ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
10,
1985
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 83—23
ARNOLD’S SEWER AND SEPTIC
)
SERVICE AND JIMMY T.
McDONALD,
)
Respondents.
MR.
JAMES ARCHIER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF
THE
COMPLAINANT.
MR JAMES
P. TATOOLES, ATTORNEY
AT
LAN, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF
THE
RESPONDENTS.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by W.
J. Nega):
This matter comes before
the Board on a February
24,
1983
Complaint,
amended on July
27, 1984,
filed by the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency).
The Amended Complaint
alleged that the Respondents caused
or allowed the open dumping
of
septic wastes upon a public highway in violation of Sections
21(a), 21(b),
and 21(e) of the Illinois Environmental Protection
Act (Act).
A hearing was held on January 17,
1985 at which
time the
parties
incorporated a properly signed copy of the Stipulation
and Proposal
for Settlement into
the record.
On February 20,
1985,
the Board entered an Order which
rejected
the proposed settlement agreement.
The parties filed
a
second Stipulation
and Proposal for Settlement on September
4,
1985
arid
a
second hearing was held on September
5,
1985.
Respondent Arnold’s Sewer and Septic Service (Arnold’s),
which has been owned and operated by Respondent Jimmy
T.
McDonald
(McDonald)
since
1981,
is involved
in the business of cleaning
industrial
and residential septic tanks
in
the Cook County area
pursuant to a license issued by the Illinois Department of
Public
Health.
(Stip.
1—2).
The Complaint
in the instant case
is based
on an incident
that occurred on June 15,
1982 when
a tank truck with Arnold’s
name on
it (admittedly owned
by Arnold’s and driven by the
Respondent’s employee,
Mr. Thomas Mumford) was spotted by the
Arlington Heights police
in the process
of dumping septic sewage
onto
a public
road (i.e.,
on
a one block length
of Nichols Road,
66-01
—2—
near
the intersection of Schaffer Road and Nichols Road
in
A~riingtonHeights,
Illinois).
The driver
and operator of this
tank
truck,
Mr. Thomas Mumford
(Mumford), was subsequently
apprehended by
the Arlington Heights police
and charged,
under
a
local ordinance, with the offense of dumping waste or
refuse
on
a
public
road.
(Stip.
2).
On August
2,
1982,
the Circuit Court at
Cook County
found Mumford guilty
of dumping on an open road
and
fined him $90.00 with
a $10.00 charge
for court costs.
(Stip.
2),
Shortly after
the Circuit Court hearing, Mumford disappeared
end has not been seen or heard from since
that time.
(Stip.
3).
The parties have stipulated that Respondent Jimmy
T.
McDonald was “unaware,
at the time of the occurrence,
that Thomas
Mumford dumped septic sewage on Nichols Road”.
(Stip.
3).
After
the dumping
incident occurred on June 15,
1982,
the Agency tested
samples of
the material dumped on Nichols Road by Mumford
and
ascertained that it was indeed septic waste.
(Stip.
3).
As
Mumford’s employer at
the time of the
incident, Respondent
McDonald has admitted liability for causing or allowing Mumford
to dump septic wastes onto Nichols Road
in violation
of Sections
21(a),
21(b), and
21(e)
of the Act.
The proposed settlement agreement provides that the
Respondents
admit
the violations alleged
in the amended
Complaint;
agree
to continue
to desist
from further
violations
of
the
Act;
and agree
to pay a stipulated penalty of $500.00 into
the Environmental Protection Trust
Fund.
(Stip.
4).
The Board notes
that the Respondents have admitted violating
Sections 21(a), 21(b),
and 21(e)
of the Act and that the
Respondents have agreed
to “continue
to desist”
from further
violations of the Act and therefore assumes that
item 13
B of
the
stipulation of September
4, 1985 inadvertently left off the
s
from the word Respondents as
a typographical error, thereby
intending that the stipulated penalty is
to be paid jointly and
severally by the Respondents who have admitted
the violations.
The phrase “continue to desist” from further violations of
the
Act may have been intended
by the parties to mean
“cease and
desist”
from further violations, but since the intent of
the
parties
is not crystal clear from the context of
item 13 A of
the
stipulation,
the Board will construe this ambiguity as requiring
the Respondents
to cease and desist from further violations.
To
facilitate
the ratification of the Board’s interpretation of
these apparent typographical errors
and ambiguities
in the
stipulation,
item #5 has been placed in the Order
for
the
Respondents
to sign and
certify.
In evaluating
this enforcement action and proposed
settlement agreement,
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 and finds
the settlement
agreement acceptable under 35
Ill. Adm. Code 103.180.
66-02
The
Board finds that the Respondents, Arnold’s Sewer
and
Septic Service and Jimmy T.
McDonald, have violated Sections
21(a),
21(b),
and
21(e)
of the Act,
The Respondents will
be
ordered
to cease
and desist from further violations
and
to pay
the stipulated penalty of $500.00 to the Environmental Protection
Trust Fund.
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,
The Respondents, Arnold’s Sewer
and Septic Service and
Jimmy T.
McDonald, have violated Sections 21(a),
21(b),
and 21(e)
of
the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
2,
The Respondents
shall cease
and desist from further
violations,
3,
Within 30 days of the date of this Order, the
Respondents shall jointly and severally,
by certified check or
money order payable to the State of Illinois and designated
for
deposit into the Environmental Protection Trust Fund, pay the
stipulated penalty of $500.00 which
is to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois 62706
4,
The Respondents shall comply with all the terms and
conditions of
the second Stipulation and Proposal
tot Settlement
filed on September
4, 1985, which
is incorporated by reference as
if fully set forth herein.
5,
Within 45 days
of the date of this Order,
the
Respondents shall execute and forward to the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency, Compliance Assurance Section,
2200 Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois 62706,
a Certification
of Acceptance
and Agreement
to be bound
to all terms and
conditions
set forth
in the Order,
The 45 day period
shall be
held
in abeyance during any period
in which this matter
is being
appealed.
The
form of this certification shall be as follows:
66-03
—4—
CERTIFICATION
I,
(We), ______________________, hereby accept(s)
and
agree(s)
to be bound
by all of
the above terms conditions of
the
Order
of
the Illinois Pollution Control Board
in PCB 83—23 dated
October
10, 1985.
Acnold’s
Sewer
and Septic Service
Mr.
Jimmy
T.
McDonala
~3y: Authorized Agent
By:
Authorized Agent
Title
Date
Date
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Dorothy
N.
Gunn,
Clerk of
the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order was
adopted on the
______________
day of
~
,
1985 by vote
of
7-
O
.
Dorothy M.
crunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
66-04