 1968. Heat advection within Lake Ontario in spring and surface
water transparency associated with the thermal bar. pp. 480-486 in Proc.
llth Conf. on Great Lakes Research. Internat. Assoc. Great Lakes Res.
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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SPECIFIC CONDUCTIVITY (^mhos/cm)
o
o
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State of Wisconsin \ DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
L. P. Voigt
Secretary
November k} 1970 MA.OISON, WISCONSIN 53701
Mr. Murray Stein
Assistant Commissioner for Enforcement
Federal Water Quality Administration
Department of the Interior
Washington, D. C. 2021*2
Dear Murray:
Attached is a copy of a statement from Senator Proxmire which
he wishes to have entered into the record of the Thermal Pollution
Workshop of the Lake Michigan Enforcement Conference.
Could you take care of this, please?
Very truly yours,
D. J. Mackie
Assistant Secretary
DJM:dgb
Attach.
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. ' i, ,',, V. X , CHAIRMAN
i--Q._i iG, MO.
u.^ I G. .'.CC^..t_Aw, PA.
UIA,- i>. Wi-.N/ L-,. N.J.
J. cROC.C J3, Ti-.vJS.
IJL, --• C. CO.N.'.c.LL, JR., N.Y.
HIO
EXECUTJVC D,fi£CTO«
JOINT ECONOMIC
(CREATED PURSUANT TO sec. sU) o;-- PUSLJC LAW ac*, TSTH CONGRESS)
WASHINGTON, D.c. 20510
JOHN jiW- s,yi/V', AUA.
J. VV. Klju'-rtlGHT, AKK.
HcHMAN E. TALMAOGL, GA.
STUART SYMINGTON, MO.
ADRAHAM IVlJllCOrF, CONN.
JACOB X. JAVITS, N.V.
JrtCK MILLAR, IOWA
LEN B, JORDAN, IDAHO
CHARLES H. PERCY. ILL..
JAMES W. KNOWLES,
DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
October 23, 1970
, L. P. Voigc, Secretary
P.O. Box 4-5
Wisconsin 53
Znclosed you v<-lll Tina my stater,i3n'i prepared for the
record, of the Lcike i.llcn:'.3'an Pollution Conferance. The subject
of uhe statement, as you know, is ther.aal pollution and
i;o r.ach for your cooperation in this ratter.
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Statement by Senator William Proxmire
WASTE HEAT AND LAKE MICHIGAN
Waste heat is rapidly becoming one of this nation's most
serious sources of water pollution. In order to solve the problems
associated with waste heat, we must fully understand its causes, effects
and controls.
Tremendous amounts of water are used each year by industries
for cooling purposes. In fact, according to the Federal Water Quality
Administration (FWQA), almost one-half of all water used in the United
States is utilized for cooling and condensing by the power and manufacturing
industries. In I$6k, this amounted to about 50 trillion gallons.
How Thermal Pollution Can Affect Lake Michigan
The potential for serious ecological damage to our nation's water
resources as a result of the discharge of industrial waste heat is readily-
apparent when we examine Lake Michigan.
Although more research is needed on the ecological effects of waste
heat, the evidence gathered to date substantially demonstrates the adverse
effects of thermal pollution. Let me describe two of these effects in relation
to Lake Michigan.
First, waste heat can speed eutrophication — the process by which
a lake chokes itself to death. The rate of eutrophication is controlled
primarily by nutrient supply and water temperature. In Lake Michigan, indica-
tions are that nutrients in the inshore waters are approaching levels commonly
found in the central basin of Lake Erie. Lake Michigan inshore waters receive
a substantial and increasing load of nutrients in the form of nitrogen,
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phosphorus, and other fertilizing agents from domestic effluents and
agricultural run-off. If nutrients are not sufficiently controlled, the
inshore waters of Lake Michigan will attain conditions of algae pro-
duction similar to those in Lake Erie. When these conditions are reached,
temperature becomes a very important factor. HLue-green algae, which are
especially responsive to higher temperatures, will increase in direct
proportion to temperature increases. The process of eutrophication will
be well on its way. Lake Michigan will begin to choke itself to death.
Second, evidence gathered to date also demonstrates the adverse
effects of thermal pollution on the fish life of the lake. The role of
temperature is an important one in the growth, survival and abundance of
fish in any water environment. All available information indicates that
each fish has specific thermal tolerances. These thermal tolerances vary
from life stage to life stage. When the limits are exceeded the organism
functions at reduced efficiency and may ultimately die.
