ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
February 11,
1976
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 75—360
VILLAGE OF BISHOP HILL,
an
Illinois municipal corporation,
VERNIE V.
and BLANCHE WEXELL,
)
and D.
EVERETT and VERLA
I.
WEXELL,
Respondents.
Ms. Mary
C.
Schlott, Assistant Attorney General, Attorney for
Complainant
Mr. Reynolds
M. Everett,
Jr.,
appeared on behalf of Respondents
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by Mr. Young):
This case arises out of an Amended Complaint filed with
the Board on October
3,
1975, alleging that the Village of Bishop
Hill, Vernie V. and Blanche Wexell, and D.
Everett and Verla
I.
Wexell, have caused or allowed the operation of
a solid waste
management site in Henry County from July 27,
1974
to September
11,
1975,
in violation of the operating permit requirement of
Rule 202(b) (1) of the Board’s Solid Waste Regulations
(Regulations)
and in further violation of Sections 21(e)
and 21(b)
of the
Environmental Protection Act
(Act).
Hearing was held on December
8,
1975,
at which time a Stipu-
lation and Proposal for Settlement
(Stipulation)
was entered into
the record; no additional evidence was adduced at the hearing.
The Stipulation provided that the Village operates a refuse
disposal site for its 190 citizens on
a leased 2.8 acre parcel
of
land.
Legal title
to the site is held by Respondents Vernie
V. and Blanche Wexell while the equitable owners are Respondents
D.
Everett and Verla
I. Wexell
(hereinafter “Contract Buyers”)
who signed a real estate installment contract on March
16,
1968,
to purchase the aforesaid parcel.
Under the terms of the lease
executed in 1968 with Vernie V. and Blanche Wexell,
the Village
agreed
to “keep said premises in a clean and healthy condition,
in accordance with the ordinances of the Village, and the directions
of the Board of Health.”
The lease agreement gave lessors the
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right to inspect the dump site and to terminate the lease if
all conditions were not performed.
The Contract Buyers’
right
to possession is subject to the lease terms and since 1968 the
Village has made its annual lease payments
to the Contract Buyers.
The Agency mailed letters to the Village and Vernie Wexell
describing certain operational deficiencies and pointing out the
requirement that the solid waste site have an operating permit
on
May
24, 1974;
July 1,
1974;
August 19,
1974;
October 17,
1974;
December
9,
1974;
and July 29,
1975.
Agency personnel made field
inspections and took pictures of conditions at the site on July
31,
1974;
September 19,
1974; October 23,
1974; November 19,
1974;
February 5,
1975;
and June 26,
1975.
On September 11,
1975, the
Agency
filed
a Complaint charging the various violations by
Vernie Wexell and the Village.
On October
3,
1975,
the Agency
filed an Amended Complaint adding Blanche Wexell,
joint tenant
with Vernie V. Wexell as legal owners of the property in question,
and D.
Everett and Verla
I. Wexell as the equitable owners.
The parties stipulated that the Village,
prior to September
1,
1975, had never applied for nor received an operating permit
for its solid waste management site.
The stipulated
facts state
that the Contract Buyers are the “owners” of the site and that
they knew or should have known of condJtions existing at the
site,
although they were never notified by the Agency of
any
operational deficiencies at the site.
The parties further agree
that the exhibits
(Agency reports and photographs) are
a true and
accurate representation of conditions at the site.
The Stipulation provides that the Village shall pay $100.00
as penalty for the violations found
to exist by the Board.
It
provides that Respondents D. Everett and Verla
I. Wexell,
the
Contract Buyers, shall pay $100.00
as
a penalty for the violations
found to exist
by
the Board.
The Stipulation further provides
that the future operation of the site shall be in accordance
with various Agency conditions.
On the basis of the above
facts and the Stipulation, which
constitutes
the entire record in this case, we find that Respondent
Village and Respondents
D. Everett and Verla
I.
Wexell did cause
or allow the operation of a refuse disposal site in violation of
the Act and Regulations from July 27, 1974 until September 11, 1975.
We further find that the stipulated settlements
of $100.00 con-
stitute reasonable penalties for these violations.
The Complaint as to Respondents Vernie V.
and Blanche Wexell
shall be dismissed.
That portion of the Complaint alleging a
violation of Section 21(e)
of the Act by Respondents
D. Everett
and Verla
I.
Wexell shall be dismissed.
That portion of the Com-
plaint alleging violation of Section 21(b) must be dismissed.
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Section 21(b)
reads:
(No person shall)
Cause or allow the open
dumping of any other refuse in violation
of regulations adopted ~
the Board.
Emphasis
added..1
Thus,
an indispensable element of a charge alleging violation of
Section 21(b)
is the element setting forth the specific regulation
allegedly violated.
This regulation must relate to the manner or
method in which the disposal site is operated.
Since no regulatory
violations were alleged in the charge excepting the permit viola-
tion,
the Complaint is therefore defective as it concerns the
alleged Section
21(b) violation.
As was held in E
&
E Hauling,
PCB 74—473,
16 PCB 215
(1975),
a Section 21(b)
open dumping charge
is not properly based on an operating permit violation.
This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and conclusions
of law of the Board in this matter.
ORDER
IT
IS THE ORDER OF THE BOARD that:
1.
Respondent,
Village of Bishop Hill,
is found to have
operated
a solid waste management site in violation of Rule 202
(b) (1) of the Board’s Solid Waste Regulations and Section 21(e)
of the Act and shall pay a penalty of $100.00 for such violations.
Respondents D. Everett and Verla
I. Wexell are found
to have
allowed the operation of a solid waste management site in violation
of Rule 202(b) (1) of the Board’s Solid Waste Regulations and shall
pay a penalty of $100.00 for such violations.
Penalty payment by
certified check or money order payable to the State of Illinois
shall be made within 35 days of this Order
to:
Fiscal Services
Division, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill
Road,
Springfield, Illinois,
62706.
2.
Respondent, Village of Bishop Hill, shall apply for an
operating permit for its solid waste disposal site within
30 days
of the date of this Order.
3.
Respondent, Village of Bishop Hill,
shall cease and desist
from operating its
refuse
disposal site within
120 days of the date
of this Order unless the requisite permit
is issued by the Agency
or
a variance is granted by the Board.
4.
Respondent, Village of Bishop Hill,
shall cease and desist
from open burning on its solid waste disposal site unless it has
a
permit issued by the Agency or
a variance granted by the Board.
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5.
Respondent, Village of Bishop Hill,
shall provide daily
cover for all putrescible waste deposited
at its solid waste
site unless
said waste is deposited with Agency approval,
in an
odor—proof, vector-proof closed container of adequate size between
dates of covering.
IT
IS THE FURTHER ORDER OF THE BOARD that:
1.
That portion of the Complaint as
to Respondents, Vernie
V.
and Blanche Wexell,
is dismissed with prejudice.
2.
That portion of the Complaint alleging
a violation of
Section
21(e)
of the Act by Respondents,
D. Everett and Verla
I.
Wexell,
is dismissed.
3.
That portion of the Complaint alleging a violation of
Section 21(b) of the Act is dismissed.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution
Control Board, hereby certify th
ab ye Opinion and Order were
adopted on the
fl~’
day of __________________________,
1976
by a vote of
~
~
Illinois Pollution
ntrol Board
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