ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

June

27,

1974

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Complainant,

vs.

)

PCB 73—224

MATERIAL

SERVICE

CORPORATION,

Respondent.

Dennis

Fields,

Assistant

Attorney

General

for

the

EPA

Richard

Elledge,

Attorney

for

Respondent

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD

(by Mr.

Henss):

The Environmental Protection Agency alleges that Material

Service

Corporation

caused

or

allowed

dust

and

other

contaminants

from

its

limestone

quarry

to

be

discharged

into

the

atmosphere

so

as

to

cause

air

pollution

in

violation

of

Section

9(a)

of

the

Environmental

Protection

Act.

The

violations

allegedly

occurred

every

day

of

quarry

operations

since July

1,

1970.

Respondent

is

also

charged

with

installing

pollution

control

equipment

(a

baghouse)

in

1970

without an Agency permit

in

violation

of

Rule

3-2.100 of the Rules

and Regulations Governing the Control of Air

Pollution.

Four

public

hearings

were

conducted

on

these

matters

during

which

little

substantive

testimony

relative

to

the case was pro-

duced.

There

was excessive delay and wasted motion by the parties

in

the

handling

of

this

case.

The

hearings

largely

consist

of

conversation

among

the

lawyers

regarding

the

fact

that

they

were

still

negotiating,

but

one

member

of

the

public

did

voice

his

objection

to the dust emissions from the quarry.

Finally, the

parties

submitted

a

Stipulation

and Proposal for Settlement.

According

to

the Stipulation, Material Service operates a

limestone

quarry

located

in

the

Village

of

Thornton.

The

quarry

has

been

in

continuous

operation

since

shortly

after

the

turn

of

the

century

and

is

believed

to

be

the

largest

commercial

limestone

quarry

in

the

country.

The

500

acre

facility

includes

crushing,

screening,

storage

and

distribution

equipment,

some

of

which

is

located

160’

below

grade.

12

—621

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—2—

Blasted stone

is

fed to

a primary crusher located on the

quarry floor and then by

a 3800’

covered conveyor system to

a surge pile.

From the surge pile the crushed stone is trans-

ported on a 1200’ covered conveyor system to an enclosed

“mill”.

Within the “mill” the stone

is processed by secondary

crushing, tertiary crushing,

screening,

conveying and classifying

into about sixty different product sizes.

Final product stone

is

then transported by conveyor or truck to cement silos, bins

or open stockpiles.

A portion of the crushed stone

is conveyed

to a wash plant where small particles and trace impurities are

scrubbed from the product.

The washed product is then trans—

ported to various storage facilities on the premises.

Crushed limestone in quantities up to

60 tons per hour is fed

to a mineral filler plant where it

is dried and processed through

ball mills and air classifiers before being placed in bins.

The various limestone products are shipped from the facility

in trucks owned and operated by Respondent’s customers or inde-

pendent or contract carriers.

Respondent does not own or operate

any trucks for transporting final product from the facility.

Since 1955 Respondent has conducted its operations in

a manner

designed to reduce the emission of particulate matter into the

atmosphere.

The control program has included:

a)

the use of

water injection on rotary drills,

b)

a road patrol to remove

spilled stone from quarry roadways,

c)

periodic application of oil

or calcium chloride on quarry roadways,

d)

covered conveyor systems

to reduce truck

traffic within the quarry,

e)

construction of

a

new scale house with paved roadways, and

f)

the use of

a street

sweeper for removal of stone which is spilled from trucks leaving

the facility.

Prior to January

1971 particulate emissions from the ball

mills and air classifiers together with fugitive dust from various

conveyor transfer points in the mineral filler plant were controlled

by a cyclone and a

32 bag i~aghouse, in tandem.

In January

1971

Respondent installed, without Agency permit, a new 100 bag pulse-

air baghouse

to control these particulate emissions.

Particulate emissions from two rotary driers

in the mineral

filler plant were previously ducted to

a pair of cyclones and

then through a common rotoclone to the atmosphere.

