ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April
2,
1981
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
V.
)
PCB 80—194
VILLAGE OF GERMANTOWN,
a
)
municipal corporation, and
)
THOMAS MICHEEL,
)
Respondents.
MR.
REED W. NEUMAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE COMPLAINANT.
HOHLT, HOUSE, DeMOSS and JOHNSON, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR. BRADLEY W.
SMALL, OF COUNSEL), APPEARED ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT VILLAGE
OF GERMANTOWN.
MR.
THOMAS MICHEEL, MAYOR OF GERMANTOWN, APPEARED PRO SE.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by N.E.Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the October 21, 1980
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
Count
I of the Complaint alleged that, from April
24,
1980
until August
4,
1980, the Respondents failed to chlorinate the
water distributed through the Village of Germantown’s public water
supply system in violation of Rule 305 of Chapter
6:
Public Water
Supplies (“Chapter 6”) and Section 18 of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act
(“Act”).
Count
I also alleged that Mr. Micheel caused the removal of
the chlorination equipment from the Village’s public water supply
on April
24,
1980 and this equipment was not returned to service
until August
4,
1980.
It is alleged that water samples which were
collected and analyzed on two occasions during this time period
indicated excessive and unsafe bacterial levels which allegedly
were caused by the failure to maintain continuous chlorination.
Accordingly,
on July 25,
1980,
Agency
employees
installed and put
into operation, at government expense, chlorination equipment and
materials.
41—173
Count II alleged that,
from April
24, 1980 until August
4,
1980,
the Respondents failed to provide supplemental fluoridation to the
Village’s water supply system thereby causing the average fluáride
ion content in the water to fall below 0.9 milligrams per liter
(“mg/i”)
in violation of Rule 306 of Chapter
6 and Section 18 of
the Act.
A hearing was held on March
9,
1981.
The parties filed a
Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement on March 13,
1981.
The Village of Germantown (“Village”)
owns and operates a
public water supply system which serves about 1,300 individuals
in Clinton County, Illinois.
(Stip.
2).
The Village, which has
its own source of water
(i.e.,
four 28 feet deep drilled drift wells
and a distribution system),
does not purchase water from any other
public water supply.
(Stip.
2).
The average natural
fluoride ion
content of the Village’s water is approximately 0.4 mg/i.
(Stip.
2).
Mr.
Thomas Micheel,
the mayor of the Village of Germantown,
is
the official custodian of the water supply system.
(Stip.
2).
The parties have stipulated that:
“On or about April
24,
1980,
Thomas Micheel removed the
Village’s chlorination equipment from the water supply
pumphouse,
locked it away and thereafter refused to
reveal its whereabouts.
Earlier that day, on two separate
occasions, Thomas Micheel unplugged the chlorine and
fluoride pumps and left written instructions that no one,
including the operator,
Roger Richter, was to plug them
back in.
Both times Roger Richter disregarded the notices
and reconnected the machines.
Upon returning to the pump—
house late that afternoon,
Mr.
Richter discovered that
both pumps had been removed from the premises.”
(Stip.
3).
During the past several years,
the Village of Germantown has
experienced problems with darkly—colored water
(i.e.,
“dirty” water)
from its public water supply facility.
The Agency believes that
this problem has resulted from the relatively high levels of
manganese in the water.
Manganese,
when oxidized, gives the water
a black color.
(Stip.
5).
On the other hand, Mr. Micheel believes
that the chlorine is the primary cause of the “dirty” water problem.
(Stip.
5).
However, the Agency contends that the chlorine merely
accelerates “oxidation that
is nevertheless inevitable due to” a
chemical reaction with oxygen in the water and bacterial action
caused by “bacteria which use manganese as part of their metabolism”.
(Stip.
5).
The Agency believes that the solution to the Village’s “dirty”
water problem is the “removal of manganese from the water.”
(Stip.
5).
In response to the Agency’s suggestion,
the Village
commissioned an engineering study which was completed in September,
1979 that recommended that filtering equipment be installed “to
remove manganese from the raw well water”.
(Stip.
5).
41—174
The Agency has stated that:
“In the interim, due to numerous complaints received by
the Agency and the Village as to the color and questionable
quality of the water,
the Agency has provided technical
assistance to the Village’s water supply operator in the
form of advice on a main flushing program and upping
chlorine feed rates to kill
or inactivate manganese—
consuming bacteria.
The results of these operational
changes have been mixed.”
(Stip.
5—6).
The Villaq~’s Board of
Trustees consists of six Board members
and the Mayor.
The Mayor is the President of the Board and has
“veto power over most Board actions”.
A two—thirds vote by the
Board members can override the Mayor’s veto.
(Stip.
2).
At the Village Board meeting of March, i~O, Mr. Micheel
indicated to the Board that he intended to r~~Vethe Village’s
chlorinator by Easter
(i.e.,
April
6, 1980).~e other members of
the Village Board “expressed their disapprov~of that action”.
Accordingly, Mr. Micheel indicated that he wo~L~d
not remove the
chlorinator until he saw what action the iili4bis Senate would take
on Senate Bill 1404 which proposed to make ch~rinationoptional,
rather than mandatory,
for public water suppl~.systems serving
smaller communities.
(Stip.
6-7).
It is stipulated that:
“...after learning that S.B.
