1’
~
C
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
RECEIVED
CLERr’.S
OFFT’r
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
SEP
252003
Petitioner,
STATE OF
ILLINOIS
PojJ~tj0~
Control Board
No. PCB
02—177
(Enforcement—RCRA,
Water)
JOHN PRIOR,
d/b/a PRIOR OIL COMPANY
and JAMES MEZO,
d/b/a MEZO OIL
COMPANY.,
Respondents,
Proceedings
held on September
16th,
2003,
at the Washington
County Courthouse,
Court Room 2,
101 East St.
Louis Street,
Nashville,
Illinois, before CAROL SUDMAN,
Chief Hearing Officer.
Reported by:
Beverly S. Hopkins,
CSR, RPR
CSR License No.:
084—004316
KEEFE REPORTING COMPANY
11 North
44th Street
Belleville,
IL
62226
Keefe Reporting Company
APPEARANCES
ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE
By Sally Carter,
Esq.
By Javonna
Homan,
Esq.
ILLINOIS
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
By Michael
S. Roubitchek,
Esq.
(Assistant
Counsel)
John Prior,
Pro Se
James Mezo,
Pro Se
INDEX
WITNESSES
PAGE NUMBER
LAWRENCE BENGAL
Direct Examination
158
Cross—Examination
181
(
(Note:
Exhibits
not tendered
for inclusion into deposition
transcript.)
KEEFE REPORTING COMPANY
2
Keefe Reporting Company
ED
1
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
Good morning and welcome to
2
day two of PCB 02—177,
People vs.
Prior-Mezo.
It
is September
3
16th and we are beginning at nine o’clock.
I would also like to
4
note that there are no members of the public present here this
5
morning.
6
I would also like to clarify something we discussed
7
yesterday,
and that is,
that
I have labeled as Respondents’
8
Exhibit
3 the items that were offered by Mr.
Prior that were not
9
admitted to the record.
I didn’t label those.
I just put
10
Respondents’ Exhibit
3.
Having said that,
I
think we are ready
11
to proceed to the People’s next witness.
12
MS.
CARTER:
Thank you.
The People call Lawrence Bengal.
13
LAWRENCE BENGAL,
14
called as
a witness herein, having been first duly sworn,
15
deposeth and saith
as follows:
16
DIRECT EXAMINATION
17
QUESTIONS BY MS.
CARTER:
18
Q.
Please state your name.
19
A.
Lawrence Bengal.
20
Q.
Mr.
Bengal, can you tell me about your post-high school
21
education?
22
A.
I have a degree from the University of Wisconsin,
23
bachelor of science in geology.
24
Q.
When did you receive that degree?
3
Keefe Reporting Company
1
A.
1972.
2
Q.
Okay.
And with whom are you currently employed?
3
A.
The Illinois Department
of Natural Resources.
4
Q.
And what’s your position with the
Illinois Department of
5
Natural Resources?
6
A.
I am a supervisor of the Division of Oil and Gas.
7
Q.
Can you tell me a bit about your duties as the
8
supervisor of the Division of Oil and Gas?
9
A.
As supervisor,
I’m responsible for the administration of
10
the provisions
of the Illinois Oil and Gas Act,
the provisions
of
11
the underground injection control program which
is
a federally
12
mandated program under the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act and
13
the State’s Plugging Restoration Program.
14
Q.
I’ll get to each of those
in a minute.
How long have
15
you held this position with the Department?
16
A.
I’ve been with the Department
--
previously with the
17
Department of Mines and Minerals,
in 1995 merged with the
18
Department of Natural Resources,
so I’ve been division supervisor
19
since about
1989.
20
Q.
Okay.
And were you employed prior to 1989 with the
21
Department?
22
A.
Originally
I started with the Department as manager of
23
the Underground Injection Control Program and then was promoted
24
to the Division of Supervisors in that same year.
4
Keefe Reporting Company
CD
1
Q.
And with whom were you employed prior to coming with the
2
Department?
3
A.
Prior to the Department,
I was an independent consulting
4
geologist.
Prior to that,
I worked for a consulting company and
5
was general manager and project manager and started my career
in
6
the early
‘70s with the Illinois
State Geology Service.
7
Q.
Do you currently hold any accreditation?
8
A.
I’m a Licensed Professional Geologist in Illinois and
9
Registered Geologist in Illinois,
I’m a Certified Professional
10
Geological Scientist and a member of the Association of
11
Professional
——
or Patrolling Geologist.
12
Q.
Okay.
I’m going to hand to you,
Mr.
Bengal, what’s been
13
marked People’s Exhibit No.
23
for identification.
If you could
14
identify this document for me.
15
A.
This is a current copy of my resume.
16
Q.
Is
it
-—
Does
it fairly and accurately represent your
17
experience and your educational background?
18
A.
Yes.
19
MS.
CARTER:
Okay.
At this time the People move for the
20
admission of People’s No.
23 into evidence.
21
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Do the Respondents have any
22
objection?
Hearing none,
I will admit People’s Exhibit
23.
23
Q.
(By Ms.
Carter)
Before,
Mr.
Bengal, you discussed your
24
role as the director of the Oil and Gas Division and you
5
Keefe Reporting Company
0
1
mentioned three main programs that you’re responsible for
2
supervising.
The first you said was the administration of the
3
Illinois Oil and Gas Act,
can you tell me a little bit about your
4
duties in that administration?
