ILLINOIS

POLLUTION

CONTROL

BOAR!)

August

22,

1972

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

Complainant

v.

)

PCB

72—130

OTTO

E.

D0W3F:KI:,

JR.

,

BOI1INE

OLSON,

JANE~S SCI1OENHARD,

Whiteside County Highway

SuperinLendont,

HARRY

HURD,

JR.,

Tainpico

Towuship

Suporvi

nor

,

and

FRANK

CALSYN,

Tampico

Township

Road

Commissioner,

Respondents

George

D.

Karcazes,

Assistant

Attorney

General

for

the

EPA

William

E.

Arnold

for

Respondent

Otto

H.

Dobbeke,

Jr.

Frank

Caisyn,

pro

se

o1’INION

AN!)

ORDER

OF’

THE

BOARD

(by

Mr.

Hones)

Respondents

are

charged

with

violating

the

Environmental

Protection Act and

the

Rules and Regulations for Refuse Disposal

Sites and Facilities

in that they “caused or allowed” the open

dumping of refuse at

a landfill near Tampico, Illinois.

Prior

to the introduction of evidence,

the EPA moved to dismiss the

action as to Respondents

J3oline Olson, James Schoenhard and

harry

flurd,

Jr.

The evidence did not indicate that these three

Respondents

owned

the

land

Upon

which

the

landfill

was

located

or connect

them

in any way to the dumping operations.

The motion

is allowed and the action is dismissed as to Respondents

J3oline

Olson,

James

Schoenhard

and

Harry

Hurd,

Jr.

The

evidence clearly proved that open dumping of refuse took

place over

a period of years upon land owned hy~Respondent Otto

Dobbeke,

Jr.

The

dump

is located along a country gravel road.

An

investigator

for the EPA, sometimes accompanied by an investigator

for

the

Whiteside

County

Health

Department,

visited

the

site

on

ten dates from

September

25,

1970 to July 20, 1972 the date of the

hearinq.

He

took

photoçjraphs of

the

piles of refuse on several

occasions.

Respondent Frank Calsyn,

the

Township Road Comntinsioner,

testified that he maintained the gravel road and that

the

dump

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219

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had been used for

“a good many years”.

It was not an authorized

dumping location

and

as

Township

Road

Commissioner,

Calsyn

had

over the years posted many signs stating that dumping was illegal.

In April, 1972 Calsyn dug a trench beside the road with the blade

of his roadgrader

in an attempt to keep people from the dumping

site.

The posting of signs and the digging of the trench by the

township was with the consent of Respondent Dobbeke.

The EPA

investigator stated, and photographs show,

that a “No Dumping”

sign was visible at the scene.

There is no evidence that Respondent Dobbeke ever dumped

refuse at the site or affirmatively authorized others to do

so.

Dobbeke denies that he personally used the site for dumping but

was aware that other people did.

Occasionally people would come

to his door and ask permission for dumping.

Dobbeke states that

he always told them he did not have authority to grant the per-

mission.

The landfill cannot be seen from the Dobbeke house and

in all the years that dumping occurred there Dobbeke saw only one

person in the act of depositing refuse on his land.

Respondent did

not report that person to the sheriff’s department since the tres-

passer was “on State aids.

Because of his fear of reprisals

Dobbeke did not ever attempt to get license numbers or report

illegal dumping to the sheriff’s office.

The issue is whether Respondents “caused or allowed” the open

dumping.

We believe that on the facts of this case, Respondent

Otto Dobbeke, Jr. did “allow” open dumping within the meaning of

the statute.

Ill.

Rev.

Stat.

C.

111½, Section No. 1021

(b).

The dump existed for many years and a considerable quantity of

refuse is shown to have accumulated.

Although Mr. Dobbeke denies

encouraging the illegal dumping his course of conduct as the owner

of the property seems rather passive.

He did not build a fence.

Not once did he call the sheriff.

Such inaction by the owner of

the land implies acquiescence and is hardly calculated to put a

halt to the illegal dumping.

We believe that Mr. Dobbeke’s conduct

is not serious enough for the imposition of monetary penalties

but does require an order directing affirmative action to halt the

dumping.

Respondent Frank Calsyn did take some affirmative action to

prevent the illegal dumping and we find him Not Guilty.

He posted

“No Dumping” signs and he tried to reduce access to the site by

digging

a ditch along the road.

It will take more than this to

reverse dumping habits of long standing, and we suggest that the

township road commissioner could also have requested a sheriff’s

patrol in the area.

However, we cannot find from the conduct of

Respondent Frank Calsyn that he “allowed” illegal dumping.

ORDER

Respondent Otto E. Dobbeke, Jr.

is adjudged guilty of allowing

open dumping on his property and Frank Calsyn is adjudged not guilty

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220

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of the charges brought against him.

It is ordered that:

(1)

Respondent Otto E.

Dobbeke, Jr. cease and desist from

allowing open dumping on his property.

(2)

Respondent Otto E. Dobbeke, Jr.

construct a suitable

fence for the purpose of barring access by the public to the

dumping site.

(3)

No monetary penalty shall be assessed.

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

Control Board, hereby c~tify that the above Opinion and Order

was, adopted on the~r?”~_dayof August,

1972 by

a vote of

C

Christan L. Moffet~~Clerk

Illinois Pollution Control Board

5

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