ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
June
18, 1976
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 75—236
INCINERATOR,
INC.,
Respondent.
CONSOLIDATED
INCINERATOR,
INC.,
Petitioner,
v.
)
PCB 75-88
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
Respondent.
Mr. Dennis
R.
Fields,
Assistant Attorney General,
appeared for
the People of the State of Illinois
Mr. ~i1liam
A. Erdman,
appeared on behalf of the Environmental
Protection Agency
Mr. Richard V.
Houpt, appeared on behalf of Incinerator,
Inc.
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Goodman):
This matter is
a consolidation of two cases,
the first a
Variance Petition by Incinerator, Inc.,
(Incinerator)
in PCB
75-88
and the second
a Complaint by the People of the State of Illinois
(People)
in PCB
75—236.
On June 26,
1975, the two cases were con-
solidated by Board Order.
22—117
—2—
On June
10,
1975,
the Environmental Protection Agency
(Agency)
in PCB 75-88 moved to dismiss the Petition for Variance and the
Board on July 10,
1975 ordered the motion held until
final consider-
ation of the case.
The Agency’s Motion to Dismiss
is hereby denied.
A hearing was held on the consolidated cases on May
6,
1976,
at
which a Stipulation and Proposed Settlement Agreement was pre-
sented by the parties
in the enforcement action, PCB 75-236.
At
that time Incinerator amended their Petition for Variance
in PCB 75-88
to reflect the contents of the Proposed Stipulation and Settlement
Agreement and at the same time the Agency amended their Recommendation
in that case recommending the variance requested by Incinerator be
granted until October
1,
1976.
The Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement in PCB 75—236 re-
cites Incinerator’s history with regard to violation of Section
9(a) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act).
On September 30,
1971
the Pollution Control Board found Incinerator in violation of the
Act and assessed a penalty of $25,000.00 and imposed a million dollar
compliance program for the facility including the installation of a
wet scrubber system.
The wet scrubber was installed by spring of
1973, but tests showed emissions of 0.156
gr.T/scf under maximum load.
The Board’s Regulations provide for emissions not to exceed 0.08
gr./scf.
Additional modifications were made by Incinerator’s con-
tractor but they were unable
to bring the emission below 0.12 gr./scf,
well above the regulation’s limits.
Incinerator then hired a consul-
tant to evaluate the situation and was informed by the consultant
that prospects for successfully modifying the equipment were at best
very bleak.
Upon consideration of the facts before
it, Incinerator
has decided that conversion of the facility from an incineration pro-
cess to a waste transfer station is the company’s only viable option.
In the Settlement Agreement,
Incinerator does not admit any
wrong doing or violation of any of the regulations.
The People be-
lieve that the imposition of a penalty in this case would not further
enforcement of the Act or the Board’s Regulations.
Incinerator agrees
to cease all operations of its incinerators on October
1,
1976,
thus
giving the corporation a reasonable amount of time to convert its
waste burning facility into a waste transfer station without incurring
loss of customers.
A project completion schedule for this process is
included in the Stipulation.
In addition, Incinerator agrees to uti-
lize all the existing pollution control equipment and operational
procedures so as to minimize emissions during the continuance of its
operations.
Incinerator also agrees to permit representatives of
the Attorney General’s office to inspect its operation to insure that
the provisions of the Stipulation are carried out as
agreed.
22—118
—3—
Incinerator agrees that only domestic garbage or industrial paper
will be accepted at the installation and that the amount of waste
incinerated shall never exceed 500 tons per day at a 20
moisture con-
tent.
Considering the significant amount of resources,
both financial
and otherwise,
expended by Incinerator in their good faith effort to
comply with the Board’s Regulations
in the past, and the fact that
final compliance will result in the total elimination of emissions
from the facility,
the Board finds the Stipulation and Proposed
Settlement Agreement by the parties in PCB 75-236 to be an acceptable
resolution of the issues presented.
The Board will therefore accept
the terms
of the Proposed Stipulation and Settlement Agreement as
presented at the hearing of May 6,
1976.
In the Variance Petition, PCB 75-88,
Incinerator originally re-
quested variance from Rule 203(e) (2)
of the ~oard’s Air Pollution
Control Regulations
(Regulations)
for as long a time as possible
to
allow them to further investigate modifications to their equipment.
During the course of the variance proceedings,
Incinerator came
to
the conclusion,
as noted above,
that they would be unable to reason-
ably comply with the Regulations and therefore would convert the
incinerator installation into a waste transfer station.
Incinerator
now requests variance from the Regulations until October
1,
1976,
proposing the compliance plan included in the Stipulation and Settle-
ment of PCB
75—236 as their compliance plan for purposes of the
variance in PCB 75—88.
The Agency has now amended its Recommendation
in PCB 75-88 to the effect that the said variance be granted.
The Board finds that it would be an unreasonable and arbitrary
hardship on Incinerator to deny the variance in the face of
the
good
faith shown by the company in its attempt to comply with the Regu-
lations and the fact that the company will cease all emissions by
October
1,
1976.
Therefore the Board will grant Incinerator variance
from Rule 203(e) (2)
of the Regulations until October
1,
1976.
Upon consideration of the record herein and the Board’s decision
to grant variance to Incinerator, we find Incinerator in violation
of Rule 203(e) (2)
of the Regulations and Section 9(a)
of the Act
from December
31,
1973 to February
24,
1975.
In consideration of
the Stipulation filed herein, no penalty for this violation will be
assessed.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of facts and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
22—119
—4—
ORDER
1.
It
is the Order of the Pollution Control Board in
PCB 75—236 that Incinerator, Inc. was in violation of
Rule 203(e) (2)
of the Regulations and Section 9(a)
of
the Act from December
31,
1973 to February 24,
1975.
Incinerator,
Inc.
shall
cease operation of their refuse
incinerator facility at 3815 South Laramie Avenue,
Stickriey,
Illinois
in accordance with the project comple-
tion schedule attached as Exhibit A to,
and under the
conditions contained in,
the Stipulation entered into by
the parties herein on May 6,
1976, which Stipulation and
Settlement Agreement is hereby incorporated by reference
as if fully setforth herein.
2.
It is the Order of the Board in PCB
75—88 that Incine-
rator,
Inc.
be granted variance from Rule 203(e) (2)
of the
Board’s Regulations,
from February 24,
1975,
until
October
1,
1976,
under the conditions and provisions
in the
Stipulation and Settlement Agreement referred to in paragraph
1 of this Order.
Mr.
Duitielle dissents in PCB 75—88.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, he~ebycertify the above Opinion and Order were ad pted on
the
day of
,
1976 by a vote of
-
in PCB75-236 and a vote of
.~
In PCB75—88.
C ristan
L. Mo fett, ~
Illinois Pollution Cc~~p61Board
22—120