ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November
    30,
    1978
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    Complainant,
    v.
    )
    PCB 78—209
    JACK MERKIN,
    )
    Respondent.
    MR. JOHN VAN VRANKEN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON
    BEHALF OF COMPLAINANT.
    MR. JAMES K. POWLESS APPEARED ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr. Goodman):
    The Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency)
    filed a Complaint
    against Jack Merkin on August
    3,
    1978.
    The Complaint alleged that
    Mr. Merkin constructed and operated
    a sewer system near the Village
    of Crainville, Williamson County,
    Illinois, without a permit from
    the Agency,
    in violation of Sections
    12(b)
    and 12(c)
    of the Environ-
    mental Protection Act
    (Act),
    and never submitted to the Agency any
    plans, engineer’s report or specifications
    for said sewer system,
    in violation of several of the Sanitary Water Board Rules.
    A hear-
    ing was held in this matter on October
    12,
    1978,
    in Crainville.
    No citizen witnesses appeared at the hearing.
    The Board notes that
    Mr. Merkin filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint filed herein.
    The Board finds no merit
    to the Motion and hereby denies
    it.
    Complainant’s Exhibit No.
    1 in this proceeding
    is a Request
    to Admit Facts, which was served upon Mr. Merkin by the Agency but
    was not answered.
    Under Procedural
    Rule
    314, any matter not denied
    is admitted.
    At the hearing, Mr. Merkin did not refute any of the
    admitted facts.
    The admitted facts are that in December,
    1971,
    Mr. Merkin owned
    an area known as “Ten Oaks Estates,” which included several apart-
    ment buildings.
    Mr. Merkin developed the area and paid Freeburg
    Construction Company to construct a sewer system to serve the “Ten
    Oaks Estates.”
    The sewer system, which includes force mains and a
    lift station,
    is connected to the Village of Crainville sewer system.
    Mr. Merkin admits that the Agency never issued him a permit to con-
    struct or a permit to operate said sewer system and that he never
    submitted any plans,
    an engineer’s
    report,
    or complete technical
    32—163
    —2—
    specifications for said sewer system.
    The Board,
    therefore,
    finds
    that Mr. Merkin constructed and operated a sewer system without
    the required permits from the Agency,
    in violation of Sections
    12(b)
    and 12(c)
    of the Act.
    Mr. Merkin furthermore failed to sub-
    mit an engineer’s
    report, plans,
    and technical specifications
    to
    the Agency,
    in violation of Sanitary Water Board Rules
    11.1, 12.21,
    12.22,
    12.31,
    12.32, and 13.
    Aside from introducing the Request to Admit Facts,
    the Agency
    submitted no evidence at the hearing.
    Mr. Merkin presented mitiga-
    ting testimony.
    He testified that he attempted to obtain the per-
    mits he believed were required.
    He stated that Freeburg Construc-
    tion Co. was constructing the sewer system for the Village of Cram-
    ville and approached Mr. Merkin about connecting
    to that system.
    Mr. Merkin stated that he obtained a permit from the Village of
    Crainville
    to construct a lift station and understood that upon
    completion
    it would be owned by the Village and he would pay a
    monthly service charge
    (R.10).
    Mr.
    Merkin applied for a permit
    to the Franklin/Williamson Bi-County Health Department but was told
    he did not need a permit but merely needed the authority of the
    municipality to which he was connecting
    (R.ll).
    Mr. Merkin also
    testified that he understood that it was the obligation of the
    Village of Crainville to apply to the Agency for permission
    to con-
    struct and operate the sewer system
    (R.l3,
    16).
    In February of 1975,
    Mr. Merkin filed for bankruptcy.
    In July of 1975, his properties,
    including “Ten Oaks Estates,” were turned over to the Trustee
    in
    Bankruptcy,
    and since that time he has had no control over the
    property.
    As to the factors outlined in Section 33(c)
    of the Act, we
    find that failure to obtain necessary permits
    and submit necessary
    information threatens the integrity of the environmental program in
    Illinois.
    Certainly a sewer system is of great social value, but
    that value is diminished when the procedures intended to safeguard
    the environment are neglected.
    However,
    the Board finds the testi-
    mony presented by Mr. Merkin as to his efforts
    to obtain what he
    believed to be the required permits and as to his bankruptcy miti-
    gate against imposition of a penalty.
    We will therefore not impose
    a penalty
    for the violations found herein.
    This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
    of law of the Board in this matter.
    32—164
    —3
    ORDER
    It
    is the Order of the Pollution Control Board
    that:
    1.
    Jack Merkin is found
    to have constructed and operated
    a sewer system serving the “Ten Oaks Estates” without
    the required permits
    from the Environmental Protection
    Agency,
    in violation of Sections
    12(b)
    and 12(c)
    of the
    Environmental Protection Act;
    2.
    Jack Merkin
    is found to have violated Sanitary Water
    Board
    Rules
    11.1,
    12.21,
    12.22,
    12.31,
    12.32,
    and
    13;
    3.
    The Motion to Dismiss filed by Jack Merkin
    is here-
    by denied.
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
    I,
    Christan L.
    Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
    Control Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were
    ~opted
    on the ,3t~
    day of
    ~
    1978 by a vote of
    Christan L.
    ~
    Clerk
    Illinois Po1lut~-th’iControl Board
    32—165

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