ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
March
28,
1972
DONALD
G. NICKEL d/b/a NICKEL
BROTHERS TREE SERVICE
v.
)
PCB 71—392
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Opinion and Order of
the Board
(by Mr. Aldrich):
A petition for variance was
filed December
30,
1971, by Donald
G. Nickel
d/b/a Nickel Brothers Tree Service
(“Nickel”)
of Beloit, Wisconsin.
Petitioner requests
a variance for one year
to dispose of approximately
120 tons of waste building lumber by burning
it with
an air curtain
destructor.
Site of the proposed burninq is located in Winnebago
County,
Illinois.
After ~eceipt
of
a recommendation from the Envir-
onmental Protection Agency
(“Agency’t)
the Board decided that no hearing
was necessary for proper resolution of
the
case.
Nickel
seeks to dispose of waste building lumber from which asphalt
roofing has been removed.
The asphalt materials would be separated
by
the wrecking
companies before hauling the building waste
to
the
burning site.
Petitioner has obtained
a permit from the Agency allowing Petitioner
to burn with an air curtain destructor approximately
1,200 tons of
landscape waste.
Nickel indicates that the burning of
the waste
building lumber would
act as
a kindling agent to aid
the burning
of the landscape waste!
and is directly related to the financial
feasibility
of the entire venture.
Nickel
further states that unless
it is peimitted to burn waste building lumber it will
have
to abandon
the permit to burn landscape waste.
Petitioner also contends
that
burning
is
the only known effective method for disposing of waste
building lumber and
that alternate methods of disposal,
such as
burying,
are rapidly becoming exhausted.
No objection to the granting of the variance was received.
The Agency
recommends that the variance be granted providing that all conditions
of
the permit granted to Nickel
for the burning of landscape waste
be made applicable
to this variance
as conditions
thereto,
that all
waste building lumber that is burned be free of asphalt roofing
and
that before operating,
Petitioner be required to post
a performance
bond in the amount of $20,000.
4
—
105
We feel that Petitioner has adequately discharged his responsibility
to prove the need for a variance.
We, therefore, concur with the
recommendation of the Agency and grant the variance with an appropriate
set of conditions as specified in the order.
In a letter dated March 15,
1972, ?etitioner asks thnt the restriction
on time of burning, 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.,
a condition of the permit,
be changed to allow burning
“from
7:00 A.M. to dusk on days that are
most suitable for burning.”
We grant the variance on the basis of
the time limit in the permit and shall ask the Agency to respond by
April
20, 1972,
to Petitioner’s request for an extension of the hours
per
his letter of March 15, 1972.
The
arguments
presented
by
Petitioner
and our
disposition of the case
suggest
to
us
that
we
should
examine
the
acceptability
of
burning
wood product wastes with the aid of an air curtain destructor.
In
adopting Open Burning Regulations, R 70-11, we limited the use of
the air curtain destructors to the burning of “landscape wastes.”
We
now
ask ourselves whether it is necessary or reasonable to make
a distinction between basically the
same
materials——wood or
lumber
wastes and landscape wastes.
We need to know the answer to thrse
questions:
--What is the environmental damage
from
permitting
the
burning
of
wood
product
wastes
in
an
air
curtain
destructor?
——Are
there
beneficial
uses
for
wood
wastes
that
have
not
been
adequately
explored?
--What
are
the
problems
of
alternative
methods
of
disposal,
mainly
in
landfills?
Is
this
an
efficient
use
of
a
limited
resource
for
disposal?
Are
there
special
problems
in
handling
and
compacting?
We
shall ask the Agency
and
the Institute to study the matter and to
propose a modification in R70-ll on which we can schedule hearings as
soon
as
is
feasible.
This
opinion
constitutes
the
Board’s
findings
of
fact
and
conclusions
of law.
ORDER
1.
Donald G. Nickel d/b/a Nickel Brothers Tree Service is hereby
granted
a
variance
from
the
Open Burning
Regulations
CR70— 11)
until
March
28,
1973,
in
order
to
dispose
of
approximately
120 tons of waste buildinq lumber by burning with an
air
curtain destructor at its disposal site in Winnebago County,
Illinois.
4—106
2.
Conditions
1 through 17 of the permit granted
to Nickel by the
Environmental Protection Agency on November 22,
1971, ale hereby
made
a part of this order.
Under condition No.
4., burning is
limited to the hours
of 10:00 A.M.
to 4:00 P.M.
3.
All
waste building lumber that
is burned shall be free of
asphalt roofing.
4.
Before operating, Nickel shall post a performance bond
in the
amount of $20,000,
in a form acceptable to the Agency,
to be
forfeited in the event Nickel fails
to comply with any condition
of this variance.
I, Christan Moffett, Clerk of the Pollution Control Board, ,~pertify
that the Board adopted the above opinion and order this.~3’_7dayof
March,
1972, by a vote of
to
0.
4
107