ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
May
9,
1974
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 73—454
EARLY AND DANIEL COMPANY,
Respondent.
Mr. Thomas A.
Cengel, Assistant Attorney General,
for
Complainant.
Mr. Richard J. Kissel,
attorney for Respondent.
OPINION AND ORDER OF
THE
BOARD
(by Dr.
Odell)
The Environmental Protection ~gency
(hereinafter Agency)
filed a Complaint against the Early and Daniel Company on
October
30,
1973.
Respondent owns and operates certain
facilities,
including
a grain elevator containing, but not
limited to, driers, dump areas,
cyclone system,
conveying
facilities and loadout areas located at 300 South Fourth
Street, Sheldon,
Illinois.
The Agency alleged that on or
about July
1, 1971, and continuing through the filing of the
Complaint,
Early and Daniel Company has operated its aforesaid
facilities
so as to cause, threaten or allow the discharge or
emission of “bees wings”, chaff and grain dust and other con-
taminants into the atmosphere
so as to cause or tend to cause
air pollution, either alone or in combination with contaminants
from other sources, in violation of Section 9(a)
of the Environ-
mental Protection Act (hereinafter Act)
Rev. Stat., 1971,
Ch. 111 1/2, Sec.
1009
(a)J.
A hearing was held in Sheldon, Illinois on March
8,
1974.
The parties submitted a Settlement Agreement into the record
for the purpose of disposing of this Complaint.
The parties are
substantially in agreement that the emission control program sub-
mitted to the Agency by Early and Daniel Company, and specified
in our Order, will effectively reduce emissions from the Sheldon,
Illinois facility.
The following Stipulation,
in pertinent part,
is from the Settlement Agreement.
“The Environmental Protection Agency, Complainant, and
Early and Daniel Company, Respondent,
stipulate,
for purposes
of this settlement agreement only,
and only if the Pollution
Control Board
(hereinafter Board)
accepts totally this settle-
nient agreement,
that the following statements are true and may
be accepted as such by the Board without further proof thereof.
12—237
-2—
NEarly and Daniel Company is an Ohio corporation licensed
to do business and doing business in the State of Illinois.
On
July
1,
1971, Early and Daniel Company began operating a grain
handling facility in Sheldon,
Illinois which it subsequently
purchased on March 31,
1972.
The Early and Daniel Company’s
Sheldon facility is used for the receipt,
storage, drying and
shipping of grain, predominantly corn.
Total grain storage
capacity at Respondent’s Sheldon facility is 1,200,000 bushels.
“Respondent’s facility receives grain almost every day,
whereas grain is shipped out by rail on approximately 30 to 40
days each year.
Monthly fluctuations in the amount of grain
handled at Respondent’s Sheldon,
Illinois facility during 1972
are listed below:
MONTH
UNLOADED
LOADED OUT
January
10.8
26.9
February
15.0
0
March
4.9
10.2
April
6.7
0.9
May
3.2
9.2
June
0.9
8.8
July
3.5
0
~\ugust
5.6
8.8
September
3.0
*
October
0.7
8.8
November
24.1
8.8
December
21.6
17.6
*Less than
0.1
“Respondent’s grain handling facility in Sheldon,
Illinois
consists of
the
following major sources
of emissions:
(a) Truck dump
pit
on east side of the facility;
(b) Two driers which are enclosed in a single
concrete structure on the south side of the
facility;
(c) Cyclone
on
the north side of the facility
which
is ~isedto collect grain dust created
by in-house transferring;
(d) Railroad load-out spout located on the west
side of the facility;
(e) Numerous ventilation openings, both above
and below the storage bins.
The Environmental
Protection
Agency has received complaints from
Sheldon,
Illinois
residents relating
to the emission of
“bees
wings’, chaff and grain dust from the above individual
sources
or in combinations.
~hiie
investigating various complaints re-
ceived by the Agency,
Robert Henricks, Surveillance Engineer,
took photographs of observed emissions from the cyclone, ventil-
ation openings and truck dump pit.
