ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
January 20,
1972
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
#71—283
v.
PERCY LOGAN and
MRS. HUMPHREY LOGAN
MR.
LEE CAMPBELL, ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL,
ON BEHALF OF ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
MR. ABRAHAM LAMPKIN, ATTORNEY ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENTS
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(BY MR. LAWTON):
Complaint was filed by
the Environmental Protection Agency
against Percy Logan and Mrs. Humphrey Logan,
Respondents,
on Sep-
tember
23,
1971.
An Amended Complaint was filed on November
9, 1971
and
a second Amended Complaint filed on November
18, 1971.
The second
Amended
Complaint
alleges that Respondents have operated or allowed
operation of
a refuse disposal site known as
“Logan’s Dump” located
on Patterson Road in the unincorporated portion of Will County,
near
the City
of Joliet.
Violations
of regulations
and statutory
provisions,
both before and after
the adoption of the Environmental
Protection Act are alleged with regard to open burning,
air pollution,
water pollution and land pollution and refuse disposal, beginning
as
early as May
27,
1970 and continuing down to the date
of the filing
of the complaint.
A cease
and desist order and
the assessment of
penalties
in the maximum statutory amount are sought.
Hearing on
the complaint,
as amended,
was conducted on November
20,
1971.
On
January 12,
1972,
an agreed statement of facts was submitted to
the
Board,
which
stipulation
is
the
basis
of
our
present
Opinion
and
Order.
It will be our Order that the Respondents cease
and desist
the
operation of “Logan’s Dump” until proper permits authorizing its
operation as
a refuse disposal site and facility have been obtained
from the Environmental Protection Agency.
We reserve the question
of penalties pending submissions by Complainant and Respondents
in
this respect
as hereinafter provided and will issue
a further order
subsequent
to their receipt.
The agreed statement
of facts
sets forth that Mrs. Humphrey
Logan
is
the owner and Percy
Logan, her son,
the operator of the
Will County refuse disposal
and auto salvage yard known
as
“Logan’s
Dump”.
The
site
contains
approximately
35 acres
and is bounded on
the
north
by
the
Desplaines
River
and Hickory Creek
and on the west
by
the
Desplaines
River,
on
the
south
by
the Atchison,
Topeka
& Santa Fe
3
—
497
Railroad and on the east by the City
of Joliet Auto Pound and
Refuse Disposal Site.
Sugar Run Creek traverses the site
and
discharges into the Desplaines
River.
On January
26,
1967,
the
Illinois Air Pollution Control Board ordered Mrs. Logan to cease
and desist the open burning of refuse on the
site.
Notwithstanding
the receipt of
this order,
Mrs. Logan
and her son have continued their
operation in violation of the
law, both
as
to open burning and in
other respects, which continuing violations have resulted in the
present complaint.
The stipulation states that Respondents caused or allowed the
open burning of refuse on the subject site on May
27,
1970,
June
3,
1970, June
9,
1970, November
7,
1970, December
28,
1970, January
2,
1971,
April
25,
1971, April
30,
1971, July
3,
1971
and September 10,
1971,
in violation of the Rules
and Regulations Governing
the Control
of Air Pollution
(Air Rules)
,
and the Rules
and Regulations
for Refuse
Disposal Sites and Facilities
(Refuse
Rules)
,
and from and after
July
1,
1970,
in violation
of Section 9(c)
of the Environmental Pro-
tection Act
(Act).
The stipulation further states that on October
28,
1971,
two
trailers containing approximately 100 drums of volatile
and flammable
waste liquids
and chemicals caught fire and produced great quantities
of dense black smoke,
visible for miles
around,
and resulted in noxious
odors,
similar to that of burning paint or paint by-products.
The
dense black smoke lasted about
four hours
and continued smoldering
into the following day.
The cause of
the fire
is stated to be un-
known but the parties agree that the event constituted.open burning
in violation of Section 2-1.2
of the Air Rules,
Rule 3.05
of the
Refuse Rules
and Section 9(c) of
the Act.
As
a consequence
of this incident,
the Attorney General filed
a complaint
for injunction in
the Will County Circuit Court on Octo-
ber 29,
1971, resulting
in the entry of
a temporary restraining order.
On November
30,
1971,
a consent decree and permanent injunction were
entered by which Respondents were permanently enjoined from causing
or allowing the open burning of combustible materials and volatile
or inflammable liquids
at the subject site.
The stipulation states
that while the causes of the fires described were
not known to Res-
pondents, Respondents
allowed the handling of inflammable materials,
failed to take adequate precautions
to prevent open burning
and failed
to furnish adequate equipment to prevent open burning in consideration
of the known hazards,
or those which should have been known.
