ILLINOIS
    POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    January 30, 1973
    DEAN PENN and
    WALTER
    DEENIE
    )
    #72—432
    V.
    ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION
    AGENCY
    DEAN
    PENN
    and
    WALTER
    DEEMIE,
    PRO
    SE
    LARRY
    EATON,
    ASST.
    ATTORNEY
    GENERAL,
    ON
    BEHALF
    OF
    ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION
    AGENCY
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (BY SAMUEL T.
    LAWTON,
    JR.):
    On August 15,
    1972,
    in case entitled Environment Protection Agency
    v. Dean N.
    Penn and Walter Deemie, #72—189, we entered the following
    order:
    “1.
    Respondents shall cease and desist from causing or allowing
    open dumping of garbage and refuse in their dump site
    located near Peoria,
    Illinois.
    2.
    Respondents shall apply for an Agency permit to conduct
    fill
    operations
    no later than August 31,
    1972.
    3.
    In the event that as a result of failure or inaction on
    the part of Respondents no permit
    is obtained by December 31,
    1972,
    the dump site will be closed permanently with final
    cover.
    4.
    Respondents shall within 35 days after receipt of this Order
    pay a penalty of $750.00 by check payable to Fiscal Services
    Division, Environmental Protection Agency,
    2200 Churchill
    Drive, Springfield,
    Illinois 62706.
    This shall be the respon-
    sibility of Respondents jointly and severally.”
    On November
    3,
    1972,
    we received a petition for variance.
    It is
    difficult to tell from the petition precisely what relief the petition-
    ers seek.
    The record indicates that while paragraph
    4 of the Order
    with respect to the fine has been complied with,
    the petitioners
    have not ceased dumping at the site and have not obtained a permit
    from the Agency to continue the operation of the facility as a
    dump
    site.
    The substance of petitionerst request appears
    to be that they
    are seeking the right to continue the operation of the dump site
    facility without a permit from the Agency.
    Discussion
    between
    6
    —
    669
    petitioners and Agency personnel has taken place since the August 15,
    1972 Order.
    The Agency has proposed that the dump site be improved
    with a clay filler to prevent leachate into the underlying aquifer.
    This proposal did not meet with petitioner’s approval and evidently,
    the discussions with respect to the permit ceased.
    Testimony at the hearing brought out that the landfill site
    is
    an abandoned sand pit in which approximately 85 feet of fill has al-
    ready been deposited,
    leaving approximately 15 or 20 feet remaining.
    Both petitioners and Agency personnel questioned the suitability of
    placing the clay floor on top of the already deposited refuse.
    The
    suggestion was made that final cover and compacting might achieve
    the same purpose.
    However., evidence indicates that petitioner’s desire
    to continue the dumping of refuse for as long as two years, during which
    time no
    final cover would be applied and during which time the perco-
    lation and leachate conditions would continue.
    Accordingly, we do
    not feel that an adequate demonstration of hardship has been made
    before us on which a variance could be granted.
    In any event, we are
    certainly not disposed to authorizing petitioners to operate
    their facility without a permit from the Agency if, indeed,
    this
    is what
    is being sought by the variance.
    The variance petition filed by Dean Penn and Walter Deemie is
    denied.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I,
    Christa:
    ~linois Pollution Control Boa~rd,
    certify
    thL
    ..
    tne abovt~~~ion
    and Order was adopted on the
    .3~
    ‘~‘
    day
    of
    January,
    1973,
    by
    a
    vote
    of
    ‘~
    —
    to
    ~
    ~
    —2—
    6
    —
    670

    Back to top