ILLINOIS
    POLLUTION
    CONTROL
    BOARD
    December
    2,
    1976
    ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION
    AGENCY,
    Complainant,
    v.
    )
    PCB
    75—168
    HAROLD
    D.
    WOODS,
    General
    Partner,
    d/b/a
    ST.
    ELLEN
    LAND
    COMPANY,
    )
    Respondent.
    Ms.
    Marilyn
    B.
    Resch
    and
    Mr.
    John
    vanVranken,
    Assistant
    Attorneys
    General, appeared for the Complainant;
    Mr.
    G.
    Bradley Hantla, Attorney, appeared for the Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr.
    Zeitlin):
    This matter is before the Board on
    a Complaint
    filed on
    April 23,
    1975,
    by the Environmental Protection
    Agency
    (Agency)
    alleging that Respondent Harold D.
    Woods, individually, owned and
    operated a coal mine in St. Clair County,
    Illinois,
    without the
    requisite permits from the Agency,
    in violation of Section 12(b)
    of
    the
    Environmental Protection
    1\ct
    (Act)
    and Rule 201 of the
    Board’s Mine-Related Pollution Regulations
    (Chapter
    4).
    Ill.
    Rev.
    Stat.,
    Ch.
    111—1/2, §1012(b) (1975);
    Ill. PCB Regs.,
    Ch.
    4,
    Rule
    201.
    On June
    11,
    1975,
    the Agency filed an
    Amended
    Complaint,
    changing
    the
    denomination of Re~pondont (~is shown
    ~bovc)
    ,
    ~nd
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    nein
    Lhe
    Aj&’noy,
    ii
    vol
    i1
    inn
    of
    Section
    9(b)
    of the Act and Rule 103(b) (2)
    of the Board’s Air
    Pollution Control Regulations
    (Chapter 2).
    Ill.
    Rev.
    Stat.,
    Ch.
    111—1/2, §1009(b) (1975);
    Ill, PCB Reqs.,
    Ch.
    2,
    Rule 103(b) (2).
    A final Amended Complaint was filed by the Agency on October
    2,
    1975,
    adding a third count alleging that Respondent’s operations
    had caused the emission of contaminants, constituting air pollution,
    in violation of Section 9(a)
    of the Act and Rule 102 of Chapter
    2.
    Ill.
    Rev.
    Stat.,
    Ch.
    111—1/2, §1009(a)
    (1975);
    Ill.
    PCB Regs.,
    Rule 102.
    24
    307

    —2—
    Three public hearings have been held
    in this matter.
    The first
    was held on June
    16, 1975,
    at the City Hail
    in Believille,
    Illinois.
    Although public comment was received
    at
    that hearing,
    no substantive
    evidence was entered by either Complainants
    or Respondent.
    At a
    further hearing held on September
    8,
    1975, also
    in Belleville,
    the
    parties entered a Stipulation of Fact with regard to Count
    I of the
    Complaint,
    as amended.
    No evidence or testimony was submitted with
    regard to Count
    II because the parties were unable to arrive at
    a
    settlement with regard to that Count,
    (The final Amended Complaint
    containing Count III had not yet been filed by the date of this
    hearing.)
    A third and final hearing, again in Belleville, was held on
    September
    8,
    1976.
    Despite notice by the Hearing Officer
    (Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    R.
    2)
    ,
    neither Respondent nor counsel
    for Respondent appeared
    at that hearing.
    In addition to that notice by the Hearing Officer,
    Respondent
    (through counsel) had also been served by the Agency with
    a Notice
    to Appear at the September
    8,
    1976 hearing
    (id.,
    R.
    5).
    That Notice to Appear was filed with the Board on September
    2,
    1976.
    Based on Respondent’s failure
    to appear,
    the Hearing Officer defaulted
    the Respondent
    (id.,
    R.
    4,
    6).
    As
    a result of Respondent’s default,
    the Board bases this
    Opinion and Order on the Stipulation filed by the parties on
    September 15,
    1975, with regard to Count
    I, various citizens’
    testimony,
    and evidence and exhibits
    (including responses
    to Inter—
    roqatories and Requests for Admissions)
    presented by the Attorney
    General
    for the Agency, and the pleadings.
    As a final procedural matter, we note that the Board has
    previously dealt with this case
    in
    several decisions
    on
    discovery
    and related matters.
    Interim Orders of the Board were entered on
    June
    26, November 26 and December 11,
    1975;
    January 14 and April
    8,
    1976.
    The subject of this case is a mine site owned and operated by
    Respondent Woods
    in St. Clair County,
    ii1~flO1s, commonly
    known
    as
    the
    ~
    E11(~ll Miiio
    (~liI)IIIdI
    ion
    oI
    Vi:I
    lII~r~ill~llU’l,
    ~Lipj
    ¶1).
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    01
    “JU1
    I)’
    ~1
    I ow
    voars,
    (Sc’pL.
    8,
    1976,
    P.
    32)
    ,
    Pespondcn(
    1
    coinliict ~
    u
    c~irUon
    recovery
    operation
    on
    the
    mine
    site,
    (Stip.
    ¶3)
    ,
    using
    coal
    tailings
    or
    coal
    fines
    as
    a
    raw
    material,
    (Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    hearing,
    R.
    9)
    That operation involves considerable movement of various raw and
    finished materials around the site, use of a rotary dryer,
    a settling
    chamber,
    two cyclones
    in series,
    and a Venturi scrubber,
    (Id.,
    P.
    9-10)
    Water discharges from the
    operation,
    after
    treatment in
    a settling
    pond, travel through an unnamed tributary into Richland Creek, and
    then into the Kaskaskia River,
    (Respondent’s Ex.
    1
    to Stip.; see
    also, Complainant’s Ex.
    1
    &
    2,
    Sept.
    8,
    1976)
    24
    308

