ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 20,
1978
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Petitioner,
)
v.
)
PCB 77—314
ROCKFORD BLACKTOP
)
CONSTRUCTION CO.,
an Illinois corporation,
Respondent.
LORETTA
A. WEBER, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE PETITIONER.
WELSH, HOLMSTRON,
WORDEN
& GAINES, LTD.
(MR. JOHN HOLMSTROM III,
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 November 30,
1977
Complaint brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
which alleged that Rockford Blacktop Construction Co.
(“Rockford”)
operated its solid waste management site in violation of Rules
301,
303(c),
305(a),
305(b),
310(b),
311, and 314(d)
of Chapter
7:
Solid Waste Regulations and Sections 9(c),
21(b),
21(e)
and 42(a)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
A hearing was held
on April 26,
1978.
The parties filed a Stipulation and Proposal
for Settlement on April 26,
1978.
Rockford Blacktop Construction Company owns and operates a
solid waste management site in Winnebago County known as Rockford
Sand
& Gravel.
This sanitary landfill is located at 4102 South
Main Street in Rockford, Illinois.
The site is bordered on the
east by the Rock River, on the west by Illinois Route
2, on the
south by Illinois Route
(Bypass)
20, and on the north by privately
owned undeveloped land.
Although the Respondent’s property is
located in an area which is primarily undeveloped, there are
scattered residences within a mile of the site.
31-81
—2—
The property in question has been used as a landfill since
January, 1950.
The Respondent began operating the property as a
refuse disposal site on June 1,
1960.
Rockford Blacktop
Construction Company is permitted to operate the sanitary landfill
under Agency Permit Number 1973-28 issued April
30, 1973 which
allows the Respondent to handle construction debris
(such as roof-
ing, cement blocks, broken concrete, dirt and relatively inert
material) in the western pit, and brush,
limbs, trees,
leaves,
lumber, demolition waste and tires in the eastern pit.
The
Company also has obtained numerous Supplemental Permits from the
Agency
(which are listed in detail in the Stipulation) allowing
the acceptance of liquid and other wastes at the site.
(Stip.,
p.
2—3)
Numerous Agency investigations of the site preceded the
filing of the Complaint on November
30,
1977.
Twenty-one Agency
inspection reports were made on various dates between June 12,
1975
and September 29,
1977
(Group Exhibit A).
During the September 21,
1976, January 21,
1977 and March 29,
1977 investigations of the
Respondent’s landfill, photographs were taken of various areas of
the site.
(Group Exhibit B).
Additionally, water samples were
taken of ponded liquid wastes on the site during the September 21,
1976,
January 21,
1977, March 29,
1977,
June
7,
1977,
and June 30,
1977 inspections by Agency personnel.
These water samples were
then chemically analyzed and the results were recorded on Agency
chemical analysis forms.
(Group Exhibit C).
Various facts related to the enforcement action have been
stipulated to by the parties.
It is agreed that the Respondent
does not itself deposit refuse, but allows others to deposit refuse
at the site for
a
fee.
The Complainant and the Respondent
stipulate that Rockford did not know that hazardous liquid wastes
were being deposited on the site,
since the Company believed it
was accepting wastes which were permitted by the Agency.
It
is
also stipulated that the existence of hazardous wastes at the
site is due primarily to the Respondent not properly checking the
cargos of trucks dumping at the site.
(Stip.,
p.
8).
Additionally,
the parties have stipulated that Rockford
Blacktop Construction Company has:
(1)
since September 21, 1976,
allowed others to deposit hazardous liquid wastes at the site
without the necessary Agency Permits in violation of Section 21(e)
of the Act and Rules 301 and 310(b)
of the Board’s Solid Waste
Regulations;
(2) from about September 3,
1975 to about January
22,
1976, allowed an underground fire to burn at the site in violation
of Section 9(c) of the Act and Solid Waste Rule 311
(although
the
fire protection equipment at the site included bulldozers,
end
loaders,
trucks, and fire extinguishers,
and on an intermittent
31-82
—3—
basis, water trucks and a 10,000 gallon water wagon mounted on a
tournapul,
the underground fire was not extinguished until
about
January 22,
1976);
(3)
failed to place adequate daily cover over
all exposed refuse intermittently since June 12, 1975 in violation
of Section 21(b)
of the Act and Solid Waste Rule 305(a);
(4) intermittently since October
9,
1975,
failed to place appro-
priate intermediate cover on the landfill,
in violation of
Section 21(b)
of the Act and Solid Waste Rule 305(b); and
(5) inter-
mittently since September
3,
1975,
failed to maintain the slope of
the working face of the landfill at a ratio of no greater than two
horizontal to one vertical in violation of Solid Waste Rules
301
and 303(c)
and Section 42(a)
of the Act.
Moreover,
the Complainant and Respondent agree that it is
technically feasible and economically reasonable to operate the
site in conformance with the Illinois Environmental Protection
Act and Board Regulations.
As a result of discussion between the parties,
a settlement
proposal has been presented to resolve this enforcement proceed-
ing.
Basically, this settlement agreement provides that the
Company will:
Cl)
cease and desist from accepting any liquid or
hazardous wastes of any kind for any purpose
(all supplemental
permits allowing such acceptance, either expired or in effect,
must be turned back into the Agency within
30 days after the
Board Order accepting the Stipulation and Proposal for SetUement);
(2)
install
2 new monitoring wells
at a location and depth which
will adequately reflect the condition of the groundwater
(the
location and depth of the wells must be approved by the Agency
and installation must be within
90 days after the Board Order
adopting the settlement proposal);
(3)
cease and desist from all
violations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and Board
Regulations; and
(4) pay a stipulated penalty of $5,000.00
-
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 Rockford Blacktop Construction Company
in violation of Rule 301,
303(c),
305(a),
305(b),
310(b), and 311
of Chapter
7:
Solid Waste Regulations and Section 9(c),
21(b),
21(e)
and 42(a)
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
The
Board imposes the stipulated penalty of $5,000.00
.
The Board
notes that Section 42(a)
is a penalty statute.
31.83
—4—
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.
Rockford Blacktop Construction Company has violated
Rule
301,
303(c),
305(a),
305(b),
310(b), and 311 of Chapter
7:
Solid Waste Rules and Regulations and Section 9(c),
21(b),
21(e)
and 42(a) of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act.
2.
Within 35 days of the date of this Order, Rockford
Blacktop Construction Company shall pay the stipulated penalty of
$5,000.00
,
payment to 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
3.
Rockford Blacktop Construction Company shall comply with
all
the terms and conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal for
~t1ement filed April
26,
1978, which is incorporated by
:erence as if fully set forth herein.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify the ab ye Opinion and Order were
adopted c~the
~
day of
_________________,
1978 by a
vote of
~~S-c~
Christan L. Moffett,
rk
Illinois Pollution C
ol Board
31-~i