5
A.
The provisions of the Oil and Gas Act regulate
the
6
operation of the Illinois oil and gas producing
industries,
in
7
that there
is enforcement programs, there’s
a permitting program
8
and there’s an administrative program as well as a field
9
operations
program.
10
Q.
And do you administer all
those provisions or all those
11
sections?
12
A.
I administer all those areas and the staff associated
13
with those areas.
14
Q.
The second area,
I think,
you discussed was
the UIC
15
program.
When
I say that,
what does that mean to you?
16
A.
Underground Injection Control Program.
17
Q.
And can you tell me a little bit
about that program?
18
A.
It is a program that regulates the Underground Injection
19
Control Wells
for Class
2
fluids.
It’s a program mandated by the
20
Federal Safe Drinking Water Act in which the Department of
21
Natural Resources administers
it for the United States
22
Environmental
Protection Agency.
23
Q.
And when you say Class
2 fluids, what do you mean?
24
A.
Class
2 fluids are defined in our statutes,
as well as
6
Keefe Reporting Company
1
federal statutes,
as those fluids produced with production of oil
2
and gas.
3
Q.
Okay.
And you also said you administer the State’s
4
Plugging and Restoration Program,
can you tell me a bit about
5
that?
6
A.
It’s
a program that was created probably
in 1991.
It
7
collects
fees from the industry to plug abandoned wells
around
8
the state.
9
Q.
Getting back to the Department’s jurisdiction,
you did
10
discuss the Oil and Gas Act,
a little bit about their
11
jurisdiction.
In certain instances,
does the Department of
12
Natural Resources have concurrent jurisdiction with other State
13
agency?
14
A.
Yes.
15
Q.
And in what instances and what agencies?
16
A.
Primarily with the spill, relation to spills and with
17
the IEPA.
18
Q.
Okay.
I’m going to hand to you what’s been previously
19
marked People’s Exhibit No.
24.
And
I apologize,
I only have two
20
copies of this.
I’ll hand you one,
and I’ll hand one copy to the
21
Respondents.
If you could identify this document
for me.
22
A.
This is
a Memorandum of Agreement between the Illinois
23
Environmental
Protection Agency and the Illinois Department of
24
Natural Resources relative to our various jurisdictions
7
Keefe Reporting Company
0
1
concerning spills of crude oil and salt water.
2
Q.
Okay.
Did you play some role in the drafting of this
3
document?
4
A.
Yes.
5
Q.
Okay.
Can you tell me a bit about the role that you
6
played in the drafting of this document?
7
A.
I was one of the primary authors.
8
Q.
Can you tell me how this document seeks to address the
9
concurrent jurisdiction between the two agencies?
10
A.
Under the State’s Environmental Protection
Act and the
11
Illinois Oil and Gas Act,
there is joint jurisdiction of the
12
discharge or spillage of crude oil and salt water by both
13
agencies.
Both agencies administer
their respective enforcement
14
programs independently,
and sometimes jointly, up until
the time
15
of this Memorandum of Agreement which was designed
to clarify
16
those joint jurisdictional areas.
And what this MOU or MOA does,
17
is clarify that part of the discharge that occurs in the waters
18
of the state are in jurisdiction of IEPA.
And the discharge that
19
occurs primarily on land,
are the jurisdiction of IDNR.
20
Q.
Okay.
Was this MOU drafted in part to clarify the
21
applicable requirements
for the regulating community?
22
A.
Yes.
23
Q.
Did the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the
24
Illinois EPA subsequently provide training and/or outreach
to the
8
Keefe Reporting Company
1
regulating community?
2
A.
Yes.
Following the adoption of the program, both
3
agencies held joint seminars in conjunction with industry
4
meetings,
the Illinois Oil and Gas Association,
the Illinois
5
Joint Resources Board and State Geological
Survey.
6
MS.
CARTER:
At this time the People move for the admission
7
of People’s 24 into evidence.
I’m sorry.
That’s the only one
I
8
have.
9
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
That’s okay.
Do the Respondents
10
have any objection?
I will admit People’s Exhibit 24.
11
Q.
(By Ms.
Carter)
Okay.
Thank you.
I think before that
12
you mentioned that the administration of the Oil and Gas Act does
13
involve permitting and inspections,
for
instance; correct?
14
A.
Yes.
15
Q.
Can you tell me a little bit about the permitting
16
process under the Oil and Gas Act?
17
A.
There are various provisions
for permitting contained in
18
the Act and the administrative rules that deal with permitting
19
for the drilling of wells,
the permitting
for hauling liquid oil
20
field wastes, various other permits relative to the lease of oil
21
and vacuuming permits,
construction of salt disposal pits.
All
22
these require submission of forms, payment of fees,
review of the
23
permit applications by technical staff, posting of bonds,
if
24
necessary.
9
Keefe Reporting Company
1
Q.
Okay.
When you said payment of fees,
are those
fees
2
that they must pay annually to operate
in the state?
3
A.
Those
fees are
just permit fees relative to acquiring
4
the permit.
5
Q.
And are those fees they must pay annually?
6
A.
Those fees are not part of the annual fee payment.
7
That’s a separate fee
for maintaining your license to operate
8
after you receive the initial license.
9
Q.
Okay.
