ILLINOIS
POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March
30,
1978
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
—
vs
—
)
PCB 75—379
TRI-NO
ENTERPRISES,
INC.,
Respondent,
and
)
CONSOLIDATED
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
—
vs
—
)
PCB 76—65
NOBLE and GENEVA STARNES,
Respondents.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Dr. Satchell):
On September 30, 1975 the Environmental Protection
Agency
(Agency)
filed
a complaint alleging that Tn-No
Enterprises has operated
a mine in violation of Section 12(b)
of the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
and Rule 201 of
the Chapter
4:
Mine Related Pollution Regulations
(Chapter 4).
On March
3,
1976 the Agency filed
a complaint alleging that
Noble and Geneva Starnes have violated Rules
203(a)
and
203(f)
of the Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations
(Chapter
3)
and Section
12(a)
of the Act.
On a motion by the
parties these cases were consolidated on September 1,
1977.
On April 21~1977 a public hearing was held concerning
P.CB
76--65.
On August 18,
1977 a public hearing was held con-
cerning PCB 75-379.
One citizen offered comment at the
April
21,
1977 hearing.
The same stipulation and proposal
for settlement was presented at both hearings for the Board’s
approval.
The stated facts are as follows,
Respondents Noble and
Geneva Starnes, are the owners
of an abandoned mine area
located
in the Northeast Quarter of Section 33 of Township
7
North, Range
3 West of the Fourth Principal Meridian in
Fulton County, Illinois, consisting of approximately 400 acres.
The Starnes purchased this property on February
5,
1974,
To
the knowledge of Respondents no mining operations had been
29
—
409
conducted
on
this
property for several
years prior to 1970.
The earlier coal mining operation had been conducted by
Truax and Consolidation Coal Company.
As a result of these
mining operations there existed on a portion of the mine prop-
erty, mine refuse consisting of gob piles, slurry ponds and
pyrite.
From and
after October
1974 and continuing to the date
of stipulation, that portion of the property containing this
refuse has been leased to and used by Respondent Tn—No
Enterprises,
Inc.
for
the removal and sale of gob,
slurry,
and pyrites.
Respondent
Nobel Starnes
is President and
majority
shareholder in
Tn-No Enterprises.
The recovery operation
is conducted from 8:00 a.m.
to
4:00
p.m.
daily,five days per week,
weather permitting.
At
no time during this period has Respondent Tn-No possessed an
operating permit issued by the Agency for mining activities.
An
application
for a
permit
was
filed with the Agency on
March
11,
1976.
This
application was denied.
On the property
are
located a number of unnamed tributaries
of Put Creek.
At
all
times subsequent to October
1, 1974
Respondents have
caused
or allowed contaminants from the sub-
ject area to
he
discharged into the unnamed tributaries of
Put Creek.
These discharges on April
9,
1975 and October 20,
1975 caused the unnamed tributaries of Put Creek to contain
amounts of
iron in
exc:~ess of 1,0 mg/l,
sulfate in excess of
500 mg/i and total dissolved solids in excess of 1000 mg/l in
violation of Rule
203(f)
of Chapter
3.
On
April
2L~ 19:77
a
tentative
agreement was reached.
Without admitting liab:ility the Respondents agreed to a con-
trol program to
be submitted in
the form of a permit application.
Due to unforeseen financial difficulties the Respondents were
not able to achieve the stated objectives within the time
period
contemplated~
The parties are now submitting the new
agreement to the
Board.
No citizen
compia:ints
have
been
received
in
relation
to
the
site.
The
parties
agree
that
reclamation
is
beneficial
to
the
environment
and
the
economy
in
that
it
turns
an
abandoned
refuse
area
into a
productive
source of energy,
and removes
from
eyesight
refuse piles that would cause scenic
h1ight~ Furthermore, nearby tributaries are protected from
water
pollution.
The
terms
of
the
current
settlement
require
a
permit
application
by
October
18,
1977
to
construct
and
install
the
mine
run-off
control project
previously
described
as
being
a
series
of
ditches,
retention
ponds,
berms,
limestone
treatment
and
chemical treatment of run—off.
This
application
is
to
be
submitted
by
a
registered professional engineer.
Construction
is
to
commence
within
thirty
days
after
the
per-
mit is granted and shall be completed within six months of
start-up.
28—410
To insure that sufficient money
is
available for com-
pletion of the program Respondents shall enter into an
escnow agreement with the Rend Lake Bank of Christopher,
Illinois
in the
sum of $50,000.00.
The panties agreed to a penalty of $500.00,
The penalty
was arrived at in consideration of Respondents failure to
obtain the necessary permits and failure to institute effective
control programs although Respondent made good faith
efforts
to obtain the permits and the necessary financing.
The Board finds the stipulation and proposal for settlement
acceptable under Procedural Rule 331,
The Board
finds
Respondents in violation of Rule 203(a) and 203(f)
of Chapter 3,
Rule 201 of Chapter
4 and Sections
12(a)
and 12(b)
of the
Act.
The Board considering Section 33(c)
of the
Act and
the
stipulation will assess the stipulated penalty of
$500.00.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings
of fact
and conclusions of law in this matter,
Mr.
Young abstained,
ORDER
It
is the order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1.
Respondents
are found in violation of Rule 203(a)
and 203(f)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Regulations
and Rule 201 of Chapter
4:
Mine Related Pollution
and Sections 12(a)
and 12(b)
of the Act,
2.
Respondents will follow the compliance plan of the
stipulated agreement which
is incorporated by
reference as
if completely set forth herein.
3.
Respondents will pay a penalty of $500.00 within 35
days of this order,
Payment shall be
by certified
check or money order payable
to:
State
of
Illinois
Fiscal Services Division
Environmental Protection Agency
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706.
I,
Chnistan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order
were adopted oq the ~
day of
~
1978
byavoteof~~.
~stan L. Motre
Illinois
Pollution
trol Board
29—411