ILLINOIS
POLLUTION
CONTROL
BOARD
~VED
CLERK’S OFFICE
APR
27
2004
OR
STATE
OF
ILLINOIS
Rod
R.Blagojevich
April 23, 2004
Pollution Control Board
CHAIRMAN
0
J7 Philip
Novak
Senator Dale A.
Righter
M013-E
Capitol Building
Springfield,
IL 62706
Dear Senator Righter:
Yesterday
I received your letter dated April
15,
2004, and addressed
to Board
Member Thomas Johnson
regarding
the Pollution
Control Board’s decision
in Landfill
33
v. Effin~hamCounty Board and
Sutter Sanitation
Services, PCB 03-43
(Feb. 20,
2003)
consolidated wit/i
Stock & Co.
v.
Effingham County Board and
Sutter Sanitation
Services. PCB
03-52.
In your letter,
you asked whether the Board in that
case would consider the
+
presence of a mobile home
that was apparently placed
near the Sutter site after
the
county board had approved it
for solid waste transfer.
When
considering an
appeal from
SPRINGFIELD
OFFICE
a county board’s
decision
to grant siting approval,
the
Board’s hearing and decision are
1021
North
GrandAve. East
“to be based
exclusively on the record before the county board
415
ILCS
P.O.
Box
19274
5/40.1(b).
If evidence was
not part of the record of the
Effingham County Board~ssiting
Springfield.
IL
proceedings, then the
Pollution Control Board simply could not review it.
62794-9274
“1 7-5~4-8500
FAX 217-524-8508
As
a former legislator,
I understand and appreciate your request for input on
legislative policy.
However,
in
the letter to Renee Cipriano, Director of the
Environmental
Protection
Agency, that
you attached,
you indicate
that Sutter Sanitation
is now in the
process of filing an appeal
with
the Pollution Control Board.
Under those
circumstances.
it’s not appropriate
for me
to offer comment
pertaining to the facts of that
potential
appeal.
If an
appeal
is filed, the Board will certainly give that case
all due
and
impartial consideration.
CHICAGO OFFICE
I appreciate
your interest in the
Board’s work and hope that you
will contact me
if I can provide you with any other information.
James R. Thompson Center
100 West Randolph
Suite
11-500
Chica°o.
1L 60601
Sincerely,
FAX 312-8i~3669
~\
c~zi~1
‘v~~L
TYY
312-814-6032
J. Philip Novak,
Chairman
+
WEB
SITE
~vww.ipcb.state.il.us
‘III,
I‘~T1
fl
IN
RFC,(LI.I) PAI’I~I~
DISTRICT OFFICE:
916 BROADWAY
MATTOON,
IL
61938
217/235-6033
217(235-6052
FAX)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
STATE OF
ILLINOIS
DALE
A.
RIGHTER
STATE
SENATOR
-
55TH
DISTRICT
SPRINGFIELD
OFFICE:
M103-E
CAPITOL BUILDING
SPRINGFIELD,
IL
62706
217/ 78 2-66 74
R ~
CLERK’S OFFICE
APR 27
2004
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Pollution Control Board
April
15,
2004
Thomas Johnson, Chairman
Pollution Control Board
600
S
7nd
St, Suite 402
Springfield,
II. 62704
Dear Tom:
Enclosed please find a copy of a letter I have sent to the EPA concerning Sutter
Sanitation’s attempt to locate a solid waste transfer
site south of Altamont in Efflngham
County.
The letter outlines the information I have been given and the
problem that
exists.
First,
I would appreciate information from the Board if in the course ofconsidering this
appeal, the
fact that the “residential
dwelling”
was placed onto an
empty lot after the
local county board granted siting approval makes a difference in your decision to affirm
or overturn the decision ofthe EPA. Ifyou do not have
that discretion,
I would appreciate
input from you on changing the
law to
deal with this situation.
Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to
hearing from you.
Sincerely,
DALE
A. RIGHTER
State Senator
55th
District
Cc:
Jim Lippson, Liaison
DAR/al
Enclosure
RECYCLED PAPER
•
SOYBEAN
NKS
)
~.
~
..._~L
-~‘~:
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
STATS
OF
iLUNOIS
DALE A. R~HTER
STATE
SENATOR
55Th
D~STRIC~
April
15,
2004
Renee
Cipriano, Director
Environmental
Protection Agency
©©~
~
Springfield,
IL 62794
Dear Director
Cipriano:
Recently I was contacted
by a constituent in
Shumway, Effingham County,
by the
name
of Tracy Sutter.
Ms.
Sutter
owns
Sutter Sanitation in
Shurnway,
and
is
at
the
center
of a
siting
approval dispute
that involves the EPA, the Pollution Control Board
(PCB),
and
others.
As I understand it,
Sutter Sanitation proposed a solid
waste transfer site south of
Altamont,
which was granted local siting approval in
September 2002
by the Effingham
County Board.
Opponents ofthis
siting approval filed an appeal
with the PCB,
on which
a hearing was held
in
December 2002.
In February 2003
the
PCB
voted
unanimously
to
affirm the decision by the Effingham County board to
grant local
siting approval.
Sutter Sanitation then filed an application
with your agency in September
2003, which
was
denied in March 2004.
According to Mr.
Sutter, the EPA denied the application for
three reasons.
First, the EPA advised that there was inadequate information
in
the application with
regards to the thickness ofthe concrete that would be utilized at the facility. Mr. Sutter
relayed to me
that he has that
information,
and
simply failed to put the details ofit
in
the
application.
Second, there was, according to
the
Agency,
inadequate information
regarding how
SLitter Sanitation would deal with the disposal ofmiscellaneous items
such
as old tires.
Again,
Mi-.
Sutter advised me that he has
a “plan of action” for these
eventualities should
they occur. Finally,
the EPA di~coveredthere was a “residential
dwelling,” which
is a mobile home, placed on an empty lot next to
the site and within
1000 feet ofthe location. Based on these three issues,
as noted above, the EPA denied
Sutter
Sanitation’s permit.
It
is my understanding that the mobile home was moved
onto this vacant lot after the
Effingham
County Board granted local
siting approval in
September 2002.
However, that
eventuality is apparently not
provided for in the law or regulations surrounding this issue.
REC’CLED
PAPER
‘SOYBEAN
NKS
S utter Sanitation
is
now in the
process of filing an appeal
with
the PCB,
and looking for
case or administrative law to Support their position.
I would appreciate input from you
concerning your
view
on this matter.
Thank you for your consideration,
and
I
look forward to
hearing from you.
Sincerelv,
DALE
A. RIGHTER
State Senator
—
Iii
.
5~ District
Cc:
John Cross, Liaison
DAR/al