So once you receive a permit and once you receive
10
a license to operate, then you must pay annual well fees;
is that
11
correct?
12
A.
Maintaining well fees is what they call it.
13
Q.
Okay.
Thank you.
And also you mentioned that you
14
oversee inspectors
that,
I’m presuming,
are out in the field?
15
A.
Yes.
16
Q.
Okay.
Can you tell me a little bit about the duties of
17
the well inspectors
for the Department
of Natural Resources?
18
A.
The Division has approximately
22 well inspectors
in
19
four district offices around the state.
The well inspectors
are
20
required to make routine inspections of all the well sites.
They
21
issue Notices of Violation,
at present when the well is plugged,
22
at present in the case when it is
set, when wells are drilled.
23
They make inspections of the wells that are being plugged by the
24
State.
They issue the
——
or they supervise the contracts
the
10
Keefe Reporting Company
staff member
spill events
11
1
State enters into Abandoned Plugging Program as well as responses
2
to complaints,
spills,
and other routine inspections related
to
3
the various permitting programs.
4
Q.
Is it fair to say when a well inspector is on site,
they
5
do generate
some sort of documentation of that event?
6
A.
Yes.
Every inspection that is made have a specific
form
7
depending on what the inspection
is related to.
8
Q.
And what happens
to those forms once it
is generated by
9
a well inspector?
10
A.
All the
forms are sent to Springfield, and they are
11
entered into two databases:
One,
a database for pertinent
12
information taken
off, and they are imaged into a document
13
database.
14
Q.
Okay.
And does a computer system exist that allows
15
personnel within the
Department, including yourself,
to access
16
all that information?
17
A.
Yes,
that information
is available to every
18
in Springfield as well as the
field office.
19
Q.
Are operators
required by statute to report
20
to the Department?
21
A.
Yes.
22
Q.
And when is that to take place according to the
statute?
23
A.
Immediately
a report has to occur.
24
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal,
are you familiar with a facility
Keefe Reporting Company
1
consisting of an office located at 140 Gomper Street in Wamac?
2
A.
Yes.
3
Q.
How are you generally familiar with the site that I’ll
4
be calling the Gomper site?
5
A.
I’m familiar with that area where there was a discharge
6
and our inspectors made inspections reviewing the documents
7
related to that event.
8
Q.
Okay.
You said your inspectors made inspections
of a
9
discharge at this location,
do you recall
the particulars
of
10
that,
sir?
11
A.
There was
a discharge of liquid oil
field waste into an
12
abandoned mine shaft.
13
Q.
Okay.
Do you recall approximately when that took place?
14
A.
I believe it was in 1996.
I’m not sure of the exact
15
month.
16
Q.
Okay.
You said it took place
in approximately
1996,
did
17
the Department of Natural Resources subsequently take any action
18
to deal with the location of the material that was disposed
of?
19
A.
The Department took enforcement
action for improper
20
disposal of that material.
21
Q.
Okay.
And now did the material, was
it disposed to a
22
mine shaft?
23
A.
Yes.
24
Q.
Okay.
And did the Department of Natural Resources
take
12
Keefe Reporting Company
0
1
action concerning the mine shaft itself?
2
A.
No.
The Division of Oil and Gas
——
the Illinois Oil and
3
Gas Act does not have jurisdiction of the mine shaft.
It has
4
jurisdiction of the material that was being put in the shaft but
5
not the shaft itself.
6
Q.
Okay.
Is there
a division within the Department of
7
Natural Resources called the Abandoned Mines Lands Reclamation
8
Division?
9
A.
Yes.
10
Q.
What are their duties?
11
A.
Their duties are to fill abandoned shafts
and reclaim
12
abandoned strip mines through federal funds plus the Office of
13
Surface and Mining.
14
Q.
Okay.
Are you aware of whether or not they took any
15
action concerning
this abandoned mine shaft?
16
A.
Yes.
We reported the presence
of the shaft to them
17
following this incident,
and they subsequently enacted the
18
contract to have the
shaft filled.
19
Q.
Okay.
Are you aware,
Mr.
Bengal,
of when the abandoned
20
mine shaft
——
abandoned
——
okay,
excuse me, Abandoned Mines Lands
21
Reclamation Division undertook this action?
22
A.
I think the work was completed in July 1998.
23
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal, are there different types
of liquid
24
oil field waste?
13
Keefe Reporting Company
1
A.
Yes.
2
Q.
Okay.
What is liquid oil
field waste?
3
A.
Liquid oil field waste
is defined by our statute and in
4
the rules but primarily it is salt water which
is produced with
5
crude oil.
It’s drilling fluids and drilling muds.
It can be
6
bottom sediment which
is a waste product from the production of
7
crude oil.
8
Q.
Okay.
Now are there certain requirements in terms
of
9
the disposal of these liquid oil field wastes?
10
A.
Yes.
11
Q.
Can you tell me about the requirements associated with
12
each of the oil
field waste that you justified?
13
A.
The rule specify various disposal methodologies
for each
14
of those wastes.
In the
case of salt water or produced fluids,
15
they can be disposed of only in an underground injection control
16
well under
the UIC program.
In case of bottom sediment,
there
17
are various methodologies approved
in a commercial disposal well
18
or another Class
2 well.
They can be disposed of in a licensed
19
special waste landfill,
and they can be placed on leased roads
20
through the permitting processing.