On all
dates when burning occurred dense black smoke, noxious odors
and
debris were emitted
or discharged from the dump into the atmosphere,
causing air pollution which, prior to July
1,
1970, violated Section
3
of the
“Air Pollution Control Act” and subsequent
thereto,
violated
Section 9(a)
of the Environmental Protection Act.
3— 498
The stipulation recites that Percy Logan
and William Hatfield,
in 1970,
entered into
a verbal agreement for
the use of the dump
site by Mr. Hatfield’s company,
J
&
B Industrial Service,
and as
a
result of this agreement,
Mr. Hatfield or his agents,
dumped drums
of liquid waste
on the property under Percy Logan’s supervision.
These drums contained restaurant grease,
sludge,
oil, waste paint
and
paint by-products, which had been picked up from Whitco Chemical
Company, Barker Chemical Company,
Stress
& Reuter, Abbott Laboratories
and Valspar Paint Co.
The contents of these drums were deposited
several times
a week between August
1,
1970
and September
1,
1971 in
shallow trenches on the dump property, dug by Percy Logan, which
trenches were covered with dirt and fill.
However,
during October,
1971,
the contents
q~fthe drums were dumped directly
on the ground
in close proximity t~,the Desplaines River where pools of waste con-
taminants formed, which subsequently discharged into
the Desplaines
River.
Photographs of
this dumping of liquid waste contaminants
on
October 19 and October
20,
1971 are appended to the Stipulation
as Exhibit
4.
A memorandum of the observations
on these dates was
made by Ted Denning
of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The
stipulation sets
forth
that the dumping of liquid chemical waste
and
other contaminants
on October
19
and
20, which resulted in discharges
of sludge,
oil,
scum, paint and other materials producing coloring
of the water and noxious odors
in the Desplaines River violated
Rule 103(a)
,
(b)
and
(c)
of Sanitary Water Board Regulation No.
8
(SWB-8)
.
Similar discharges
of chemicals and other contaminants
causing odor and discoloration of the Desplaines River were observed
by members of the Army Corps of Engineers
at Brandon Lock
and Dam on
approximately twenty occasions
in the six-month period prior to
Oc~tober19,
1971.
These discharges are conceded to violate Section
12(a)
of the Environmental Protection Act.
In an attempt to build
a dike to prevent Mrs. Humphrey Logan’s
home from being
flooded by
the Desplaines
River, Percy Logan bulldozed
materials,
including construction debris,
refuse,
empty drums,
dirt
and other materials to the
edge of the Desplaines River, some
of which materials ended up in the river,
the results
of which activity
have been photographed and appended to
the Stipulation.
(Exhibit
8)
This activity
is conceded
to violate Section
12(d)
of the Act.
The dump has operated as
a refuse disposal site since July
1,
1970 without
a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency in
violation of Section
21(e)
of the Act.
Inspections made November 1,
1971
and
November
4,
1971
by
personnel
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency disclose the presence of demolition,
putrescible,
conibustable
and hazardous materials on the site.
Open dumping is conceded in
violation of Section 21(b)
of the Act and Rule 3.04 of the Refuse
Rules.
Photographs
taken on these dates
(Stipulation,
Exhibit
9)
portray
this condition.
Failure to spread andcompact
and
to limit
the dumping to the smallest practical area violate Rules
3.03 and
3.06 of the Refuse Rules.
Failure to cover exposed refuse violates
3
—
499
Section 5.07
of the Refuse Rules,
and failure to post proper signs
violates
Rule
4.03(a)
of
the
Refuse
Rules.
Failure
to
obtain
written
approval
for
deposit
of
liquid
waste
contaminants
violated
Section
5.08
of
the
Refuse
Rules.
The
Stipula-
tiOn,
Exhibit
11,
contains
a
portion
of
the transcript of the deposi-
tion
taken
•of
Percy
Logan
in
which
it
is
conceded
that
a
permit
to
allow
the
dumping
of
septic
wa3tes
has
never
been
received
and
the
dumping
of
septic
wastes
with
Percy
Logan’s
permission
is
likewise
conceded.
As
a consequence of correspondence between the Agency and Percy
Logan,
some
effort
was
made
to
improve
the
condition
of
the
site
and
spread and compact the exposed ~efuse during the month
of January,
1971.
The extent of
this improvement and whether the dump is now in compliance
with the applicable rules
are not clear
from
the Stipulation.
Repre-
sentatives of
the Environmental Protection Agency inspected the site
on January
8,
1972, at which time pictures were taken depicting its
present condition, which will be submitted
to the Board together with
a
report
of
the
inspection.
Paragraph
29
of
the
agreed
statement
of
facts
states
as
follows:
“The Agency believes that
a substantial penalty
is
warranted
in
this
case.
