ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    February 17, 1977
    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
    OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
    Complainant,
    V.
    )
    PCB 75—490
    VILLAGE OF ITASCA,
    a municipal corporation,
    )
    Respondent.
    Mr. James
    L.
    Dobrovolny, Attorney General of the State of Illinois
    appeared on behalf of the Complainant;
    Mr.
    Joseph
    M.
    Dvorak,
    III,
    of
    Traeger and Traeger, appeared on behalf
    of
    the
    Respondent.
    OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
    (by Mr. Goodman):
    This matter is before the Board upon a Complaint by the Illinois
    Environmental Protection Agency
    (Agency)
    against the Village of
    Itasca
    (Itasca) concerning a refuse disposal site located on Highway
    53,
    north of U.S.
    Route
    20 and south of Highway 19,
    in the County of
    DuPage,
    Illinois.
    Hearing was held in this matter on July
    30,
    1976.
    No public comment has been received by the Board.
    At
    the
    hearing
    both
    parLies
    presented
    a
    j)mopo~ed
    stipulation
    and
    settlement agreement which was finalized and filed before the
    Board January 24,
    1977.
    Since this stipulation and proposal for
    settlement contains a paragraph purporting
    to be an agreement by and
    between
    the parties that there shall be no penalty assessed for the
    violations listed in the stipulation, the Board will reject the stipu-
    lation as an infringement upon the Board’s powers.
    At the hearing,
    however, Mr.
    Dvorak,
    attorney for the Respondent,
    stated on page
    6
    that “our only defense is that which
    is stated in stipulation, which
    was stated in our answer;
    that we did not have
    (to)
    file or obtain a
    .
    24
    —
    763
    —2—
    permit on the basis of
    a statutory exemption under Chapter
    111 1/2
    Section
    21(b)
    and 21(e) which is referred to
    in Rule 202(b) (1).”
    In
    Rescondent’s
    answer to the Com~lilii~tfiled January
    19,
    1976 Respon-
    dent admits
    it conducts
    a refuse disposal operation at the site~as
    alleged.
    Respondent claims as
    its affirmative defense that since its
    operation
    at the site consists of disposing of refuse generated by
    its
    own activities
    (sludge from its sewage treatment
    plant)
    ,
    it is within
    the statutory exemption provided in Section 21(e)
    of the Act and re-
    ferred to
    in Rule 202(b) (1)
    of the Solid Waste Regulations.
    The Complaint alleges that Itasca has operated
    a refuse site at
    the aforementioned location without an operating permit
    in violation
    of Rule 202(b)
    of the Regulations,
    Section 21(b)
    and 21(e)
    of the Act.
    The Board will dismiss
    the allegation of violation of
    21(b)
    of the
    Act as against stated Board policy
    in actions
    of this type, Environ-
    mental Protection Agency
    v.
    Krenz Trucking,
    Incorporated,
    16 PCB 439
    (1975).
    With regard to the other allegations,
    however,
    the Board
    has rejected Itasca’s affirmative defense
    in EPA v.
    City of Pontiac,
    PCB 74—396,
    18 PCB
    303,
    306
    (1975) and People of the State of Illinois
    v.
    Commonwealth Edison Company, PCB 75-368
    (1976).
    The Board therefore
    finds Itasca
    in violation of Rule 202(b)
    of
    the
    Regulations
    and Section 21(e)
    of the Act.
    The Board finds
    the
    damage to the environment to be de minimus and the failure of Itasca
    to acquire
    a permit a matter of misunderstanding,
    and will,
    therefore,
    assess no penalty
    in this case.
    Itasca will, however,
    be ordered to
    cease and desist operation of the landfill unless and until
    it ac-
    quires
    a suitable permit
    from the Agency.
    This Opinion constitutes
    the findings of fact and conclusions of
    law of the Board in this matter.
    ORDER
    It
    H
    I
    ho Order ol
    th(’
    Iol
    1
    Ut
    Q~)
    Coid ro~ No)rd
    thatj:
    I.
    V~ILop’
    oF
    H~ioc~
    IS
    lU
    VI()ldt ion
    ot
    kule
    )~(1) of
    the
    Solid
    Waste
    Regulations
    and
    Section
    21(e)
    of the
    Environmental Protection Act.
    2.
    The allegation of violation of Section 21(b)
    of the Act
    is dismissed.
    24
    —
    764
    —3—
    3.
    The Village of Itasca shall cease and desist operation
    of its refuse disposal site unless and until it acquires
    a
    suitable permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection
    Agency.
    Mr.
    Dumelle concurs.
    I, Christan L.
    Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
    Board, hereby certif
    the above Opinion and Order were adopted on the
    J7~4
    day
    of~~4~1
    ,
    1977 by a vote of
    ~J—~
    -____________
    Christan
    L.
    Moffett’4’Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
    24
    —
    765

    Back to top