ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April 28, 1977
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 76—281
SANITARY DISTRICT OF ROCKFORD,
)
an Illinois municipal corporation,
)
)
Respondent.
Ms. Susan Shumway, Assistant Attorney General, appeared on behalf
of Complainant;
Mr.
H. Emmett Folgate and Mr. James Russell, appeared on behalf of
Respondent.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Goodman):
This matter is before the Board upon the Complaint of the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
filed November 4,
1976,
against the Sanitary District of Rockford
(Sanitary District)
alleging violation of Rule 103(b) (2) of the Board’s Air Pollution
Regulations and Section 9(b) of the Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
in that it operated incinerators without an operating permit
issued by the Agency.
Hearing was held in this matter on March
7,
1977, at which
a Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement was
filed
with the Board.
There was no citizen testimony at the hearing, and
no public comment has been received by the Board.
The Sanitary District owns and operates
a sewage treatment plant
located in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois, providing sewage
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disposal service for an area of approximately 38,000 acres and for a
population of approximately 200,000 persons.
At this facility the
Sanitary District has three multiple hearth sludge incinerators
which are existing emission sources within the definition of Rule
101 of the Illinois Pollution Control Board Rules and Regulations,
Chapter 2:
Air Pollution (Regulations).
After being denied an
operating permit by the Agency, the Sanitary District filed
a
Petition for Variance with the Board on January 24,
1975,
alleging
in effect that its incinerators should be subject to Rule 203(e) (3)
of the Regulations and not Rule 203(e)
(2)
as contended by the Agency.
The Board disagreed and on March
6,
1976, denied the Sanitary
District’s Petition in PCB 75—32.
The Sanitary District then filed
a Petition for Review of the Board’s denial of its variance request
in the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second Appellate District No.
76—273, which proceeding
is still pending.
In the Stipulation filed at the March
7,
1977 hearing herein,
the Sanitary District admits having operated its incinerators on
numerous occasions since April
1,
1973 without an operating permit
issued by the Agency.
Subsequent to the Board’s denial of its
Variance Petition, the Sanitary District investigated alternate
methods of disposal and concluded that landfill
is the most cost
effective, technically feasible, and economically reasonable method
for disposal of the Sanitary District’s sludge.
On February 1,
1977
the Sanitary District entered into contracts for disposal of the
sludge, which expire on April
30,
1978.
Soon thereafter the Sanitary
District shut down the incinerators, which remain available for
emergency use.
In consideration of the settlement of this case, the
Sanitary District agrees
to landfill its sludge either by contract
or by acquisition of its own landfill site.
The parties stipulate that it would cost over $600,000.00 for
the Sanitary District to bring its incinerators into compliance with
Rule 203(e) (2)
of the Regulations and they agree that it would not
be economically reasonable for the Sanitary District to obtain opera-
ting permits in light of its decision to dispose of its sludge by
landfill.
The parties stipulate that the interest of the public and
the parties hereto would best be served by the settlement of this
enforcement proceeding without further litigation since the decision
to landfill the sludge has rendered the issue herein moot.
The parties stipulate that the Sanitary District shall continue
to landfill its sludge and shall operate its incinerators
for disposal
of its sludge only if that method of disposal becomes necessary due
to circumstances beyond the control of the Sanitary District and only
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if the Agency agrees that the use of the incinerators
is necessary.
As of April
30,
1978,
the Sanitary District agrees to permanently
cease use of its incinerators.
The Sanitary District agrees to move
to dismiss cause No.
76-273 now pending
in the Appellate Court of
Illinois, Second Appellate District, without prejudice, within
30
days of the approval of the Stipulation by the Board.
The Board finds the Settlement to be a suitable resolution of
the enforcement proceeding herein.
Under enforcement pressure by the
Agency and the Board,
the Sanitary District has developed an environ-
mentally sound and potentially less expensive method of disposing of
its sludge.
The Board can find no reason to continue this litigation
and agrees that,
under the circumstances
in this case,
a penalty would
serve no useful purpose.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions of
law of the Board
in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1.
The Sanitary District of Rockford
is found to have
violated Rule 103(b) (2)
of the Board’s Regulations and
Section 9(b)
of the Environmental Protection Act in that
it has operated its incinerators without an operating
permit issued by the Agency since April
1,
1973.
2.
The Sanitary District of Rockford shall comply with
the terms and conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal
for Settlement filed by the parties herein on March 7,
1977,
which Stipulation
is hereby incorporated in this Order as
if fully set forth herein.
I, Christan
L.
Noffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the
___________day of
,
1977 by a vote of
£~ô
Christan L. Moffet~/Jq1erk
Illinois Pollution ~efitro1Board
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