ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

July 10, 1975

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,

Complainant,

v.

)

PCB 75-5

CITY OF EAST ST. LOUIS,

Respondent.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD (by Mr. Dumelle):

This case involves a complaint, filed on January 6, 1975,

alleging that Respondent, City of East St. Louis, owned and

operated a solid waste management site without a permit from

the Environmental Protection Agency (Agency), in violation of

Rule

202(b) of the Solid Waste Regulations (Chapter 7) and

Section 21(e) of the Environmental Protection Act (Act).

More specifically, the complaint alleges that East St. Louis

operated its site, located at 2001 Mississippi Avenue in East

St. Louis, since July 27, 1974, including, but not limited

to, iuiy 31, 1974 and August

14,

1974. Under Rule 202(b) (1)

all

solid waste management sites were required to have obtained

operating permits by July 27, 1974.

East St. Louis filed Motions to Dismiss and For Continuance

on

February 14, 1975. A hearing was held on February 20, 1975,

at which stipulated testimony was entered. The Board entered an

Interim Order dismissing the motions as moot on March 6, 1975.

The parties stipulated that East St. Louis owns the site

i~n question, which has operated since at least 1965. The site

handles sewage sludge, some demolition waste and municipal

household waste. The Agency sent two letters to East St. Louis

notifying it of the July 27, 1974 deadline for obtaining a permit.

In addition, the Agency sent ten letters notifying East St. Louis

that continued operation of the site constituted a violation

of the Act.

I8—

---

—2—

East St. Louis admitted that it had operated the site

without a permit up to and including September 18, 1974, in

violation of the Act and regulations as alleged in the

complaint. A permit application (Exhibit A) was submitted

on September 19, 1974, and a letter of denial (Exhibit B) of

said application was sent on December 2, 1974.

On the basis of the above facts, which consti~tutethe

complete record in this matter, we find that East St. Louis

did

v~o1atethe Act and regulations from July 27, 1974 until

September 18, 1974, by operating its solid waste management

site without a permit from the Agency. In consideration of

Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act we find there

ar

insufficient facts to determine the degree of injury,

iba social and economic value, or the suitability of the

pollution

source to the area in which it is located. We

assess a

penalty of $100 for this permit violation. The

peralty

would be larger were it not for the difficult financial

~osition

of the City of East St. Louis. Since the Agency

iailed to take final action on the permit application within

forty-five days of the filing thereof, the permit may be

deemed granted under Rule 205(g) of the Solid Waste Regulations

and we need not order Respondent to apply and obtain such

permit.

This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact

and conclusions of law.

ORD ER

Pespondent, City of East St. Louis, shall pay a penalty

~:

$100 for the violations of Section 21(e) of the Environmental

Protection Act and Rule 202(b) (1) of the Solid Waste Regulations

found herein. Penalty payment by certified check or money

order payable to the State of Illinois shall be made to:

Fiscal Services Division, Illinois Environmental Protection

Agency, 2200 Churchill Road, Springfield, Illinois 62706.

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

J~~day

of July,

1975 by a vote of

_____________________

Christan L. Moffett,,q~’rk

Illinois Pollution C~fi~olBoard