BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Petitioner,
vs. No. AC-04-18
LUTHER COLEMAN,
Respondent,
Proceedings held on March 3rd, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. at the
Saline County Detention Center, 1 North Main Street, Harrisburg,
Illinois, before Carol Sudman, Chief Hearing Officer.
Reported by: Beverly S. Hopkins, CSR, RPR
CSR License No.: 084-004316
KEEFE REPORTING COMPANY
11 North 44th Street
Belleville, IL 62226
A P P E A R A N C E S
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
BY Michelle M. Ryan, Esq.
Special Assistant Attorney General
1021 North Grand Avenue East
Springfield, Illinois 62794
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
BY Kent A. Johnson, Esq.
Environmental Protection Specialist
Bureau of Land
2309 West Main Street, Suite 116
Marion, Illinois 62959
LUTHER COLEMAN, pro se
I N D E X
WITNESSES PAGE NUMBER
KENT A. JOHNSON
Direct Examination 4
Cross Examination 8
Redirect Examination 9
E X H I B I T S
NUMBER MARKED ENTERED
Petitioner's 1 5 7
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 (March 3rd, 2004; 11 a.m.)
3 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Good morning. My name is Carol
4 Sudman, and I'm a hearing officer with the Pollution Control
5 Board. This is the hearing for AC 04-18, IEPA v. Luther Coleman.
6 It is March 3rd, 2004, and we are beginning at 11:00 a.m.
7 I want to note for the record that there are no members of
8 the public present. Members of the public are allowed to provide
9 public comment if they so chose.
10 At issue in this case is the EPA's allegation that Mr.
11 Coleman violated the Environmental Protection Act by causing or
12 allowing the open dumping of construction or demolition debris at
13 624 West Logan in Harrisburg, Saline County.
14 This hearing was noticed pursuant to the Act and the
15 Board's rule and will be conducted pursuant to Sections 101.600
16 through 101.632 of the Board's procedural rules.
17 At this time I would like to ask the complainant to please
18 make her appearance on the record.
19 MS. RYAN: My name is Michelle Ryan, Special Assistant
20 Attorney General representing the Illinois EPA. I have a formal
21 appearance here. I think this one is for you. And this is my
22 Original 9 for the Board here.
23 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Thank you. Again, I'll note that
24 Mr. Coleman is not present to make an appearance. Are there any
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1 preliminary matters that you would like to discuss?
2 MS. RYAN: No.
3 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Would you like to give an opening
4 statement or just proceed with the case?
5 MS. RYAN: I think we'll proceed with the case. The Agency
6 calls Kent Johnson.
7 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Mr. Johnson, you may have a seat
8 and the court reporter will swear you in.
9 (The witness was sworn by the reporter.)
10 DIRECT EXAMINATION
11 QUESTIONS BY MS. RYAN:
12 Q. Can you state your full name for the record, please?
13 A. Kent Allen Johnson.
14 Q. And what's your occupation?
15 A. I'm field inspector with the Illinois EPA.
16 Q. How long have you been a field inspector with the
17 Illinois EPA?
18 A. Since May 1992.
19 Q. What are your duties as a field inspector?
20 A. I conduct solid -- solid waste, hazardous waste and
21 special investigation for the purposes of compliance in all state
22 environmental regulations.
23 Q. Can you explain to us your educational background?
24 A. I have bachelor's degree in aquatic biology, an
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1 associate's degree in biology and then continuing education
2 within IEPA on CEU credits, things of that nature, related to my
3 duties as an inspector.
4 Q. Are you familiar with Mr. Coleman's property on West
5 Logan Street in Harrisburg?
6 A. I am.
7 Q. Can you tell me where exactly that property is located?
8 A. It's located at 624 West Logan and adjoining lot, I
9 believe, the northwest side of Harrisburg, at the cross street
10 coming north is Cheney, C-h-e-n-e-y.
11 Q. And who owns that property there?
12 A. Luther Coleman.
13 Q. How many inspections have you conducted at the Coleman
14 property?
15 A. I've conducted one on-site inspection and one
16 recognizance inspection from off site.
17 Q. I'm going to show you what I marked as Exhibit 1 for
18 identification. If you could page through that and tell me if
19 you recognize what that is?
20 A. It appears to be a copy of an Inspection Report I filed
21 with -- following my September 10th, 2003, inspection.
22 Q. Can you review that document? Does that appear to be a
23 fair, accurate and complete copy of the report?
24 A. It does.
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1 Q. Please describe Mr. Coleman's property, generally
2 speaking, what it appears like?
3 A. The property consists of the house. There is a mobile
4 home toward the front of the property. There is a driveway
5 leading to the house, west of the house between the house, and
6 there's a ditch to the west. There were -- were noticed some
7 piles of waste; some tarped, some not. Vehicles with waste in
8 them. One vehicle was east of the driveway.