Drilling muds can be exposed
21
through injection or landfill or land farmed on site of the
22
location which
is
the general methodology used.
23
Q.
Why might an operator choose not to use a water input
24
well for inappropriate produced oils or any other liquid oil
14
Keefe Reporting Company
1
field waste?
2
A.
Well,
if you’re using your Class
2 well
for
——
in
3
secondary recoveries
for injection waters
to recover oil.
4
Q.
Is that what secondary recover means,
sir?
5
A.
Yes.
You might not want to use bottom sediments or
6
drilling muds because
it might disrupt your secondary recovery
7
operation.
It would plug up the well,
plug up the reservoir.
It
8
would not provide for good secondary recovery,
so you wouldn’t
9
want
to use those types of fluids
for disposal if you had one
for
10
that purpose.
11
Q.
Okay.
Do these types of disposal that you just
12
discussed,
require permits from the Department?
13
A.
Yes.
14
Q.
Okay.
Are you aware of whether Mr.
Prior possessed such
15
permits from the Illinois
Department of Natural Resources
to
16
dispose
of liquid oil field waste
in
1996?
17
A.
Currently,
and at that time,
he had several disposal
18
wells under Prior Oil Company.
19
Q.
Okay.
You said he had several oil wells under Prior Oil
20
Company?
21
A.
Uh-huh.
22
Q.
So was
it
acceptable for him to dispose of materials
23
down those disposal wells?
24
A.
Those wells would be available to dispose of materials.
15
Keefe Reporting Company
ED
1
Whether you would elect to do so because of the other uses of
2
those wells,
because of secondary recovery,
for example,
you
3
might not want to do that.
4
Q.
Are those the
only permits that Mr.
Prior had in 1996
to
5
dispose of liquid oil field waste?
6
A.
Yes,
those are
the only injection wells that he had.
7
Q.
Okay,
okay.
According to Illinois Department of Natural
8
Resources’
rules and regulations,
is
it ever appropriate to dump
9
liquid oil field waste on the ground?
10
A.
No.
11
Q.
Okay.
Is there such a thing
as clean storm water
12
collected from tank batteries?
13
A.
Well,
theoretically there might be
in
a brand new
14
construction with no operation, but over the years
the Department
15
has tested numerous tank battery sites with the spill and that
16
occurs
in tank batteries,
the overflow,
we have never seen clean
17
storm water discharge contained within tank battery containment
18
dikes.
And consequently,
the rules do not permit discharge of
19
storm water fluid from inside
the containment dike.
20
Q.
Okay.
Are permits required from the Department of
21
Natural Resources to haul liquid oil field waste?
22
A.
Yes.
23
Q.
Okay.
Can you tell me about the permitting process
that
24
one must go
through
to obtain those permits?
16
Keefe Reporting Company
1
A.
It’s
a permitting process
that the
——
requires
2
application to the Department and there’s
a bond requirement,
3
there
is
a fee payment requirement and there
is
a field
4
inspection of the
equipment to make sure it
is
in leak—free
5
condition.
6
Q.
Okay.
In 1996 did Mr.
Prior possess
a permit to haul
7
liquid oil field waste
from the Department of Natural Resources?
8
A.
No.
9
Q.
Okay.
Mr. Bengal,
are you familiar with the facility
10
consisting of several tank batteries
located in the Wamac City
11
Park in Wamac,
Illinois?
12
A.
Yes.
13
Q.
And how are you familiar with this
site?
14
A.
Again,
it was
a site of the spill that o~irfield staff
15
responded to.
I myself was
at that particular site and visit.
16
Q.
Okay.
Now
I believe before you did discuss generally
17
the permitting process briefly with the Department,
can you tell
18
me when
I use the term permittee,
what does
that mean to you?
19
A.
Permittee
is defined by the statutes and our rules as
20
that person required
to hold the permit which allows that person
21
then to operate the wells
or the brine hauling transportation
22
system.
23
Q.
Okay.
And again,
there are certain requirements
24
associated with being the permittee under the Oil and Gas Act?
17
Keefe Reporting Company
1
A.
Yes.
As permittee you are responsible for all the
2
regulatory requirements of the Act and to amend
rules.
3
Q.
Are
you familiar with who
is the permittee for this
4
Wamac City Park site
in
1997?
5
A.
Yes.
I believe it was Prior Oil Company.
6
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal,
what
is
a containment berm?
7
A.
It
is
a earthing construction around the
tank battery
8
that contain spills from the
tanks.
9
Q.
Okay.
And according the
Illinois Oil and Gas Act,
are
10
there certain requirements associated with the containment berm?
11
A.
Yes,
it
is
required to be proficient and containing one
12
and one and—a—half times of the largest tank around which
it
13
surrounds.
14
Q.
Are there also requirements
that the land located within
15
a containment berm be free of any oil
or produced fluids?
16
A.
Yes,
it’s
supposed
to be
kept free of produced fluids or
17
other oil
field debris.
18
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal,
are you familiar with a facility
19
consisting of several above ground tank batteries at the
20
Oestreich No.
1 located
at
224 Wabash?
21
A.
Yes.
22
Q.
And how are you familiar with this tank battery?
23
A.
Again,
it was the site of
a spill event that
the
24
Division of Oil and Gas
has responded to.
18
Keefe Reporting Company
1
Q.
Okay.
