ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October 22, 1981
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
)
AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
)
v.
)
PCI3 79—274
COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY, an
I
Illinois Corporation (Waukegan
I
Generating Station),
)
I
Respondent.
MR. WILLIAM E. BLAKNEY AND MS. NANCY
J.
BENNETT, ASSISTANT
ATTORNEYS
GENERAL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
COMPLAINANT;
MS.
SUSAN
B.
PROCTOR,
ISHAM,
LINCOLN
&
BEAL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
THE
RESPONDENT.
OPIt~IIONAND
ORDER
OF
THE
BOARD
(by
J.D.
Dumelle):
This matter comes before the Board upon a complaint which
was filed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Agency)
on December 21,
1979,
alleging that the Commonwealth Edison
Company (Edison) violated Rules 408 and 901 of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution, and Sections 12(a)
and 12(f)
of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act (Act).
On January 28,
1980,
Edison moved to consolidate this matter with PCB 79—272, —273,
-275 and 78-272.
That motion was denied by the Board on
February
7,
1980.
Hearing was held on September 4,
1981
at which time a settlement agreement was presented.
No members
of the public were present.
Edison owns and operates a facility at Greenwood Avenue
and
Lake
Michigan
in
Waukegan
which
currently
has
three
coal—
fired
or
gas—fired
power
generating
units
and
which
discharges
to
Lake
Michigan
pursuant
to
NPDES
Permit
No.
0002259.
On
June
9,
1977,
the
Board
granted
Edison
a
variance
for
certain
of these discharges until March
1,
1979
(PCB 77—13,
25 PCB
703).
Since at least November,
1977 through September, 1979,
Edison has ~dischargedcontaminants from its Waukegan facility
which exceeded the limits of the variance, the NPDES permit
and Chapter 3.
These violations are summarized below
(Stip.
3—8):
43—5 17
—2—
Date
Discharge
Point
Contaminant
Violation
11/17—3/79
001(c)
TSS
Rule
408
11/77—6/78
002
TSS
and
Iron
Rule
408
12/77—1/78
001(b)
Iron
Rule
408
2/78—4/78
001(b)
TSS
Rule
408
10/78—3/79
ash
hopper
TSS
Rule
408
9/79
022
TSS
NPDES
Permit
4/79
&
6/79
023
pH
NPDES
Permit
&
10/79
7/79 and 9/79
023
TSS
NPDES Permit
Some of these violations also resulted in violations of
the variance and the NPDES permit and, therefore, Rule 901
and Sections 12(a) and 12(f) of the Act.
The Agency and Edison agree that these violations created
a potential
for injury to and interference with the health,
general welfare and physical property of the people of the
State, and that a $10,000 civil penalty should be assessed
(Stip.
11—12).
They also agree that Edison shall cease and
desist from these violations
(Stip.
12).
In order to assess whether the penalty is appropriate
the Board would prefer to have more specific information
regarding the environmental harm,
if any, caused by these
violations.
However, given the points of discharge and the
lack of any adverse public reaction at hearing, the Board finds
the penalty to be reasonable.
The Board therefore finds the
stipulated agreement acceptable under Section 33(c)
of the Act
and Procedural Rule 331.
The Board notes, however, that as part
of the cease and desist order, the stipulation and proposal
for settlement includes the non—violation of future—issued
permits.
The Board has deleted this in that one cannot cease
and desist from a
future act.
As such, it is a nullity.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings if fact
and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
1.
Commonwealth Edison Company has violated Rules 408 and 901
of Chapter 3:
Water Pollution,
and Sections 12(a) and
12(f) of the Act.
2.
It
is hereby ordered that Edison shall cease and desist
from any and all violations of Rules 408 and 901, and
Sections
12(a)
and 12(f) of the Act at its Waukegan gene—
43—518
—3—
rating station and from any and all violations of present
NPDES permits issued regarding
that station, and shall
otherwise comply with all terms and conditions of the
Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement filed on September
16,
1981.
3.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, Edison shall,
by certified check or money order,
pay the stipulated
penalty of $10,000 which
is to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200
Churchill
Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Christan
L.
Moffett,
Clerk
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control Board, hereby ~ertify that
he above Opinion and Order
was~doptedon the~” day of
______________,
1981
by a vote
of
..S.-~.
Christan
L. Moff
t14~J
clerk
Illinois Pollution’~ontrolBoard
43—519