These photographs
(Exhibit A,
5
pages)
truly
and
ar~urately
portray
the
conditions
depicted
therein
and
are
incorocrored into
the
record
by
reference.
12
23~8
“At various times, the operations at the Respondent’s
Sheldon,
Illinois facility, either by individual source
(listed
in above paragraph)
or in combinations hav~resulted in
emissions sufficient in quantity and duration to constitute
violations of Section 9(a)
of the Environmental Protection Act.
“Early and Daniel Company has submitted to the Environ-
mental Protection Agency an emission control program,
as set
forth in the Proposed Order, which the Agency believes will
reduce emissions at the Sheldon, Illinois facility below the
levels which create citizen complaints.”
During the hearing Mr.S.D.
Carroll,
sales engineer with
Dynasteel Corporation, Memphis,
Tennessee, appeared
as a witness
on behalf of Respondent.
He examines grain hauling facilities,
designs dust collecting systems for them and then Dynasteel
Corporation installs these systems for air pollution control.
Mr. Carroll has been engaged by Early and Daniel to survey their
facilities at Sheldon, Illinois.
With regard
to the equipment
installation date of October
1, 1974,
in our Order 3(a)
and
3(b),
Mr. Carroll stated that “October
is a realistic date;
October
1,
I am not sure
.
.
.
because equipment deliveries are
considerably longer than was anticipated six months or a year
ago”
(R-16).
Slower equipment delivery is due to a steel short-
age.
The latest date that such air pollution control facilities
would be completed if equipment deliveries are delayed “could
be as long as the first of December”
(R-18).
Five citizens complained vigorously of chaff and dust
associated with the operation of Respondent’s elevator.
Ex-
cessive dust and chaff settle outside and inside the premises
of neighbors.
Mrs.
Ruth Coyer complained that breathing the
dust affected her lungs
(R—36)
and it caused Miss Ellen Wesseil
to cough
(R-20).
Truck activity on Respondent’s grounds pro-
duced some of the dust
(R-21,
26)..
In addition, grain trucks
on the town streets produced objectionable dust
(R-20,
21), but
responsibility for controlling this rests with the town of
Sheldon rather than with Early and Daniel Company
(R-23,
24).
Mr. Richard Easter, who lives
200
to 300 feet south of Respondent’s
elevator, complained of dust and one night last summer he smelled
“sour grain” and what he thought was a “chemical
.
.
.
to kill
bugs”, but the elevator manager
“said they use no chemical”
(R—34).
On March 25,
1974,
the parties
in
this
action filed
a
joint
motion to incorporate a document entitled “Minimum Recommendations
for Housekeeping Practices for Grain Handling Facilities” into the
Settlement Agreement in the instant case.
The Board granted this
motion on April
4,
1974.
We find that Early and Daniel Company facilities in
Sheldon, Illinois violated Section 9(a)
of the Act.
The stipulated
penalty is reasonable.
In the Settlement Agreement which was
incorporated into the hearing record, a compliance program was
specified which should adequately abate the air pollution that
caused this Complaint.
This agreed compliance program is satis-
factory and is incorporated into our Order.
This Opinion con-
stitutes the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the
Board,
12
—
239
ORDER
IT
IS THE ORDER OF THE Pollution Control Board that:
1.
The Early and Daniel Company grain elevator in
Sheldon, Illinois violated Section 9(a) of the Environmental
Protection Act.
2.
The Early and Daniel Company shall pay a penalty of
$1,000 for its violations of Section 9(a) of the Environmental
Protection Act.
Payment shall be by certified check or money
order made payable to the State of Illinois,
Fiscal Services
Division, Environmental Protection Agency,
2200 Churchill Road,
Springfield,
Illinois.
Payment shall be tendered within thirty—
five
(35)
days of the adoption of this Order.
3.
