ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 30,
1992
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
)
ILLINOIS,
Complainant,
)
PCB 91—53
v.
)
(Enforcement)
ENAMELERS
AND
JAPANNERS,
INC.,
)
Respondent.
ORDER OF THE
BOARD
(by G.
T. Girard):
This proceeding is before the Board on a series of motions
filed by the parties.
The Complainant has filed three motions
which include a May 19,
1992,
“Motion for Summary Judgement”;
a
May 26,
1992,
“Motion to Strike Respondent’s Answer to First
Amended Complaint”;
and a July 2,
1992,
“Motion for Summary
Judgement as to Counts IV and
XII”
of the amended complaint.
In
addition the Complainant filed a June 15,
1992,
“Reply to
Respondent’s Answer to Complainants Motion for Summary Judgement”
and a July 24,
1992,
“Reply to Respondent’s Answer to
Complainants Motion for Summary Judgement”.
The respondent filed
a June 4,
1992,
“Answer to the Complainant’s May 19,
1992, Motior
for Summary Judgement”;
and a July 15,
1992,
“Answer to
Complainant’s July 2,
1992, Motion for SuminaryJudgement”.
The Board will first address the motion for summary
judgement filed on May 19,
1992.
The complainant based its May
19,
1992, motion for summary judgement on the failure of the
respondent to answer the original complaint
(filed on March 20,
1991)
and on the failure of the respondent to reply to the
complainant’s request for admission of facts
(filed on February
18,
1992).
Respondent,
in its June
4,
1992,
response, maintains
that the request for admission of facts was filed prior to the
entry of appearance by counsel for the respondent and therefore
was not properly served.
Respondent also filed its answer to the
original complaint on June 4,
along with a motion to file
instanter which the hearing officer granted.
The Board notes
that the complainant did file a June 15,
1992,
reply to the
respondent’s response; however,
the complainant did not file a
motion requesting the right to reply.
(See 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.242(c).)
Therefore, the Board will not consider the reply.
Summary judgeinent is appropriate when there are no genuine
issues of fact to be considered by the trier of fact.
Although,
the complainant has properly cited to the Board’s procedural
rules,
it is clear that the respondent does believe there are
issues of fact to be resolved.
The Board is reluctant to grant
summary judgement based on procedural error on the part of either
party,
especially when the procedural errors are correctable and
0135-0125
2
have to some extent been cOrrected.
The Board notes that the
procedural errors do not appear to have prejudiced the
complainant.
Therefore, the Board denies the May 19,
1992,
motion for summary judgement.
With regard to the motion for summary judgement filed on
July
2,
1992,
the complainant states that the answer filed by
respondent admits the use of “scrlv~ntbased paints”.
Such
admission,
according to complainant,
is an admission to the
violations alleged in Count IV of the amended complaint.
In
addition, the complainant alleges that the respondent has
admitted each allegation in count XII of the complaint.
Respondent filed an answer to the motion on July 15,
1992,
and
stated that the admission of use of “solvent based paint is based
upon an ambiguity in the regulations referred to in complainant’s
motion”.
The respondent states that it will present evidence to
establish that “water based paint” is a misnomer.
The respondent
also affirms its admissions regarding count XII.
The Board notes
that the complainant did file a July 23,
1992,
reply to the
respondent’s response; however, the complainant did not file a
motion requesting the right to reply.
(See 35
Ill. Adm. Code
101.242(c).)
Therefore, the Board will not consider the reply.
The Board finds that with regard to count IV, there is an
issue of fact which should be further explored at hearing.
Therefore
summary
judgement
on
count
IV
is
denied.
However,
as
there
is
no
dispute
that
the
respondent
has
admitted
the
violations alleged under count XII, the Board grants summary
judgement to count XII.
The Board. also notes that the motion to strike filed on May
26,
1992,
cites
to
failure
to
answer
the
original
complaint
as
the
reason
for striking the answer to the amended complaint since
the
answer
to
the
amended
complaint
referenced
an
answer
to
the
original complaint which had not been filed.
The answer to the
original complaint was filed and accepted by the hearing officer
on June 9,
1992.
Therefore, the Board will deny the motion to
strike.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy
M.
Gunn,
Clerk
of
the
Illinois
Pollution
Control
Board~do hereby certify that the above order was adopted on the
_________
day of
_____________,
1992,
by a vote of
~
~
~
Dorothy M.;1unn,
Clerk
Illinois P~1lutionControl Board
0135-0126