ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March 1, 1979
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 78-84
VILLAGE OF GRANDVIEW,
a municipal corporation,
Respondent,
MR. REED W. NEUMAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE COMPLAINANT.
HECKENKAMP & FUITEN, ATTORNEYS AT LAW (MR. WALTER J. SIMHAUSER,
OF COUNSEL), APPEARED ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by Mr. Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the March 20, 1978
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency~’) which alleged that, from August 1, 1974 until the date
of the filing of the Complaint, the Village of Grandview operated
its public water supply system without having in its employ a
certified Class D, Class C, Class B, or Class A water supply
operator, in violation of Section 1 of an Act to Regulate the
Operating of a Public Water Supply, Ill. Rev. Stat 1975, ch. 111-1/2,
par. 501(d). A hearing was held on T~iIie 1, 1978.
The Village of Grandview (“Grandview”) is a municipal
corporation and is located in Sangamon County. The Respondent owns
and operates a public water supply system which has a distribution
system consisting of valve fire hydrants, service taps, and
distribution mains, (R. 47). Grandview’s public water
supply system receives treated water from the Springfield water
supply system by means of two transmission mains and thus, no
chemical treatment is employed by the Respondent. Accordingly,
the Respondent has no treatment or storage facilities.
The Complainantes witness was Mr. Steven Gunning, an Agency
attorney. Mr. Gunning testified that he did the legal work pertaining
to the initiation of the formal Complaint and indicated that proper
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legal notice of violation was sent
to the Village of Grandview
(R. 10—14; See: Complainant~s
Exhibits 1 and
2).
The Respondent~s first
witness was
Mr.
Willian Knope.
Mr.
Knope testified that he is the
Superintendent of the Respondent~s
water supply system and has
been employed since July, 1965 by the
Village of Grandview. (R. 18).
Although Mr. Knope had no
formal training pertaining to
water supply systems, he obtained
on-the-job experience. For the first two
years of
his employment by
the Village of Grandview (i.e.,
1965
-
1967), Mr. Knope “worked
outside on the water mains
and reading meters” under the direction
and supervision of Mr. Kinks, who
was the Superintendent of the
water supply system at that
time.
CR.
19-20). When Mr. Kinks
left in 1967, Mr. Knope became the new
Superintendent.
(R, 20).
Mr. Knope~sbackground includes two years of high school and
four years of military service. (R.
19).
Mr. Knope testified that the
Grandview Water Department serves
customers in a four block square area and some customers in the
Starnes subdivision that the
City of Springfield would not service.
CR, 20) The Village of Grandview has a
total of approximately
670 customers (i~e,, about 665 customers are individual home
owners or renters, and the
remaining five customers are businesses).
(R. 21) Mr. Knope stated
that the Grandview Water System
does not have a water pumping
station or storage system of any kind.
Water is chemically treated at
the City of Springfield’s plant and
transported through mains to the Village of
Grandview.
(R.
22).
Mr. Knope indicated that periodic tests
to determine the purity
of the water that Grandview
serves to its customers are made
every month (i.e., representative water samples are mailed to the
Agency for bacteriological testing and chemical
analysis).
(R. 22—24)
Additionally, Mr. Knope testified
that the Village of Grandview
had recently made a contract with
the engineering firm of Greene
&
Elliott, Ltd. to provide water
supply operator services to the
Respondents (See: Respondent~s
Exhibit 1; R. 28-29), Mr.
Knope indicated that he had
made an effort to secure certification
as a public water supply operator,
but had failed the certification
test twice due to unfamiliarity with
the answers to questions
pertaining to water treatment and storage
equipment that
the
Grandview system does not have.
CR. 29-31), Mr.
Knope stated
that he plans to take the Class
D operator’s exam again and
that Mr~Williams may help him
study for the test. Mr. Knope also
indicated that Mr. Williams is
currently collecting water samples
and sending these samples to the
Agency, and performing other tasks
that were formerly within Mr.
Knope’s exclusive purview.
(R~
33—39)
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Mr. Knope also stated that the Village of Grandview, although
it has now paid off the outstanding bonds used for the financing of
its water mains, has been having serious financial problems with
its water supply system because of the increased rates that the
City of Springfield
has been charging which weren’t covered by
Grandview’s existing rate
schedule. (R. 31—33)
.
In fact, some
citizens have been
protesting against the rates and charges
made by the water system. (R.
33).
The Respondent’s
second witness was Mr. C. Murray Williams.
Mr. Williams
testified that he is employed by the consulting
engineering firm of Greene & Elliott, Ltd. and is a properly
certified Class A water
supply operator. (R. 40-41). Mr.
Williams’ educational
background includes a degree in chemistry,
graduate courses, and
many courses on water analysis and water
treatment. The
record reveals that Mr. Williams has extensive
experience in the
operation and supervision of various public
water supplies and has even
received a commendation from the
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
in connection with water treatment
analysis on the Manhattan Project.
(R.
40-43). Mr. Williams
testified that he has
personally been serving as the water
supply operator for
the Village of Grandview since May 1, 1978 and
has provided
the Agency with the requisite water samples and has
completed the necessary forms
to establish himself as “the legally
certified operator
for the Village of Grandview. (R. 44-46).
Mr. Williams stated that
he has familiarized himself with the work
that Mr. Knope has done in the past as Village Water Superintendent
and indicated that “all of the evidence.., indicates that the job
has been properly performed.” (R. 48). Mr. Williams also
stated that,
in his opinion, the Grandview water supply system
presently furnishes a safe
and suitable water supply to its
customers. (R. 49-50),
In evaluating this
enforcement action, the Board has taken
into consideration all the
facts and circumstances in light of the
specific criteria delineated
in Section 33(c) of the Illinois
Environmental Protection
Act. On the basis of the record, the
Board finds that the
Village of Grandview operated its public
water supply system without a
properly certified Class D, Class C,
Class B, or Class A water
supply operator from August 1, 1974 until
March 20, 1978 in violation
of Section 1(d) of an Act to Regulate
the Operating
of a Public Water Supply, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch,
111—1/2, par, 501(d),
Accordingly, a penalty of $250.00 is
assessed against the
Respondent.
This Opinion constitutes
the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this
matter.
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ORDER
It is the Order of the Illinois
Pollution Control Board that:
1. The Village of Grandview
has violated Section 1(d) of an
Act to Regulate the Operating of a
Public Water Supply (Ill. Rev.
Stat., 1975, ch. 111—1/2,
par. 501(d)
)
from August 1, 1974 u~ii
March 20, 1978.
2. The Village
of Grandview shall cease and desist from all
further violations of Section
1(d) of an Act to Regulate the
Operating of a Public Water
Supply (Ill. Rev. Stat., 1975, ch.
111—1/2, par. 501(d)
)
3, Within 45 days of the date
of this Order, the Village of
Grandview shall pay a penalty of
$250.00
,
payment
to
be
made by
certified check or money order to:
State of Illinois
Fiscal Services Division
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois 62706
I, Christan
L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, her~~certify the
abov Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
/~
day of
________________,
1979 by a
vote of
_~/___.
Illinois Pollution
rol Board
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