352 



Ii.i.iNois Natlrai. History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 28, Art. 2 



East Branch. — The East Branch of 

 the- Salt Fork is polluted h\- the city of 

 Rantoul and 1\\ Clianiite Air Force Base. 

 At the time of the Thompson .S: Hunt 

 survey, collections made near the outlet of 

 the Rantoul sewer ditch during warm 

 weather contained an abundance of Hsh of 

 12 species (mostly the creek chub and 

 silverjaw minnow; the stoneroller and 

 Johnny darter also were common). How- 

 ever, no *ish were found at this location 

 durinji the cool periods of the year. The 

 location is presentl> polluted by effluent 

 trom a disposal plant placed in operation 

 in l'^54. In August, 1959, the stream be- 

 low the plant was foul and the bottom 

 was covered with sludj^e. It contained a 

 few fish that were seen but not identified. 

 The stream was revisited the following 

 May, at which time the white sucker, 

 stoneroller, siKerjaw minnow, creek chub, 

 and sand shiner were taken. 



The Chanute Air Force Base, in the 

 vicinity of Rantoul. operates three treat- 

 ment plants that pollute a small stream 

 flowing eastward from the southern edge 

 of the Base. A station on this small stream 

 contained an abundant population of 14 

 species at the time of the Thompson & 

 Hunt survey, but yielded only three creek 

 chubs and a carp when we collected there 

 in August of 1959. The following April, 

 when we revisited the site, it was devoid 

 of t^sh. 



The influence of pollution on the East 

 Branch extends downstream several miles. 

 Fwo and one-half miles below the Ran- 

 toul disposal plant, the stream smelled foul 

 and contained other evidence of sewage in 

 October, 1959, when a collecting station 

 was set up there. A few specimens of the 

 creek chub, stoneroller, silverjaw minnow, 

 bluntnose minnow, sand shiner, and spot- 

 fin shiner were taken at this station. Two 

 miles below, in the mouth of a small creek 

 that flows from the air base into the East 

 Branch, fairly large numbers of Hsh were 

 taken during the same month. At this sec- 

 ond station, all of the species listed above 

 were collected and, in addition, the white 

 sucker, creek chubsucker, quillback, carp, 

 and redfin shiner. The fact that condi- 

 tions looked much better at the second sta- 

 tion than above, in either the main creek 

 or the small branch, suggested that the 

 organic waste, after it had been digested 



and diluted, enriched the water to produce 

 a large iish population. 



Lower Salt Fork. — Thompson iSc 

 Hunt considered the lower Salt Fork se- 

 \erely affected by pollution as far down- 

 stream as the Homer Dam near the 

 count)' line; they collected only a small 

 variety of species and found low popula- 

 tions at the stations in this area. In 1959, 

 septic conditions occurred between St. 

 Joseph and Sidnev; however, between Sid- 

 ney and the county line the stream ap- 

 peared clear of pollution, although the 

 water chemistry still reflected the up- 

 stream pollution, table 3. At five stations 

 from which we took quantitative fish 

 samples in this area, the populations were 

 slightly below the average for streams of 

 this size in the rest of the county, table 14. 



Copper Slough, Phinney Branch. — 

 Both branches of the small stream drain- 

 ing the west edge of Champaign were 

 badly polluted in 1959. Copper Slough 

 received industrial and domestic waste. 

 It apparent!}' was polluted in 1928, for 

 Thompson <S: Hunt found no fish at their 

 one station near Illinois State Route 10. 

 Only the blackstripe topminnow was taken 

 in Copper Slough in 1959. 



In 1959, Phinney Branch received ef- 

 fluent from a small treatment plant lo- 

 cated on its bank immediately above its 

 confluence with Copper Slough. The ef- 

 fluent from this plant apparently pro- 

 hibited existence of fish in this stream, 

 although the pollution was probably less 

 severe in 1959 than it was prior to the 

 installation of the plant in 1956. At the 

 junction of Phinney Branch and Copper 

 Slough, a large variety of fishes was col- 

 lected during the course of the 1959 sur- 

 vey. On February 27, 1960, no fish were 

 seen at the junction of these two streams; 

 perhaps the level of pollution from Cop- 

 per Slough and Phinney Branch was such 

 that it permitted the existence of fish in 

 the lower reaches only during certain 

 times of the year. 



Upper Sangamon. — In 1959, pollu- 

 tion effluent from Gibson City flowed 6 

 miles south through Drummer Creek and 

 entered the upper Sangamon. Domestic 

 wastes from Gibson City and wastes from 

 a packing plant and from a soybean mill 

 caused fish kills in Drummer Creek and 

 the upper Sangamon almost annually dur- 



