ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 2V~,1979
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
PCB 78—111
VILLAGE OF BASCO,
)
a municipal corporation,
)
Respondent,
MR.
REED
W. NEUMAN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE COMPLAINANT.
MR. LEROY A.
UFKES, ATTORNEY AT LAW, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF THE
RESPONDENT.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the April
20, 1978
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”)
which alleged that,
from October 24,
1977 until the date
of filing of the Complaint, the Respondent,
the Village of Basco
(the “Village”), caused or allowed discharges from its sewer
system
without the appropriate National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System
Permit
(“NPDES Permit”)
in violation of Rule 901 of
Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Control Regulations and Section 12(f)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(“Act”).
On May 19,
1978, the Agency filed its Request for Admission of Facts and
Genuineness of Documents.
The Respondent’s Answer to the Request
for Admission of Facts and Genuineness of Documents was filed on
June
12, 1978.
A hearing was held on July 20,
1978.
The Village of Basco is located in Hancock County,
Illinois.
At the hearing,
the Village President
(Mr. William 0. Damron),
a
Village Trustee
(Mr. Stanley Davidson), the Village Treasurer
(Mrs.
Mary Lou Smart), and the Village Clerk
(Mr. Douglas Steffey)
testified on behalf of the Respondent.
The Village officials’
testimony indicated that they believed that Basco does not,
in fact,
have a sewer system.
Their basic contention was that the “sewer
system” in
question merely consists of two old storm water drains
which drain the main streets of the town about
4 times a year
33—577
—2—
during extremely wet weather; and if there are any sewer
connections, these connections are unknown to the Village officials.
On the other hand,
Mr. James F.
Kammueller,
an Agency employee,
testified that his inspections and the testing of water samples
revealed that the two tile outlets have discharged sewer wastewater
and contaminants into a tributary of Bear Creek,
a water of the
State of Illinois.
CR.
11—15;
R.
19—24;
R.
32—36;
R.
91)
.
He
observed tissue paper, gray sewage waste,
sewage debris,
sludge
deposits, floating film,
and septic sewage odor coming from these
Main Street outlets.
(R.
11;
R.
17-19;
R.
23-24;
See: Complainant’s
Exhibit 3).
Mr. Kammueller also testified that the Village officials
did not respond to several letters that the Agency sent to them
pertaining to the results of his inspections.
CR,
46;
See:
Cornplainant~sExhibit 1).
In regard to the Village’s failure to respond to these past
letters, Mr. William
0. Damron, the Village President, indicated
that he had not contacted the Agency
primarily because of his
inability to know how to answer their letters.
CR.
81-82).
Moreover, Mr. Damron stated that he found the various forms that
were sent to him extremely difficult to understand and felt that
he wasn~tcapable of properly filling them out.
(R,
68).
However,
after consultation with and help from Mr. Karnmueller, the Village
prepared an application for its NPDES Permit and forwarded that
application to the Agency.
(R.
75-76;
R.
98).
Because the Village of Basco has a
population of only about
175 people and extremely limited financial resources, various
future alternatives
were discussed at the hearing.
(R.
66-70;
R.
95),
The pursuit
of grant funds, the adoption of a Village
ordinance to regulate the
discharges from individual sewage
disposal systems
(i.e., septic tanks),
the possibility of applying
for a variance, and the installation of a properly designed pipe
sewer system were all considered.
CR.
91-96).
It is our
understanding that the financing needed to fund corrective
measures to rectify the problems with the Village of Basco’s
sewer system may be available from certain
Federal and state
agencies working in conjunction with each other.
The Village is
strongly urged to check
out such sources as the Federal Economic
Development Administration
(EDA),
the Farmers’
Home Administration,
and
the Department of Housing
and Urban Development
(HUD), as well
as
various
state
agencies,
in order to attempt
to obtain grant
funds.
The
Board finds that, within one year of the date of this
Order, the Village of Basco should cease and desist from further
violations
of
the Board’s Water Pollution Control Regulations and
the
Act
or
have
initiated and
filed grant applications with the
appropriate
governmental agencies.
33—578
—3—
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 Act.
The
Board finds
that the Respondent,
the Village of Basco,
has
violated Rule 901
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution Regulations and
Section 12(f)
of the
Act.
In mitigation,
it is noted that most of
the individuals who live in this small town are elderly,
retired,
on fixed incomes, and are relying on either Social Security or
public aid benefits for economic survival.
The financial
resources of this community are severely limited.
Because of the
exceptional circumstances
in this case; the presently cooperative
attitude of the Village officials;
and the pending application for
the requisite NPDES Permit,
the Board will
assess no penalty
against the Respondent for its past violations.
The Board has also considered the Respondent’s previous
failure to obtain an NPDES Permit in light of the decision by the
U.S. Court of Appeals
in Citizens for a Better Environment
V.
EPA,
No.
78-1042, ______F.
2d
____
(7th Cir.
1979), and finds that the
Board has competent jurisdi~ionover the subject matter in this
Complaint pursuant to Sections 11(b),
12(f)
and 13(b) of the Act
and Board regulations established thereunder.
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
901 of Chapter
3:
Water
Pollution Regulations and Section 12(f)
of the Act.
2.
Within one year of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall
cease and desist from all further violations of the Board’s
Water Pollution Regulations and the Act or have initiated and filed
the requisite grant applications with the appropriate governmental
agencies.
I,
Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board,
hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
~
day of
fY)
,
1979 by a
vote of
_______
Christan L. Moffe
erk
Illinois Pollution
trol Board
33—579