Lisa Madigan
A
-
MORNEY GENERAL
December 19, 2005
The Honorable Dorothy Gunn
Illinois Pollution Control Board
James R. Thompson Center, Ste. 11-500
100 West Randolph
Chicago, Illinois 60601
Re
:
People v. Paul Monnier
Dear Clerk Gunn
:
Enclosed for filing please find the original and ten copies of a Notice of Filing, Entry of
Appearance and Complaint in regard to the above-captioned matter . Please file the originals and
return file-stamped copies to me in the enclosed, self-addressed envelope
.
Thank you for your cooperation and consideration .
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF ILLINOIS
p6 ~
ol~ -"'6
RECEIVED
CLERK'S
OFFICE
DEC 2 1 2005
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Pollution Control Board
Raymond Callery
Environmental Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
(217) 782-9031
1001 East Main, Carbondale, Illinois 62901
•
(618) 529-6400
•
TTY: (618) 529-6403
•
Fax: (618) 529-6416
RC/pp
Enclosures
500 South Second Street, Springfield, Illinois 62706
•
(217) 782-1090
•
TTY: (217) 785-2771
•
Fax: (217) 782-7046
100 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois 60601
•
(312) 814-3000
•
"PITY: (312) 814-3374
•
Fax: (312) 814-3806
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
RECEIVED
CLERKS OFFICE
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
)
DEC 2 1 2005
ILLINOIS,
)
STATE
OF ILLINOIS
Complainant,
)
Pollution Control Board
vs .
)
PCB No
.
Q
(Enforcement)
PAUL MONNIER,
)
Respondent .
)
NOTICE OF FILING
To :
Paul Monnier
1515 Clinton St
.
Warsaw, IL 62379
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on this date I mailed for filing with the Clerk of the Pollution
Control Board of the State of Illinois, a COMPLAINT, a copy of which is attached hereto and
herewith served upon you. Failure to file an answer to this Complaint within 60 days may have
severe consequences . Failure to answer will mean that all allegations in this Complaint will be
taken as if admitted for purposes of this proceeding . If you have any questions about this
procedure, you should contact the hearing officer assigned to this proceeding, the Clerk's Office
or an attorney
.
1
FURTHER, please
take notice that financing may be available, through the Illinois
Environmental Facilities Financing Act, 20 ILCS 3515/1 (2004), to correct the pollution alleged in
the Complaint filed in this case
.
Respectfully submitted,
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
LISA MADIGAN,
Attorney General of the
State of Illinois
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217/782-9031
Dated: December 19, 2005
2
MATTHEW J. DUNN, Chief
Environm ntal E~fCr'C ment/Asbestos
Litigation
ivisidn
BY : ~~
RAYMOND GALLERY
Assistant Attorney General
Environmental Bureau
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I did on December 19, 2005, send by certified mail, with postage
thereon fully prepaid, by depositing in a United States Post Office Box a true and correct copy
of the following instruments entitled NOTICE OF FILING, ENTRY OF APPEARANCE and
COMPLAINT :
To :
Paul Monnier
1515 Clinton St
.
Warsaw, IL 62379
and the original and ten copies by First Class Mail with postage thereon fully prepaid of the
same foregoing instrument(s)
:
To :
Dorothy Gunn, Clerk
Illinois Pollution Control Board
James R. Thompson Center
Suite 11-500
100 West Randolph
Chicago, Illinois 60601
This filing is submitted on recycled paper .
Raymond Callery
Assistant Attorney General
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARERECEIVED
CLERKS
OFFICE
PEOPLE
OF
THE STATE OF
)
DEC 2 1 2005
ILLINOIS,
)
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Complainant,
)
POIlution Control Board
VS
.
)
PCB No .
UFO
~~ O
(Enforcement)
PAUL MONNIER,
)
Respondent
.
)
ENTRY OF APPEARANCE
On behalf of the Complainant; PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, RAYMOND
GALLERY, Assistant Attorney General of the State of Illinois, hereby enters his appearance as
attorney of record
.
Respectfully submitted,
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217/782-9031
Dated: December 19, 2005
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
LISA MADIGAN
Attorney General of the
State of Illinois
MATTHEW J. DUNN, Chief
L
Environ ental Enforcement/Asbestos
itigation Divisi n
AYMOND CALLERY
Environmental Bureau
Assistant Attorney General
BY
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
)
Complainant,
vs .
No. 06-
10
S
(Enforcement)
PAUL MONNIER,
Respondent .
