ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    March
    6,
    1975
    MORTELL COMPANY,
    Petitioner,
    v.
    )
    PCB 74—416
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Respondent.
    DISSENTING OPINION
    (by Mr. Dumelle)
    My reason for dissenting
    in this case
    is the wholly unjustified
    delay in accomplishing control of a dangerous substance.
    The asbestos control regulation
    (R71—16) was adopted by
    this Board on January
    6,
    1972 after being published on June 14,
    197L
    Thus almost four years ago the Mortell Company was on
    notice of
    a pending proceeding and then had more than three years
    after enactment in which to comply.
    The latency period for illness and death induced by asbestos
    inhalation is up to 40 years
    (R.
    71—16 Board Opinion,
    3 PCB 442).
    The Board Opinion in R71—l6 summarizes the dangers of
    asbestos as follows:
    The onset of morbidity and lethal diseases have been
    attributed
    to asbestos inhalation and ingestion.
    Asbestosis,
    pleural calcification, lung cancer,
    and mesotheliomas are
    known to result from exposure to asbestos.
    Surveys of
    people living or working near asbestos mines and factories
    have revealed that many nonoccupational cases of
    asbestosis and mesothelioina have occurred either from
    asbestos in the polluted air or from asbestos carried
    home
    on the clothing of workers. (R71-16 Opinion, 3 PCB 441)
    The Mortell Company emissions are grossly beyond the
    limit of
    2 fibers per cubic centimeter of air set by Rule 651.
    Measured emissions in one test were 142.7 times the standard
    arid
    in another test were “too many fibers to count”~
    16—29
    —2—
    The nearest residence is on’y 100 feet from the exhaust
    of the Mortell Company.
    Damage to the health of these close-in
    residents by the plant’s emissions may have already occurred in
    an irreversible fashion.
    I fully agree with the Environmental Protection Agency
    that the variance should be denied.
    Delay in abating
    a proven
    health hazard should not receive from the Board a shield from
    enforcement.
    I,
    Christan L. Noffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify
    the
    above Dissenting Opinion was submitted on
    the
    ~
    day of March,
    1975.
    ~
    Christan L. Mof(e~t,Clerk
    Illinois Polluti~ Control Board
    ubmitted
    by:
    16—30

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