ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May 24, 1979
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 78—234
CONSOLIDATION COAL COMPANY,
A Delaware Corporation,
)
Respondent.
MR. BRIAN
E.
REYNOLDS,
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINANT.
MR. RICHARD
A. GREEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW, APPEARED ON BEHALF OF
THE RESPONDENT.
OPINION
AND
ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Dr. Satchell):
This matter comes before the Board upon the complaint filed
August 28, 1978 by the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
against Respondent, Consolidation Coal Company
(Consol), a
Delaware Corporation doing business in Illinois.
The complaint
charges violations of Section 12 of the Environmental Protection
Act
(Act)
and Board Rules, Chapter
3:
Water Pollution and
Chapter
4:
Mine Related Pollution.
The allegations concern
water pollution on March 20,
1978, caused by discharges from a
coal slurry pond at Consolts Burning Star #4 mine in Perry
County.
A hearing was held on April
27,
1979 at Pinckneyville,
at which time the parties presented a stipulation and proposal
for settlement.
No members of the public attended and there was
no objection to the settlement.
The following is a summary of the allegations of the complaint:
Count
Act/Rule
Gravamen
I
Section
12(a)
Caused the waters to contain un—
Mine Rule 605(a)
natural sludge, unnatural bottom
Water Rule 203(a)
deposits,
floating debris,
or
unnatural color or turbidity.
II
Section 12(a)
Violated water quality standards:
Mine Rule 605(a)
Iron
1.0 mg/i
Water Rule 203(f)
Manganese
1.0 mg/l
Sulfate
500.
mg/i
33—58 1
—2—
III
Section 12(f)
Caused or allowed the discharge
Water Rule 901
without possessing an
NPDES
permit therefor.
Consol
has
a bituminous coal mining, cleaning, crushing,
screening
and
shipping operation at its mine.
As part of the
operation
it maintains a coal
slurry impoundment and
a
fresh-
water
pond.
The
slurry
pond
is
about
fifty
acres
in
extent.
On
March
20, 1978
two
decants
separated
from
discharge
pipes
resulting in the release of about 260 acre feet of water con-
taining coal slurry.
Most of the
slurry
entered
the
fresh
water
pond and was then discharged into Rock Fork Branch and Galum
Creek, which are tributary to Beaucoup Creek and the Big Muddy
River.
The spill affected about seventeen miles of Galum Creek
and twenty-one miles of Beaucoup Creek and caused the waters of
Galum
Creek to exceed quality standards for iron for three days,
manganese
for two days
and
sulfate for one day.
There was a one
day iron violation in Beaucoup Creek.
The coal
slurry
debris
was evident in the water for about four days.
The incident
resulted in at least one citizen complaint from a farmer on
whole
bottom
land coal sediment was deposited.
The stipulation sets forth that the violations were unin-
tentional.
The operation had been inspected by qualified
personnel three days before
the
incident without indication of
trouble
•
The decants were loosened by
ice
heaving and separated
by wave action after the ice melted.
The pond does
not ordinarily
freeze
around
the decants but did on this occasion because of
unusually adverse weather conditions and
reduced
circulation
during strike-caused
curtailment
of operations.
The parties agree that Consol acted promptly and diligently
considering the accidental
and
unexpected nature of the discharge.
Consol personnel first became aware of the spill at 9:30 a.m.
Only supervisory personnel were available because of the strike.
By 11:30 a.m.
they erected an earthen dam across the spillway of
the freshwater pond.
By 12:15 p.m. they had a dam across Galum
Creek,
but
were forced to breach it because of high flow con-
ditions.
Agency
personnel arrived at 3:00 p.m.
The west decant
was plugged by 5:30 p.m.
The north decant was partially plugged
by 10:15 p.m., but
not
fully stopped until the next day.
Another
small discharge occurred on March 31,
1978.
The agreement recites
that most of the discharge was halted within two hours after it
was noticed.
Consol
has
taken
measures to prevent a similar occurrence in
the future.
The decants are now tied to the bank
with
angles.
Coffer
dams
used in stopping the leaks are to be left in place.
These
are
expected to help reduce the force on the decants
•
Wider
bands than previously used were installed.
The company has spent
approximately $16,000 on corrective measures.
33—582
—3—
In
the
stipulation,
Consol admits the violations
charged
in Counts
I
and
II.
The parties are unable to agree on whether
Consol’s NPDES permit applied to the discharge
in question.
The
parties agree that the discharge exceeded the NPDES permit limits.
However, this
is not alleged in the complaint.
Accordingly,
Count III
is dismissed.
Section
33(c)
must be considered in assessing a penalty.
The parties stipulate that the accidental discharge constituted
a potential interference with the general welfare and that the
mine is of great social and economic value to the community.
Location is not an issue because the mine must be situated where
the coal exists.
It is agreed that the measures taken were
technically practicable and economically reasonable means to
bring the operation into compliance.
Considering all this,
the
Board finds that a penalty of $1000
is necessary to aid enforce-
ment of the Act.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:
1.
Respondent, Consolidation Coal Company,
is in violation
of Section 12(a)
of the Act and Rules
203(a)
and
(f)
of Chapter
3:
Water Pollution and Rule 605(a)
of
Chapter 4:
Mine Related Pollution as charged in
Counts
I and II.
2,
Count
III
is dismissed.
3.
Respondent shall comply with the terms of the settlement
agreement which
Is incorporated herein by reference.
4.
Respondent shall, by certified check or money order
payable
to the State of Illinois, pay a civil penalty
of $1000 which is to be sent to:
State of Illinois
Fiscal Services Division
Environmental Protection Agency
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois 62706
33—583
—4—
I,
Christan
L, Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control
Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were
~don
the
3~j~
day of
J~,
1979 by a vote of
Christan
L. Moffetti
rk
Illinois Pollution
rol Board
33—584