)
COMPLAINT
The PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, by LISA MADIGAN, Attorney General of
the State of Illinois, on her own motion and at the request of the ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY, complains of the Respondent, PAUL MONNIER, as follows
:
COUNT I
WATER POLLUTION HAZARD VIOLATIONS
This Count is brought by the Attorney General of the State of Illinois on her own
motion and at the request of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ("Illinois EPA"),
pursuant to the terms and provisions of Section 31 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act
("the Act"), 415 ILCS 5/31 (2004)
.
2 .
The Illinois EPA is an agency of the State of Illinois created by the Illinois
General Assembly in Section 4 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/4 (2004), and charged,
inter alia,
with the
duty of enforcing the Act in proceedings before the Illinois Pollution Control Board
.
3
.
The Complaint is brought pursuant to Section 31 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/31
(2004), after providing the Respondent with notice and opportunity for a meeting with the Illinois
EPA .
4 .
West Central FS, Inc., is an agricultural cooperative, in good standing, organized
on April 1, 2001, under the provisions of the Agricultural Co-operative Act, 805 ILCS 315/1 et
R
ECEIVED
DEC 2 12005
PoIIut
0n
Control
Boacl
1
seq. (2004). West Central owns and operates an agrichemical facility in West Point, Hancock
County, Illinois
.
5
.
Paul Monnier, at all times relevant to this Complaint, was an employee of West
Central FS Inc . at the West Point facility and resided at a farm approximately 3 miles northeast
of West Point
.
6 .
Section 12 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/12 (2004), provides in pertinent part that
:
No person shall
:
d
.
Deposit any contaminants upon the land in such place and manner as to
create a water pollution hazard
;
7
.
Section 3.165 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.165 (2004), provides
:
"Contaminant" is any solid, liquid, or gaseous matter, any odor, or any form of
energy, from whatever source
.
8
.
Section 3.395 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.395 (2004), provides in pertinent part :
"Release" means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying,
discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the
environment .
.
.
.
9 .
Section 3.545 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.545 (2004), provides
:
"Water pollution" is such alteration of the physical, thermal, chemical, biological
or radioactive properties of any waters of the State, or such discharge of any
contaminant into any waters of the State, as will or is likely to create a nuisance
or render such waters harmful or detrimental or injurious to public health, safety
or welfare, or to domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or
other legitimate uses, or to livestock, wild animals, birds, fish, or other aquatic
life
.
10 .
Section 3.550 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.550 (2004), provides :
"Waters" means all accumulations of water, surface and underground, natural,
and artificial, public and private, or parts thereof, which are wholly or partially
within, flow through, or border upon this State
.
2
11
.
On May 31, 2002, the Illinois EPA investigated a complaint regarding the
disposal of agrichemicals in a roadside ditch in a
rural area 3 miles northeast of West Point
.
The Illinois EPA observed that the ditch on the north side of the gravel road was wet and
discolored by a yellowish material and that vegetation within the ditch was dead or damaged
.
Within the ditch, the damaged vegetation and yellow stain extended approximately 270 feet
.
12
.
The Illinois EPA determined that the ditch drained toward the southeast
.
Drainage from the ditch would then pass through a cattle
pasture before entering Slater Creek,
which is a "waters" of the State as defined in Section 3 .550 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.550 (2004) .
The distance between the damaged vegetation and yellow stain within the ditch and the point at
which drainage from the ditch and cattle pasture enters Slater Creek is approximately a quarter-
mile
.
13 .
The Illinois EPA collected soil samples from the ditch on May 31, 2002. The
analytical results subsequently indicated significant levels (as measured in parts per billion) of
several herbicides, to wit :
14
.
On a date better known to the Respondent, Paul Monnier obtained an unknown
quantity of rinsate from West Central's facility
.
This rinsate is generated by West Central
3
Herbicide
Sample #1
Sample #2
Alachlor
280
22,000
Acetochlor
5,100
470,000
Atrazine
400,000
380,000
Cyanazine
970
2,500
Metolachlor
19,000
420,000
Pendimethalin
240,000
2,300,000
Trifluralin
3,100
65,000
through the rinsing of the spray-applicators to remove herbicide residues and contained in
aboveground storage tanks for future reuse by Central West
.
Paul Monnier thereafter
intentionally pumped, poured, or dumped this rinsate in the roadside ditch adjacent to his farm
residence. The amount of the rinsate was such that the damaged vegetation and yellow stain
extended approximately 270 feet within the ditch
.
15 .
The rinsate contains "contaminants" as that term is defined at Section 3 .165 of
the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.165 (2004) .
16 .
By causing or allowing the rinsate to be deposited upon the land within the
drainage way, and by subsequently failing to remove such contaminated soils or sediments, the
Respondent has created a water pollution hazard, and thereby violated Section 12(d) of the Act,
415 ILCS 5/12(d) (2004)
.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, the Complainant, People of the State of Illinois, respectfully requests
that this Board enter an Order against the Respondent, Paul Monnier
:
A .
