ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February 19,
1981
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 80—87
MISSOURI—PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, a
Delaware Corporation, and INTERNATIONAL
)
MINERALS
& CHEMICAL CORPORATION, a New
)
York Corporation,
)
Respondents.
MR. PATRICK
J. CHESLEY, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT.
WALKER
AND
WILLIAMS, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR. GORDON MAAG,
OF COUNSEL),
APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT MISSOURI—PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY.
~.1R.PATRICK 0. BOYLE, ATTORNEY AT LAW, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF
RESPONDENT INTERNATIONAL MINERALS & CHEMICAL CORPORATION.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by N,E.Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the April
23,
1980
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
Count
I of the Complaint alleged that,
on March 29, 1979
at approximately
1 P.M.,
a derailment of the Missouri—Pacific Railroad
Company’s railroad car on the improperly maintained tracks of a rail
spur owned by the International Minerals
& Chemical Corporation
(“IMC”)
resulted in the discharge of about 152,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate
into Wolf Lake
in Union County,
Illinois,
thereby causing water
pollution in violation of Section
12(a) of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act (“Act”).
Count II alleged that IMC and the Missouri—Pacific Railroad
Company
(“Railroad”) have violated the water quality standard for
ammonia nitrogen
(as N) from March
29, 1979 until April
6,
1979
in violation of Rules 203(f) and 402 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Control Regulations
(“Chapter 3”) and Section 12(a)
of the Act.
Count III alleged that IMC’s plant discharged effluents from
four specified outfalls which violated the effluent discharge
limitations in its NPDES Permit for BOD5,
suspended solids, and pH
40—507
—2—
in violation of Rules
404(f),
408(a),
410(a), and 901 of Chapter
3
and Sections 12(a) and 12(f) of the Act.
After extensive discovery took place,
a hearing was held on
December 17,
1980 at which no members of the public were present.
On December
9,
1980,
a Statement of Stipulated Settlement between
the Agency and the Railroad was filed.
Concurrently,
a separate
Statement of Stipulated Settlement between the Agency and IMC was
also filed on December
9,
1980.
The Railroad owns a set of railroad tracks which are located
about 1/4 mile west of IMC’s plant in Union County,
Illinois.
A
rail spur runs from these tracks east to the
IMC
plant.
IMC owns
this rail spur (except for the first 150 feet immediately east of
the tracks).
While the Railroad was backing the railroad car
containing ammonium nitrate onto the track at a point in the rail
spur owned by IMC on March
29, 1979,
the derailment occurred.
IMC operates
“a plant which manufactures explosives and is
located East of Illinois Route
3 approximately one mile north of
the
town of Wolf Lake in Union County,
Illinois”.
(IMC Stip.
2).
The
rail spur enters IMC’s “plant from the West and also crosses over
Wolf Lake”,
a navigable Illinois water which
“is a long narrow lake
that was formed by an oxbow of the Big Muddy River.”
(IMC Stip.
2-3).
The parties have stipulated that:
“...The derailment occurred as a result of gravel becoming
tightly compacted against the outer rail of the track on
the spur and completely covering the rail for a distance
of approximately fifty feet,
and this coupled with a
one inch reverse elevation of the track at a curve
in the
track at the point of derailment made it impossible
for
the wheels of the railroad car to traverse the curve...
The gravel...came from a road used for car and truck traffic
that runs approximately parallel and adjacent to the spur
and is used by IMC for access to the plant,..A derailment
of the railroad car containing ammonium nitrate occurred at
a point in the spur owned by IMC and just east of the
bridge which crosses Wolf Lake...This derailment resulted
in the discharge of 152,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate
from the railroad car into Wolf Lake...The discharge of
ammonium nitrate into Wolf Lake caused or tended
to
cause
an alteration of the chemical properties of the water
in
the Lake that was likely to render such water harmful,
detrimental
or injurious to fish and other aquatic life
in that said discharge caused the water quality standard
for ammonia nitrogen
(as N)
of 1.5 mg/l to be exceeded in
the Lake for more than one month,”
(Railroad Stip.
2—3).
In order to ascertain “the possible effects of the spilled
material on the Lake,” IMC monitored the levels of dissolved oxygen,
40—508
—3—
ammonia nitrogen
(as
N),
p11
and temperature in Wolf Lake after the
derailment.
(IMC Stip.
3).
To “reduce the amount of gravel deposited on the rail spur as
a result of the vehicular traffic”,
IMC
(1)
“paved
the
gravel roadway
East of the bridge for a distance of approximately 30 feet” in
October, 1979; and
(2)
“paved the gravel roadway West of
the
bridge
for a distance of approximately”
30 feet in May, 1980.
(IMC Stip.
3).
It is stipulated that “Wolf Lake is or was the home for the
bantam sunfish and the bluehead shiner”.
(IMC Stip.
3).
The
bantam sunfish, Lepomis !ymmetricus, has been designated a threatened
species, while the bluehead shiner, Notropis hubbsi, whose only known
habitat in Illinois is Wolf Lake, has been designated an endangered
species.
(See:
IMC Exhibit A and IMC Stip.
3).
IMC, which does not have third-stage treatment lagoons, must
meet the effluent concentration limits specified in its NPDES
Permit No.
IL 0000256.
