IS

POLLUTION

CONROL

BOARD

January

5,

1978

KEATHEN

WILSON,

Petitioner,

PCB

77-52

ENVIRONMENTAL PRO9.~ECTION

AGENCY,

Respondents

MR. RICHARD

C

~cNVhGE

APPEARED

ON

BEHALF

OF

PETil lONER,

MR. ROBERT BAREWId APPEARED

ON

BEHALF

OF

RESPONDENTS

OPINION AND ORDER OF

THE

BOARD

(by Mr,

Goodman):

This matter comes

before

the

Board

upon

the

Petition

filed

February

14,

1977,

by Weather Wilson

appealing

the

Agency’s

revocation

of his Class

3 Certificate

of

Competency

as

a

waste—

water treatment facility

operators

On

April

28,

1977,

the

Board

ordered that the matter

be

set

for

hearing,

that

the

burden

of proof be on the Agency,

and that Mr~Wilson’s certificate

remain valid at least

until

the

Board

had

rendered

its

final

de-

cision.

Hearings were

held

in

this

matter

on

May26,

August

30,

and September

2, l977~

Testimony at the

hearings

indicated

that

the

Agency

revoked

Mr~Wilson’s Certificate

based

on its

belief

that

it

was

not

Mr~

Wilson, but another man,

who had actually

taken the

Class

3 exam

on October

1,

1976,

and signed Mr~Wilson’s name to

it.

The Agency

presented several

witnesses who testified

as to the

circumstances

surrounding their

discovery

of

this

alleged fraud and

their decision

to revoke the permit~

The gist

of

the

Agency’s

testimony

is that

the proctors of the

exams given

in October

and

November, 1976

discovered that

a man

described as

a

300-pound,

black man, limping

and using a cane, had

taken both tests but had signed them

under

different names,

one of which

was Keathen

Wilson

(R.98,

153).

A

call to the sewage treatment

plant

at

which Mr. Wilson was employed

revealed that Mr. Wilson

did not match this physical description,

but that another man, a Mr.

Ledbetter, who had

been

employed

at the plant

(R.233),

did.

The Agency had

in

its

files

a

picture

of Mr. Ledbetter from his

opplication for

a Certificate

of competency

29—9

---

—2—

and the proctor

of

the

October

exam

identified

I

~s

the

man

w’r’

had signed his

exam

with the name Keathen Wilsor

7~~OO,

118),

~he

Agency then sent

Keathen Wilson two

letters by

c~r~

tried mail i~

forming him of ‘~irregu1arities”

they

had found.

cy

received ~o

response

(R.22).

On

January

31,

1977,

they sent

~

a letter

revoking his certificate.

They

based

their

revocation on

the proc-

tors’

statements and a comparison

of

the signatuos

~n Mr.

Wilson’s

exam with those on his application and return

rEceipts from the

letters mailed to

him

(R,225,

230).

Presenting

the

only testimony

on

his behalf

Mr.

Wilson

denied

the Agency’s allegations and stated that he,

hi~~elf, did in fact

take the October

1 exam.

He testified that at

Lime of the

exam

he

was

suffering from gout which caused

hii.

~

I~mp and use

a cane

(R.292—294),

He

further testified that a

secretary

bigned

his name

to his application and his niece signed the return receipts

so

that a comparison of these signatures with thac on the exam would

be

meaningless

(R.288,

316).

The Board finds

that, based to~nthe testi’ eny presented at

the hearings herein,

there is ccn~ierab1ereasco to doubt t~t

Mr. Wilson himself was

in fact po~~ent at the O~o~erI exam.

Few

ever,

the Board’s primary functio:. zs to protect the people of ~he

State

of

Illinois from environme:tal damage.

If Mr. vilson is

able to take and pass the exam, the integrity of t~ecertification

procedure which is ultimately aimed toward prot ~~ing the environ~~

ment will be upheld.

Rather than passing ~udgm or on Mr. Wilson’s

honesty,

the

Board will order that he re-take tre exam within 90 day

of the date of this

Order.

His

certificate

shall no

longer

be

valid

if

he

fails

the

exam

or

does not

take the exam w~hin

the

allotted

90

days.

Until

such

time,

his

certificate

shal’.

remain

valid.

The

Agency shall waive any requirements which

would nave

prevented

him

from

re-taking

the

exam

at

this

time

and

shall waive any applicatior

fee requirements.

This

Opinion constitutes the findings

of fact and conclusions

of law of the Board

in this matter.

ORDER

It is

the Order of the Pollution Control Board

that:

1.

The Agency’s revocation of Keathen

Wilson’s Class

29—10

---

—3—

Certificate of Comp’.

tency

shall be reversed

subject to

the condition that Keathen Wilson take and

pass the

Class

3 Certification of Competency exam within

90 days

of the

date of this Order.

2.

The Agency shall waive any requirements which would

ordinarily prevent Mr. Wilson ~:romtaking

the

exam

Mr. Young dissents.

1, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, her by certif

the above Opinion and Order was

~7opted on the

~‘‘~

day of

,

Christan L. Moffe

Illinois Pollution

ontrol Board