As the U.S. Pish and Wildlife Service has pointed out, the timing
of natural events is essential for the perpetuation of Lake Michigan coldwater
aquatic life. Any waste heat influence which would interfere with this
natural timing places the survival of this aquatic life in jeopardy. Evidence
indicates that only slightly elevated temperatures may be critical in the
life history stages of Lake Michigan species.
Power Needs and Thermal Pollution
Each year this nation's power needs have increased. The public
has demanded greater and greater amounts of electric power. And, as a
result, power industries have been called on to produce the needed quantities
of electricity.
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The increasing demands for power over the past decade has meant
increasing amounts of waste heat to be disposed of. Thermal pollution
has been a direct result, then, of the public's demand for greater amounts
of electric power.
In view of the fact that the electric power industry accounts
for about 80 percent of all cooling water used in this country, the best
single index of thermal pollution potential lies in projecting future power
production.
POWER PRODUCTION
The demand for power has increased steadily since the turn of
the century. For the past 30 years, power generation has increased at a
rate of 7.2 percent annually, virtually doubling every 10 years. This has
necessitated a doubling of electric power facilities each decade. This
trend is expected to continue, and possibly accelerate, through 2000.
The following table prepared by the FWQA indicates the amounts
of electrical power used in certain past years as well as projected national
requirements through 1985:
U.S. Electric Power — Past Use, Future Requirements
Year Billion KWH
1912 11.6
I960 753
1965 1,060
1970 1,503
1975 2,022
1980 2,75^
1985 3,639
Power is usually generated by hydro- or steam-electric plants,
with the latter process requiring cooling water for waste heat removal.
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There are few sites remaining today for hydro-electric stations, so the
power industry must depend more and more on thermal power generation to
meet future needs. Presently, thermal plants produce approximately 80 percent
of the electricity in the United States. Predictions indicate this figure
may reach 92 percent by the year 2000, when two-thirds of the plants may
operate on nuclear fuel. Thus, thermal plants will continue to gain a
larger portion of a steadily increasing market for power. Waste heat
production will increase proportionally, which in turn reflects the
increase in waste heat disposal that we must accomodate.
The waste heat output from manufacturing industries, such as the
chemical, petroleum and paper industries, will also increase in the coming
years. The cooling facility needs of these industries are expected to
increase at a ^.5 percent annual rate, compared to the 7*2 percent annual
increase expected by the power industry.
Lake Michigan Power Production
As with the rest of the nation, power demands have increased in the
Lake Michigan area. In fact, it is predicted that more power facilities
will be installed in the Northeast and Midwest in future years than in any
other section of the United States. Nowhere are these plans for expansion
more apparent than on Lake Michigan. And, as a result, waste heat effluents
from the power industries along Lake Michigan will increase.
According to a study recently completed by the Department of Interior,
the doubling of power capacity each decade means that the Lake Michigan
megawatt capacity will increase at a geometric rate. Cooling water require-
ments will also increase at a similar rate (almost fourteenfold). Heat
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addition from steel and municipal sources is expected to increase by
63 percent by the year 2000. In total, it is estimated that waste heat
addition to Lake Michigan from these sources will increase from 1*0 billion
Btu's in 1968 to about ^31 Btu's in 2000. Thus, at the predicted rate of
increase, the amount of waste heat dumped into Lake Michigan by 2000 will
be 10 times larger than it is today.
In light of the environmental affects of thermal pollution which
I mentioned earlier, it is obvious something must be done to control the
massive amounts of waste heat that are predicted for the future.
Waste Heat Limitations
In its first annual report, issued last August, the President's
Council on Environmental Quality stated:
A strong and consistent Federal policy
should be developed to control thermal
pollution. Criteria should be upgraded to
assure prompt and successful negotiations
with the States on water quality limits from
thermal pollution...
I fully support this recommendation by the Council. It
is in the public interest to upgrade water quality standards now.
If we wait too long, correcting the ecological damage caused
by thermal pollution may be extremely difficult, if not impossible.
According to the FW^A, the adoption of alternative cooling
systems to control heat waste discharges would be economically feasible.
The increased costs of the monthly bill associated with adopting alterna-
tive cooling systems, based upon an average family electric bill of
$9«^ a month, would be:
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wet mechanical draft tower .....
wet natural draft tower
cooling pond
spray canals
dry mechanical draft tower
dry natural draft tower 9^
Conclusion
Waste heat discharges can be harmful. It is within our
power to control these discharges. And it is economically feasible
for us to do so. I hope that the federal government, working in
cooperation with the states, can act on this without further delay.
* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1971 O - 422-409 (Vol. 5)
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