ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    October 25,
    1990
    ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
    PROTECTION AGENCY
    Complainant,
    AC 90—55
    V.
    )
    (IEPA Case No. 294—90—AC)
    (Administrative Citation)
    LINDELL LOVELESS,
    Respondent.
    ORDER OF THE BOARD BY
    (J.
    C. Marlin):
    This matter comes before the Board on a September 25,
    1990
    motion to vacate default order filed by the respondent.
    On
    September 27,
    1990, the Board issued an Order requesting more
    information on this matter from the Illinois Environmental
    Protection Agency (Agency).
    On October
    17,
    1990 the Agency filed
    a response to the Board Order of September 27,
    1990.
    On February 5,
    1990,
    the Agency inspected the respondent’s
    site.
    Based on that first inspection,
    a package consisting of
    photographs, plat maps, deeds and the site inspection report were
    transmitted to the home office of the Agency where “the package
    was reviewed by the Enforcement Decision Group
    EDG)
    which
    reviews all matters and then issues a decision as to action to be
    taken.”
    In this matter,
    the EDG required that an Administrative
    Warning Notice
    (AWN)
    be sent to the respondent.
    The
    AWN
    was
    issued two months after the inspection, on April
    2,
    1990.
    The
    AWN allowed the respondent approximately one month to rectify the
    pollution problem.
    A second inspection was held on May
    10,
    1990.
    As a result
    of the second inspection an Administrative Citation was
    personally served to respondent on July
    5,
    1990.
    A pre—
    enforcement conference letter
    (PECL) was mailed to the respondent
    on July 11,
    1990.
    Respondent sent separate replies to each Agency
    communication within a reasonable period of time.
    All three
    replies were sent only to the Agency and deny the allegations of
    wrongdoing,
    challenge the statutory basis of the alleged
    violations
    in the administrative citation,
    state actions taken
    toward compliance, and generally argue with the Agency’s
    interpretation of the Act.
    No petition for review was filed with
    the Board.
    Respondent has timely moved to have the Default Order
    vacated.
    In support of his motion he states that he “mistakenly
    responded to the person who had written to me instead of to the
    115—489
    person that the letters had instructed me to reply to.”
    In
    addition, he states that efforts were made to clean up the site
    and that if it were not for the extremely wet spring season the
    site would have been cleaned up by the May 7,
    1990 date set in
    the AWN.
    The Agency requests that the Board deny respondents motion
    to vacate because “the Agency believes respondent has failed to
    show a meritorious reason for setting aside the Order of
    Default.”
    The Agency contends that respondent’s claim of
    confusion on how to contest the administrative citation is
    unwarranted because the citation form includes instructions on
    how to initiate review and because respondent “received,
    along
    with his Citation,
    a separate piece of colored paper giving
    further clarification of the review process and the distinction
    between the two Agencies
    --
    the Board and the EPA.”
    The Board
    notes that the “piece of colored paper” or
    a copy thereof,
    is not
    included in the administrative record filed with the Board.
    In
    the future,
    the Board would like that paper included in the
    administrative citation filed with the Board whenever it has been
    sent to the respondent.
    The Board finds that the respondent had ample notice of how
    to contest the administrative citation before the Board.
    The
    respondent failed to contest the citation.
    The motion to vacate
    is denied.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    Board Member Jacob
    D.
    Dumelle dissented.
    I,
    Dorothy N.
    Gunn,
    Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certify that the above Order was adopted on the
    ~
    day of
    ________________,
    1990, by a vote of
    Dorothy M~Gunn,
    Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    115—490

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