1404 apparently would not
come to a vote,
on April
24,
1980 Thomas Micheel removed
the chlorination and fluoridation equipment.
That night,
several members of the Village Board met with Micheel to
request that the machines be reconnected.
Micheel refused
to do so, and refused to disclose the whereabouts of the
equipment.
Several Trustees later that night discussed
their options,
and having no attorney decided to contact
the Agency for its reaction..
.
In the several months
thereafter, the Village Board continued to request Micheel
to reconnect the machines.
Also,
the Village Board
approved the purchase of coliform testing equipment to
monitor water quality.
Further action was not taken by
the Village Board because the Agency had not formally
informed the Village of its position on the matter, and
the Village Board felt that
a decision by the legislature
on S.B.
1404 was imminent..
.
For its part, the Agency had
decided to postpone any action on its cases against all
water supplies not in compliance with the chlorination
requirement pending final resolution of S.B. 1404, or
until such time as there was evidence of contamination at
any of those supplies”.
(Stip.
7—8).
On July
23, 1980, Agency water analyses of samples taken from
the Village’s water supply system indicated excessive growth of
4 1—175
coliform bacteria.
(St:Lp.
3;
Sear
Fxhibit 1).
The parties have
stipulated that:
“...That same
day,
the Agency called the Village and Roger
Richter to
notify them of
the contamination.
Mr.
Richter,
on authority of the
Village
Board of Trustees, immediately
issued a boil order to local businesses and radio stations.
Shortly thereafter,
Thomas Micheel contacted the radio
stations and rescinded
the
boil order.
Later that day,
the Agency’s Public Affairs Section contacted four radio
stations in the Germantown area,
and issued a boil order
of its own...
At approximately 3:45 p.m. on July 25, 1980,
four Agency
employees~arrivedin Germantown to assess the situation.
At the w~ér supply’s pur~phouse, it was verified that no
chlorinat~nor fluoridation equipment was present.
The
Agency p
onnel then affixed the standard Agency Seal
along wi1~Jkawritten declaration of the Agency’s Director
limiting~cess to the facility to Agency personnel and
Mr. Richt~r. At this time,
Thomas Micheel gave Mr. Richter
a written~30—dayNotice of Termination, purportedly for
assisting~theAgency personnel.
The Agency personnel then
joined wi~hMr.
Richter
in installing an
Agency—owned
emergency~chlorinefeed
pump and in
making up a vat of
chlorine solution, using Agency-supplied chemicals.
After
instructing
Mr.
Richter to begin systematic flushing of
the system and testing for chlorine residual and to
continue submi~.tingwater samples, the Agency personnel
departed at approximately 6:00 p.m....
In the next few days,
water samples showed a reduction in
bacterial quantity and
a measurable chlorine residual
in
the distribution system.
After consistent readings of
zero coliform bacteria,
the
Agency lifted its boil order
at approximately 2:30 p.m., July
29, 1980.
The missing
pumps were returned and placed back
in service on
August
4,
1980.
The Agency—owned chlorinator was returned
to the Agency’s Collinsville office and the seal removed
on August
5,
1980”.
(Stip.
3—4),
The Agency has asserted that its actions in setting up the
chlorine feed pump and
in making up the vat of chlorine solution
totaled $581.74 which “included time and expenses of the Agency
personnel as well as costs for materials and supplies furnished and
expedited laboratory analysis costs”.
(Stip.
4;
See: Exhibits
2,
3,
and 4).
There appears to be no question that the costs incurred by
the Agency were directly in response to the deliberate actions taken
by Mayor Micheel in his fight against mandatory chlorination.
(See:
Exhibit 5).
The proposed settlement agreement provides that the Respondents
admit the allegations charged in the Complaint, agree
to cease and
41—176
desist from further violations, and agree upon a stipulated penalty
of $850.00 against Respondent Micheel.
(Stip.
8—9).
Additionally,
the Village Board has made assurances “that it will exercise its
powers much more firmly in the future to prevent a recurrence of
this situation”.
(Stip.
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.
The Board finds the settlement agreement
acceptable under Procedural Rule 331 and Section 33(c)
of the Act.
The Board finds that the Respondents,
the Village of Germantown and
Thomas Micheel, have violated Rules 305 and 306 of Chapter
6:
Public
Water Supplies and Section 18 of the Illinois Environmental Protection
Act.
The Respondents will be ordered to cease and desist from
further violations and
a stipulated penalty of $850.00 will he
assessed against Respondent Thomas Micheel.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board that:
1.
The Respondents, the Village of Germantown and Thomas
Micheel, have violated Rules 305 and 306 of Chapter
6:
Public Water
Supplies and Section 18 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
2.
The Respondents shall cease and desist from further
violations.
3.
Within 60 days of the date of this Order, Respondent
Thomas Micheel shall, by certified check or money order payable to
the State of Illinois, pay the stipulated penalty of $850.00 which
is to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
4.
The Respondents shall comply with all the terms and
conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal
for Settlement filed
March 13,
1981, which is incorporated by reference as
i~f fully set
forth herein.
Dr. Satchell abstains.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order were adopted
on the
~
day of
_____________,
1981 by a vote of
L/~O
Christan L. Moe’~~,Clerk
Illinois Polluti~-’ControlBoard
41—177