9 Q. The house that you described, what was the number on
10 that house?
11 A. 624.
12 Q. Who took the photographs that are attached to this
13 report?
14 A. I did.
15 Q. And what do they show?
16 A. Depict waste on the ground and in vehicles, and again
17 west of the house. Waste consists of demolition debris and some
18 of the tarped waste that's on the ground. I did not pull the
19 tarp back, but it does appear to be more related to garbage and
20 household materials.
21 Q. Did you see any material peeking out from underneath the
22 tarp?
23 A. Yes, I did.
24 Q. And what type of material was that?
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1 A. As I noted, it appeared to be household garbage, things
2 of that nature?
3 Q. Which of your photographs show the demolition debris?
4 A. The background of photo 1. Also photos 3, 4 and to some
5 extent in photo 5.
6 Q. And Photograph No. 6, there's a truck there with
7 material in the back?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. Do you know who owns that truck?
10 A. It's my understanding it's owned by Mr. Coleman, Luther
11 Coleman.
12 Q. Do these photographs, attached to your report,
13 accurately depict what you saw on the property that day?
14 A. They do.
15 Q. When was your report generated?
16 A. It would have been filed shortly after September 10th.
17 We typically file everything within 30 days.
18 Q. Does the Illinois EPA keep these reports in the regular
19 course of its business?
20 A. We do.
21 MS. RYAN: I move Exhibit 1 into evidence.
22 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. Exhibit No. 1 is admitted
23 into evidence.
24 MS. RYAN: And that's all I have.
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1 (Mr. Luther Coleman enters the room.)
2 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. Thank you very much, Mr.
3 Johnson. You're not Mr. Coleman, are you?
4 MR. COLEMAN: Yes.
5 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Oh, you are. Mr. Coleman, do you
6 have any questions that you would like to ask Mr. Johnson, your
7 field inspector?
8 MR. COLEMAN: Well, only his statements. The property that
9 he's over there that he's speaking that he's taken picture of, I
10 believe he --
11 MS. RYAN: Would you like a copy here?
12 A. The photos are in the back.
13 MR. COLEMAN: Yeah, but now on 624, I guess, these pictures
14 is accurate across the street from me.
15 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Mr. Coleman, I will let you take
16 the stand and make a statement in your own defense. I'm just
17 asking you right now if you have any questions for Mr. Johnson.
18 CROSS-EXAMINATION
19 QUESTIONS BY MR. COLEMAN:
20 Q. Are you the one that came out and take the pictures?
21 A. Yes, sir.
22 Q. I don't know how you got -- got across the street,
23 across the alley from me that I owned it.
24 A. Okay. With regard to the property ownership?
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1 Q. Yeah.
2 A. When conducting inspection of September 10th, when you
3 and I spoke I asked how far you owned, and you indicated the
4 ditch which is the farthest west side on the site sketch that's
5 just before the photos.
6 Q. Yeah.
7 A. When you said the ditch, I took that to be the western
8 boundary.
9 Q. And what's on 624?
10 A. The boundary, as far as the measurements between what
11 624 West Logan is and -- and as far as each lot number, I didn't
12 measure specific survey lot numbers. I took it to mean when you
13 said that you owned it to the ditch, that that was all your
14 property.
15 MR. COLEMAN: Okay. That's about all I have.
16 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Johnson.
17 MS. RYAN: Actually I do have one quick question.
18 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Sorry. I should have asked.
19 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
20 QUESTIONS BY MS. RYAN:
21 Q. Mr. Johnson, did you go to the tax assessor's office to
22 evaluate the ownership of the property earlier this morning?
23 A. I did.
24 Q. And what did you find out?
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1 A. According to the tax assessor's office, the 624 West
2 Logan is in the name Luther Coleman, and I believe Mary Coleman
3 is also on that one. There is a -- 700 West Logan is in Mr.
4 Coleman's name. And according to the assessor's office there is
5 a 622 West Logan, which is east of the house. That is in the
6 name of Veronica Coleman.
7 Q. Did you take any pictures of 622 Logan Street?
8 A. I don't know the boundary markers for sure. There is
9 one truck which is shown in photo 6, which was east of the
10 driveway, which based on what I seen from the lot description, it
11 may have been on 622. But it was basically half in the driveway
12 of Mr. Coleman's residence.
13 Q. Where was 700 West Logan located in relation to --
14 A. On the east side of the ditch west of his residence.
15 Q. Would it be included on the area shown on your site
16 sketch and the attached report?
17 A. Yes.
18 MS. RYAN: Thank you.
19 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Mr. Coleman, you don't have any
20 more questions for Mr. Johnson?
21 MR. COLEMAN: No.
22 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Thank you, Mr. Johnson. Ms. Ryan,
23 do you have anything further?
