ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

October 16,

1975

ENVIRONMENTAL

Complainant,

v.

)

INTERIM OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr. Zeitlin):

This matter comes before the Board on a Complaint filed

by the

Attorney

General for the Environmental Protection

Agency,

(Agency),

on December 20,

1974,

and an Amended

Complaint filed April

3,

1975.

The record in this matter

includes United States Postal Service certified mail return

receipts indicating that service of each of these Complaints

on

Respondent City of Fulton was adequate under our Procedural

Rules,

A hearing was held

in this matter on August

13,

1975,

at Rock Fails,

Illinois.

The record indicates that Respondent

was fully apprised of the fact that the hearing was

to be

held, and nonetheless defaulted.

The City of Fulton was not

represented at the hearing by any individual or representative.

:tn addition,

the Attorney General pointed out at the hearing

that by failing to respond to a Request for Admission of

Fact, Respondent City of Fulton admitted essentially every

allegation in the Complaint and Amended Complaint.

A

finding of violation is mandated in this case.

The

City of FultoiYs default at hearing and failure to explain

the Admissions of Fact made by it pursuant to Procedural

Rule 314 are wholly unexcused.

The record in

this matter is inadequate, however,

and

must be returned to the parties for completion.

Although

the instant record includes the record in an apparently

related matter, City of Fuiton v,

EPA, PCB 74-490,

wherein

a Variance was granted by

thIs Board on April

10,

1975,

that

relationship remains unclear,

The instant record,

in which

the Attorney General’s case rests solely on an admission of

iact by default and a default at hearing, leaves open the

~~lowing

questions

which wc~c:

rrir~e

must be

answered before

a final Order can be entered

to finally resolve

the matter:

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—77

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—2—

1.

On April

10,

1975,

this Board granted

a Variance to Respondent City of rulton,

The

Request for Admission of Facts and the Amended

Complaint

in this matter recite two solid waste

management sites purportedly operated by

Respondent; which,

if either, of the sites

in

issue was the subject of our Variance Order?

2.

What is the relationship between the

two solid waste management sites alleged in the

Complaint to be operated by Respondent?

3.

Are either of the two solid waste

management sites alleged in the Complaint to be

operated by Respondent still in operation?

4.

By way of further aggravation or

mitigation of the violations alleged,

if proven,

what are the operational conditions on the solid

waste management site or sites alleged to be

operated by Respondent?

These questions must be answered before the Board may

decide whether a penalty and/or any other remedy would be

appropriate here.

Before concluding,

we note that this entire matter,

(to

include the Variance case if

it

is actually related to this

case)

,

has been conducted in an unsatisfactory manner.

The

earlier case,

(the Variance in PCB 74-490), was also decided

on default of the Respondent.

Until both parties are before

us,

or until we receive further information if Respondent

City of Fulton again defaults, we may not arrive at a

satisfactory final remedy.

This Opinion constitutes the findings of fact and

conclusions of law of the Board in this matter.

ORDER

1.

On default,

the Respondent City of Fulton is found

to have operated two solid waste management

sites

in Whiteside

County,

Illinois,

without tne proper operating permits from

the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,

in violation

of Section 21(e)

of the Environmental Protection Act and

Rule 202(b) (1)

of Chapter

7:

Solid Waste,

of the Pollution

Control

Board Rules and Regulations.

19

—78

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—3—

2.

This

matter is remanded

to the Hearing Officer for

further proceedings

in conformity with the foregoing Opinion,

to be completed within

60 days of the date of this Order.

I,

Christan

L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution

Control Board, hereby ceçtify the ab v

Opinion and Order

were adopted on the /~~day of

___________,

1975 by a

vote of

~

Mr. Young abstained.

Christan

L. Mof et

,

r

Illinois Pollution

rd

Board

19

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