ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 78—33
FRED LEHMKUHL, CHARLES BRATVOGEL,
RICHARD JACKSON, CITY OF EAST ST.
LOUIS, a Municipal Corporation,
)
CHARLES GREEN, and ARNOLD SPIRTAS,
)
Respondents.
MR. PATRICK J. CHESLEY, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT,
RICE, DURSO
& RICE, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR. CARMEN S. DURSO, OF
COUNSEL), APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENTS FRED LEHMKUHL,
CHARLES GREEN, AND ARNOLD SPIRTAS,
McROBERTS, SHEPPARD, McROBERTS
& WIMMER, ATTORNEYS
AT LAW
(MR. WILLIAM L. WIMMER, OF COUNSEL) APPEARED ON BEHALF OF
RESPONDENT CHARLES BRATVOGEL.
RIPPLINGER & RANSOM, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR. SCOTT DIXON, OF COUNSEL)
APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT CITY OF EAST ST.
LOUIS.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by
D.
Satchell):
This matter comes
before the
Board on the February
6,
1978
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
On
August
18,
1978,
the Agency filed a Motion to Amend
the Complaint and Add Parties,
On August
24,
1978,
the Board
entered an Order which granted the Agency’s motion,
The Amended Complaint added Charles Green
(“Green”) and Arnold
Spirtas
(“Spirtas”)
as parties to this
case,
Count
I of the Amended
Complaint alleged
that,
from December
1, 1975 until April
1,
1976,
Respondents Fred Lehmkuhl
(“Lehmkuhl”), Charles Bratvogel
(“Bratvogel”),
Richard Jackson
(“Jackson”), City of East St. Louis
(the “City”),
Green, and Spirtas operated a solid waste disposal
site
(“site”)
located to the rear of the Bi—State Warehouse at 650 North Front
Street in the City of East St. Louis,
St. Clair County,
Illinois
without an Operating Permit from the Agency in violation
of
Rule 202(a) of Chapter
7:
Solid
Waste Regulations
(“Chapter
7”)
Count
II of the Amended Complaint
alleged
that, after refuse
disposal operations
ceased on April
1,
1976,
the Respondents faile~
to place
the requisite final cover on the site
in
violation of
Rules 301
and 305(c)
of
Chapter
7 and Section 21(b)
~of the
Act.
The first
hearing in this case was held on August
9, 1978.
After numerous
discovery motions were filed, the
Board entered an
Order on January
10,
1980 which attempted
to
expedite the proceedings
(i.e., a hearing
was ordered to be held within 60
days).
Further
hearings
were
subsequently
held on February
21,
1980 and March
5,
1980,
during
which settlements were presented,
On March
3,
1980,
a
Statement
of
Stipulated
Settlement between
the Agency
and Respondents Lehmkuhl,
Green,
Spirtas and the City
of East St.
Louis was filed,
At the March
5,
1980
hearing,
a
proposed, but
unsigned, settlement between the
Agency and Respondent
Bratvogel
was presented, because the Respondent
lived
and worked
in
another state.
On November 10,
1980,
the Statement of
Stipulated
Settlement
between the Agency and Respondent
Bratvogel
was filed.
*
Although
the remaining
Respondent,
Mr, Richard Jackson,
received
a copy of the
Amended Complaint and was personally
served
on April
19,
1978 with a
Request to Admit Facts, he did not
reply to the Agency’s
Request to
Admit Facts and apparently
did
not
choose to participate
in these proceedings.
(See:
Comp.
Exh, 1~2),
At the hearing
on March
5,
1980,
the Assistant Attorney
General
asked that
the Board:
(1)
deem that the facts delineated in the
Agency’s
Request to Admit Facts be considered
as
admitted
proof of
all the
material
allegations against Respondent Jackson;
(2)
impose
a $1,000.00
fine against Jackson;
(3) order
Jackson “to place
final cover
on the site so that he, in addition to
the
other parties,
will be
liable
for the placement of the final cover on the site”;
and
(4) state
that Jackson~s “liability be joint and severable from
the other
Respondents”.
(R.
31—32),
Accordingly,
under
the Board’s Procedural Rule 314(c),
each
of the
matters of fact of which admission was
requested
is
hereby
deemed to be
admitted because
of Respondent Jackson’s failure to
reply to the
Agency’s Request
to Admit Facts,
Additionally, in
accordance with
the Board’s Procedural Rule 327
on default,
the
Board
believes it appropriate to find that Respondent
Richard
Jackson has
violated Rules 202(a),
301,
and 305(c)
of Chapter
7:
Solid Waste
Regulations
and Sections 21(b) and
21(e)
of the Illinois
*Although
the settlement was not signed at the time of
the hearing,
the substance
of the Stipulation filed on November
10, 1980 was
presented.
