ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

May 12, 1971

CHARLES FIORE NURSERIES,

INC.

v.

)

PCB

#

71—27

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION AGENCY

Opinion and Order of the Board

(by Mr.

Currie):

On February

25,

1971,

Charles Fiore Nurseries,

Inc.

(“Fiore”)

submitted

a petition for

a Viriance from Section

9

(c)

of the

Environmental Protection Act and from the Rules

and Regulations

governing the control of air pollution.

Fiore has specifically

requested permission

“to burn diseased trees

and tree trimmings

(branches)”

in the open air at three different

sites on

the

grounds of the nursery,

located in Prairie View,

Illinois.

As noted

in the recommendation of the Environmental Protection

Agency,

the Petition is ambiguous on

the question of whether

the

materials

to be burned consist of something other than diseased

trees,

since

“tree trimmings” may be,

and probably

are,

cut from

healthy

trees,

The Petition itself points out that the nursery

does

“a great deal

of trimming

in order

to keep

the

trees in

symmetrical

form”,

While

this

Board

has

held

that

the

risk

of

further

infection

caused by diseased trees

is sufficient hardship in itself to

justify allowing

the open burning of such

trees especially

in light

of the relatively minor harm that will be caused by the burning

(see City of Winchester,

PCB

70-37)

,

there must,

on the other

hand,

be

a convincing showing

of an arbitrary or unreasonable

hardship before similar permission will be granted to burn

undiseased trees

in the open air~

There

is

no such allegation or

showing made by Fiore in this

case,

Not only are we unaware of the nature and extent of

the

increased costs,

if any, which would be incurred were Fiore

ordered to dispose of such trimmings by

some means other than

oen burning, but we

are also not told what

the effect such

open burning would have on the neighboring community.

Therefore,

we cannot allow such burning since

to do so might be to permit

an activity which could conceivably cause great damage or

inconvenience

to the public.

We have decided, however,

to allow

open burning of any elm wood, whether diseased on not,

or the ground

that elm wood

if allowed to accumulate might come

to harbor the elm

bark beetle and thus lead to the further spread of disease,

We add that in #R 70-11 we have before us

a proposal that would

allow open burning of woody wastes on

a broader bases.

Hearings

1

—

593

---

have been scheduled for early June,

and

all

persons

on whom the present rule imposes

a hardship are invited

to present their views

at that time.

In view of

the above findings of

fact

and conclusions

of

law,

it is the order of the Pollution Control Board

that:

I.

A temporary variance

is hereby granted to Fiore

for

a

period of

six ~(6)months

from

the date hereof

to burn

in

the

open

air

diseased

trees

or

infectious

vegetation,

and

any

elm

wood,

hut

only

under

the

following

conditions:

(a)

burning

shall

be

done

only

at

those

burning

sites

specified

in

the

Petition;

(b)

burning

shall

he

done

no

more

than

one

(1)

day

per

month;

(c)

burning

shall

be

done

only

between

the

hours

of

10:00

a~m~

and

4:00

p~rrL~

(d)

burninq

shall

he

done

only

when

wind

speed

is

between

five

(5)

and

twenty

(28)

Tastes

per

hour,

and

onto

when

the sky is not

overcast;

(e)

all burning shall be under the direct

and

constant

supervasion of an emoloyee of the

nursery

2

That nortion

of the Petition rhIch

rectuesos

a Variance

to

burn

un’iseased

trees,

tronminc’s

or

vane tatitn

other

than

ems

in

the

open

tsr

is

hereby

den

ied,

I,

Recina

E~

Ryan

do

hereby

certify

that

the above Opanion and

Order was approved by

the Board

on

the

/~

day

of

1971,

Cler~k of

the

Board

I

—

594