ILLINOIS

POLLUTION

CONTROL

BOARD

September

12,

1974

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY

)

V.

)

PCB 74—124

)

CITY

OF

ROCKFORD,

et

al

)

SUPPLEMENTAL

STATEMENT

(by

Mr.

Dumelle)

While

I have voted for

this opinion

I am bothered by the

relationships

between the City of Rockford and the private

firms named herein as regards

liabilities and penalties.

The City admits

to each and every violation and assumes

full respon-

sibility.

That means

it admits,

for example,

to

“open dumping” for the

period from July

1,

1970

to Arpil

1,

1974

(which is the date of filing

the complaint).

A single violation

of the Act can carry a S1O,000 penalty

plus

$1,000

per day it continues or $1,380,000 for the

1,370 days of

violation admitted in this instance.

Similarly, the admitted charges for having no fence or gate; for not

providing daily cover;

for failure

to supervise unloading

of refuse;

for

not providing final cover;

etc.

could result in theoretical penalties

in the multi—thousands of dollars individually and millions of dollars

in the aggregate.

Under this opinion and order, Rockford will pay

$6,500

and Browning—

Ferris Industries $8,500 of

the total $15,000 stipulated penalty.

The

Board has long levied lower penalties on governmental units

than on

private parties on

the grounds

that taxpayers’ money

is better spent on

abatement programs than to go

to another governmental unit.

But here the

agreement is in effect stating that 57

of

the total liability ($8,500 of

$15,000) devolves upon Browning—Ferris Industries.

The question then becomes:

Would

the Board have assessed

an $8,500

penalty upon Browning—Ferris had it appeared alone and admitted to

57

of

the violations of the complaint?

Without additional information as

to effects

(odors or rodents,

etc.)

from these violations

it is difficult

to judge this question.

No citizens appeared at the hearing.

13—575

---

What

I am concerned about

is

the precedent

of having private firms

shelter themselves behind

a municipaiityVs admission of guilt possibly

to avail themselves of

the precedent of lower penalties for cities~

The Board will have

to carefully watch

future settlements

to determine

if such a pattern develops.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Pollution Control Board, hereby

certif~the above Supplemental Statement was submitted on

this

day of

13

576