According
to
a Department of Natural Resources’
2
records, who was
the permittee for this site
in 1997?
3
A.
Mezo Oil Company.
4
Q.
Okay.
And are you generally familiar with Mezo Oil
5
Company?
6
A.
Yes.
7
Q.
And how are you familiar with this oil company?
8
A.
They have been an operator in Illinois for a number of
9
years before
I became
supervisor of Division of Oil and Gas.
10
Q.
And does Mezo currently have wells permitted to them?
11
A.
Yes.
12
Q.
Okay.
Mr. Bengal,
I’m going to hand you what’s been
13
previously mark People’s Exhibit No.
25
for identification.
And
14
then
I’ll ask you
to identify this document for me.
Can you
15
identify this document,
sir?
16
A.
These are documents
I was first presented to last week
17
regarding the sale of certain properties
from Mezo Oil Company to
18
Prior Oil Company.
19
Q.
Who showed you these documents?
20
A.
Yourself.
21
Q.
Okay.
And would you characterize this document
as
an
22
Assignment?
23
A.
Yes.
24
Q.
Okay.
What’s
an Assignment when
I use that term?
19
Keefe Reporting Company
CD
1
A.
An Assignment
is
the assignment of the various oil and
2
gas
interests from one person
to another person.
It’s
a transfer
3
of ownership.
4
Q.
Does that typically happen with wells
in
the state?
5
A.
Yes.
6
Q.
Okay.
And with whom did that assignment transfer or
7
seek
to transfer
a working interest to?
8
A.
The document shows that the wells,
or these various
9
interests
in this particular well,
was transferred from James
10
Mezo to John Prior.
11
Q.
Okay.
And what does that document indicate to you
12
generally?
13
A.
This
indicates that the responsibility or the ownership
14
of this particular property transferred from James Mezo
to John
15
Prior in 1995.
16
Q.
Okay.
Now you said you just saw that document
last
17
week?
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Okay.
Have you ever seen any sort of an Operating
20
Agreement amongst
the parties?
21
A.
No.
The Department was not aware of this document until
22
last week.
Had the
Department been aware of this document
in
23
1995,
the Department would have exercised an action
to require
24
the transfer of this well from Mr. Mezo
as permittee
to Prior Oil
20
Keefe Reporting Company
1
Company as permittee.
2
Q.
Okay.
When
I say an Operating Agreement, what
do
I mean
3
by that?
4
A.
Had the transfer not taken place,
the only other
5
methodology that would have allowed Mr. Mezo to be and remain
6
permittee with Mr.
Prior
as the owner, would be the
——
an
7
Operating Agreement between Prior Oil Company and James Mezo.
An
8
Operating Agreement
is
a document that provides the rights
to
9
operate
to
a person who
is not the owner.
10
Q.
Okay.
Does this document tell you that in
essence that
11
Mr. Mezo was posing as
the permittee for this site?
12
A.
Yes.
Past
——
or after 1995 Mr. Mezo was not the owner
13
and was not technically the permittee without an Operating
14
Agreement with Mr.
Prior.
15
Q.
Why might Mr. Mezo be acting or serving as permittee
in
16
this instance?
17
A.
I can only assume,
but my assumption would be that had
18
the
——
had Mr.
Prior requested a transfer of these wells,
that he
19
would have been
——
the Department would not have been able to do
20
the transfer due
to permit blocks relative
to enforcement actions
21
against
Prior Oil Company.
22
Q.
And you said there were permit blocks against Mr.
Prior,
23
can you tell me
a
little bit about that?
24
A.
When an operator
is
in violation,
the statute requires
21
Keefe Reporting Company
1
or does not permit that permittee to
acquire new permits to drill
2
new wells or receive transfer of existing wells.
3
Q.
So
in essence, Mr.
Prior did not have the ability to
4
operate this facility in
his
own name;
is
that correct?
5
A.
Correct.
6
Q.
Okay.
Before,
sir,
I had a brief discussion with you
7
about annual well fees,
can you just tell me again what purpose
8
they serve?
9
A.
The annual well fees are
a
fee that
is required to be
10
paid each year by every permittee.
The well fees are based on
11
the number of wells
the particular permittee owns.
One well is
12
$150,
2
to
5 to five wells
is
$300,
6 to 25 wells
is
$750,
25
——
13
26 to 100 wells
is
$1,500.
And if you own over
100 wells,
it’s
14
$1,500 plus
$12.50 per well.
15
Q.
Is there
a
fee each year for the wells?
16
A.
Each July each permittee
is
sent a bill based on the
17
number of wells they own,
which
is accompanied by
a list of every
18
well and well name and the well location.
19
Q.
Okay.
And so you just indicated that bill does
20
specifically indicate the wells that are permitted to each
21
permittee in any year for which the annual well fee
is
22
applicable?
23
A.
Correct.
24
Q.
Correct.
I’m going to hand you what has been previously
22
Keefe Reporting Company
1
marked as
People’s
26.
I’m going to ask you to
identify that.
2
Unfortunately,
I only have one copy of
it but I’m going to show
3
it to the Respondents.
4
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Ms. Carter,
you also have
--
don’t
5
forget
——
6
MS.
CARTER:
I won’t forget.
I was going to make
a motion
7
at
the end.
I only have one copy.
I was
going to hand it to you
8
all
at once.
9
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
10
MS.
