ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
    November 17, 2005
     
    PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
     
    Complainant,
     
    v.
     
    WEBB, AG, Inc., an Illinois corporation,
     
    Respondent.
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    PCB 06-54
    (Enforcement – Land)
    ORDER OF THE BOARD (by A.S. Moore):
     
    On November 2, 2005, the Office of the Attorney General, on behalf of the People of the
    State of Illinois (People), filed a three-count complaint against Webb, Ag, Inc. (Webb).
    According to the complaint, Webb owns an agrichemical sales and distribution facility in
    Fairview, Fulton County. The complaint concerns an
    overturned flatbed truck in Duncan Mills, Fulton County. In this order, the Board accepts for
    hearing two counts of the complaint and directs the People to address the Board’s authority to
    hear a third count of the complaint.
     
    Under the Environmental Protection Act (Act) (415 ILCS 5 (2004)), the Attorney
    General and the State’s Attorneys may bring actions before the Board to enforce Illinois’
    environmental requirements on behalf of the People.
    See
    415 ILCS 5/31 (2004); 35 Ill. Adm.
    Code 103. In this case, the People have brought a three-count complaint against Webb. The
    People allege that on June 5, 2003, a flatbed truck owned by Webb rolled on its side at the
    intersection of Ray Road and a private lane located just east of County Road 11 in Duncan Mills,
    of fertilizer solution into a ditch at the
    northeast corner of the intersection. The complaint further alleges that the spill site is in the
    Spoon River flood plain, approximately one-quarter mile southwest of an unnamed tributary of
    the Spoon River.
     
    The complaint states that count I is brought under Section 31 of the Act (415 ILCS 5/31
    (2004)) on the Attorney General’s own motion and at the request of the Illinois Environmental
    Protection Agency (Agency). In count I, the People allege that Webb violated the Act (415 ILCS
    5/12(d) (2004)) by depositing a contaminant within one-quarter mile of a water of the State so as
    to create a water pollution hazard. The complaint also states that count III is likewise brought
    under Section 31 of the Act on the Attorney General’s own motion and at the request of the
    Agency. In count III, the People allege that Webb violated the Act (415 ILCS 5/21(e) (2004)) by
    abandoning waste at an improper site. As relief for counts I and III of the complaint, the People
    ask the Board to order Webb to cease and desist from further violations and to pay civil
    penalties. The Board finds that counts I and III of the complaint meet the content requirements
    of the Board’s procedural rules and accepts those two counts of the complaint for hearing.
    See
     
    35 Ill. Adm. Code 103.204(c), (f), 103.212(c).
     
    2
     
    Unlike counts I and III, count II does not allege a violation of the Act. Count II states
    that it is brought not only on the Attorney General’s own motion, but also at the request of the
    Illinois Emergency Management Agency under Section 16(a) of the Illinois Emergency Planning
    and Community Right to Know Act (430 ILCS 100/16(a) (2004)). In count II, the People allege
    that Webb violated the Illinois Hazardous Materials Emergency Act (430 ILCS 50/7.01 (2004))
    and 29 Ill. Adm. Code 430.30 by not reporting the release at the spill site as required. As relief
    for count II, the People ask the Board to order Webb to cease and desist from further violations
    and to pay civil penalties.
     
    Before the Board will direct the hearing officer to proceed to hearing, the Board directs
    the People to address the Board’s jurisdiction to hear count II of the complaint. The People must
    file this pleading by December 19, 2005. Webb may file a response within 14 days after being
    served with the People’s pleading. The time period for Webb to file an answer or motion (35 Ill.
    Adm. Code 101.506, 103.204(d)) in response to the People’s complaint is stayed until the Board
    orders otherwise.
     
    IT IS SO ORDERED.
     
    I, Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk of the Illinois Pollution Control Board, certify that the Board
    adopted the above order on November 17, 2005, by a vote of 4-0.
     
    Dorothy M. Gunn, Clerk
    Illinois Pollution Control Board
     
     

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