ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
July 13, 1989
LEFTON IRON
AND METAL
COMPANY,
)
INC., a Missouri Corporaton, and
)
LEFTON LAND AND DEVELOPMENT
)
COMPANY, INC., a Missouri
)
Corporation,
)
Complainants,
)
V.
)
)
MOSS-AMERICAN CORPORATION,
)
a Delaware Corporation, and
)
KERR-MCGEE CHEMICAL CORPORATION,
)
a Delaware Corporation,
)
Respondents
)
PCB
87—191
)
)
KERR-MCGEE CHEMICAL CORPORATION
)
a Delaware Corporation,
)
)
Counterclaimant,
)
V.
)
)
LEFTON IRON AND METAL COMPANY,
)
INC., a Missouri Corporation, an~
)
LEFTON LAND AND DEVELOPMENT
COMPANY, INC., a Missouri
Corporation,
Counter respondent
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by J. Marlin):
On June 14, 1989 Lefton Iron and Metal Company Inc., and
Lefton Land and Development Company, Inc. (hereafter referred to
collectively as Lefton) filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. On
June 16, 1989 Moss-American Corporation (Moss) and Kerr—McGee
Chemical Corporation (Kerr—McGee) filed a Motion for Extension of
time to file a response to Lefton’s motion. On June 21, 1989
Kerr—McGee and Moss filed a Response to the motion for summary
judgment. Respondents’ June 16th
motion
is granted in so ~ar as
the June 21, 1989 response is accepted.
Lefton filed a Motion for Leave to File Reply Memorandum and
its Reply Memorandum on June 28, 1989. On June 30, 1989, the
respondents filed an objection and motion to strike Lefton’s
Reply. Generally, the Board does not allow the moving party an
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2
opportunity to reply to a response, unless the Board or hearing
officer expressly provides for such a reply. As a result, the
Board has not considered Lefton’s June 28th Reply. To that
extent, the respondents’ June 30, 1989 motion is granted.
Lefton contends that the respondents’ August 1, 1988
Response to Lef ton’s Request for Admissions, the respondents’
answers to Lefton’s First Set of Interrogatories, and the
respondents’ Counterclaim (filed December 29, 1988) indicate that
there is no genuine issue as to material fact. Lefton concludes,
then, that it is entitled to summary judgment in its favor, based
upon its original Complaint.
The respondents assert that the Board has no autliority to
grant summary judgment motions since the Board currently has no
procedural rules governing such motions. Additionally, the
respondents claim that Lefton misstates the contents of the
respondents’ Response to Leftonts Request to Admit. In
particular, the respondents quote from their Response to Lefton’s
request to Admit (which was filed August 1, 1988):
Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation has no
knowledge of wastes entering groundwater
underlying the facility and denies that
creosote and associated wastes were ever
spilled or dumped indiscriminately upon the
land.
(Respondents’ Response to
Lef ton’s Request to
Admit,p. 3)
The respondents also state that Lefton’s attempt at
receiving a favorable summary judgment improperly bypasses the
considerations mandated by Section 33(c) of
the Environmental
Protection Act (Act). Finally, the respondents request in the
alternative that the Board not rule upon Lefton’s motion until
Lefton fully complies with the respondents’ own outstanding
discovery requests, thereby giving the respondents opportunity to
seek summary judgment against Lefton.
It is the Board’s position that it has the authority to
grant motions for summary judgment notwithstanding the fact that
detailed procedural rules for such motions do not currently
exist. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.244.
In its November 30, 1987 complaint Lefton alleges that the
respondents have violated Section 21(a) and 21(e) of the Act.
Specifically, the complaint alleges:
During the period that Respondents operated
the facility, creosote and waste products of
creosote were managed in such a way that the
creosote and associated wastes were spilled
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3
or dumped upon the land at the facility, into
surface impoundments and possibly into the
groundwater underlying the facility.
After creosote treating operations terminated
at the facility, the Respondents continued to
store creosote and other associated wastes at
the facility in surface impoundments, storage
tanks and in various piles. All of the
aforesaid actions on the part of the
Respondents constitute a violation of Section
21(a) of the Environmental Protection Act in
that the Respondents caused or allowed the
open dumping of wastes.
***
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
after conducting an investigation of the
facility, has identified some of the
hazardous constituents left behind by
Respondents to include creosote, benzene,
carbon disulfide, toluene, pentachlorophenol,
naphthalene, various chlorinated solvents,
all of which were disposed of at the facility
by Respondents without any permit from the
Environmental Protection Agency and in
violation of Section 21(e) of the
Environmental Protection Act.
(Complaint p.2,3).
While it has been held that the Illinois Code of Civil
Procedure does not apply to Board proceedings, (Village of South
Elgin v. Waste Management of Illinois, 64 Ill. App. 3d 365, 381
N.E. 2d 778 (wnd Dist. 1978), the Code may provide guidance for
the Board in the absence of specific Board regulations. 35 Ill.
Adm. 101.100. (Adopted in R88—5(A) on June 8, 1989, effective
July 10, 1989). Section 2—1005 of the Code of Civil Procedure
addresses the issue of summary judgment. Specifically, it states
summary judgment should be granted to the moving party if it is
shown “that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and
that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of
law”. 11. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 110, par. 2—1005(c).
After reviewing the filings in this matter, the Board is not
convinced that there is no genuine issue as to any material
fact. The respondents Response to Lefton’s Request to Admit, as
quote above, certainly appears inconsistent with the conclusions
drawn by Lefton that the respondents have admitted to activities
which require findings of violation of Section 21(a) and (e), as
a matter of law. Consequently, the Board hereby denies Lefton’s
motion for summary judgment.
101—09
4
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,ofthe
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