ILLINOIS POLLUTION
CONTROL BOARD
June
28,
1973
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant-Respondent
#71—4
REVEREND LOUIS HEMMERICH,
et
al,
)
#71-33
#72—85
Complainant-Respondent
v.
LLOYD
A.
FRY
ROOFING COMPANY,
a Delaware corporation,
Respondent-Petitioner
JAMES RUBIN,
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY
GENERAL,
ON BEHALF OF
INVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
BURTON
Y. WEITZENFLED OF ARNSTEIN,
GLUCK, WEITZENFELD
& MINOW, ON
BEHALF
OF LLOYD A.
FRY ROOFING COMPANY
PATRICK
A.
KEENAN OF DEPAUL LAW CLINIC,
ON BEHALF OF REVEREND
LOUIS HEMMERICH,
et
al
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(BY SAMUEL
T.
LAWTON,
JR.):
On October
14, 1971,
in consolidated cases
#71-4 and #71—33,
we entered the following
order:
“1.
That Lloyd
A. Fry Roofing Company cease and desist
emissions
from its Summit operation until such time
as air pollution abatement
equipment has been installed
and is properly onerating, which equipment shall bring
Fry’s emissions within the particulate regulations,
as
set forth
in the Rules and Regulations Governing the
Control of
Air
Pollution, Sections 2-2.11
and 3-3.111.
2.
Fry
shall advise this Board when such installation
has been completed.
This proceeding shall remain open
and the Board shall conduct a further hearing not less
than
30 nor more
than
60 days after
notice of the instal—
lation of said air pollution abatement equipment
in order
to ascertain
whether
odors being
emitted
by
Fry’s
opera—
tion
have
been
abated
as
a
consequence
of the air pollution
control
equipment
installed,
Such
further
orders
shall
be
~ssued
by
th±s Board
as
are
appropriate
in
consideration
of
che
hearir~s.
3.
Penalty in the amount of $50,000
is assessed against
Fry for violations
of the particulate emissions
provisions
of the Rules and Regulations Governing the
Control of Air Pollution,
for failure to file a Letter
of Intent and Air Contaminant Emission Reduction Program
as required by the Rules
and Regulations Governing the
Control of Air Pollution, Sections 2-2.3 and 2-2.4,
and for causing air pollution as defined within the
Environmental Protection Act, Section 9(a).”
On March
6,
1972,
in Case #72-85,
the Environmental Protection
Agency filed a complaint alleging that Fry had made installation
of, and operated, certain equipment designed to prevent air pollu-
tion without the requisite permits, thereby violating Section
9(b)
of the Act.
The only issues with which the Board is presently confronted
relate to whether Fry’s operation is presently in compliance with
our October 14,
1971 Order, and secondly, whether Fry has violated
Section 9(b)
of the Act by failing to obtain the necessary
instal1a-~
tion and operating permits.
A series of hearings was conducted on both of the foregoing
issues subsequent to our October 14,
1971 Order.
The parties have
filed various memoranda with the Board, and counsel for the parties
appeared to discuss the pending issues remaining to be
resolved.
Notwithstanding the length and complexity of the various proceedinqs
filed herein, the disposition of the case at the present time does not
present any difficulty.
Counsel
for the Environmental Protection
Agency states that the receipt of an operating permit by Fry on
December 26, 1972 moots any remaining issues with respect to the
Board’s original order above set forth and we so find.
~e concur
that the issuance of an operating permit by the Agency connotes
compliance with our order and the relevant regulations,
at least at
the time of the issuance of said permit,
and no further action
by
the
Board in this respect is necessary or appropriate.
Stipulation filed by the parties acknowledges
that Fry’s
application for a construction permit on June 12, 1972 was subse-
quent to the actual installation of the equipment for which the permit
was sought.
Accordingly,
there is no issue of fact with respect to
the Agency’s allegations
in #72-85 that the installation was made
without a construction permit.
Fry’s defense
to this
allegation
is two-fold,
first, that the installation was made pursuant to
order entered on May 6, 1971 in Case #71-CH585 in the Circuit Court
of Cook County, directing the installation
of abatement equipment
and secondly,
that the Board’s original order above quoted directed
installation of abatement equipment but made no reference for the
need for obtaining the necessary permits.
—2—
8
378
We find these contentions lacking in merit and hold Fry has
violated Section
9(b)
of the Acb in installing the abatement equip-
ment without the requisite permit.
We have examined, the Circuit
Court Order above referred to and find nothing therein that abrogates
the Environmental Protection Act or the relevant Rules with respect
to obtaining state permits.
The Order does not purport to excuse
Fry from obtaining such permits nor enjoin any agency of the State
from requiring them.
The Order expressly requires Fry to obtain
a permit from the County authorities thereby
recognizing that
the permit process
is inherent in
the right to install and operate
equipment of the sort involved.
Likewise, nothing in our October
14, 1971 order can be construed
in any manner
as excusing Fry from complying with the relevant
regulations and statutory provisions with respect to the issuance
of permits.
Direction to comply with the statute and regulations
has implicit in it, the requirement to comply with the necessary
steps
in achieving such compliance which require the issuance of
permits for the purpose of ascertaining whether the equipment will,
in fact,
do that which it
is being installed to accomplish.
We conclude that nothing contained in either our Order or the Cir-
cuit Court Order
in
any way excused Fry from compliance with the
relevant permit requirements contained in the statute and regulations.
However, considering
the totality of all proceedings involved
in
this matter, the evident
achievement of compliance by Fry in an
admittedly difficult situation,
the possible confusion that the
multiplicity of orders and jurisdictions might have created and
the lack of any benefit that would accrue, should we hold otherwise,
we are not disposed to impose a penalty for the foregoing violation.
This opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board..
IT
IS THE ORDER of the Pollution Control Board that:
Lloyd
A. Fry Roofing Company, by installation of equipment
without
a permit as charged in the complaint in Case
#72-85, has violated Section 9(b)
of the Environmental
Protection Act.
For reasons set forth in the opinion,
no penalty is imposed.
Mr. Dumelle dissents believing that a penalty should be imposed.
I,. Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Pollution (‘ontrol ~
certify
that the above Opinion and Order was adopted on the
~5’~”
day of
June.
1973,
by a vote of
3
to
4
.