ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July 6,

1978

ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

)

)

Complainant,

)

v.

)

PCB 77—310

DELUXE FLOORING,

INC.,

)

an Illinois corporation,

Respondent.

MR. ARTHUR B. MUIR,

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON

BEHALF

OF

THE

COMPLAINANT.

DELUXE

FLOORING,

INCORPORATED

(BY

MR.

THOMAS

BENNETT,

PRESIDENT

AND

MR. JAY STIMPSON, VICE-PRESIDENT), APPEARED

ON BEHALF OF

THE

RESPONDENT.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by

Mr.

Werner):

This

matter comes before the Board on the November 29,

1977

Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency

alleging that,

from April

20,

1972 until October

2,

1973, Deluxe

Flooring,

Inc.

(“Deluxe”)

improperly received refuse at its solid

waste disposal site and that beginning on or about December 2,

1973, Respondent failed to place final cover on the site in

violation of Rule 301 and Rule 305(c)

of Chapter

7:

Solid Waste

Regulations and

Section

21(b)

of the Illinois Environmental

Protection Act.

A hearing was held on April

25,

1978.

The parties

filed

a Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement on April 25,

1978.

Deluxe Flooring, Inc.

is

a small business which is engaged

in

the installation of various types of interior floor coverings.

The sole office and place of business of this DuPage County firm

is located in West Chicago.

The site is located in an area

primarily used for light industrial manufacturing.

Agency

inspections revealed that,

in

the rear of Respondent’s place of

business, demolition materials had been

dumped

openly

on

the

site

and left uncovered.

Deluxe had no permit to receive refuse, had

not limited access to the site, had not warned others against

dumping there, and had failed to place appropriate cover on the

refuse.

31.25

---

—2—

It is stipulated that “at no time has Deluxe, or any officer,

agent or employee thereof, dumped, caused to be dumped, or

authorized the dumping of refuse at the site.

All refuse at the

site has been placed there without the authorization or approval

of Deluxe.”

(Stip.,

p. 4-5).

However, Deluxe failed to properly

limit

access to the site.

The parties also stipulate that the

accumulation of refuse at the site is primarily due to the acces-

sibility of Deluxe’s property to motorized traffic.

(Stip.,

p.

5).

The stipulated facts related to the litigation indicate that

since December

2,

1973, Deluxe has failed to place adequate daily

cover on all exposed refuse in violation of Solid Waste Rule 305(a)

and Section 21(b)

of the Act.

Similarly,

since December

2,

1973,

the firm has failed to place appropriate final cover on the site

in violation of Solid Waste Rule 305(c) and Section 21(b)

of the

Act.

Both the Complainant and Deluxe Flooring,

Inc. agree that it

is technically feasible and economically reasonable to limit

access to the site and close the site in conformance with the Act

and the Board’s Solid Waste Regulations.

Thus,

a settlement

proposal has been presented to resolve this enforcement proceeding.

Basically,

the settlement agreement provides that the Company

will:

(1) immediately place final cover on the site; grade and

contour the covered areas of the site;

and seed all of the covered

areas to provide erosion control;

(2)

limit access to the site

(within

3 weeks of the Board’s approval of the proposed settle-

ment, weather permitting)

by installation of a sturdy gate and

fencing to prevent unauthorized traffic onto the site;

(3)

pay

$2,148.00 to Arrow Kennel

& Fence Company to have appropriate

fencing installed in accordance with Arrow’s Proposal (Exhibit

“K”

of Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement);

(4)

close and

lock the gate during non—working hours and all other occasions

when adequate supervision cannot be maintained to prevent

unauthorized traffic on the site;

(5)

submit monthly progress

reports to the Agency detailing the work accomplished and the

work remaining to be accomplished; and

(6) notify the Agency,

in writing, within one week of the completed installation of the

fencing and the placement of final cover on the site.

The parties also agree and stipulate that, considering the

size and nature of the Respondent’s business, the expenditure of

over $2,000.00

,

even if not strictly as a penalty, will impose

a substantial burden on Deluxe’s financial resources.

The net

taxable income of the corporation for the year 1977,

as reflected

by its U.

S.

Income Tax Return,

is stipulated to be approximately

31-26

---

—3—

$1,500.00

.

(Stip.., p.2).

In view of the nature of the viola-

tions, and because of the strong probability that the installa-

tion of the gate and fence will eliminate all future violations,

the parties agree that an additional penalty is not appropriate

in this case.

In evaluating this enforcement action and proposed settle-

ment,

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.

Incinerator, Inc.

V.

Illinois

Pollution Control Board,

59 Ill.

2d 290, 319 N.E.

2d 794

(1974)

Accordingly,

the Board accepts the Stipulation and Proposal

for Settlement and finds Deluxe Flooring,

Inc.

in violation of

Rule 305(a) and Rule 305(c) of Chapter

7:

Solid Waste Rules and

Regulations and Section 21(b)

of the Act from December 2,

1973

until November 29,

1977.

In light of the Respondent’s pending

expenditure of over $2,000.00 to correct these violations,

the

Board will impose no penalty.

This Opinion and Order constitute 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.

Deluxe Flooring, Inc.

has violated Rule 305(a)

and Rule

305(c)

of Chapter

7:

Solid Waste Rules and Regulations and

Section 21(b)

of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act from

December

2,

1973 until November 29,

1977.

2.

Deluxe Flooring,

Inc. shall comply with all the terms

and conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement

filed April

25,

1978, which

is incorporated by reference as if

fully set forth herein.

I,

Christan L.

Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board,

hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were

adopted on the

L~’

day of

,

1978 by a

vote of

‘-/-O

OALL~Pm~4~

Christan L. Moffe~WJClerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board