CARTER:
When you’re done reviewing it,
Mr.
Prior,
11
please pass
it to Mr. Mezo and then
I will
show it
to the
12
witness.
13
Q.
(By Ms.
Carter)
Have you had
a chance
to
review that
14
document,
Mr.
Bengal?
15
A.
Yes.
16
Q.
Can you identify that document
for me?
17
A.
This
is
a copy of the well list that would have
18
accompanied the fiscal year 1997 annual well fee bill to James
19
Mezo.
20
Q.
And again,
that’s
a document that
is regularly generated
21
by the Department
of Natural Resources?
22
A.
It’s generated each year for the billing of each
23
operator and sent
to each operator.
24
Q.
And this billing,
is
it
for Mr.
Mezo?
23
Keefe Reporting Company
ED
1
A.
Yes.
2
Q.
And for what
year?
3
A.
Fiscal year 1997, which would have been billed in July
4
1996.
5
Q.
And what information
is
included on there?
Specifically
6
what wells are included on there that
is significant to this
7
lawsuit?
8
A.
The Oestreich No.
1 well
is what
is included on the
9
list.
10
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal,
I’m going
to hand you what has been
11
previously marked People’s Exhibit No.
27
for identification.
12
And if you could identify this document for me,
sir.
13
A.
This
is
a copy of the check for payment of the
FY
—-
14
Q.
Did
I get
the right one,
sir?
15
A.
This
is
for
‘98
is what you have.
16
Q.
I have another copy.
Let me
start over.
Oh,
I
do.
Let
17
me start over.
I’ll take
a different
——
I’m going to take that
18
back,
and I’m going to pull that
exhibit back.
Give me
a new
19
number on those,
please.
Give you
a new exhibit,
Mr.
Bengal.
20
I’m handing you what has been marked People’s Exhibit No.
28
for
21
identification.
See
if you can identify that.
22
A.
This
is
a copy of the check permitted for payment for
23
the FY
‘97
annual well
fee,
well fees by James Mezo Oil Company.
24
Q.
And what does that
indicate?
24
Keefe Reporting Company
CD
1
A.
It indicates that all
the wells included in the list,
2
the bill was paid in
full $1,500.
3
Q.
Okay.
Mr.
Bengal,
are you familiar with the Morgan
4
Kalber Kamp No.
1 tank located in close proximity to
312 Wabash
5
in Wamac,
Illinois?
6
A.
Yes.
7
Q.
And how are you familiar with this tank?
8
A.
Again,
it’s
a site of
a spill event that was responded
9
to by Department staff.
10
Q.
Okay.
And according to the Department of Natural
11
Resources’
records, who was the tank permitted to in 2000?
12
A.
I have to refresh my memory.
13
Q.
Okay.
I will do that.
14
A.
There’s different
leases.
15
Q.
Let me find documents.
I’ve got
kind of
a mess over
16
here.
Would the Inspector’s Spill Report
from that incident
17
assist you in refreshing your recollection?
18
A.
Yes.
19
Q.
Okay.
20
A.
I apologize.
I regulate
40,000 wells in the state so
21
it’s hard to keep track of them all.
Yes,
permittee for this
22
tank was John
Prior,
Prior Oil Company.
23
MS.
CARTER:
Thank you,
Mr.
Bengal.
I have no further
24
questions
for this witness.
25
Keefe Reporting Company
1
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
Thank you.
Mr.
Prior,
do
2
you have any questions
for this witness?
3
MR.
PRIOR:
Just one.
4
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Can you
see from there?
5
MR.
PRIOR:
Yes.
He’s seen enough of me.
6
CROSS-EXAMINATION
7
QUESTIONS BY MR.
PRIOR:
8
Q.
You said the Morgan Kalber Kamp battery
is
a tank being
9
used for the workover or plugging of
a well considered
a tank
10
battery?
11
A.
If
a well
——
if that tank
is sitting there for a short
12
period of time,
days or so forth,
for
a workover to occur,
that’s
13
not considered a tank battery.
If
it sits there long—term,
14
months,
years,
it would be considered a part of a tank battery
15
other than still with the workover.
I’m not familiar with the
16
time frames for your question for this particular site.
17
Q.
Okay.
I
said one question but
I do have one more.
18
A.
Okay.
19
Q.
Are you familiar with the
——
the investigation that was
20
done into the alleged vandalism of that tank?
21
A.
No.
I’m aware of
it because you mentioned that to our
22
field staff,
I believe maybe myself,
but that’s all I’m aware
of.
23
MR.
PRIOR:
Thank you.
That’s all.
24
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Mr.
Mezo,
do you have any
26
Keefe Reporting Company
1
questions for the witness?
2
MR.
MEZO:
No.
3
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Oh,
4
I’m sorry,
Ms.
Carter.
5
MS.
CARTER:
I need to make
a motion at this point.
6
People’s Exhibit 25 tl7rough 28 with the exception of 26 or 27.
7
Let me be clear.
Exhibit 25,
26 and
28.
8
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
There
is no 27?
9
MS. CARTER:
That was a mistake.
10
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
There
is no People’s
11
Exhibit 27?
12
MS.
CARTER:
Yes,
thank you.
13
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Do the Respondents have any
14
objection to these exhibits?
Hearing none,
I will admit People’s
15
Exhibit Nos.
25,
26 and
28.
16
MS.