The Early and Daniel Company shall cease and desist
from further violations of Section 9(a)
of the Environmental
Protection Act by taking all steps necessary to promulgate its
proposed program including:
(a) The completion of installation of equipment to
control emissions from the truck dump on the
east side of the Sheldon, Illinois facility by
October
1,
1974.
Said control equipment is to
include fast-closing doors on the south end of
the dump,
air curtain and flexible curtains on
the north end of the dump,
baffles in the dump
pit, inspiration of the dump pit and a bag
filtering system;
(b) The completion of installation of equipment to
control emissions from the railroad load—out
area on the west side of the Sheldon, Illinois
facility by October
1,
1974.
Said equipment
is
to include sleeves which will operate with a choke
load and which will extend at least six
(6) inches
below the top of the vehicle being loaded;
(c)
The completion of an engineering study of methods
of control of emissions from the in—house trans-
ferring and drying of grain at its Sheldon,
Illinois facility within ninety
(90)
days of the
adoption of this Board Order.
Said study shall
be in written form, with the conclusions and
supporting data fully documented, and copies of
the study shall be sent to the Pollution Control
Board and the Environmental Protection Agency;
(d)
By September
1,
1974,
final drawings for the
equipment chosen by Early and Daniel Company,
and subject to Agency approval,
to control
emissions from the in-house transfer and drying
of grain at Respondent’s Sheldon, Illinois
facility shall be completed and submitted to
the Environmental Protection Agency,
as part of
the application(s)
for construction permit(s);
12—240
—5—
(e)
The completion of installation of equipment for
the control
of emissions from the in—house trans-
fer and drying of grain by October
1,
1975.
4.
The Early and Daniel Company shall take all necessary
steps to assure the earliest possible submission of all pertinent
permit applications to the Environmental Protection Agency,
and
the Agency,
subject to its review for technical deficiencies
in
the program, shall issue the applicable permits
as early as
possible.
5.
Immediately upon the Board’s adoption of this Order,
Early and Daniel Company will take all necessary steps to assure
that the following interim measures are undertaken to control
emissions at its Sheldon, Illinois facility:
(a)
The dust house immediately below the cyclones shall
be properly maintained and cleaned so as to avoid
blocking or otherwise disrupting efficient collection
by the operating cyclone(s);
(b)
The Early and Daniel Company’s Sheldon, Illinois
facility: shall at all times comply with the Minimum
Recommendations For Housekeeping Practices For
Grain Handling Facilities, which were promulgated
by the Environmental Protection Agency
-
Industry
Task Force on Grain Handling Regulations.
(c)
The driers at Respondent’s Sheldon, Illinois
facility shall not be used prior to the 1974 grain
harvest without prior written approval from the
Environmental Protection Agency;
(d)
The truck dump piton
the west side of the Sheldon,
Illinois facility shall receive no more than 300,000
bushels of grain per year;
(e)
The Early and Daniel Company will test an experimental
portable bag device
£or effectiveness in reducing
emissions while loading center—slot hopper railroad
cars.
The Agency shall be informed in writing
at
least thirty
(30) days prior to any such tests and
shall have the right to observe such tests if it so
decides.
(f)
Roadways on Respondent’s premises shall be treated
to control dust.
6.
The Early and Daniel Company shall post a personal
recognition performance bond within thirty—five
(35)
days of the
adoption of this Order,
in the amount of $50,000
in a form satis-
factory to the Agency to guarantee performance of this Order.
The
Bond shall be decreased as the control program
is completed, with
the following reduction on the stated date:
October
1,
1974
-
reduction of bond to $25,000.
12—241
—6—
7.
Nothing contained
in this Order shall prohibit Early
and Daniel Company from closing down and abandoning the Sheldon,
Illinois facility at its option.
I, Christan
L. Moffett,
Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order was
adopted on the
9~k
day of (y~
,
1974,
by a vote of
____
to
~
.
Christan L. Moff~,Clerk
12
—242