ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
    BOARD
    August 30,
    1990
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    )
    PROTECTION AGENCY,
    )
    Complainant,
    V.
    )
    AC 89—304
    )
    (Administrative Citation)
    G
    & M WRECKING CO.,
    INC.,
    )
    (IEPA No.
    10085-AC)
    Respondent.
    DISSENTING OPINION
    (by J. Theodore Meyer):
    I
    dissent
    from
    the
    majority
    opinion
    in
    this
    matter.
    My
    dissent
    is
    based
    on two
    issues.
    First,
    I believe that there
    is
    sufficient indication
    in the record to support
    a finding of “open
    dumping”.
    As the majority states,
    the Agency inspector witnessed
    two men standing next to a pile of burning rubber—coated wire.
    I
    believe that this occurrence meets the definition of open dumping-
    —the consolidation of refuse at a disposal site which does not meet
    the requirements
    of
    a sanitary
    landfill.
    (Section
    3.24
    of
    the
    Environmental
    Protection
    Act.)
    I
    believe
    that
    the
    majority’s
    concern that the record does not show “where the wire came
    from”
    (majority
    opinion
    at
    p.
    4)
    is
    irrelevant
    to
    the
    issue
    of
    open
    dumping.
    Additionally,
    I believe that it
    is clear that the wire
    is “refuse”.
    Second,
    I strongly disagree with the majority’s implication
    that
    the question
    of who “dumped”
    the wire
    on
    the
    property
    is
    relevant in this case.
    I believe that the administrative citation
    system,
    as
    created
    by
    the
    General
    Assembly,
    imposes
    strict
    liability on landowners.
    In other words,
    if
    a violation which is
    subject to the administrative citation process occurs on a person’s
    property, that landowner is
    liable for the penalty established by
    statute.
    The only exception to this strict liability is where the
    landowner can demonstrate “uncontrollable circumstances”.
    (Section
    31.1(d) (2)
    of
    the
    Act.)
    I
    believe
    that
    the
    category
    of
    “uncontrollable circumstances”
    is limited to acts
    of God.
    For these reasons,
    I dissent.
    ~
    J.
    heodore
    Mey’or
    Board Member
    114—SR S
    2
    I,
    Dorothy N.
    Gunn,
    Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that the above Dissenting Opinion was filed
    on the
    ~
    day of
    ~
    ~‘
    ,
    1990.
    /~
    I
    A
    /~
    /
    Dorothy M. Gunn,
    Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    114—886

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