24 MS. RYAN: I have no other witness.
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1 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. You may take the stand and
2 make your own defense if you like.
3 (At this time the witness was sworn in.)
4 MR. COLEMAN: I want to say that I was helping him, when I
5 told him this metal stuff over here on this lot on 700, I told
6 the girl that I would clean up, and I have been. I have been
7 hauling some of the stuff over on 700.
8 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Could you speak up just a little
9 bit?
10 MR. COLEMAN: Why he's got 624, there's nothing on 624 at
11 all. And why he's got 700 and 624 in the complaint, I don't -- I
12 can't understand it because there's nothing on 624, and he knows
13 that. And why the complaint is on both piece of property, I
14 cannot understand. It's just a deal cooked up between the
15 sheriff's department and evidently the guy here, that he's got
16 624, because that's where I live. And I'll bet that's really all
17 that it is. The sheriff's department and this guy right here, if
18 he's one that came out and taken the pictures, it's a conspiracy
19 is all that is. Why, I don't know.
20 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Is that it?
21 MR. COLEMAN: Yeah.
22 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Hang on, Mr. Coleman. Ms. Ryan,
23 do you have any questions?
24 DIRECT EXAMINATION
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1 QUESTIONS BY MS. RYAN:
2 Q. The house that's on 624, that's in the middle of the
3 these other two properties right here?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. You're saying there's no waste on this property?
6 A. No. But it shows on these right there in front I got a
7 barrel and odds and ends, but no garbage or anything.
8 Q. Can you look through these pictures here starting
9 with -- and I know they're numbered strangely there. If you can
10 look at the first one. It's sort of a gray tarped area there.
11 There's three pictures altogether.
12 A. Uh-huh.
13 Q. Now remember this is back in September of last year so
14 it may not look like this today. Can you tell by looking at this
15 picture which property this picture was taken on?
16 A. The first picture was a canvass was at 700. And the
17 second picture, I'm not -- that looks like maybe 700 too, like
18 it's a ditch, a drainage ditch, out the back there. So both of
19 those are 700.
20 Q. I think you may have skipped a page there. There's a
21 page in between.
22 A. The next there's a 700 too. Now the first one on the
23 last page I'm not sure. Where was that?
24 Q. That's Picture No. 5 that you're referring to?
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1 A. Yeah. That looks like my truck there. I believe it is.
2 I believe that truck is parked at 624.
3 Q. Okay. Mr. Coleman, is there any marking showing which
4 property is 700?
5 A. No, there's an alley between 700 and 624.
6 MS. RYAN: Okay. That's all I have.
7 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. Thank you very much, Mr.
8 Coleman. You may step down. Let's go off the transcript --
9 sorry, off the record to discuss the transcript and briefing
10 schedule.
11 (A discussion was held off the record.)
12 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: We just had an off-the-record
13 discussion regarding post-hearing briefs. The parties have
14 agreed to a briefing schedule as follows: The transcript of
15 these proceedings will be available from the court reporter by
16 March 15th, 2004, and will be posted on the Board's website. The
17 public comment deadline is April 1st, 2004. Public comment must
18 be filed in accordance with Section 101.628 of the Board's
19 procedural rules. Complainant's brief is due April 5th, 2004.
20 Respondent's brief is due April 26th. The mailbox rule will
21 apply. Complainant's reply, if any, is due May 10th. Ms. Ryan,
22 would you like to make a closing statement?
23 MS. RYAN: No, I'll reserve that for my brief. Thank you.
24 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Mr. Coleman, you can make a
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1 closing statement. You don't have to if you don't want to.
2 MR. COLEMAN: Not really.
3 HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN: Okay. I'll again note there are
4 no members of the public present for this Administrative Citation
5 Proceeding. So I will proceed to make a statement as to the
6 credibility of witnesses testifying during this hearing. Based
7 on my legal judgment and experience, I find all of the witnesses
8 testifying to be credible. At this time I will conclude the
9 proceedings. And I thank you for all your participation, and we
10 stand adjourned. Thank you.
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STATE OF ILLINOIS
COUNTY OF FAYETTE
C E R T I F I C A T E
I, BEVERLY S. HOPKINS, a Notary Public in and for the
County of Fayette, State of Illinois, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the
foregoing 14 pages comprise a true, complete and correct
transcript of the proceedings held on the 3rd of March A.D.,
2004, at the Saline County Detention Center, 1 North Main Street,
Harrisburg, Illinois, in the case of Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency versus Luther Coleman, in proceedings held
before Hearing Officer Carol Sudman, and recorded in machine
shorthand by me.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and affixed
by Notarial Seal this 6th day of March A.D., 2004.
________________________________
Beverly S. Hopkins
Notary Public and
Certified Shorthand Reporter and
Registered Professional Reporter
CSR License No. 084-004316
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