CARTER:
Thank you.
17
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
I have 25
so
I have all of them.
18
Thank you.
Is there anything else before
-—
19
MS.
CARTER:
No,
thank you.
20
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
All
right.
Before we hear closing
21
arguments,
I’d like to mention a discussion we had off the record
22
regarding post—hearing briefs.
The transcript will be available
23
from the court reporter by September 26th and will be posted on
24
the Board’s website as soon as possible thereafter.
The public
27
Keefe Reporting Company
1
comment deadline will be October 3rd.
Public comment must be
2
filed in accordance with Section 101.628 of the Board’s
3
procedural
rules.
4
The parties have agreed to a briefing schedule as follows:
5
The Complainant’s brief will be due on October 27 and
6
Respondents’ brief will be due by November
24th,
and
7
Complainants’
reply brief,
if any, will be due December
8th.
Now
8
would the People like to make a closing statement?
9
MS.
CARTER:
No,
the people will reserve argument for its
10
brief.
11
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Mr.
Prior, would you like to make
12
a closing argument?
13
MR.
PRIOR:
No.
14
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Mr.
Mezo,
would you like to make a
15
closing argument?
16
MR. MEZO:
Yes.
First of all,
I need to correct something
17
we did yesterday.
Ms. Carter asked me how many wells
I had
18
permitted in the
state,
and
I believe my answer was probably
19
around
60.
Well,
yesterday afternoon
I had a chance to look at
20
my well
fee report
for the current year,
and
I guess
I had failed
21
to account
for some wells that had been plugged in and some that
22
had been sold,
14 or 15 of which was a unit,
that took over a
23
year to get the permits transferred from my
——
to the new owner.
24
So as you can see, my track record for getting wells transferred
28
Keefe Reporting Company
1
off my bond is not too good.
But anyway, my answer should have
2
been 42
-—
or 41.
I’m sorry.
41.
It wasn’t an intentional
3
misstatement.
I just didn’t have it
in my mind.
4
And
I would like to say that I’ve been in the oil and gas
5
business
for approximately 23 years.
And, of course,
I realize
I
6
didn’t handle this situation very good.
The only thing
I
can
7
plea is ignorance and inexperience because in those
23 years,
8
this is the only incident that I’ve been involved in where the
9
EPA,
you know, was involved so
I really had no reference.
10
I tried to follow the instructions
I got from the Oil
and
11
Gas People and the EPA, and did respond as quickly was reasonably
12
possible,
and attempted to comply and correct the situation until
13
I got the letter from the Attorney General’s Office saying that
I
14
had failed to adequately reply.
And that’s when
I requested the
15
meeting with the EPA and went to Springfield and had that
16
meeting.
And, of course,
that generated the violation to
17
Mr.
Prior in Prior Oil Company.
18
I had gone,
I thought,
as far as,
you know,
I could with my
19
limited knowledge of what
I needed to do.
So after that meeting,
20
I got a copy of the subsequent Violation Notice that was sent to
21
Mr.
Prior and Prior Oil and
I guess misinterpreted that because
22
when they said
I had furnished the information that
I didn’t own
23
the equipment,
that
I rightly or wrongly believed that
I didn’t
24
have any
——
any right or obligation to do anything with that
29
Keefe Reporting Company
1
equipment since
I no longer owned
it.
And, of course,
I realize
2
that the permit was still
in my name but
I guess
I just didn’t
3
know what to do.
I had decided that
——
I think we lost a tool in
4
the hole early on in this well and was unable to retrieve
the
5
tool which that blocked
—-
actually the zone we were unable to
6
really get it driven down.
And
I thought at that time that
7
that the only solution was to plug the well and forget
it.
8
And now
I realize that was what should have been done.
But
9
Mr.
Prior felt that there was a possibility of the well,
so he
10
believed and told me at that time,
that he had his violations
11
pretty well under control and was going to be able to get the
12
permit transferred, which turned out not to be the case.
And so
13
but to my knowledge, and
I believe this
is right and Mr.
Prior
14
can say yes or no,
but to my knowledge that well was never
15
operated as an oil well after this
——
after this assignment
was
16
made and the OG—22
turned over to him.
The record will show
17
whether any oil was run or anything, but
I’m confident that
——
Is
18
that the case?
19
MR.
PRIOR:
There was never any oil sold off that well at
20
no time.
21
MR. MEZO:
To my knowledge the well was
never operated by
22
anybody.
It was in limbo.
I kept hoping that the permit would
23
be transferred and it wasn’t.
And
I guess from lack of,
you
24
know,
what to do and how to handle that situation,
we let it
30
Keefe Reporting Company
1
ride,
which
I can’t justify
it,
but
I just wanted to explain to
2
the Oil and Gas People and the Environmental
Protection People
3
that,
you know,
I’m not
—-
I’m not an enemy of the environment.
4
I did what
I could.
So
I would request that the Violation Notice
5
issued to Mr.
Prior on December the 12th of
‘98 replace the
6
violation that was issued to me on December the 12th of
‘97.
7
Thank you.
8
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Thank you, Mr.
Mezo.
At this time
9
since there are no members of the public here to make any public
10
comment,
I will proceed to make a statement as to the credibility
11
of witnesses
testifying during this hearing.
Based on my legal
12
judgment and experience,
I
find all the witnesses to be credible.
13
Are there any final comments before we adjourn?
