ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
6,
1988
MONSANTO COMPANY,
)
Petitioner,
)
v.
)
PCB 85—19
)
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENThL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
and
)
JOHN
E.
NORTON,
)
Respondents.
CONCURRING OPINION
(by J.D.
Durnelle):
For the following reasons,
I concur
in the Board Order
issued October
6,
1988.
First,
although
I would have granted Monsanto’s motion to
stay
to allow Monsanto and the Agency an opportunity to arrive at
an agreeable resolution
to this matter,
I concur
in the Board’s
Order
in that
I believe it accomplishes
the same result.
Second,
I do
not,
at this time, possess the Board’s
perception that “only three viable alternative courses
of action”
exist
and are
as set forth
in the Order.
As there
is not much
precedent
for the issues presented
in this case,
I would prefer
to withhold
judgment on possible courses
of action until all the
facts
and arguments are presented.
Finally,
the Board supplemented
its Opinion with
“an aside
note on the peculiar timing of the Monsanto motion.”
I do not
share
the Board’s belief that motions subsequer~t
td
Boar&
discussion are necessarily inappropriate.
I do agree
that
motions submitted after Board discussion which are designed
to
forestall the indicated outcome may be
inappropriate.
But
I
strongly believe that Board practice must be flexible to permit
adjudicative proceedings
to keep pace with changing
circumstances, whenever that may be.
Further,
I do not believe
that the “aside note” was appropriate
in this case.
Although
Monsanto’s motion was
filed
after Board discussion,
the Order
ignores
the fact that this proceeding has lain dormant
for nearly
three years,
and not by any fault
of the parties.
The Board
discussion was the first
indication
that the Board was once again
giving
its attention
to this case.
Circumstances may have
changed during this period
of dormancy such that the parties may
have
different objectives
than they previously possessed.
I do
not think
it unreasonable that Monsanto would
now,
after
three
years, want
to reassess its situation.
93—03
—2—
For these reasons,
I respectfully concur
in the Board’s
Order.
~,//
Jacob D. Dumelle,
P.E.
Chairman
I,
Dorothy M. Gunn,
Clerk
of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board,
hereby certify tbat the above Concurring Opinion was
submitted on the
~
day of
~
,
1988.
~.
~
Dorothy M.7Gunn, Clerk
Illinois t~ollutionControl Board
93—04