VOF's statement on water sampling

After an exhaustive examination of its testing procedures, the Valley of the Fox Group will stand by the test results that found levels of pollution that exceed federal standards for phosphorus in the Fox River between Elgin and Yorkville. The group's testing procedures had been criticized by a member of the Fox River Study Group, a consortium of municipalities, wastewater treatment plant operators, county officials and clean water advocates (including the Sierra Club).

Here is the full text of the VOF's statement:

February, 2003
The Valley of the Fox is one of 15 groups comprising the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club. Its membership of 1,100 is drawn from residents in the Fox River valley in Kane and Kendall Counties.
Sierra Club volunteers have been working since 1995 to study the levels of key pollutants in the Fox River, particularly phosphorus, since it is not a chemical that is presently regulated by the IEPA . Our studies have consistently shown that phosphorus levels in our river exceed any known guideline for a healthy waterway.
In September of 2002 the Valley of the Fox (VOF) group released the results of a year-long study conducted by its members for thirteen months at eleven sites on the Fox main stem. We concluded

that, as before, phosphorus levels are still too high. Our last official water sample was taken and analyzed in January of 2002. A brochure was issued summarizing this study and entitled: "Our River At Risk: Phosphorus Pollution In The Fox River."
While our VOF river study was underway, a consortium of municipalities, wastewater treatment plant operators, county officials and clean water advocates (including the Sierra Club) coalesced into a Fox River Study Group (FRSG) to test river water. This organization intends to work together to design and implement a full-scale, long-term investigation into the Fox River's health and the impacts that future growth will have upon the watershed. The advantages of mutual cooperation are obvious: by working together we can share the advantages of better analytical quality as well as data quality. A mix of water professionals and environmental volunteers attending to the Fox's problems will benefit both groups. This ambitious program to diagnose the Fox's pollution problems should result in a plan to fix them in an effective, fair and affordable manner.
Recently however, one member of the FRSG has questioned the accuracy of the "River At Risk" report. He says that the method of analysis used by the Valley of the Fox group was "flawed" and that the actual nutrient level is lower. Concerned, we began reviewing our methods and conclusions. We tested the accuracy of the equipment we were using, the reliability of the chemical additives, and the handling of the sample once it was collected. This was quite a chore, but a beneficial learning experience as well. After exhaustive testing and re-testing, we came to the conclusion that we would stand by the results we had released earlier. Filtered water samples and non-filtered water samples of river water yielded the same result. We do not believe our study was "flawed" or "erroneous."
Our numbers may be somewhat higher than what the Fox River Water Reclamation District chemist obtained, but they are what we honestly measured and presented. We see no reason to recant them. As a recent news article stated, "All three groups (i.e., Fox River Water Reclamation District, Sierra Club and the IEPA) agree that it is difficult to compare the data, since it relies on water samples taken at different locations at different times."
We consulted with Mike Henebry, the Quality Assurance Officer of the IEPA in Springfield and reviewed our analytical method (using Hach Co. equipment and chemicals) for phosphate with him and confirmed that it was indeed a method that was acceptable by the USEPA for reporting.
Last year the IEPA listed the entire stretch of the Fox River, from Wisconsin to the Illinois River, as "impaired" for various reasons. Rather than quibble over decimal amounts of nutrient, we hope that all of us in the Fox River valley will pull together to ensure that the FRSG identify solutions to environmental problems and that this waterway will become a model of clean water for generations to come.

Dudley Case, VOF Group Chair

Fran Caffee, Conservation Chair

Gene McArdle, Clean Water Coordinator

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