Respondent
disputes
this,
and
the
parties are hereby submitting
the issue for determination by
the Board.”
On the basis of the agreed statement of
fact,
it
is difficult
to
conceive
of
a
more
obnoxious
operation
or
one
that
.has
been
more
successful in violating virtually every regulation and statutory pro-
vision relating to open burning, open dumping,
air pollution, water
pollution and unauthorized operation over a four—year period.
The Board finds that Respondents,
Percy Logan and Mrs. Humphrey
Logan,
by their ownership and operation of the “Logan Dump”, have con-
ducted open burning in violation of Section 2-1.2
of Chapter
II
of
the Rules
and Regulations Governing the Control of Air Pollution on
twelve occasions,
in violation of Section 9(c)
of
the Environmental
Protection
Act
on
nine
occasions,
and
in
violation
of
Rule
3.05
of
the
Refuse Rules on twelve occasions;
that respondents have caused air pollu-
tion in violation of
the Air Pollution Control Act on three occasions
and in violation of Section 9(a)
of
the Environmental Protection Act on
eight occasions.
That Respondents have violated Section 1.03(a),
(b)
and
(c)
of
the
Sanitary
Water
Board
Regulation
No.
8
(SWB-8)
on
at
least two occasions that have been specifically documented
and on
approximately
twenty
occasions
prior
to
October
19,
1971.
That
Respon-
dents
have
discharged
liquid
waste
contaminants
into
the
Desplaines
River
in
violation
of
Section
12(a)
of-the
Act
and
have
created
a
water
pollution
hazard
in
violation
of
Section
12(d)
of
the
Act.
Respon-
3— 500
dents have, since July
1,
1970, operated
a refuse disposal site and fa-
cility without
a permit,
in violation of Section
21(e)
of the Act,
and have committed open
clumping
in violation of Section
21(b)
of the
Act and Rule
3.04 ofthe Refuse Rules.
Respondents have failed to post
signs and
to spread and compact refuse,
in violation of Rules
4.03(a)
and
5.06 of the Refuse Rules,
failed
to dump refuse in the smallest
practical area in violation of Rule 5.03 of the Refuse Rules
and cover the
refuse in violation of Section 5.07 of the Refuse Rules, which latter
violations were noted on November
1,
1971
and continued through and
including November
4,
1971.
Respondents have failed to obtain a permit
for the deposit of liquid waste in violation of Rule
5.08
of
the
Refuse Rules.
It
will be our order
that. Respondent cease and desist the operation
of the “Logan Dump” in all respects until it has obtained
the necessary
permits from
the Environmental Protection Agency.
A more difficult
question relates
to
the assessment of the penalty.
There
is no question
but that
a substantial penalty
is warranted.
However,
both the trans-
cript
of the hearing and the stipulation of fact are silent
as
to the
economic condition
of the Respondents.
This factor alone
is not con-
trolling.
However, when matters of penalties are considered by
this
Board,
no
useful purpose
is served by assessing
a penalty that is dis-
proportionate with
the economic status and capabilities
of
the Respon-
dents.
While disagreement on the issue of penalties
is stated in the
stipulation,neither party has provided
the Board with any
facts which
will furnish guidance
at arriving
at
a decision in this respect.
We
will enter such Order as is appropriate after receipt of the foregoing
information.
Accordingly, we will direct both
the Agency
and the Respon-
dents
to submit within ten days of
the receipt of
this order,
such infor-
mation and financial statistics,
including operating statements
and profit
and loss statements
as will be relevant to the Board’s consideration of
this subject.
We will also consider
the recent report of inspection and
photographs taken showing the present condition of the dump.
This Opinion constitutes
the findings of
fact and conclusions of
law of the Board.
IT
IS
THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board
as
follows:
1.
That Percy Logan
and
M~rs,
Humphrey Logan shall cease
and desist
the operation
of
the refuse disposal site
and facility known as “Logan’s
Dump”
in Will County,
until it has received all necessary permits authorizing
such use from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Any
further operation shall be in accord with
all relevant
regulatory and statutory provisions.
3
—
501
2.
The Environmental Protection Agency
and Respondents
will submit to the Board, within ten days from the
receipt of this Order,
all information, documentation,
and financial statements,
including report of inspection
and photographs taken on January
8,
1972,
as will enable
the Board
to arrive
at
a decision with respect
to
the
assessment of penalties.
After the receipt of this in-
formation,
the Board will issue
a further order assessing
such penalties
as are appropriate.
I,
Christan
Moffett,
Clerk
of
the
Pollution
Control
Board,
certify
that
the
above
Opinion and Order was
adop ed on the
c~O
day
of
________________,
1972,
by
a
vote
of
—ô
4Jd.,d
3
—
502