    —3—
    The status of Respondent’s involvement in continuing or future
    operations on the site is not clear.
    It is apparent from the Stipu-
    lation and testimony by various citizens that operations
    on
    the
    site continued until mid or late 1975,
    past the filing of the
    original Complaint,
    and probably until the final Amended Complaint
    was filed.
    It seems, although the record is not clear on this point,
    that Respondent will continue as owner of the St. Ellen Mine
    site,
    with operations
    to be continued by other unnamed parties,
    (e.g.,
    Ex.
    1,
    2 of Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    and R.
    33, Sept.
    8,
    1976).
    With regard to Count
    I, Respondent admitted
    in the Stipulation
    filed at the second public hearing that
    it did not have the necessary
    mine—related pollution permit under Chapter
    4 for operations
    on the
    site,
    (Stip.
    ¶3,
    7).
    By way of mitigation, Respondent showed that
    by the time of the second hearing in this matter,
    that permit had
    in fact been applied for and received,
    (Resp.
    Ex.
    1 to Stip.).
    In
    addition,
    the Stipulation indicates that Respondent had relied with
    regard to that permit on an employee charged with the responsibility
    of obtaining all such permits.
    That individual was terminated upon
    the filing of this matter before the Board,
    (Stip.
    ¶9A).
    Although the violation was stipulated
    to, neither party addressed
    the issue of an appropriate penalty for such violation.
    We
    feel,
    in light of the fact that Respondent has presented no testimony
    under Section 33(c)
    of the Act,
    that a $100 penalty is appropriate
    to further the purposes of the Act and to safeguard the integrity
    of the permit system.
    Ill.
    Rev.
    Stat.,
    Ch. 111-1/2,
    §33(c) (1975).
    Processing and Books,
    Inc.,
    v.
    PCB,
    64 Ill.2d 68, 35lN.E.2d 865(1976).
    With regard to the remaining Counts
    II and III of the Complaint,
    as amended, they are admitted by default,
    In addition to that default,
    the record contains considerable evidence presented by the Agency
    and various citizens substantively proving those violations.
    Testi-
    mony at the September
    8,
    1976 hearing
    (R.
    7 et seq.,
    33 et seq.),
    and Respondent’s response to Complainant’s Request for Admission,
    (Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    Ex.
    1,
    2), showed that,
    (1) the alleged operations
    by Respondent did
    in fact occur;
    (2) ‘they were subject to the permit
    requirement; and
    (3)
    that no permit was received.
    A
    prima
    facie
    case on Count
    IT,
    unanswered by Respondent,
    is thus made.
    With regard to the allegation of substantive air pollution
    in
    Count III of the Complaint,
    as amended, testimony by witnesses for
    the Agency
    (R.
    70, et seq.), and Exhibits
    (Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    Ex.
    3A—3G),
    showed that there were indeed considerable visible emissions from
    Respondent’s facility.
    Testimony
    by
    private citizens at the public
    hearings
    in this matter buttressed the Agency’s case,
    and showed
    without refutation that those emissions caused considerable hardship
    to the public.
    The emissions resulting from Respondent’s operations
    caused individuals to remain indoors, badly soiled their homes and
    personal belongings and generally interfered with the enjoyment of
    life and property,
    (e.g., June 16,
    1975 hearing,
    R.
    7;
    Sept.
    8,
    1976
    hearing,
    R.
    15,
    21, 26).
    A prima facie case on Count III, unanswered
    by Respondent,
    is thus made.
    24
    309

