ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September 18,

1975

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

Complainant,

)

vs.

)

PCB 72—164

ALLIED METAL COMP1~NY,

)

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Henss):

On June

7, 1973 the Pollution Control Board found that

Allied Metal Company had caused air pollution in violation

of Section 9(a) of the Environmental Protection Act; had

emitted an excessive amountof particulate matter from its

plant

in violation of Section 3-3.111 of the Rules and Regu-

lations Governing the Control of Air Pollution; and had

installed new equipment capable of emitting air contaminants

to the atmosphere and equipment intended to control air con-

tamination without a permit in violation of Section 3-2.110 of

said Rules.

A $2,500 penalty was imposed for these three

violations.

Upon review,

the

Appellate Court for the 1st Judicial

District of Illinois affirmed the Order of the Pollution Control

Board insofar as

it relates to the Section 3—2.110 violation.

However,

the Appellate Court found “that the evidence is in-

sufficient to support the Board’s findings with respect to the

Section 9(a)

and Section 3-3.111 violations”.

The Court vacated

the Board Order as

to Section 9(a) and Section 3-3.111 and the

penalty of $2,500.

The cause was remanded

to the Board

to

consider the penalty,

if any, regarding the Section 3—2.110

permit violation.

The Board finds from a review of the evidence that a penalty

in the amount of

$750 would be appropriate for this particular

permit violation.

There is no doubt that the violation did

occur since the evidence

is clear that Allied installed two zinc

melting pots without a permit.

Section 3—2.110 was

in effect and

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496

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set forth that permits are required for all equipment capable

of emitting an air contaminant,

i.e., particulate matter,

dust,

fumes,

gas, mist,

smoke or vapor or any combination thereof.

The only def?.nse raised by Allied is that it never con-

sidered the melting pots

to be emission sources because they

would emit just a trifling amount of pollutants into the atmos-

phere.

Neither the Board nor the Appellate Court accepted this

as

a defense.

While Allied is not excused from the requirement

of obtaining a permit we must nevertheless find,

on the facts

presented,

that its violation is not flagrant.

The Board

concludes

from the evidence that this

is

a rather ordinary permit

violation in which Company officials had erroneously concluded

that the Regulation did not apply to the Company operation.

The

record in this case does not call

for a penalty beyond the

ordinary.

Respondent, of course,

cannot entirely escape penalty

for its transgression since such a course would make a mockery

of the permit system in Illinois, the very cornerstone of the

environmental control system.

A penalty of $750 is justified.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions

of law of the Illinois Pollution Control Board.

ORDER

It

is the Order of the Pollution Control Board

that:

Respondent Allied Metal Company shall pay

to the

State of Illilois by November 1,

1975 the sum of $750

as

a penalty for the violation of Section 3—2.110, Rules

and Regulations Governing the Control of Air Pollution,

as

found in this proceeding.

Penalty payment by certified

check or money order payable to the State of Illinois

shall be made to:

Fiscal Services Division, Illinois EPA,

2200 Churchill Road,

Springfield,

Illinois 62706.

I, Christan L. Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the abov

Opinion and Order was ad pted

the

~

day ~

1975 by a vote of

4~O

Illinois Pollution

rol Board

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