ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

September 23,

1983

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY,

Complainant,

V.

)

PCB 83—62

EFFINGHAM EQUITY COMPANY,

INC.,

an Illinois corporation,

Respondent

MR. JAMES

L. MORGAN,

ASSISTANT

ATTORNEY GENERAL,

APPEARED ON

BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT.

PARKER, BRUMMER, SIEMER,

AUSTIN

&

RESCH

(MR.

Q.

ANTHONY SIEMER,

OF COUNSEL APPEARED ON BEHALF

OF THE

RESPONDENT.)

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by W.J,

Nega):

This matter comes before the Board on the May

4,

1983 Complaint

brought by the Illinois

Environmental Protection Agency (Agency).

Count

I of the Complaint alleged that on March

9,

1972 and

March

10, 1972,

overflows

from

the Respondent~’s300 gallon water

tank, cnntaminated with ammonia nitrogen, went into a storm sewer

on Respondent~sproperty that discharged, via a point source,

into an unnamed tributary of Salt Creek, an Illinois water,

causing water pollution

in violation of Section

12(a)

of the

Illinois Environmental Protection Act (Act).

Count II alleged that,

on August 24,

1982 and August 25,

1982,

overflows of contaminated water from the Respondent~s

55 gallon drum caused water pollution and a fish kill of an

estimated 106,329

fish in the tributary of Salt Creek and in

Salt Creek in violation of Section 12(a)

of the Act.

Count III alleged that,

on August 24,

1982 and August 25,

1982,

improper discharges

of contaminated effluents

from the

Respondent’s facility caused excessive concentrations

of ammonia

nitrogen and reduced levels of dissolved oxygen

in

receiving

waters in violation of 35

Ill.

Adm. Code 302,206, 302,208, 304.105

and Section 12(a)

of the Act.

54-109

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Count IV

alleged that, on August

24,

1982 and August 25,

1982,

the Respondent~s

effluent discharges caused

ammonia odors and

the presence of

ammonia nitrogen in the unnamed tributary

of

Salt Creek in

concentrations harmful to human, animal,

plant or

aquatic life

in

violation of

35

Ill.

Adm, Code

302,203,

304.105

and Section 12(a)

of

the Act,

Count V

alleged

that,

on

August 24,

1982

and.

August

25,

1982, the Respondent~s

improper discharges of effluent caused a

fish kill

in the

unnamed tributary

of Salt Creek

and in Salt

Creek during which

an estimated 106,329

fish, having

a

total

reasonable value

of $4,122.82,

were killed in violation of

35

Ill.

Adm,

Code

302,203,

305.105 and Sections 12(a)

of the Act.

Count VI

alleged that,

on August

24, 1982 and

August

25,

1982,

the Respondent

allowed the dischar~geof effluent from its

facility to occur

without NPDES Permit authorization in

violation

of 35

Iii.

Adm.

Code 304,141(h), 309,102 and Section 12(f)

of

the Act.

A hearing was

held on July 22,

1983.

The parties filed

a

Stipulation and

Proposal for Settlement on July 27,

1983,

Effingham Equity Company,

Inc.

(Effingham) is

a local-j

member agricultural cooperative registered since the 1940’s

as an Illinois corporation under

the Agricultural

Co’~operative

Act of 1923,

Iii, Rev,

Stat.

1981,

ch,

32, par, 440 et ~

(Stip.

2).

The Respondent~s

agricultural sales and service

facility (facility),

which is located

in the City of Effingham

in

Effinghani

County,

Illinois, includes storage and application

equipment for

pesticides

and ammonia nitrogen fertilizer,

The facility~s

equipment includes

both a 6,000 gallon pressurized

fertilizer storage

tank

(6,000 gallon tank)

and a larger

30,000

gallon pressurized

fertilizer storage tank

(30,000 gallon

tank).