In its Statement of Stipulated Settlement,
IMC has admitted that, during specified time intervals between 1978
and 1980, it failed to meet the effluent limitations for BOD5,
suspended solids,
and pH in its wastewater discharges from specified
outfalls in violation of Rules 404(f),
408(a),
410(a), and 901 of
Chapter 3 and Sections 12(a)
and 12(f) of the Act.
(IMC Stip.
4—7).
The
proposed settlement agreement between the Agency and 1Mb
provides that IMC agrees to:
(1)
cease and desist from further
violations;
(2) “maintain the condition of the rail spur by
preventing any gravel or other material
(not including rain,
snow,
sleet,
slush,
and ice) from being deposited on or adjacent to the
rails of the rail spur so as to prevent safe passage of railroad
cars or engines across
the
track”;
(3)
fund one—half of the total
cost of a study of Wolf Lake (total cost
=
$5,500.00) which will he
conducted by the Zoology Department of Southern Illinois University
at Carbondale in accordance with a specified Study Proposal
(See:
IMC Exhibit A); and
(4) pay a stipulated penalty of $5,000.00
(IMC Stip. 8—9).
Additionally, the Agency,
in the Statement of Stipulated
Settlement between IMC and the Agency, has requested that the Board
amend Count III of the original Complaint to include all violations
which are set out in the settlement agreement.
The Board hereby
grants the Agency’s motion to amend Count III of the Complaint.
Furthermore, the parties have requested in their Statement of
Stipulated Settlement that the Board order the Agency “to modify
IMC’s NPDES permit to allow 30 day average discharges from
outfalls 001,
002,
003, and 004 of 10 mg/l of BOD5 and 12 mg/l of
Suspended Solids.”
(IMC Stip.
9).
40—509
—4
The Statement of Stipulated Settlement between the Agency and
the Railroad provides that the Railroad agrees to fund the other
one—half of the total cost
(total cost
=
$5,500.00) of the study of
Wolf Lake which will be conducted by the Zoology Department of
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
(Railroad Stip.
5—6).
Additionally,
the proposed settlement agreement between the Agency
and the Railroad provides that:
“...The Railroad agrees to keep in effect at all times a
General Order which requires that prior to any railroad
cars being delivered at the plant, that the train and all
cars will stop at a point on the west side of the bridge
which crosses Wolf Lake,
and an employee of the Railroad
will walk across the bridge and around the far side of
the bridge and inspect the rail spur to make sure that
it is clear from any gravel and any other material (not
including rain,
snow,
sleet, slush or ice) which would
prevent the safe passage of railroad cars and an engine
across the track.
If the way is seen to be clear,
then
movement may proceed.
If the rail spur
is seen to be
obstructed, then the Railroad will contact IMC personnel
and inform them of this fact and then and only after the
rail spur has been cleared by IMC will the Railroad move
railroad cars over the spur.”
(Railroad Stip.
5)
In evaluating these enforcement actions and proposed settlement
agreements,
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.
The Board finds both of the stipulated
agreements acceptable under Procedural Rule 331 and Section 33(c)
of
the Act.
The Board finds that IMC has violated Rules 404(f),
408(a),
410(a),
and 901 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations
and Sections 12(a) and 12(f)
of the Act.
The Board will order
IMC to cease and desist from further violations and pay the
stipulated penalty of $5,000.00
Additionally, the Board shall
order the Missouri—Pacific Railroad Company to comply with all of
the provisions of the Statement of Stipulated Settlement entered
into between the Agency and the Railroad.
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.
International Minerals
& Chemical Corporation has violated
Rules 404(f),
408(a),
410(a) and 901 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution
Control Regulations and Sections 12(a) and 12(f) of the Illinois
Environmental Protection Act.
2.
IMC shall cease and desist from all further violations of
the above mentioned provisions of the Board’s Water Pollution
Regulations and the Act.
40—5 10
—5
3.
Within 60 days of the date of this Order, the International
Minerals
& Chemical Corporation shall, by certified check or money
order payable to the State of Illinois, pay the stipulated penalty
of $5,000.00 which is to be sent to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield,
Illinois
62706
4.
IMC shall comply with all the terms and conditions of the
Statement of Stipulated Settlement between IMC and the Agency filed
December 9,
1980, which is incorporated by reference as if fully
set forth herein.
5.
The Agency’s motion to amend Count III of the Complaint to
include all violations set out in the Statement of Stipulated
Settlement between IMC and the Agency is hereby granted.
6.
The Agency is hereby ordered to modify IMC’s NPDES Permit
to allow 30 day average discharges from outfalls 001,
002, 003,
and
004 of 10 mg/l of BOD~and 12 mg/l of suspended solids.
This
modification shall no~affect the pending request of IMC to
eliminate requirements on suspended solids,
BOO5,
and phosphorus
from outfalls 001,
002,
003,
and 004, or the request to eliminate
BOD5 and phosphorus requirements from outfall 005.
7.
The Missouri-Pacific Railroad Company shall comply with
all the terms and conditions of the Statement of Stipulated
Settlement between the Agency and the Railroad filed December
9,
1980,
which is incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
I, Christan
L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify (that the above Opinion and Order wer~adopted
on the
~
day of ~7’
,
1981 by a vote of ~
i~
christan
L. Moffe~
,
clerk
Illinois Pollution
ontrol Board
40—5 11