ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July
19,,
1984
D.
TIMOTHY
EhKER
AND
)
CONNIE EAKERr
)
Complainants,
)
)
PCB
84—80
COUNTY
OF
KANKAKEE
AND
)
BOURBONNAIS TOWNSHIP,
Respondents,
DISSENTING OPINION
(by J.
Anderson):
My reasons for dissent
are partially answered by the
explanatory
information
included
in
the Board Order to dismiss
this
citizen
complaint.
However, while
I agree with the majority
of
the Board
that
this complaint should not be accepted “as is,”
I believe that the Board prematurely
voted to dismiss.
When
citizens
file
enforcement actions, especially when
utilizing the Board’s complaint form,
the complaints often do
not contain sufficient information.
Under
these circumstances,
I feel the Board should give the
complainant an
opportunity
to perfect the complaint beforehand.
The Board could have specified the deficiencies in a
“more
information” type
Order
that required a response by a date
certain~.
Then
dismissal could
be
considered.
I feel this
approach is preferable, for all concerned,
either to a dismissal
with an open—ended “leave
to refile” or to allowing
informationally
borderline
complaints to go to hearing.
Finallyç in
this
case,
where the Board’s jurisdiction
is
admittedly
unclear,
I believe
it
is misleading to put the
word
“homeowners” in a context in
the Board Order
that
implies that
proper party respondents can
only
be “homeowners.”
The
“cause
or
allow”
language
is broader than that and could even include,
under
certain circumstances, a governmental authority.
For
these
reasons,
I
dissent,
Jc~nG~. Anderson
59,.,75
—2--
I, Dorothy M.
Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, herebWertify
that th~above Dissenting Opinion was filed
on the
~~day
~
1984.
Dorothy M. G~nn,Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
59~76