The Board
finds that Procedural Rule
331 has
been
substantially
complied with.
Environmental
Protection Act,
Respondent Jackson is hereby
ordered
to cease and desist
from further violations and pay a
penalty of
$1,500
00
The Statement
of Stipulated Settlement between
the
Agency and
Respondent Bratvogel
indicates that
Mr. Charles
Bratvogel subleased
the property in question
to the other Respondents for the purpose
of operating
a
solid
waste disposal site,
Mr.
Bratvogel
had an
agreement with Respondents
Lehmkuhl,
Spirtas,
Green,
and Jackson
“that he would
receive
one dollar for every truck
load of refuse
dumped at the
site,”
Refuse disposal operations were
conducted
from December
1,
1975 until April
1,
1976.
It is stipulated that
none of the Respondents
had obtained
an
Operating Permit from
the
Agency for the
site and that they failed to place the requisite
final cover on
the site,
Thus, the
proposed
settlement agreement
between the Agency
and Bratvogel provides that Bratvogel shall:
(1) cease and desist
from using
and/or operating a
landfill
on this
site until
a proper
permit
is obtained from the Agency;
(2) promptly
pay a one—fifth
share
of the cost
(but in no event more than
$1,000.00)
of placing
the necessary final cover on the site;
and
(3) pay a stipulated
penalty
of $250.00
The Statement
of Stipulated Settlement between the
Agency and
Respondents Lehmkuhl,
City
of East St. Louis, Green, and Spirtas
provides that the
Respondents agree to:
(1) cease and
desist from
using and/or
operating a landfill on the site until
a proper permit
is obtained from
the Agency;
(2) pay a penalty of $250.00
each;
and
(3) promptly
place
suitable final
cover over the entire surface
where refuse
was
deposited
at the landfill site (i.e.,
“suitable
cover material
consists of any naturally occurring soil or earthy
material which is
free from refuse
and
large rocks” and “does not
include cinders,
pot ash,
bricks,
concrete, demolition wastes,
and
gob or other mining
waste products”),
Additionally, the
Stipulation
provides that
“the method of application of the final cover and
the
source of
machinery
and labor
shall be
determined by the
Respondents,
Fred Lehmkuhl,
Charles Green,
and Arnold Spirtas” who “agree to
keeo
detailed records
concerning the cost associated with applying
such
final cover,”
Moreover, the City
of East St. Louis has agreed
“to
pay a one—fifth
share
of the cost for the placement of final cover
on the site.”
In evaluating
this enforcement action and the proposed
settle-
ment agreements,
the Board
has taken into
consideration all the
facts and
circumstances
in light of the specific criteria delineated
in Section 33(c)
of the Act,
The Board finds these stipulated
agreements acceptable
under Procedural
Rule 331 and Section
33(c)
of the Act.
Respondents
Lehmkuhl, i3ratvogel, City of East St.
Louis,
Green,
and Spirtas are
hereby ordered to cease and desist from
further
violations, pay
stipulated penalties of $250.00
each,
and follow
the agreed—upon
measures for placing suitable final
cover on the
site in accord
with their respective proposed settlement agreements.
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.
Respondent
Richard Jackson
has violated Rules 202(a),
301,
and 305(c) of Chapter
7:
Solid Waste Regulations and Sections 21(b)
and 21(e) of the
Illinois Environmental Protection Act,
2.
Respondent
Richard Jackson shall cease and desist
from
further violations,
3.
Within 60
days of the
date of this Order, Respondent
Richard Jackson
shall,
by certified check or money order payable
to the State of
Illinois,
pay a penalty of $1,500.00 which
is
to
be sent to:
Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill
Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
4,
Respondents Fred Lehmkuhl, Charles Green, Arnold Spirtas
and the City of East
St.
Louis shall
comply with all the terms and
conditions of the
Statement of Stipulated Settlement filed March
3,
1980,
which is
incorporated by
reference as
if fully
set forth
herein.
5.
Respondent
Charles Bratvogel
shall comply with all the
terms and conditions
of the Statement of Stipulated Settlement
Liled
November 10,
1980,
which is incorporated by reference as
if fully
set forth herein,
6.
Within
60
days
of the date of this Order, Respondents
Fred Lehmkuhl,
Charles Bratvogel,
City of East St.
Louis,
Charles
Green, and Arnold
Spirtas shall,
by certified check or money order
payable to the
State of Illinois, pay the stipulated penalties of
$250.00 each,
which are
to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal
Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
Mr. Werner
dissented,
Chairman Dumelle concurred,
I,
Christan L,
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify
that the above Opinion and
Order were adopted
on the
~9-tk- day
of
~
1980 by
a vote of
_!:j~::_L
~stanL.Moffetlrk
Illinois Pollution Control Board