ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROLBOARD

E C E ~V E D

CLERK’S OFFICE

COUNTY OF VERMILION, ILLINOIS,

)

OCT-12004

Complainant,

STATE OF

ILLINOIS

)

AC No.

04-22

Pollution Control Board

)

County File No. 03-03

VILLAGE OF

TILTON,

)

Respondent.

)

BRIEF OF COMPLAINANT

On June

25,

2003, Doug Toole, a health inspectorwith the Vermilion County

Health Department, inspected the propertyof Mildred Butler,

located near the corner of

15th

Street and

1st

Street in the Village of Tilton, Vermilion County, Illinois.

Doug Toole

inspected the property due to a complaint that the Health Department had received

concerning solid waste on the property.

Upon inspection, Doug Toole observed waste on

the property.

As a result ofthis inspection, Mildred Butler was given a compliance

date

forwhen she needed

to have her property cleaned up, and the waste properly disposed of.

In July 2003, Mildred Butler told Doug Toole that the Village ofTilton had an option to

purchase her property, and that they were now in charge ofcleaning up the property.

Doug Toole spoke to David Phillips, Mayor of the Village ofTilton, on July 7, 2003 and

he confirmed that the Village of Tilton had an option to purchase Mildred Butler’s

property, and was in the process of cleaningup the property.

On August

25,

2003, Doug Toole re-inspected the property ofMildred Butler, to

confirm that the Village ofTilton had removed the solid waste from the property.

Upon

arrival, Doug Toole observed that the items that had been scattered throughout the

property at the June

25,

2003 inspection had now been centralized in one pile and had

been burned.

In the pile ofwaste was brush, branches, scrap metal, demolition debris,

boards, fencing, and rims and

steel belts

from tires.

Doug Toole observed the pile of

waste to be smoldering,

observed scorch marks, and could smell smoke emanating from

the pile ofwaste.

Doug Toole then spoke to Mayor Phillips on August 26, 2003

concerning the burning pile ofwaste that he had observed on the property on August 25,

2003.

Mayor Phillips told Doug Toole that workers from the Village ofTilton piled the

debris and burned the brush and other items.

a result of the Village of Tilton’s

actions, the Village was cited with violating the Environmental Protection Act,

415

ILCS

5/21

@)(3).

The Environmental Protection Act provides that no person shall “cause or allow

the open dumping of any waste in a maimer which results in.. .open burning,”

415

ILCS

5/21 (p)(3).

The Environmental Protection Act defines “open dumping” as “the

consolidation ofrefuse from one or more sources at a disposal

site that does not fulfill the

requirements ofa sanitary landfill,”

415

ILCS

5/3.305.

“Refuse” means “waste,”

415

ILCS

5/3.3

85.

“Waste” is defined as “any garbage.

.or other discarded material,

including

solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from

industrial, commercial, mining and

agricultural operations, and from community

activities..

.,“

415

ILCS

5/3.535.

The Village of Tilton caused or allowed open dumping of waste on the property

ofMildred Butler.

It is not disputed that during all times relevant to this complaint,

Mildred Butler owned the property at issue.

It is also not in dispute, that the Village of

Tilton, during all times relevant to this complaint, had an option to purchase the property

at issue and had taken control ofcleaning up the property.at issue.

Environmental Protection Agency v. Pollution Control Board and John Vander,

579

N.E.2d 1215 (1991), speaks directly to the issue

at hand.

In this case, John Vander

demolished two buildings

and then set fire to the debris on the site where the buildings

had stood.

The Environmental Protection Agency then issued an administrative citation

against John Vander charging him with “having caused or allowed the open dumping of

waste in a maimer which resulted in litter and open burning...”

Id. at

1216.

The

Pollution Control Board ruled that John Vander had not violated the Environmental

Protection Act because his conduct did not constitute “open dumping” within the

Environmental Protection Act’s definition.

However, the Appellate Court reversed the

Pollution Control Board’s ruling and found that John Vander’s actions did constitute

“open dumping.”

The Court held that” ‘open dumping’ happens not when refuse is

consolidated at the point ofdemolition, but when it is consolidated at a

disposal

site.

.Thus, there must be more than demolition.

There must also be

‘disposal,’, which is

defined as ‘the discharge, deposit, injection,

dumping, spilling,

leaking or placing of any

waste.

.into or on any land.

so that such waste.

.may enter the environment or be

emitted into the air...”

Id. at 1217.

“The demolition site became the disposal site when

Vander decided to incinerate the debris there instead ofmoving it away.”

Id. at 1218.

In the case at hand,

the property became a disposal sitewhen the Village ofTilton

deposited and burned the pile ofwaste, therefore causing the waste to

enter the

environment and be emitted into the

air.

Since the Village ofTilton’s actions caused the

property to be a disposal site, and the Village of Tilton consolidated the waste from the

property into one pile on the land, the Village ofTilton caused or allowed open dumping.

Whether the Village of Tilton placed the waste on the property is not an issue.

The

Village ofTilton had control ofthe property from at least July 7, 2003 until the

inspection ofAugust 25, 2003.

The Village of Tilton gathered the items that were

scattered across the property and placed them in one pile ofwaste,

therefore

consolidating the waste.

The pile ofwaste observed by Doug Toole on August 25, 2003

clearly meets the definition of “open dumping,” the Village ofTilton engaged in open

burning by burning the pile ofwaste; therefore the Village ofTilton is in violation ofthe

Environmental Protection Act, 415 ILCS

5/21 (p)(3).

‘1

i;~4

Frank R

Young

State’s Attorney for Vermilion County

By:

Jennifeji’~igg~)’

‘

Assist(~State’s Attorney

Prepared by:

Jennifer Riggs

Office ofthe State’s Attorney

7 N. Vermilion St.

Danville, IL 61832

217-554-7750