    —4—
    Inasmuch as Counts
    II and III have been proved both by default
    and by substantive testimony and evidence,
    we feel that a penalty
    is warranted for the violations
    shown.
    With regard to the air-
    related violations, we have before us no matters
    in mitigation.
    Although the exact nature of the operations on the site may have
    changed or may be changed,
    such operations will nonetheless continue,
    (Sept.
    8,
    1976,
    R.
    33)
    .
    A penalty should be set which will insure
    that such operations are carried on in compliance with the Act and
    this Board’s Regulations.
    For the air permit violations
    in Count
    II, we shall
    impose a penalty of $1,000.00 to further the purposes
    of the Act and to safeguard the integrity of the permit system.
    For the substantive air pollution violations
    in Count
    III,
    we find
    that a penalty of $4,000.00
    is appropriate,
    by virtue of the
    environmental damage caused by past operations, and
    to prevent
    future violations and encourage compliance with the Act.
    We shall,
    in addition, Order that Respondent cease and desist
    all operations
    on the site unless all appropriate permits have been
    received from the Agency within
    90 days of the date of this Order.
    This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
    of law of the Board in this matter.
    ORDER
    IT IS THE ORDER OF THE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD that:
    1.
    Respondent Harold D.
    Woods, General Partner, d/b/a St. Ellen
    Land Company,
    is found to have operated a mine site without a permit
    from the Environmental Protection Agency,
    in violation of Section 12(b)
    of the Environmental Protection Act and Rule 201 of Chapter
    4: Mine
    Wastes,
    of the Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations,
    from
    April
    8,
    1974 up to and including April
    23,
    1975.
    2.
    Said Respondent
    is found to have operated at said site
    certain equipment constituting an emission source without
    the
    required permit
    from
    the
    Environrnen
    t:n I
    ProLeuL
    ion
    1\leflcy,
    i n
    violation
    of Rule
    9(b)
    of the Environmental Protection Act,
    and
    Rule
    103 (h)
    (2)
    of
    Chapter
    2:
    Air
    Pollution,
    ol
    Ll’uis
    Hoard’s
    Rules
    and Regulations.
    3.
    Said Respondent’s operations on said site are found
    to
    have caused air pollution,
    in violation of Section 9(a)
    of the
    Environmental Protection Act
    and Rule
    102 of Chapter
    2: Air Pollution,
    of this Board’s Rules and Regulations,
    24
    —310

    —5—
    4.
    Respondent shall pay as a penalty for the above violations
    the sum of Five Thousand One Hundred Dollars
    ($5,100.00),
    (constituting
    a penalty of $100 for the violations
    in paragraph
    1,
    above,
    a penalty
    of $1,000 for the violations
    in paragraph
    2, above,
    and a penalty of
    $4,000
    for the violations
    in paragraph
    3,
    above), payment
    to be
    made within thirty-five
    (35)
    days of the date of this Order by
    certified check or money order to:
    Environmental Protection Agency
    Fiscal Services Division
    2200 Churchill Road
    Springfield,
    Illinois
    62706
    5.
    Respondent shall cease and desist all operations on said
    site unless and until all appropriate permits
    for such operations
    have been received from the Environmental Protection Agency within
    ninety
    (90) days of the date of this Order.
    Mr. James Young abstained.
    I,
    Christan L.
    Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
    Control
    Board
    ,
    hereby cort
    i
    ly
    the
    above
    Op
    i
    ni
    on
    and
    ()rcIor wore
    adopted
    on
    the
    ~
    day
    of
    December,
    1976,
    by
    a
    vote
    of
    ~—O
    ~stanL,~1offeGlerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    24
    311

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