ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July
8,
1976
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 76—36
VILLAGE OF CALUMET PARK,
)
a municipal corporation,
Respondent.
Mr. Richard W. Cosby, Assistant Attorney General, Attorney
for Complainant
Mr. Harold Richter, Maragos, Richter, Berman, Russell
& White,
Attorney for Respondent
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This matter comes before the Board on the Complaint filed
February
6,
1976, by the Environmental Protection Agency
charging that the Village of Caluxnet Park owned and operated its
public water supply system since September
12,
1973 without
having in its employ a properly certified water supply operator
in violation of Section
1 of the Operation of
a Public Water
Supply Act
(Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
1973,
Ch.
111 1/2, par.
501—523)
(Certification Statute)
and since December 21,
1974,
in further
violation of Rule 302 of the Board’s Public Water Supply Rules
and Regulations
(Regulations)
and Section 18 of the Environmental
Protection Act
(Act).
Respondent filed an Answer to the Complaint
on March 8,
1976 admitting the allegations contained in the
Complaint but alleging as an
affirmative defense
that the Village
has attempted to obtain the services of a public water supply
operator and that its present Public Works Commissioner, Lawrence
Petta,
is taking the course to qualify as
a certified operator.
Hearing was held in this matter on April
9,
1976,
in Chicago.
The Village of Calumet Park, with
a population of approxi-
mately 10,000 persons, owns and operates
a public water supply
system consisting solely of a distribution system.
The Village
receives its water under pressure from the City of Chicago and
has neither additional storage nor booster pumps.
Section
1 of the Certification Statute requires the employ-
ment of a person certified
as competent as
a Class D, Class C,
Class B,
or Class A operator by any public water supply which
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facilities are limited to pumpage,
storage or distribution.
Rule 302 of the Water Supply Regulations requires that the
provisions of Section
1 of the Certification Statute are to
be met.
Section 18 of the Act requires that public water
supplies are to be operated and maintained so that the water
is assuredly safe in quality, clean, adequate in quantity,
and of satisfactory mineral character for ordinary domestic
consumption.
At the hearing in this matter the Village failed to present
any evidence supporting the allegations of its affirmative de-
fense.
Mr.
Richter did state, however, that the Village presently
has in its employ a certified water supply operator.
The greater part of the hearing in this matter dealt with
the underlying policies and reasons for the certification require-
ments.
The Village contended that as long as the supply is being
operated in accordance with good operating procedures,
no certi-
fied operator should be required.
Our legislature has declared
otherwise, and the policy reasons favoring the licensing of various
activities which affect the public safety,
health and welfare are
a generally accepted fact in today’s society.
On the basis of the pleadings and the hearing in this matter,
the Board finds that the Village did operate its public water
supply in violation of Section
1 of the Certification Statute and
Rule 302 of the Water Supply Regulations and Section 18 of the Act.
Section 23 of the Certification Statute requires the impo-
sition of a penalty not less than $100.00 nor more than $1,000.00
for each violation of Section
1 found by the Board.
A penalty
of $100.00 is assessed for these violations.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
Respondent, Village of Calumet Park,
is found to have operated
its public water supply in violation of Section
1 of the Certifi-
cation Statute,
and in further violation of Rule 302 of the Water
Supply Regulations and Section 18 of the Act, and shall pay
a
penalty of $100.00 for such violations.
Penalty payment by certi-
fied check or money order payable to the State of Illinois shall
be made within
35 days of the date of this Order to:
Fiscal
Services Divisic5n,
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200
Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois,
62706.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
23 —28
—3—
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, her~bycertify the a a e Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
________
day of
___________________,
1976 by a
vote of
~
Christan
L. Moffett
Illinois Pollution ~
Board
23
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