Authorizing a hearing in this matter at which time the Respondent will be
required to answer the allegations herein
;
B
.
Finding that the Respondent has violated the Act and regulations as alleged
herein
;
C .
Ordering Respondent to cease and desist from any further violations of the Act
and associated regulations ;
D .
Pursuant to Section 42(a) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(a) (2004), impose a civil
penalty of not more than the statutory maximum
;
4
E
.
Pursuant to Section 42(f) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(f) (2004), award the
Complainant its costs in this matter, including reasonable attorney's fees and costs ; and
F .
Grant such other and further relief as the Board deems appropriate
.
COUNTII
WASTE DISPOSAL VIOLATIONS
1-15
.
Plaintiff realleges and incorporates herein paragraphs 1 through 15 of Count I as
paragraphs 1 through 15 of this Count II
.
16 .
Section 21 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/21 (2004), provides, in pertinent part, as
follows
:
No person shall
:
Cause or allow the open dumping of any waste
.
b .
Abandon, dump, or deposit any waste upon the public highways or other
public property
.
.
.
.
e
.
Dispose, treat, store or abandon any waste
.
.
. except at a site which
meets the requirements of this Act and of regulations and standards
thereunder .
17
.
Section 3.185 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3 .185 (2004), provides
:
"Disposal" means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling,
leaking or placing of any waste or hazardous waste into or on any land or
water or into any well so that such waste or hazardous waste or any
constituent thereof may enter the environment or be emitted into the air
or discharged into any waters, including ground waters
.
18
.
Section 3.535 of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/3.535 (2004), provides
:
"Waste" means any garbage
.
.
. or other discarded material, including
solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material resulting from
industrial, commercial, mining and agricultural operations
.
.
.
.
5
19 .
As a liquid material containing contaminants and resulting from commercial
operations, the rinsate is a "waste" as that term is defined at Section 3 .535 of the Act, 415 ILCS
5/3.535 (2004) .
20 .
The roadside ditch is adjacent to public highways or and constitutes other public
property as referenced in Section 21(b) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/21(b) (2004)
.
21
.
The roadside ditch is a site or facility that does not meet the requirements of this
Act and of the regulations and standards thereunder, for waste disposal, as referenced in
Section 21(e) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/21(e) (2004) .
22
.
By depositing, dumping, or abandoning this rinsate in the roadside ditch adjacent
to his farm residence, in such an amount that the damaged vegetation and yellow stain
extended approximately 270 feet within the ditch, the Respondent has caused or allowed open
dumping and thereby violated Section 21 (a) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/21 (a) (2004)
.
23 .
By depositing, dumping, or abandoning this rinsate in the roadside ditch adjacent
to his farm residence, in such an amount that the damaged vegetation and yellow stain
extended approximately 270 feet within the ditch, the Respondent has deposited, dumped, or
abandoned waste upon public property and thereby violated Section 21(b) of the Act, 415 ILCS
5/21(b)(2004)
.
24
.
By depositing, dumping, or abandoning this rinsate in the roadside ditch adjacent
to his farm residence, in such an amount that the damaged vegetation and yellow stain
extended approximately 270 feet within the ditch, the Respondent has disposed of waste at a
site or facility that does not meet the requirements of this Act and of the regulations and
standards thereunder and thereby violated Section 21(e) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/21(e) (2004)
.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
6
WHEREFORE, the Complainant, People of the State of Illinois, respectfully requests
that this Board enter an Order against the Respondent, Paul Monnier
:
herein
;
A .
required to answer the allegations herein
;
B
.
C
.
and associated regulations
;
D
.
E .
F
.
Of Counsel
RAYMOND CALLERY
Assistant Attorney General
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217/782-9031
Dated
:
/ / / 5/d
c
Authorizing a hearing in this matter at which time the Respondent will be
Finding that the Respondent has violated the Act and regulations as alleged
Ordering Respondent to cease and desist from any further violations of the Act
Pursuant to Section 42(a) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(a) (2004), impose a civil
penalty of not more than the statutory maximum
;
Pursuant to Section 42(f) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(f) (2004), award the
Complainant its costs in this matter, including reasonable attorney's fees and costs ; and
Grant such other and further relief as the Board deems appropriate
.
Respectfully submitted,
7
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
LISA MADIGAN, Attorney General of the
State of Illinois
MATTHEW J. DUNN, Chief
Environmental Enforcement/Asbestos
Litigation Division
BY :
THOMAS DAVIS, Chief
Assistant Attorney General
Environmental Bureau
