ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

November 10,

1976

JOHN TARKOWSKI,

Complainant,

v.

)

PCB 76-55

JAMES

BELLI, LAKELAND PROPERTY

OWNERS ASSOCIATION,

INC.,

and

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Respondents.

Mr. John Tarkowski,

Complainant, appeared pro Se;

Mr. William Van Hagey of Chadwell, Kayser,

Ruggles, McGee

& Hastings,

appeared on behalf of Respondents James Belli

& the Lakeland Property

Owners Association;

Honorable William

J.

Scott, Attorney General, by Mr.

James Dobrovolny

appeared on behalf of Respondent,

the Environmental Protection

Agency.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Goodman):

This matter comes before the Pollution Control Board

(Board)

upon the Complaint filed by John Tarkowski

on March

1,

1976,

against Respondents James Belli, Lakeland Property Owners Association,

and

th~flnv

i

ronmc‘n

I

a

1

P

r~tc’c

I

eli

Aq’

‘ri

ry

(

1\q

‘nry

)

.

On

Apr

i 1

fl

,

1 976

the Board

deiiicd Motions

to Dismiss

f i

led

by

Respondents

but on its

own motion struck

a considerable number of allegations

in

the

Complaint.

Hearing in this matter was held on June

15,

1976,

at the

Village Hall, Wauconda,

Illinois.

Mr. Tarkowski appeared pro Se.

Mr. Tarkowski owns

16 acres of land in Wauconda,

Lake County,

Illinois.

The Complaint alleged that Respondent Belli and

Respondent Lakeland Property Owners Association dumped various

chemicals into a 20-acre man-made lake located

300 feet from

Mr. Tarkowski’s property.

The Complaint alleged that the dumping of

24

—

231

---

—2—

chemicals into the man—made lake caused fish to die, contaminated

ground water supplies,

overflowed into and polluted Slocum Lake and

the Fox River.

The Complaint also alleged that,

although Tarkowski

had complained to the Agency,

the Agency had failed to investigate

the source of constant smoke pollution emanating from the south of

Tarkowski’s property.

All other allegations

in the Complaint were

stricken as beyond the jurisdiction of the Board.

The Board has reviewed the transcript,

the many exhibits,

the

briefs, and the numerous motions submitted by the parties.

Mr.

Tarkowski has made many allegations, both at hearing and in the

various documents submitted.

The Board recognizes that Mr. Tarkowski

had the burden of proving his own case without the aid of an attorney.

However, the Board has been unable to find any evidence to support

the contention that Respondents Belli and Lakeland Property Owners

Association have caused water pollution,

contaminated land and under-

ground waters,

destroyed or injured fish life,

caused a health

hazard or any of the other allegations

in the Complaint.

In addition,

the Board has found no evidence of any request made to the Agency to

locate a source of smoke and odor and,

therefore, can find no failure

of any duty on the Agency’s part.

The Board notes

that, although the transcript

in this case is

lengthy, the hearing focused almost exclusively on the question of

soil erosion and flooding in the area of Mr.

Tarkowski’s property.

Absent evidence of pollution or contamination, soil erosion and flood

ing are not matters over which the Board has jurisdiction.

Mr. Tarkowski did submit correspondence and financial statements

of the Lakeland Property Owners Association spanning the years

1966—

1974, which indicate that the Association applied chemicals to the

lake for purposes of weed control

(Tarkowski Exhibits

#1—7)

.

However,

correspondence between the Agency and the Lakeland Property Owners

Association indicates that the Lakeland Property Owners Association

supplied the Agency with information on its weed control program in

1974.

A

June

29,

1974

letter from

I he

Aqency

t:o

the

then

Cha i

rman

of

the Lakeiand Property Owners

Association

indicates

that

the

weed

control

program

in

which

the

Association

was

engaged

was

not

in

vio—

lation

of

the

Act

and

that

the

Agency

had

no

objection

to

the

program

(Respondents’ Exhibit

#6).

The Board finds that there has been no

evidence

presented

in

the

present case upon which

it may base a finding of violation.

Mere

allegations are insufficient

to support such a finding.

The Complaint

against James Belli,

the Lakeland Property Owners Association,

and

the Agency is, therefore,

dismissed.

24

—

232

---

As

a final matter,

the Board will address several motions filed

by the parties subsequent to heariny.

Mr. Tarkowski’s Motion for

Order and Motion for Rehearing are hereby denied.

The Motion of

Respondents

JameS

Belli and the Lakeland Property Owners Association

for an award of attorneys’

fees and costs is also denied.

The Board

does not,

as Respondents contend,

find that the record demonstrates

that the instant case was brought

in bad faith.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions

of law of the Board

in this matter.

ORDER

The Complaint filed on March

1,

1976,

by John Tarkowski against

James Belli, Lakeland Property Owners Association,

and the Environ-

mental Protection Agency

is hereby dismissed.

IT

IS SO ORDERED.

I,

Christan

L.

Moffett,

Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the

___________day of

~

1976 by

a vote of

4’-~

Christan

L. Moff

Clerk

Illinois Polluti

Control Board

24

—