ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February
4, 1982
CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 74—171
BULK TERMINALS COMPANY AND
)
GERALD
L.
SPAETH,
)
)
Respondent.
)
and
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
)
AGENCY,
Complainant,
)
v.
)
PCB 74—193
)
BULK TERMINALS COMPANY AND
)
CONSOLIDATED
CABOT CORPORATION,
)
Respondent.
MR. DENNIS
R.
FIELDS, SPECIAL ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED
ON BEHALF OF THE ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.
MS. ANDREA SYKES FOOTE, LORD, BISSEL AND BROOK, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF BULK TERMINALS COMPANY AND GERALD
L.
SPAETH.
MR. ROBERT S. MILNIKEL,
PETERSON, ROSS,
SCHLOERB AND SEIDEL,
APPEARED ON BEHALF OF CABOT CORPORATION.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by
I.
Goodman):
This matter is before the Board upon the May 9,
1974
Complaint by Citizens for A Better Environment
(CBE)
against Bulk
Terminals Company and Gerald L.
Spaeth (Bulk Terminals)
alleging
violation of Rules 102 and 103(b) (1)
of the Board’s Air Pollution
Regulations and Sections 9(a)
and 9(b) of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act
(Act).
This action was subsequently
consolidated with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency v. Bulk
Terminals Company and Cabot Corporation,
PCB 74-193, by action of
the Hearing Officer herein.
The Board hereby waives any procedural
defects concerning that consolidation and ratifies the Hearing
Officer’s action.
PCB 74—193 alleges violation of Rule 102 and of
Section 9(a) of the Act.
45—24
1
During the pendency
of this matter a parallel action was
being considered by the Circuit Court and the Appellate Court of
Illinois resulting in a stay of Board action in this matter until
September of 1977.
At that time the Respondents herein appealed
a Board Order refusing to dismiss this action based upon the
doctrine of res judicata to the Appellate Court which resulted
in
a further stay of this matter until December of 1979.
The
Appellate Court having upheld the Board’s denial of the Motion
to Dismiss,
the proceeding started anew.
After a period of
discovery and four additional hearings, along with a not too
gentle prodding by the Board, the parties presented a proposed
Settlement Agreement and Stip~x1ationto Dismiss
(Stipulation)
of the January 30, 1981 heari~g, a signed copy of which was
filed with the Board on January 6,
1982.
The Board has received
no public comment in this matter.
The Stipulation presents the facts of this case as
follows.
Bulk Terminals (Bulk) owns and operates a public facility for
the bulk storage of various types of liquid at 12200 South Stony
Island Avenue,
Chicago,
Illinois.
The facility is located
in an
industrial area,
employs approximately 65 people, and
is acces-
sible by railroad cars,
trucks, barges and ocean—going vessels.
Gerald L.
Spaeth was president of Bulk Terminals during
the time
period alleged in the complaint, and Cabot Corporation
(Cabot)
utilized Bulk’s storage facilities
for the storage and transit of
silicon tetrachioride in 1972 through 1974.
Silicon tetrachioride,
the material which allegedly produced the air pollution,
is a
colorless liquid which reacts with water or moisture to form
silicon dioxide and hydrochloric acid, which has
a suffocating
odor in significant concentrations and may irritate eyes and skin.
On April
26,
1974,
a leak developed in
a pipe connected to one
of Bulk’s storage tanks containing Cabot’s silicon tetrachioride.
During
the next several days,
the Chicago Fire Department and
representatives of Bulk,
Cabot and other governmental agencies
att.empted to stop the leak and the resulting emissions.
These
emissions resulted in the consolidated matters before the Board
herein.
CBE has chosen not to pursue this matter individually but
rather has deferred to the Illinois Environmental Protection
Agency’s (Agency) discretion and judgment regarding the prosecu-
tion of these actions.
The Agency contends that it would prove
at
a hearing on this Complaint that a cloud containing acid ex-
tended into the atmosphere
for several miles, that hundreds of
persons were evacuated from their homes and were physically
affected by the acid, and that substantial property damage
resulted,
all unreasonably interfering with the enjoyment of
life and property.
The Respondents contend they would prove
any evacuation was unnecessary and was not officially ordered,
that no one was significantly affected by the acid, that pro-
perty damage was minimal, and that there was no unreasonable
interference with the enjoyment of life and property.
