ILLINOIS
    POLLUTION CONTROL
    BOARD
    June
    23,
    1971
    City
    of Carthage
    v.
    )
    PCB 71—65
    Environmental Protection Agency
    Opinion of
    the Board
    (by Mr.
    Dumelle)
    The
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    (Board)
    received this petition
    for
    variance on March
    26,
    1971.
    The City sought to be allowed to burn
    trees,
    limbs,
    and logs at the City~s landfill
    site,
    In its petition
    the City asserted
    that
    the City operates
    a sanitary
    landfill through an independent contractor,
    that landscape waste
    is
    generated within the City as
    a normal occurrence,
    that the City collects
    the
    debris and deposits
    it at the landfill site,
    and that in the past
    the City has burned the landscape waste at infrequent intervals at
    such times as the wind and other atmospheric conditions were favorable.
    Further the City asserted that they have never received any complaints
    from residents
    in the area relating to the burning.
    The City stated
    that denial of the variance would impose an arbitrary and unreasonable
    hardship upon the City inasmuch as the tree waste would either have
    to remain where it had fallen
    to
    be
    dealt with by
    the individual pro-
    perty owner or
    it would be accumulated and stored indefinitely at
    a
    site which the City would be forced to acquire at an assertedly
    unrealistic price.
    The City asserted that pests and rodents living in
    the accumulated tree waste would create
    a public health and safety
    hazard.
    The Environmental Protection Agency
    (EPA)
    investigated the situation
    in response to the petition and reported on June 10 that about 500 cubic
    yards of landscape waste
    is presently stockpiled at the landfill
    site.
    The EPA further reported that the landfill is located
    a quarter mile
    northwest of the city of 3,350
    and recommended that the City be allowed
    to burn their diseased tree waste subject to certain conditions.
    The Board has encountered the hardship asserted in this case in several
    previously decided cases.
    The hardship
    is
    simply the unavailability
    of feasible alternate methods of disposal of diseased trees.
    Burning
    of diseased trees appears
    to be
    the only effective method of disposal
    because of the
    risk
    of further infection incident
    to
    other disposition,
    City of Winchester v.
    EPA, PCB 70—37,
    (February
    8,
    1971).
    In this case
    2 —45
    we are allowing the burning of non—diseased elm woody waste which
    has been commingled resulting in the
    500 cubic yard accumulation
    reported by the EPA.
    It would be most difficult,
    if not impossible,
    to make distinctions
    in the mass of waste at this
    time.
    In addition,
    the admixture of diseased and non-diseased elm waste has
    a high
    probability of resulting in refuge for
    the elm bark beetle in the
    healthy elm wood with
    the consequence of further spread of the elm
    disease,
    see Charles Fiore Nurseries,
    Inc.
    v.
    EPA,
    PCB 71—27
    (May
    27,
    1971).
    We have heard from Mr. James Tyndall, Assistant General
    Superintendent of the Cook County Forest Preserve District in our rule-
    making hearing on open burning that sanitation is
    a basic procedure
    for a successful Dutch elm disease control program and that effective
    sanitation
    is accomplished by the careful,
    thorough,
    and prompt removal
    and disposal of all elm trees and other material in which the bark
    beetles can colonize.
    By
    this action we are not varying from our
    previous policy of not allowingthe burning of non-diseased wood, we
    are simply recognizing a particular hardship.
    Open burning generally
    has been against the
    law in Illinois since 1965.
    Until the complete
    prohibition spelled out in the Environmental Protection Act
    (effective
    July
    1,
    1970)
    an exception to the burning ban was applicable to diseased
    trees.
    Since the effective date of the Act we have granted variances
    to allow burning of diseased
    trees in appropriate cases where
    the
    statutory standard was met.
    This is such
    a case.
    The manner of dealing with the hardship in this case as in the multi-
    tude of other cases
    in which
    this vexing question of tree burning
    has arisen will soon be changed to an easier and more satisfactory
    method
    than the ad hoc consideration of variance requests.
    We have
    completed our hearings
    in the rule-making proceeding relating
    to open
    burning which were begun on January
    6,
    1971
    (R70-11)
    It
    is likely
    that the Board will adopt new open burning regulation~swithin the ne~t
    few weeks.
    For the present,
    in the instant case we grant the City~srequest to
    burn subject to certain conditions,
    generally those recommended by the
    EPA except we will not place the burden on the City of separating
    and burning only the diseased trees and parts.
    We are granting
    this
    variance for a period of three months only.
    We
    feel confident that our
    new rules will be finalized well before that time
    and will provide an
    answer to
    the question posed in this situation without the necessity
    of applying for
    a variance.
    This opinion constitutes
    the Board~sfindings of fact and conclusions
    of law.
    The Board~sOrder in
    this case was adopted on June
    16,
    1971.
    This opinion is in support of that Order.
    2—46
    I,
    Regina E.
    Ryan, Clerk of the Illinois Pollutipn Control Board,
    certify that the Board adopted this Opinion on the,/L~_dayof June,
    1971.
    //
    -
    ~
    7~~(
    Re~in~a
    ~.
    Ryan, ~79~k
    Illix~oisPollutj~,~Control Board
    2 —47

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