ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
October
3,
1972
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
)
#72—126
v.
KANKAKEE
FOUNDRY
COMPANY
)
MR.
PRESCOTT
E.
BLOOM,
SPECIAL
ASSISTANT
ATTORNEY
GENERAL,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF
COMPLAINANT
MESSRS.
EDWIN
W.
SALE
AND
WILLIAM
E.
EAKEN,
APPEARED
ON
BEHALF
OF RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(BY SAMUEL T.
LAWTON,
JR.)
Complaint was filed against Kankakee Foundry Company, Respondent,
on March
29,
1972, alleging that Respondent’s
foundry operation be-
tween July
1,
1970 and May 3,
1972,
(the date on which Respondent
received a variance for the operation of its foundry in Case
#71-366) discharged
particulates
and
other
contaminants
into
the
atmosphere
causing
air
pollution,
in
violation
of
Section
9(a)
of
the
Environmental
Protection
Act
and
Rule
2-2.54
of
the
Rules
and
Regulations Governing the Control of Air Pollution.
The variance
order was granted without prejudice to any penalties which might
be asserted in the pending enforcement suit.
The order permitted
Respondent
to
exceed
the
limitations
set
forth
in
the
Act
and
Rules
until
September
1,
1972,
in
contemplation
of
the
operation
of
the
cupola
then
in
existence
being
terminated on July
1,
1972
and
the
installation of
a new cupola equipped with emission control devices
or a coreless induction furnace, either of which would bring Respon-
dent into compliance by the termination of the variance.
The present proceeding
is for violations occurring between
July 1,
1970,
the effective date of the Environmental Protection
Act and May 3,
1972 when the variance was granted.
Hearing was
held on the complaint on August 21,
1972.
On the basis of the record,
we find that Respondent has violated the Act and Regulations as alleged
and assess a penalty of
$3,000.
The record in the variance case
has been incorporated into the present proceeding.
We reject Res-
pondent’s contention that the mere filing of a varia~icepetition
before its allowance serves as a shieldagainst the imposition of
penalties
relating to the period prior to the actual grant of
variance.
Since the Board3s Order is dated May
3,
1972,
emissions
prior to that date are unprotected notwithstanding the ultimate
variance grant.
b71
The facility subject to this proceeding was a
#9 Whiting
Cupola
approximately
45 years old employing emission controls
consisting of a wet cap on the cupola, together with afterburners.
Estimates made by both the Respondent and the Agency in the
variance proceeding indicate that emissions from this cupola violated
the particulate regulations although there was substantial differ-
ence between the estimates of the parties as to the amount of
emissions resulting;
the petitioner estimating particulate emissions
at a rate of 72 pounds per hour and the Agency estimating emissions
at the rate of 424 pounds per hour.
Allowable emissions are 23.4
pounds per hour
(R,37).
Agency evidence in the present case adopts the emission rate
at 72 pounds per hour
(R.36).
Consequently, by any measurement
it
is undisputed that during the period involved, Respondent’s
operations exceeded the allowable limits.
It is also undisputed
that Respondent’s awareness of its violations date back to 1969
(Environmental Protection Agency Ex.
8)
and no definitive program
appears to have been pursued prior to the variance program sought
in late 1971.
Robert H.
St. John appeared as a witness for the Agency
(R.57)
and testified that smoke emissions from the foundry since July of
1970 discolored his home and that the smoke emissions of the foundry
were personally observed by him.
While the evidence in the enforcement proceeding was somewhat
meager, the incorporation in the record of the variance proceeding
enables us to sustain a finding of violation of both the particulate
regulations and the air pollution,
as alleged.
While we can
assume
that Respondent
is presently in compliance, the long delay in
achieving it
dictates the imposition of a penalty which we impose in
the amount of $3,000.
In Environmental Protection Agency v. Chicago-
Dubuq-ue Foundry Corporation,
#71-331,
3 PCB 377, January
6,
1972
a penalty was entered against the company for particulate emission
violations occurring prior to the time a variance was granted.
We
follow the same practice in the present case.
Neither the filing
for a variance or its ultimate allowance, precludes imposition of
penalties for the period in which the violation occurred.
This opinion constitutes
the
findings
of
fact
and
conclusions
of law of the Board.
IT IS ThE ORDER of the
Pollution
Control
Board
that
penalty
in the amount of $3,000 is assessed for the violations found in
this proceeding.
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,
—2—
—
572
2200 Churchill Drive, Springfield,
Illinois 62706.
I, Christan Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, certify that th~above Opinion and Order
was
adopted on
the
‘~‘__dayof
~
,
1972,
by a vote of
~5
to
/7~
~
—3—
5
—
57~~