In April 1972

Material Service was informed by the Agency that its particulate

emissions were possibly in excess of those allowed by the Rules

and Regulations and

that

the

Agency

was

aware

the

baghouse

had

been installed without Agency permit.

Respondent moved to solve

these problems by replacing the rotary drier, cyclones and rotc—

clone with

a fluid bed drier, two new cyclones and a baghouse

collector.

In addition, Respondent replaced the cyclone and 100

bag baghouse with a new 130 bag pulse-air baghouse for control of

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—3—

emissions from the ball mills and air classifiers.

Agency

permits were issued prior to the installation of all new

equipment in 1972.

After the filing of this action, employees of the EPA and

the Attorney General made several inspections at the quarry

site.

Technical representatives from Material Service were

present during the inspection to answer all questions which

arose during the course of the inspection.

The inspection “did

not indicate any current violation of any of the provisions

of

Part

2 of Chapter

2 of the Illinois Pollution Control Board’s

Rules and Regulations”.

(Stipulation p.

7)

In settlement of this action Material Service agrees

to

implement a new control program by April

1,

1974.

Under the

new program, Material Service will sprinkle all stockpiles

of

Quick Ag, Number 17 Sandstone and Minus 50 Mesh Screenings when

conditions indicate a reasonable probability of fugitive dust

from these stockpiles.

Material Service will also install a

sprinkler system for its main surge pile and it will be used

when there is

a reasonable probability of fugitive dust from

the surge pile.

Material Service will locate all open stock-

piles of Minus

50 Mesh Screenings, Indiana Ag, and Quick Ag on

levels which are at least 80’

below grade.

Respondent agrees to purchase a new street sweeper

(cost

$20,000)

to replace the present sweeper for operation within

the quarry and on the streets of the Village of Thornton.

Material Service will also purchase

(cost approximately $20,000)

a 5,000 gallon oil tank with spray bars for oiling quarry roads,

thereby supplementing the present use of an outside service.

A

spray bar will be maintained for spraying trucks which are

transporting fine screenings out of the Thornton quarry.

The

spray bar will be located between the point where trucks are

loaded and where the trucks are weighed on the exit scale.

Material Service will require trucks using

the facility to

have “cleaned rub rails and tail gates” prior to leaving the

premises and will establish

a 15 mile per hour speed limit on the

premises.

Respondent also agrees to install two high volume air samplers

for use in measuring particulates

in the area and will operate the

samplers in accordance with an air sampling schedule set by the

Agency, insofar as possible.

Finally, Material Service agrees

to pay a monetary penalty

of $1500 for installing the baghouse control device without permit.

It is apparent that the Agency has decided not to proceed on

the Section

9(a)

charges.

Respondent had made substantial efforts

12

—

623

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—4—

to control particulate emissions prior to the Agency’s

“warning letter” and proceeded to install better control

equipment after the warning.

This probably accounts for

the change of direction by the Agency.

The Stipulation does not specify how long Respondent

must operate the air sampling device.

We shall set the duration

of sampling at one year in order to assure that the results

are indicative of the actual effectiveness of the control

program.

With this additional condition the Board hereby

accepts the Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement as

submitted.

ORDER

It

is the Order of the Pollution Control Board that:

1.

Material Service Corporation shall pay to the

State of Illinois by July 31, 1974 the sum of

$1500 as a penalty for its violations of

Rule 3-2.100 of the Rules and Regulations

Governing the Control of Air Pollution.

Penalty payment by certified check or money

order payable to the State of Illinois shall

be made to:

Fiscal Services Division,

Illinois EPA,

2200 Churchill Road,

Springfield,

Illinois 62706.

2.

Material Service Corporation shall immediately

implement its proposed pollution control program

precisely as described in Paragraphs A through G

in the Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement

submitted in these proceedings.

In addition,

the air sampling program described in Paragraph E

of the Stipulation shall be conducted over

a

period of time not less than one year.

3.

The allegations that Respondent has violated

Section 9(a)

of the Environmental Protection Act

are dismissed without prejudice.

I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control

Board, hereby certify the above Opinion and Order was adopted

this

~7IA

day of

________

1974 by a vote of

~3’

to ~

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