ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
February
7, 1980
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
)
Complainant,
)
v.
)
PCB 79—3
)
VILLAGE OF RIDGWAY,
)
a
municipal
corporation,
)
)
Respondent.
)
MR. STEPHEN GROSSMAM, ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY
GENERAL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
COMPLAINANT.
HALE
&
SMITH,
ATTORNEYS
AT
LAW
(MR.
JAMES
H.
SMITH,
OF
COUNSEL),
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
RESPONDENT.
OPINION
AND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
Mr.
Werner):
This
matter
comes
before
the
Board
on
the
January
4,
1979
Complaint
brought
by
the
Illinois
Environmental
Protection
Agency
(“Agency”).
On
March
26,
1979, the Agency filed a Motion for Leave
to
Amend
Complaint
and
File
Amended
Complaint
Instanter.
The
Bo;rd
granted
the
Complainant’s
motion
on
April
12,
1979.
Count
I
of
the
Amended
Complaint
alleged
that
the
Respondent,
the
Village
of
Ridgway,
failed to submit its Discharge Monitoring
Reports to the Agency as required by its
NPRES
Permit
for
the
months of
November,
1977 to December,
1978 in violation of Rule 901
of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations (“Chapter 3”)
and Section 12(f) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(“Act”).
Count II of the Amended Complaint alleged that, on
specified
dates
between
January
1,
197,8
and
December
30,
1978,
the
Respondent discharged effluents from its wastewater treatment
facility (the “facility”) which contained concentrations of five—day
biochemical oxygen demand (BODç)
and
suspended
solids
in
excess
of
the numerical standards prescribed in Chapter 3
and
in
the
Respon-
dent’s
NPDES Permit, in violation of Rules 401(c), 404(f) and 901
of the Board’s Water Pollution Control Regulations and Sections
12(a) and 12(f) of the
Act.
A hearing was held on
May
17,
1979.
The parties filed a
Statement of Stipulated Settlement on May 22, 1979.
On June 22,
1979, the Board entered an Interim Order which requested that the
parties in this case submit, within 10 days,
an Amended Statement
of Stipulated Settlement which has a proposed stipulated penalty
which is not “suspended” in nature.
On July 5,
1979, the Agency
37—293
filed
a Motion to Extend the Time to File the Statement of Stipu-
lated Settlement to July 31,
1979
(the document being due on July
2,
1979)~
On
July
12,
1979,
the Board granted the Agency~sMotion
for
an Extension of Time.
On July 20,
1979, the Agency filed a Motion for Reconsidera-
tion which requested that the Board reconsider its Interim Decision
of June
22, 1979 pertaining to the issue of suspended penalties,
On July 26,
1979,
the Board denied the Agency~sMotion for Reconsi-
deration.
On August
1,
1979, the Agency filed a Motion to Extend
the Time to File the Statement
of Stipulated Settlement
(the docu-
ment being due on July 31,
1979),
On August
9, 1979,
the Board
granted the Agency!s motion and gave the parties until September 24,
1979
to file their Amended Statement of Stipulated Settlement,
On September 21,
1979,
the Agency filed another Motion for
Extension of Time to File the Amended Statement of
Stipulated
Settlement,
On October
4,
1979,
the Board granted the Agency~s
Motion for Extension of Time and gave the parties until December
3,
1979 to file their Amended Statement of Stipulated Settlement,
On
November 27,
1979, the parties filed their Amended Statement of
Stipulated Settlement
The Village of Ridgway
(the
“Village”)
is a municipal corpo-
ration which is
located in Gallatin County,
Illinois,
The Village
owns and operates a wastewater treatment facility which discharges
effluent into Crawford Creek,
As a condition of its NPDES Permit
No.
IL
0020079,
the Village of Ridgway is required to prepare
monthly Discharge Monitoring Reports and submit these reports
to
the Agency on a biannual
basis
(on May 15th and November 15th of
each year),
On June
8,
1978,
the Agency notified the Village President and
Board of Trustees by letter that the Village of Ridgway had failed
to submit the required Discharge Monitoring~Reports,
(Stip.
4),
However, the delinquent reports were not submitted until after the
Agency commenced its action against the Respondent,
Accordingly,
it is stipulated by the parties that the previous failure to submit
the requisite Discharge Monitoring Reports was
in violation of the
Respondent~sNPDES Permit,
and thus in violation of Rule 901 of
Chapter 3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations and Section 12(f)
of the Act,
(Stip,
4),
Additionally, grab samples taken by Agency investigators on
various dates between January 24,
1978 and December 12,
1978
indicate that the effluent discharged by the Respondent~swaste—
water treatment facility contained concentrations of five—day bio-
chemical oxygen demand
(BOB5)
and suspended solids in excess of
prescribed numerical standards,
(Stip.