45—242
The terms of
.e’tletne~t
it
the
roposed
Sti2t latio-t
include
an
agreement
by
Bulk
to
follot
en-
inrrated
procedures,
md
id~g
notification
of
the
Plairtiff3
hexei-,
°hozj3 my
of
a
nunber
of
listed
materials
oe
~tored
by
1
1k
at
a
s
‘-ctrnial
in
be
fucure
These
procedcres
include
rev4~,
uz
tuc
ta.tlt
.‘~
“i’ r irde~rdcat
registered
engineer
‘f
the
S~
f
fll.
r4c.i
and
a
.rtif
fltLoit
that
all
codes,
regulations,
and
accepted
engineering
standards
and
practices ror thc stcraae of
ci
nate.
t.z hrre Leen couplLed
with.
In addition,
Bult
shah
I
‘
10: a
ci
1-rpltnent a program of
regularly
scheaused
inspection ant prc
-
entsie maintenance relating
to such storage in compliance
at-
p
blsa’ed
reconinendations and
procedures of the American Petroleum
I istLtute for Tanks
Piping,
Pumps
and Associated
Equipment
A detailed set of emergency pro-
cedures relating to the storage of
the
materials and a training
program
for Bulk ‘s employees
ii.
Low to implement crh eirergency
procedures shall be prepared prior to storing any of the listed
materials.
In addition, the Stipulatior
.ontairs an cgrc
-
ert to allow
inspection by
the
Agency
or the Illinois A~t3rncy~ene.als office,
upon reasonable notice,
and
affitmation
of Bulk e duty to comply
with all statutes, regulations
and
other
lats
tncluding
the
re-
quirements
for obtaining appropna’
pernita notw’
ti
standing any
provision
in
the
Stipulation.
Bulk
Ttrrtnals
ard
the
Cabot
Corpo-
ration
shall
each
pay
to
the
State of Iiliroi0
the
•um
of
$10,000
in
settlement
of
this
matter.
The
parties
agree
that
thi°
matter
shall
be
dismissed
in
consideration
of
tic
6-sitte
en’
‘tgreemert
This matter ha. beer beto.c
-h.
cn
c
-
-
-
‘i..
e~
Considerable
amounts
of
time
and
res
urce’
nave been expended by
the
parties
culminating
in
the
proposed
Stipulation
and
Settlement
Agreement.
The Board finds the Settlen”ert Pgre
i
ft to be a rea-
sonable resolution of this matter in that it relievao the parties
of further costs of litigation while adequately protecting the
environment and furthoring the purposes of the 2115nois Environ-
mental Protection
Act.
The Board, therefore
accepts the Stipu-
lation
and
will dismfss these actions in considers ion of the
execution of the Settlement Agreement by the parties nerein.
This Opinion constitutes thc findings of tact and conclusion
of law of the Board ii tb s matter
ORDER
1.
The parties heyei~ )‘-~Jeace~”tethe’r duties
~trsuant
to
the Settlement Agreenent and Stipulation
tc- D4smiss filed
January
6, 1982
(Sti?ul3ti,rs)
c :~n°t.puaationis hereby
incorporated by reteren,a as
f f’lly set
C-h herein.
‘1~
.183
4
2.
Within
45 days of the date of this Order,
Bulk Terminals
Company shall pay, by certified check or money order
payable
to the State of Illinois, the sum of $10,000 which is
to be
sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Fiscal
Services Division,
2200 Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois
62706.
3.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, Cabot Corporation
shall pay, by certified check or money order payable to the
State of Illinois, the sum of $10,000 which is
to be sent to;
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
Fiscal Services
Division,
2200 Churchill Road, Springfield,
Illinois
62706.
4.
In consideration of the Stipulation in paragraph
1 above.
Docket Nos.
PCB
74—171 and PCB 74-193 are hereby dismissed
with prejudice.
IT
IS SO ORDERED.
I,
Christan L.
Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby pertify that the above Opinion and Order
were adopted on the
4*
day of
~7’
________—,
1982
by a vote of
h/..l~
Christan L. Mo~4t, Clerk
Illinois Po11ut~1iControl Board
45—244