It is stipulated

that, during an 8”~hourperiod on both

March

9,

1972 and March 10,

1972,

one

of the Respondent~s

employees

used

a hose connected to

the 6,000 gallon tank (which contained

liquid

ammonia nitrogen)

to convey ammonia vapors into a

300 gallon

tank containing water,

Overflow from the 300 gallon tank

went into a storm

sewer at the facility and was subsequently

discharged via a

point source into an unnamed tributary of

Salt Creek.

The process of

emptying the 6,000 gallon

storage

tank was initiated

in order to properly replace

a pressure

gauge

on the tank.

(Stip,

2.3),

Shortly after

that incident, the Effingham County Health

Department reported

to the Agency on March 15, 1972

that

a fish

kill had been observed

in the unnamed tributary of Salt Creek.

The Agency inspection on March

15, 1972 indicated that between

150 and 200 small

fish had died

(primarily minnows,

sandfish,

catfish, and possibly one bass),

(See:

Exhibit

1).

Water samples

taken at

6 separate

locations indicated that the

Respondent~s

facility was the source

of the water contaminants and

responsible

54-110

---

—3-.

for the fish kill.

The fish kill resulted from the venting

of

vapors from the

Respondent~scompressed ammonia tank

into a

tank

of water with a

continuous overflow to a nearby storm

sewer

system during

maintenance work on the tank~spressure gauge.

(See:

Exhibits 1,2

and 3),

Accordingly, the Agency wrote a

letter to the Respondent

on April

6,

1972 which delineated

the

water pollution

problems discovered during the earlier Agency

investigation

of the fish kill and indicated that Effingham

should take proper

precautions to prevent any such highly

pollutional

discharges in the future,

(See:

Exhibit 3),

The parties

have also stipulated that, on August 24,

1982

and August 25,

1982, one of the Respondent~semployees used a

hose connected

to the 30,000 gallon tank containing liquid ammonia

nitrogen to convey

ammonia vapors into a 55 gallon drum,

Overflows

from

this 55 gallon

drum went into a storm

sewer

at

Effingha&S

facility and subsequently discharged into the unnamed

tributary of

Salt Creek,

(Stip,

4”~5),

The Effingham

County Health Department,

responding to

com-

plaints by nearby

residents, notified the Agency that a spill

of

ammonia into a creek

on the north side of town occurred during

the night of August

25,

1982,

Agency inspections during the

afternnoon of August

26,

1982 indicated that the creek just

downstream

of the Respondent~s

property

had a strong ammonia

odor, while the

water just upstream had no ammonia odor,

(See: Exhibit 4),

Moreover, extensive water sampling and

analysis

by the Agency

revealed the

the presence of extremely high

levels

of

ammonia nitrogen

concentrations downstream

of the

Respondent~s

facility and a

dissolved oxygen

level

of 4,7 mg/l in the unnamed

tributary of

Salt Creek,

Additionally,

the effluent discharged from Effingham~s

facility resulted

in the killing of an estimated 106,329

fish

(including game

fish such as large—mouth bass,

sandfish, and

catfish;

commercial

fish such as carp, buffalo, drum,

and

white

sucker;

and non~game

fish such as minnows,

shad,

and darter)

having

a total reasonable

value of $4,122.82.

(See:

Exhibits

4,

5

and 6).

It

is undisputed

that the effluent discharges

from Effingham~s

facility on August

24,

1982 and August 25,

1982 occurred without

the authorization

of an

NPDES Permit,

(Stip.

6),

The proposed

settlement agreement provides that the

Respondent

admits that violations

occurred and agrees

to:

(1) remove

all

ammonia nitrogen

fertilizer storage tanks

from the current site

within the City

of Effingham and relocate these tanks outside

of

municipal limits

within

1 year of the date of the Board~sOrder;

(2)

submit plans

and specifications

for the relocation of

storage

tanks to the Agency

for

review within 270 days of the date of

the

Board’s Order;

(3)

appropriately modify the plans and

specifica-

tions

to remedy

any deficiencies

and

resubmit the plans and

speci—

54-111

---

—4—

fications to the

Agency within 30 days of receiving a deficiency

notice

(if,

within 30 days of the Agency~sreceipt of the storage

tank plans and

specifications,

the Respondent receives written

notice from

the

Agency of specified deficiencies that could cause

a violation of

the Act or applicable regulations);

