ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
August
21,
1980
ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
)
PROTECTION AGENCY,
)
Complainant,
v.
)
PCB 79—116
BECKWITH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION,
)
INC.,
an Illinois not—for—profit
)
Corporation,
Respondent.
MR. THOMAS
R. CHIOLA, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, APPEARED ON BEHALF
OF THE COMPLAINANT.
JACOBS, WILLIAMS AND MONTGOMERY, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
(MR. BARRY
L.
KROLL, OF COUNSEL), APPEARED ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT.
*
OPINION AND ORDER OF THE BOARD
(by N.E.Werner):
This matter comes before the Board on the May 31,
1979 Complaint
brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
(“Agency”).
This 4-count Complaint alleged that,
from June,
1975 until May,
1979,
the Respondent, the Beckwith Community Association,
Inc.,
(the
“Association”) operated a public water supply system (“system”)
and
failed to provide:
(1) chlorination;
(2) fluoridation;
(3) monthly
operating reports to the Agency, and
(4)
“as built” plans of its
system to the Agency in violation of Rules 209,
305,
306, and 310
of Chapter
6:
Public Water Supplies
(“Chapter
6”) and Section 18
of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
(“Act”).
On October 11,
1979, the Respondent
filed a Motion to Dismiss the Agency’s
Complaint and a Memorandum in Support of its Motion to Dismiss.
On October 16,
1979,
the Agency filed a Response to the Respondent’s
Motion to Dismiss the Complaint.
On October 18,
1979,
the Board
denied the Association’s Motion to Dismiss the case.
A hearing was
held on July
9,
1980 at which no members of the public were present.
The parties also filed their Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement
on July
9,
1980.
*Mr.
Kroll, who represented the Respondent,
did not appear at the
hearing, but authorized the Assistant Attorney General to offer the
Stipulation on behalf of the Respondent as well as the Agency.
(R.
3).
39—354
—2—
The Association operates a water supply system which supplies
water for drinking and general domestic use to the residents of 19
single—family homes located in the Beckwith Community of the
Lincolnshire Estates Subdivision in the Village of Crete, Will
County,
Illinois.
Water is obtained from
2 drilled wells
(which are both about
185 feet deep) and discharged, without treatment, to pressure
storage tanks which supply the system.
One well is operating at
all times, while the other is on standby
in case of breakdowns.
Distribution is via 4—inch cast iron mains with 6,000 gallons of
underground storage capacity in 2 pressure tanks.
(See: Exhibits
A through E).
The Association has indicated to the Agency that each of its
members currently pays
a $65.00 annual fee as his pro rata share
of the system’s annual expense and that “no metering of water use or
other sources of income” to the Association are part of the
Respondent’s operations.
(Stip.
4).
On July 16,
1975, the Agency sent a letter to the Association
indicating that various deficiencies existed in the operation of
the Association’s water supply.
(See:
Exhibit A).
On August 12,
1975,
Mr. John Sember, President of the Association, wrote a letter
to the Village of Crete which requested that the Village supply it
with water as an adjunct to annexation of nearby areas by the
Village of Crete at that time.
(See:
Exhibit B,
p.
2).
On
August 12,
1975,
Mr. Sember also sent a letter to the Agency
responding to the Complainant’s July
16,
1975 letter.
In this
letter to the Agency, Mr. Sember requested a temporary variance
from the requirements pertaining to fluoridation, chlorination,
and master metering “due to the eventual extension of the Crete
water distribution system to Lincoinshire East,
a new annexation,
which will include our area.”
(See:
Exhibit B,
p.
1).
On October 22,
1975,
Mr. William R. Bruin, a trustee of the
Village of Crete, wrote a letter to the Agency pertaining to the
Association’s request and noted that water service in that area
would still be a few years away.
(See: Exhibit C).
On November 21,
1975,
a meeting between Agency personnel and the President of the
Association apparently resulted in a preliminary understanding
pertaining to the implementation of various activities to come into
compliance with the Board’s Public Water Supply Regulations and the
Act.
(See: Exhibit D).
However, the implementation program was not carried out,
and
on October 20,
1978, the Agency again notified the Respondent
about various appropriate corrective activities.
(See: Exhibit E).
The Respondent has maintained that it has acted under the belief
(which was reinforced by the legal advice of its attorneys) that
it was a private, rather than a public, water supply system and
thus not subject to the requirements of Chapter
6 or the Act.
39—355
—3—
The record indicates that “since the original deep well turbine
pump and cast iron mains were installed prior to 1941” by Mr. Sam
Homan,
a now—deceased real estate developer,
the Association “will
need to search through the records to come up with a reasonable
approximation of the ‘as built’
plans and specifications.”
(See:
Exhibit
B,
p.
1).
The parties have also stipulated that the
Respondent has provided a certified Class D operator to run its
public water supply system during all times pertaining to this
proceeding.
(Stip.
4).
The proposed settlement agreement provides that the Respondent
admits the allegations charged in the Complaint and agrees to cease
and desist from further violations.
It is stipulated that, by
September
1,
1980, the Association shall:
(1) provide chlorination
for its system;
(2) provide fluoridation;
(3) begin to supply the
Agency with monthly operating reports;
(4)
supply the Agency with
the requisite “as built” drawings;
(5) provide a certified Class C
water supply operator, and
(6)
pay a stipulated penalty of $100.00
(Stip.
5—6).
In evaluating this enforcement action and proposed settlement,
the Board has taken into consideration all the facts and circum-
stances in light of the specific criteria delineated in Section 33(c)
of the Act.
The Board finds the stipulated agreement acceptable
under Procedural Rule 331 and Section 33(c) of the Act.
The Board
finds that the Respondent, the Beckwith Community Association,
Inc.,
has violated Rules 209,
305,
306,
and 310 of Chapter
6:
Public
Water Supplies and Section 18 of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act.
The Respondent is ordered to cease and desist from
further violations of Chapter
6 and the Act.
The stipulated penalty
of $100.00 is assessed against the Beckwith Community Association,
Inc.
This Opinion constitutes the Board’s findings of fact and
conclusions of law in this matter.
ORDER
It is the Order of the Illinois Pollution Control Board that:
1.
The Respondent,
the Beckwith Community Association,
Inc.,
has violated Rules 209,
305,
306,
and 310 of Chapter
6:
Public
Water Supplies and Section 18 of the Illinois Environmental
Protection Act.
2.
The Respondent shall cease and desist from further
violations.
3.
Within 45 days of the date of this Order, the Respondent
shall, by certified check or money order payable to the State of
Illinois, pay the stipulated penalty of
$100.00 which is to he
sent to:
39—356
—4—
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Fiscal Services Division
2200 Churchill Road
Springfield, Illinois
62706
4.
The Respondent shall comply with all the terms and
conditions of the Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement filed
July
9,
1980, which
is incorporated by reference as if fully set
forth herein.
I, Christan L. Moffett, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control
Board, hereby certify that the above Opinion and Order wer
adopted
on the
~
day of
_____________,
1980 by a vote of
0
Christan L. Moffet
,fqy~rK
Illinois Pollution C~n~rolBoard
39—357
