ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
September 29, 1975
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
V.
)
PCB 75—122
KENOSHA PACKING COMPANY
a Wisconsin corporation,
)
Respondent.
Mr.
James
L.
Dobrovolny, Assistant Attorney General, appeared
on behalf of the Complainant;
Mr. Henry B. Rothenberg,
Lissner, Rothenberg,
Rief and
Barth,
appeared on behalf of the Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Goodman):
This matter comes before the Pollution Control Board
upon the March 19,
1975,
complaint of the Environmental
Protection Agency
(Agency)
against the Kenosha Packing
Company
(Kenosha)
,
a Wisconsin corporation.
The three count
complaint charges Kenosha with violation of section
9(A)
of
the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
from July
1,
1970,
to
March 19,
1975;
Rule 103(b) (2)
of the Air Regulations and
9(b)
of the Act from February
1,
1973 to March
19,
1975;
and Rule 502(a)
of the Air Regulations and 9(c)
of the Act
on April
17,
1974.
A hearing was held in Woodstock,
Illinois,
on June 20,
1975,
to read into the record a tentative settlement,
the final stipulation and settlement proposal being filed
August
20,
1975.
Kenosha Packing Company butchered about 210 head of
cattle per day and also engaged in rendering operations at
its Hebron, McHenry County, plant until June
13,
1975.
The
butchering and rendering was performed Monday through Friday,
the former,
10 hours per day,
the latter,
16 hours per day.
Kenosha processes and renders cattle carcasses,
skins,
heads,
feet,
butcher shop scrap and other discarded parts
previously ground
in
a pre—breaker and fed via an open auger
conveyor from the breaker to the cookers.
31,000 pounds of
offal and bones and 5,000 pounds of blood are processed each
day.
The dry—heat cookers break down the cell structures,
liberating
gases and water vapors and separating the
tallow from the solids.
The materials are then fed to an
expeller which compresses the grease and settles out the
particulate matter.
The grease or tallow is eventually
pumped into pickup tank trucks and the dry residue
is
transfered to
an enclosed truck.
Each cooker has
a direct
contact condenser.
18
—
607
—2—
The steam and vapors are sent to an enclosed tank which
is vented directly to the atmosphere.
The condensed material
is sent to a skimming tank which is also vented to the
atmosphere.
Non—condensable emissions are fed through an afterburner
to the atmosphere.
However the afterburner, which respondent
contends increases the odor, has been inoperable for several
years.
The Agency received three written complaints and
15
area residents, when interviewed, voiced their complaints of
an objectionable odor eminating from Kenosha.
This odor is
apparently the result of the rendering operation rather than
the meat packing operation.
Kenosha, while
it had applied for one, does not have
an
operating permit which was required by Rule 103(b)
(2)
by
February
1,
1973.
Thus the Board finds Kenosha to have
violated Rule 103(b) (2) and Section 9(b)
of the Act from
February
1, 1973,
to March 19,
1975.
Kenosha was observed burning garbage and refuse in the
back of its plant in violation of Rule 502(a)
of the Air
Regulations on April
17,
1974, and Sections 9(a)
and 9(b) of
the Act.
The community of Hebron has a population of 800.
The
Respondent’s plant
is close to various schools and commercial
and residential areas of the city.
Kenosha employs fifty-
five persons in Hebron.
Kenosha has operated in Hebron
since December,
1966,
although the rendering plant has been
in operation since World War II.
Kenosha has spent over
$23,000,000.00 in the past year on its operations in Hebron.
Kenosha has attempted to reduce its odors by various
means since 1973.
However,
the Respondent has failed to
adequately control these odors.
The Agency states that it
is technically feasible to control the odors, and Kenosha
stipulates that
it could afford any technically feasible
equipment.
Kenosha has constructed a new rendering plant at a cost
of $304,000.00 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
It moved its rendering
operations to
that. plant on June 13,
1975.
This move will
not cost any local employee of Kenosha his job.
Kenosha has
applied for all necessary permits
to maintain its packing
operation
at Hebron.
18
—
608
—3—
Kenosha admits,
for purposes of this settlement, all
violations set forth in the complaint.
Kenosha stipulates
that it will cease all rendering operations at the Hebron
plant on June 13,
1975, and within 14 days of this Order,
it
will remit $7,000.00 to the State as
a penalty for the
violations.
In addition, Kenosha agrees to obtain all
necessary permits from the Agency.
The Board finds the stipulation and settlement proposal
to be reasonable and the stipulated penalty to be adequate,
and therefore accepts said stipulation and settlement proposal.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact
and conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1)
Respondent Kenosha Packing Company
is found to have
violated Section 9(a)
of the Act from July
1,
1970 to March
19,
1975; and Rule 103(b) (2)
of the Air Regulations and Section 9(b)
of the Act from February 1,
1973, to March 19,
1975; and
Rule 502(a)
of the Air Regulations and Section 9(c)
of the
Act on April
17,
1974; and
2)
Respondent Kenosha Packing Company shall pay as
a
penalty the
sum of $7,000.00, payment to be made within 14
days of the date of this Order, by certified check or money
order to:
State of Illinois
Fiscal Services Division
Environmental Protection Agency
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
and
3)
Respondent Kenosha Packing Company shall cease all
rendering operations at its Hebron plant; and
4)
Respondent K3nosha Packing Company shall apply for
and obtain all necessary permits for its Hebron meat packing
plant within 120 days of this Order.
18
609
—4—
I, Christan L. Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Op~nin and Order
were adopted on the
__________
day of
_________
1975 by a
vote of
4_~j~
-.
Illinois Pollution
Ltrol Board
18
—
610