14
MS.
CARTER:
No.
15
HEARING OFFICER SUDMAN:
Okay.
At this time
I will
16
conclude the proceedings and we stand adjourned.
Thank you all
17
for your time.
18
MS.
CARTER:
Thank you.
19
(Hearing concluded at
10 a.m.)
20
21
22
23
24
31
Keefe Reporting Company
STATE OF ILLINOIS
COUNTY OF FAYETTE
CERTIFICATE
I,
BEVERLY
S. HOPKINS,
a Notary Public in and for the
County of Fayette,
State of Illinois, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the
foregoing 31 pages
comprise
a true,
complete and correct
transcript of the proceedings held on the 15th and 16th day of
September A.D.,
2003,
at the Washington County Courthouse,
Court
Room
2,
101 East St. Louis
Street, Nashville,
Illinois,
in the
case of the People of the State
of Illinois versus John Prior,
d/b/a Prior Oil Company and James Mezo,
d/b/a Mezo Oil Company,
in proceedings held before Hearing Officer Carol Sudman, and
recorded in machine shorthand by me.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF
I have hereunto set my hand and affixed
by Notarial Seal this 21st day of September A.D.,
2003.
OFFICIAL
SEAL
BEVERLY S HOPKINS
NOTARY
PUBUC,
STATE OF ILLiNOIS
MY COMMISSION EXPIRES:O 1/29/08
CSR License No.
084—004316
Beverly
S. Hopkins
Notary Public and
Certified Shorthand Reporter and
Registered Professional Reporter
KEEFE REPORTING COMPANY
32
Keefe Reporting Company
A
7:23
a.m 31:19
business 29:5
concluded 3 1:19
abandoned 7:7
11:1
agreed 28:4
__________________
__________________
concurrent 7:12
8:9
12:12
13:7,11,12
Agreement 7:22
B
C
condition
17:5
~
13:15,19,20,20
8:1520:2021:2,7
bachelor3:23
C2:132:4,4
confident30:17
ability22:3
21:8,14
back7:924:18,18
call3:12 10:12
conjunction9:3
able21:19 30:11
alleged
26:20
background
5:17
called 3:14
13:7
consequently
16:18
about 3:20 4:7,19
allowed 21:5
based 22:10,16
calling
12:4
considered 26:9,13
6:3,177:4,108:5
allowsll:1417:20
31:11
career5:5
26:14
9:15 10:16 14:11
amend 18:2
batteries 16:12,16
Carol 1:16 32:14
consisting 12:1
16:23 21:23 22:7
amongst 20:20
17:10 18:19
Carter
2:3 3:12,17
17:10
18:19
above 18:19
and-a-half 18:12
battery 16:15,17
5:19,23
9:6,11
construction 9:21
acceptable 15:22
and/or 8:24
18:7,22
26:8,10,13
23:4,6,10,13 25:23
16:14
18:7
access 11:15
annual 10:6,10 22:7
26:14
27:4,5,9,12,16,19
consulting 5:3,4
accompanied
22:17
22:9,21 23:18
became
19:9
28:9,17
31:14,18
contain 18:8
23:18
24:23
beforel:1,165:23
casel0:2214:14,16
contained9:17
accordance28:2
annuallyl0:2,5
9:11 17:16
19:9
30:12,18
32:12
16:17
according
11:22
another 14:18 20:2
22:6 27:18,20
certain 7:11 14:8
containing 18:11
16:7 18:9 19:1
24:16
31:13 32:14
17:23 18:10 19:17
containment 16:17
25:10
answer28:1829:1
beginning3:3
Certified5:9
32:21
16:19
18:6,10,15
account
28:21
anybody 30:22
being
10:23
13:4
CERTIFY
32:7
contract 13:18
accreditation 5:7
anything 27:18
17:24 26:8
chance 23:13
28:19
contracts
10:24
accurately 5:16
29:24 30:17
believe
12:14
17:16
characterize 19:21
control
1:1
4:11,23
acquire22:1
anyway29:1
18:5 26:22
28:18
check24:13,22
6:16,19 14:15
acquiring 10:3
apologize7:19
30:13
Chief 1:16
30:11
Act4:10,12 6:3,5,20
25:20
believed 29:23
choose
14:23
copies 7:20
7:10
8:10,11 9:12
applicable 8:21
30:10
City
17:10
18:4
copys:15
7:20 23:2
9:16,18
13:3
17:24
22:22
Bellevifie
1:23
clarify 3:6
8:15,17
23:7,17 24:13,16
18:2,9
applicationl7:2
Bengal2:103:12,13
8:20
24:2229:20
acting 21:15
applications 9:23
3:19,20 5:12,23
Class 6:19,23,24
correct 9:13 10:11
action 12:17,19 13:1
appropriate
16:8
11:24 13:19,23
14:18 15:2
22:4,5,23,24 28:16
13:15,21 20:23
approved 14:17
17:9 18:6,18 19:12
clean 16:11,16
29:12 32:8
actions 2 1:20
approximately
23:14 24:10,19
clear 27:7
Counsel 2:5
actually3O:5
10:18
12:13,16
25:3,23
close25:4
County 1:15 32:2,7
address8:8
29:5
berml8:6,10,15
closing27:2028:8
32:10
adequately29:14
area6:14
12:5
between7:228:9
28:12,15
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