ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
April 12, 1979
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
)
PCB 77—275
RALPH
KORTE CONSTRUCTION CO.,
INC.,
)
a Delaware corporation,
Respondent,
MR. REED
W. NEUMAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT.
MATEYKA
AND
HILL, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR.
THOMAS A.
HILL,
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 October 25, 1977
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
On November
9,
1977, the Respondent filed a Motion
to Dismiss the Complaint.
On November 17, 1977, the Complainant
filed an Objection to the Respondent~sMotion to Dismiss based on
the rationale that
it had cured the defective Complaint by its
Motion to Amend the Complaint which was concurrently filed on
November 17,
1977.
On November 23,
1977, the Board denied the
Respondent~sMotion to Dismiss and granted the Complainant~s
Motion to Amend the Complaint.
On December 16,
1977, the Agency
filed a Motion for Leave to File a Second Amended Complaint, and
the Board granted this motion on December 20,
1977.
The Second
Amended Complaint alleged that the Respondent violated Rule 951(a)
and Rule 952(b)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations
(“Chapter
3”)
and Section 12(b)
of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act
(“Act”)
by causing or allowing the construction
and operation of specified sewer systems since November 22, 1974
without first having obtained the requisite Agency permits.
The
Second Amended Complaint also alleged that,
on April
1,
1977, the
Respondent violated Rule
201A of Chapter
6:
Public Water Supply
Regulations and Section 15 of the Act by causing or allowing the
construction of a water main extension without first having
obtained the necessary Agency permit.
On March 22,
1978,
33—331
—2—
the parties filed
a Joint Motion for a Stay of Hearing in this
case until no later than
30 days after the issuance on a final
Board Order on a Variance Petition to be filed by the Respondent,
and
the
Board granted this motion on March
30, 1978.
On June
2,
1978, the Complainant filed a motion that requested the Board to
set aside its prior Order dated March 30, 1978 which stayed the
hearing in this case,
and the Board granted this motion on
June 22,
1978.
A hearing was held on February 27,
1979.
The
parties filed a Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement on
March
1,
1979.
The Stipulation of Facts indicated
that the parties
agree that the Complainant should be allowed to amend instanter its
Second Amended Complaint so that all references to
“Rule
2lOA”
of
the Board~sPublic Water Supply Regulations should be changed
to
“Rule 2OlA.”
(Stip.
2).
Accordingly,
the Board hereby grants the
Complainant~smotion to correct the typographical error pertaining
to Rule 201A of Chapter
6:
Public Water Supplies.
The Respondent, Ralph Korte Construction Co.,
Inc.
(“Korte”)
is a
corporation
organized under the laws of the State of
Delaware,
and is authorized to do business
in the State of Illinois.
On
April
1,
1977,
the Respondent constructed a water main
extension
to the City
of Highland, Illinois, public water supply.
This
extension consists
of approximately three hundred
(300)
feet
of
pipe and is
located in an area
known as
M. Matter
Second
Subdivision in the City of
Highland.
(Stip.
2).
Prior to the
filing of the Complaint in this matter, Respondent had
not been
issued a permit by the Agency to construct this water main
extension,
as required by Rule
2OlA of Chapter
6:
Public Water
Supplies
(“Chapter 6”).
The Agency
first became aware of the
existence of the water main extension
as the result
of
a
water
main break which occurred
on May
7,
1977.
(Stip.
2-3).
Sometime after November 1,
1974,
the Respondent constructed
and allowed the use
or operation of
a sewer system
located near
U.S. Route 40 in
the City of Highland, consisting of approximately
1100
feet of eight inch pipe and five
manholes, which transports
wastewater from the
Ralph Korte Construction Company building,
two trucking company buildings, and a mini-warehouse facility
to
the City of Highland sewage system.
(Stip.
3).
Moreover,
sometime after November
1, 1974,
Korte constructed and allowed
the use or operation of a sewer
system,
consisting of
approximately 1000 feet of eight inch pipe,
four manholes and a
lift
station, located south of U.S. Route
40 in the City
of
Highland, in an area known as M. Matter Subdivision which
transports wastewater from Dowell Industrial
Supply, Ultralife
Laboratories and Ralph Ethridge Sports,
Inc.
(Stip.
3).
Additionally,
sometime after November 1, 1974,
the Respondent
constructed a sewer
system,
designed to carry wastewater,
consisting of approximately
800 feet of eight and ten inch pipe
33—332
—3—
and located north of
Illinois Route 143 in the City of Highland,
in an area known as Northtown East Executive Park.
