ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
July 10, 2003
ROCHELLE WASTE DISPOSAL, L.L.C.,
Petitioner,
v.
CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ROCHELLE, ILLINOIS,
Respondent.
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PCB 03-218
(Pollution Control Facility
Siting Appeal)
ORDER OF THE BOARD (by T.E. Johnson):
This matter is before the Board on a June 19, 2003, petition to intervene filed by the
Concerned Citizens of Ogle County (CCOC). Petitioner Rochelle Waste Disposal, L.L.C.
(Rochelle Waste) filed an objection to the petition to intervene on June 30, 2003.
For the reasons discussed below, the Board denies CCOC’s petition to intervene. CCOC
may participate either through statements at hearing, public comments or the filing of
amicus
curiae
briefs.
BACKGROUND
On May 21, 2003, Rochelle Waste timely filed a petition asking the Board to review an
April 24, 2003 decision (as allegedly reconsidered on April 28, 2003) of the City Council of the
City of Rochelle, Illinois (City of Rochelle). City of Rochelle’s decision denied Rochelle
Waste’s proposed the lateral and vertical expansion of the Rochelle Municipal Landfill No. 2 at
6513 South Mulford Road, Rochelle, Ogle County. The Board accepted the petition for hearing
on June 5, 2003.
In this case, the City of Rochelle denied Rochelle Waste’s application for lateral and
vertical expansion of the Rochelle Municipal Landfill No. 2. Rochelle Waste Disposal appeals
on the grounds that (1) the procedures used by City of Rochelle to reach its siting decision were
not fundamentally fair; and (2) the City of Rochelle’s decision was against the manifest weight
of the evidence as to criteria (i), (ii), (iii), (vi), and (ix). Rochelle Waste also seeks to challenge
special conditions that the City of Rochelle included as part of its finding of compliance
regarding the remaining criteria. Rochelle Waste waived the decision deadline in this matter
until October 28, 2003.
PETITION TO INTERVENE
CCOC is a voluntary association of citizens in the community of Rochelle that claims it
would be adversely affected by a decision reversing the finding of the Rochelle City Council. In
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its petition to intervene, CCOC asserts that it participated actively as a party objector in the local
regional pollution control facility siting hearings that are the subject of the pending petition to
review. Rochelle Waste objects to the petition to intervene, arguing that third parties cannot
intervene in cases where the local government denied siting approval.
The Board has previously addressed this issue, and it is well established that third-party
objectors are precluded from intervention in an appeal from a denial of siting approval.
See
Waste Management v. County Board of Kane County, PCB 03-104, slip op. at 3 (Feb. 20, 2003);
Land and Lakes Co.,
et al
. v. Village of Romeoville, PCB 94-195, slip op. at 4 (Sept. 1, 1994);
citing
Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. v. PCB, 160 Ill. App. 3d 434, 513 N.E.2d 592 (2nd
Dist. 1987); McHenry County Landfill, Inc. v. IEPA, 154 Ill. App. 3d 89, 506 N.E.2d 372 (2nd
Dist. 1987). A third party may intervene only when the third party is a state’s attorney or the
Attorney General’s Office intervening to represent the public interest.
See, e.g.,
Land and Lakes,
slip op. at 3.
CCOC is a third-party objector without the special intervention rights of a state’s attorney
or the Attorney General’s Office representing the public interest. Accordingly, the petition to
intervene is denied. CCOC may, however, contribute oral or written statements at hearing in this
matter in accordance with Section 101.628 of the Board’s procedural rules. 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.628(a), (b). CCOC may also participate through public comments or
amicus curiae
briefs
pursuant to Section 101.110(c), and in accordance with Section 101.628(c). 35 Ill. Adm. Code
101.110(c); 35 Ill. Adm. Code 101.628(c).
IT IS SO ORDERED.
I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
adopted the above order on July 10, 2003, by a vote of 7-0.
Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board