ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
January
22,
1976
CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT,
an Illinois not-for-profit corporation,
~
Complainant,
v.
UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION,
Respondent.
)
PCB 74-202
)
and
UNITED
STATES
STEEL
CORPORATION,
)
PCB
73-62
Petitioner,
V.
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY,
Respondent.
Ms.
Helga E. Huber appeared for Citizens
for a Better Environment.
Mr.
John Bernbom appeared for the Environmental Protection Agency.
Mr.
James
T. Harrington
(Rooks,
Pitts, Fullagar and Poust)
appeared
for United States Steel Corporation.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr.
Goodman):
This matter is a consolidation of two cases,
the first of
which, PCB 73—62,
is
a permit appeal by United States Steel Corporation
(USSC)
and the second, PCB 74—202,
is an enforcement action against
USSC by Citizens for a Better Environment
(CBE),
an Illinois not-
for-profit corporation.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
is Respondent in PCB 73-62.
A Settlement Stipulation
(Stipulation) was filed with the Board
on September 29,
1975, after which the Board ordered a hearing for
the purpose of receiving public comment which hearing was held on
November 24,
1975.
At the hearing the parties formally presented
the previously filed Stipulation along with a joint exhibit consisting
of an Illinois Operating permit to USSC for its Waukegan Works.
No
other evidence was presented at the hearing and no members of the
public made an appearance.
tJSSC owns and operates
a large manufacturing facility, more
commonly known as the “Waukegan Workstt,
for the manufacture of
a
variety of steel and wire products.
Waukegan Works
is located in
the cities of Waukegan and North Chicago, County of Lake,
State of
Illinois.
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703
—2—
In the course of its operation,
USSC withdraws approximately
5.5 million gallons of water per day from Lake Michigan for the
cleaning of its products
in its Waukegan Works and for the cooling
of various facilities.
Sanitary wastes are discharged to the North
Shore Sanitary District Treatment Facilities and spent acid and other
chemicals are collected through a separate system of sewers and
removed to other locations for treatment and disposal in accordance
with local regulations.
The remaining process wastewater,
some of
which is treated in settling basins,
is
discharged back into Lake
Michigan through 11 separate outfalls.
On September 29,
1972, USSC submitted its Application for
Operating Permits for the Waukegan facility and on January 12,
1973,
the Agency denied the application alleging that USSC failed to submit
a project completion schedule.
Subsequent to USSC’s application for
permit but prior to its denial, an action was filed against USSC
in
the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois,
Eastern Division, by the United States of America and the People of
the State of Illinois, Case No.
72 C
2503.
The relief requested in
this case was the cessation of pollution of Lake Michigan by Waukegan
Works and that USSC be required to install waste water treatment
systems which would eliminate the discharge of contaminants into the
Lake.
USSC filed its appeal, PCB
73-62, on February 13,
1973,
request-
ing the Board overrule the denial of the operating permit and grant
USSC a variance from the requirement to submit
a project completion
schedule.
USSC has submitted waivers of the provisions of Section 38
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(Act)
from time to time.
CBE commenced its action, PCB 74-202, on May
29,
1974, alleging that
USSC discharges effluents into Lake Michigan without an operating
permit in violation of Pollution Control Board Regulations
(Regulations)
903 (a)
,
501 (a)
,
408(a)
,
404 (a)
and 403.
On August
15,
1975,
the United States of America and the State
of Illinois,
USSC and CBE entered into a Consent Agreement in Settle-
ment of Litigation in the United States District Court in Case No.
72 C 2503.
This Consent Agreement forms the basis of the Stipulation
entered into by the parties herein.
The Consent Agreement states,
inter alia,
that USSC will cease the discharge into Lake Michigan of
all its process waters no later than July 1,
1977.
On July
1,
1977
and.thereafter, USSC will discharge from its Waukegan Works into Lake
Michigan only non—contact cooling water free from process and other
wastewater discharges and uncontaminated storm water runoff.
USSC
shall install such recycle systems as
are necessary to reduce its
total wastewater
flow
from the present approximate
3,~7O
gallons per
19
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704
—3—
minute discharged into the Lake to 155 gallons per minute discharged
to the North Shore Sanitary District.
In addition, during the
period between the signing of the Consent Agreement and the completion
of the process water collection treatment and recycle system, USSC
shall operate its Waukegan Works
so as to minimize the discharge of
pollutants and shall monitor its effluents
in accordance with the
schedule and methods contained in the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System permit which has been granted to Waukegan Works.
The consent agreement is contingent on dismissal or settlement
of the instant proceedings before the Board.
In addition on page 13
of the consent agreement,
¶13,
the Plaintiffs,
United States of
America and the State of Illinois,
agree
to release USSC from any
liability whatsoever arising out of discharges from USSC’s Waukegan
Works
to the date of the Agreement.
The Board finds the Consent Agreement and the Stipulation pre-
sented herein to be the best solution to the problem of Waukegan Works’
discharges into Lake Michigan.
The final result will be a zero dis-
charge into the Lake of process waters by USSC by July 1,
1977.
The
parties to these proceedings stipulate to the entry of a Board Order
approving the consent agreement and to the entry of any order necessary
to carry out the terms and conditions of the Consent Agreement, namely
dismissing both the cnforcement proceeding, PCB
74-202,
and the Permit
Denial Appeal, PCB 73—62.
The Board will accept the Stipulation and
the Consent Agreement and will order both of the aforementioned
actions to be dismissed.
The Stipulation also includes a discretionary monetary settlement
or monetary penalty that the Board may assess USSC in view of the
admission by the company
in the Stipulation that they did not have a
permit to operate Waukegan Works nor had they received a project comple-
tion schedule issued by the Agency.
It
is the position of CBE that
this monetary settlement should be assessed by the Board.
USSC,
however,
alleges that the Board
is bound by the terms and conditions
of the Consent Agreement signed on behalf of the State of Illinois by
William
J.
Scott, Attorney General,
and therefore cannot assess such
monetary penalty.
The Board finds that the Attorney General has no
power
to speak for the Board except when specifically acting as the
Board’s attorney.
The Board therefore rejects the proposition that we
arebound by the Attorney General’s participation in the Consent
Agreement.
In addition, since the subject matter of the action
in the
District Court is completely different from the subject matter before
the
Board,
no
allegation
of
privity
can
be
sustained
nor
would
the
issues come within the doctrine of res judicata or estoppel by judgment.
However the Board finds
no useful purpose
to be accomplished by
imposing
a monetary settlement or penalty
in this case,
especially
considering the stipulated dismissal of both actions.
Therefore, none
shall be assessed.
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705
—4—
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 PCB 73—62
and
PCB
74—202
be
and
are
hereby
dismissed
in
accordance
with
the
foregoing
Opinion.
Mr.
Dumelle Concurs.
Mr. Young abstains.
I, Christan
L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Constrol Board,
hereby certify the above Opinion and Order
were adopted on the
~
day of
_______________
1976 by a vote of
~
Christan L. Moffe
lerk
Illinois Pollution
ntrol Board
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706