(4) properly

dispose of any

contaminated water resulting from the removal of

gaseous ammonia from

storage tanks on agricultural land in such

a manner as

to avoid causing, threatening,

or allowing water pollu-

tion;

(5) comply

with the Act and all applicable regulations;

(6)

pay the

sum

of

$4,122.82 by a check drawn to the order of the

Wildlife and

Fish

Fund of the

State of Illinois Treasury;

and

(7)

pay a stipulated

penalty of $4,000.00 by a check drawn to the

Treasury of

the State of Illinois and designated for deposit into

the Environmental

Protection Trust Fund.

(Stip.

2-8),

In evaluating

this enforcement action and proposed settlement

agreement,

the Board has

taken into consideration all the facts

and

circumstances

in

light of the specific criteria delineated

in

Section 33(c)

of the Act and

finds the settlement agreement

acceptable under

35 Ill,

Adm, Code

103,180,

The Board

notes that

Count

I of the Complaint,

which

relates

to a

1972

incident

involving the Respondent, appears

somswhat inappropriate

considering the 11—year delay in

filing

for enforcement.

Although

the

Board

recognizes that the

1972

fish kill episode

is indicative of the Respondent~s

past actions

and failure to

expeditiously

correct environmental problems,

such enforcement

proceedings will hopefully be prosecuted

mor~promptly

by the Agency

in future cases,

The Board

has previously reserved its decision in this case

pending the Governor~s

signature on

HE 1326 pertaining

to the

deposition of Board

penalties into the Environmental Protection

Trust Fund.

On

September

19,

1983,

the Governor signed the

above

bill into law,

Accordingly, the

Board finds that Effingham

Equity

Company,

Inc. has violated 35

Ill,

Adm,

Code 302,203, 302,206, 302,208,

304.105,

304,141(b),

305,105 and 309,102 and Sections 12(a)

and 12(f) of the

Act,

The Respondent

will be ordered to follow

the compliance plan

and schedule set forth

in the Stipulation

and

to pay the stipulated

penalty of $4,000.00.

Additionally,

pursuant to Section

42(a) of the Act,

the Respondent will

be ordered

to pay $4,122.82

into the Wildlife and Fish Fund

of the Illinois

Treasury as

reimbursement

for the

reasonable value of the fish

killed by its improper

disposal

of contaminated water.

This Opinion

constitutes

the Board’s

findings of fact and

conclusions of law

in this matter,

54-112

---

01W

It is the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board that:

1.

The Respondent, the Effingham Equity Company,

Inc., has

violated 35

Ill.

Adm.

Code 302.203,

302.206,

302.208,

304.105,

304.141(b),

305.105, and 309.102 and Sections 12(a)

and 12(f)

of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act,

2.

Within 35 days of the date of this Order,

the Respondent

shall, by certified check or money order payable to the State of

Illinois and designated for deposit into the Environmental Protection

Trust Fund, pay the stipulated penalty of $4,000.00 which is to

Illinois Environmental Protecton Agency

2200 Churchill Road

Springfield, Illinois

62706

3.

Within 35 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent

shall, by certified check or money order payable to the State of

Illinois and designated

for deposit into the Wildlife and Fish

Fund of the State of Illinois Treasury, pay the penalty of

$4,122.82 for the reasonable value of its 1982 fish kill.

This

payment shall

be submitted to the Illinois Enviornmental Potection

Agency,

Fiscal Services Division,

2200 Churchill Road,

Springfield,

Illinois

62706.

4.

The Respondent shall comply with all

the terms and

conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal

for Settlement filed

on July 27, 1983,

which is incorporated by

reference as

if

fully

IT IS SO ORDERED.

I, Christan L.

Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, herebX c~tifythat the above

pinion and Order

was adopted on the

~3’~

day of

_____________________

1983 by a vote of ~