3—4),
The parties flave
stipulated that the Respondent has thereby violated Rules
401(c),
404(f)
and 901 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations
and Sections 12(a) and 12(f)
of the Act,
(Stip, 4)~
37~294
—3—
At the hearing, the Respondent’s attorney stated that the
Village of Ridgway has
had
patticular problems with its wastewater
treatment facility due to high flow
which
will require an on-going
study and possibly additional equipment.
(R. 5-6).
Moreover, the
Assistant Attorney General indicated that the Village has been very
cooperative in trying to resolve this matter.
(R. 7).
Both the
Agency and the Village of Ridgway have agreed that the Village must
take all steps necessary to correct
any
continued effluent viola-
tions
caused
by
high
flow
or
other
problems,
and
it
is
hoped
that
the
Village’s
participation
in
the
federally
funded
Agency
grant
program
will
correct
continued effluent problems.
(Stip.
5—6).
The Respondent submitted its initial application for the grant
program
in January of 1979.
Additionally, both parties believe
that increased utilization of an Agency certified wastewater
treatment plant operator will help to improve the eff’uent quality
from the Respondent’s facility.
(Stip. 5).
The proposed settlement agreement provides that the Respondent
will:
(1) submit Discharge Monitoring Reports in a timely manner
as required
by
its
NPDES
Permit;
(2) promptly
employ
an Agency
certified
wastewater
treatment
plant
operator
to
operate
the
Village’s plant full-time or employ the certified operator
part—time for at least two working days each week and have the
certified operator direct the activities of an uncertified oper-
ator the rest of the working week; and
(3) pay a stipulated
penalty of $750.00 (in three equal installments of $250.00 each).
(Stip.
7—8).
In evaluating this enforcement action and proposed settlement,
the Board has taken into consideration all the facts
and
circum-
stances in light of the specific criteria delineated in Section 33(c)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
The Board finds the
stipulated agreement acceptable under Procedural Rule 331 and
Section 33(c) of the Act.
The Board finds that the. Respondent,
the Village of Ridgway, has violated Rules 401(c), 404(f), and 901
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations and Sections
12(a) and 12(f) of the Act.
Accordingly, the Respondent shall,
within 30 days of the date of this Board Order, employ an Agency
certified wastewater treatment plant operator to operate the
Village’s facility full time or
employ
this
certified operator to
operate the plant part time
(at least
two
working days each week)
while directing the activities of an uncertified operator the
rest of the working week.
Moreover, the Respondent shall promptly
submit the requisite Discharge Monitoring Reports as required by
its
NPDES
Permit.
Additionally,
the
Respondent
shall
pay
the
stipulated
penalty
of $750.00 in three equal installments of
$250.00 each within 90 days,
180 days, and 270 days of the entry
of the Board’s Order in this case.
The Board has also considered the NPDES permit violations by
the Village of Ridgway in light of the decision by the U.S. Court
of Appeals in Citizens for a Better Environment v. EPA, No.
78-1042,
______F. 2d
_____
(7th Cir.
1979), and finds that the Board has
37—295
—4
competent jurisdiction over the subject matter in this Complaint
pursuant to Sections 1.1(b),
12(f) and 13(b) of the Act and Board
regulations established thereunder.
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 Respondent, Village of Ridgway, has violated Rules
401(c), 404(f), and 901 of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution Control
Regulations
and
Sections 12(a) and 12(f) of the Act.
2.
within 30 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall:
(a)
employ
an Agency certified wastewater treatment
plant operator to operate the Village of Ridgway’s
wastewater treatment facility full time, or.
(b)
employ
an Agency certified wastewater treatment
plant operator to operate the plant part time
(at
least two working days each week) and have the
certified operator direct the activities of an
uncertified operator the rest of the working week.
3.
The Respondent shall submit Discharge Monitoring Reports
as required
by
its
NPDES
Permit
No.
IL
0020079.
4.
The Respondent shall pay the stipulated penalty of $750.00
in three equal installments of $250.00 each within 90 days,
180 days,
and
270
days
of
the
date
of
this
Order,
payment
to
be made by
certified
check
or
money
order
to:
State
of
Illinois
Fiscal Services Division
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
5.
The Respondent shall comply with all the terms and
conditions of the Amended Statement of Stipulated Settlement filed
November 27, 1979, which is incorporated by reference as if fully
set forth herein.
tháirman Dumelle dissents.
37—296
—5—
I,
Christan L. Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Opinion and Order
were adopted on the _______day
of
____
Control Board, hereby
c rtify that
1980 by
a
vote of
~E~1
Illinois Pollution
Board
37—297