However,
prior to the filing of the Complaint in this matter,
the
Respondent had not been issued either Construction or Operating
Permits by the Agency for any of the previously described sewer
systems,
(Stip.
3).
On
February 29, 1969, the Illinois Sanitary Water Board,
in
a letter to the City of Highland, placed the City’s treatment
plant on restricted status, saying no further extensions or hook-ups
to the City’s sewer system would be allowed until the treatment
system was modified to create adequate capacity for the needs of
City residents.
That restricted status, ordered again by the
Agency in 1971, has remained in effect at all times relevant to
this case.
(Stip.
4).
On October 22,
1974, the Respondent
received a letter from the Agency’s Division of Water Pollution
Control, Permit Section,
denying Respondentts application for
permits for the sewer systems in question, because the City of
Highland remained on restricted status.
On December 27,
1974,
Korte received a letter from the Director of the Agency explaining
that the permit denial letter was necessitated by the City~s
continuing restricted status.
(Stip.
4).
The Sewer systems described above apparently were constructed
with the knowledge and acquiescence of City officials in Highland,
and the City has been charging sewer usage
fees to those
businesses connected since the time of their connection to the
sewer system.
Under existing Board rules,
each business apparently
could have connected to the system individually without needing
Agency construction or operating permits.
(Stip.
4).
The City
of Highland has completed construction of a new sewage treatment
plant to ease the overloading problem; and the restricted status
has recently been removed by the Agency.
Because the Respondent
was unable to obtain permits for the sewers in
the face of the
sewer ban, the
Respondent was compelled to seek a Variance to use
these sewer systems,
In a related proceeding, Korte v. EPA,
PCB 78-103
(July
20, 1978),
the Respondent was granted a Variance
from Rule
962 of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations.
(Stip.
5).
For purposes of
the proposed settlement only, the parties
have stipulated that the Respondent caused or allowed the
violations alleged in each of Counts
I and II of the Second
Amended Complaint.
Subsequent to the filing of this Complaint,
the Respondent, per agreement with the Agency, submitted as-built
plans and
4 water samples pertaining to the water main extension
to the City of Highland public water supply.
Based on this
information,
the Agency on August
3, 1978 issued Operating Permit
#3-FY1979 for the water main extension.
(Stip.
6).
Also
subsequent to the filing of the Complaint in this matter, and
after
the issuance of the Board’s Order of July 20, 1978
granting
33—333
—4—
a variance in PCB 78-103,
the Respondent was issued Operating
Permit #l978—IA--2015 by the Agency on October
4,
1978 for its
sewer systems.
To this
date,
no Operating Permit has been
issued, although a permit
application was submitted to the
Agency pertaining
to one of the sewer systems.
(Stip.
6).
The
proposed settlement agreement provides that the
Respondent agrees to admit the violations as charged in Count
I
of
the
Second Amended Complaint and agrees to pay
a stipulated
penalty of $2,500
for the violations
of Count
I.
Additionally,
the Respondent agrees
to admit violating Section
15 of the Act
and Rule 2OlA of Chapter
6:
Public Water Supply Regulations
as
charged in Count II of the Second Amended Complaint and agrees
to pay a stipulated penalty of $500 for these violations.
In evaluating this enforcement action and proposed
settlement, 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.
The
Board finds the stipulated agreement acceptable under Procedural
Rule 331 and Section
33(c)
of the Act.
The Board finds that the
Respondent, Ralph Korte Construction Co., Inc.,
has violated
Rule
951(a)
and Rule 952(b)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations
and
Section 12(b) of the Act;
and has violated Rule 2OlA of
Chapter 6:
Public Water Supply Regulations and Section 15 of the
Act.
Accordingly,
the Respondent shall pay the stipulated penalty
of $3,000 for these violations.
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 Respondent has violated
Rule
951(a)
and Rule 952(b)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations and Section 12(b)
of
the
Act;
and has violated Rule 2OlA of Chapter
6:
Public Water
Supply Regulations and Section
15 of the Act.
2.
Within
45 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall
pay the stipulated penalty of $3,000
,
paymentto
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
33—334
—5—
3.
The Respondent shall comply with all the terms and
conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement filed
March
1, 1979, which is incorporated by reference
as
if fully
set forth herein.
I, Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, here~ycertify the above Opinion and Order were
adopted
oii the
/~L
~
day of
_________________,
1979 by a
vote of
~
.
Christan
L. Moffe~1~lerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
33—335