Lisa Madigan
AI I'ORNEl GRN(RAI,
The Honorable Dorothy Gunn
Illinois Pollution Control Board
James R. Thompson Center, Ste . 11-500
100 West Randolph
Chicago, Illinois 60601
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 .
Very truly yours,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
STATE OF ILLINOIS
June 6, 2007
Re:
People v. Vithalbhai Patel
RECEIVED
CLERK'S OFFICE
JUN 0 8 2007
STATE OF ILLINOIS
Pollution
Control Board
10(11 East Main, Carbondale, Illinois 629(11 • (618) 529-6400 • 7"1' (6(8) 529-6403 • Fax : (618)5Z9-6416
S
. Janasie
Environmental Bureau
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
(217) 782-9031
SJJ/pp
Enclosures
500 South Second Strcct, Springfcld, Illinois 62706 • (217) 782-1090 •
'11'Y: (217) 785-2771 •
Fax : (217) 782-7046
10(1 West Randolph Street, Chicago, Illinois 60601 • (312) 814-3000 •
TTY: (312) 814-3374
•
Fax : (312) 814-3806
n it,"
RECEIVED
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
CLERK'S OFFICE
JUN 0 8 2007
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
)
ILLINOIS,
)
STATE OF It
Pollution Controlol
Board
Complainant,
)
vs.
)
PCB No.
`51
(Enforcement - Air)
VITHALBHAI PATEL,
)
Respondent.
)
NOTICE OF FILING
To :
Bill Wimmer
Attorney at Law
2 Park Place
Professional Center
Belleville, IL 62226
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: June 6, 2007
2
MATTHEW J . DUNN, Chief
Environmental Enforcement/Asbestos
Litigation Division
BY:
ST
N J . JANASIE
Assistant Attorney General
Environmental Bureau
!CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
RECEIVEDCLERKS
JUN 0 8 2007
STATE OF ILLINOIS
I hereby certify that I did on June 6, 2007, send by certified mail, witlp$ne
Control
ereon fullyBoard
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 : Bill Wimmer
Attorney at Law
2 Park Place
Professional Center
Belleville, IL 62226
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 .
Stephen
Assistant Attorney General
ORIGINAL
RECEIVED
CLERK'S OFFICE
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
JUN 0 8 2007
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
ILLINOIS,
Complainant,
vs.
VITHALBHAI PATEL,
Respondent .
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217/782-9031
Dated : June
6, 2007
PCB No . 01 "~ I
(Enforcement - Air)
MATTHEW J . DUNN, Chief
Environmental Enforcement/Asbestos
Litig tion Div on
BY:
d //7 .d
STEPHr' J 'A 4ASIE
Environmental Bureau
Assistant Attorney General
Pollution
STATE OF
Control
ILLINOISBoard
ENTRY OF APPEARANCE
On behalf of the Complainant, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, STEPHEN J
.
JANASIE, Assistant Attorney General of the State of Illinois, hereby enters his appearance as
attorney of record .
Respectfully submitted,
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
LISA MADIGAN
Attorney General of the
State of Illinois
l
ER
EoVEp
BEFORE THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD
R
CE
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
JUN 0 8
2007
)
ILLINOIS,
Pollution OF
ILLINOIS
)
Controlpard3S
Complainant,
)
vs.
)
PCB No . 07- ( " I
(Enforcement-Air)
VITHALBHAI PATEL,
)
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, VITHALBHAI PATEL, as follows
:
COUNTI
NOVEMBER 2003 NESHAP VIOLATIONS
1 .
This count is brought on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois, by Lisa
Madigan, 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
("Act"),
415 ILCS 5/31
(2006) .
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 (2006), and charged,
inter alia, with the
duty of investigating and enforcing violations of the Act
.
3.
At all times relevant to this Complaint, Vithalbhai Patel was the owner and/or
operator of a Howard Johnson Express Inn located at 301 North Bluff Road, Collinsville,
Madison County, Illinois .
4.
Section 9
.1(d) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/9
.1(d)(2006) provides as follows
:
(d)
No person shall
:
(1) violate any provisions of Sections 111, 112, 165 or 173 of the Clean Air Act,
as now or hereafter amended, or federal regulations adopted pursuant thereto
;
5 .
The regulations on National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
("NESHAP") for asbestos, 40 CFR Part 61, Subpart M, were adopted pursuant to Section 112 of
the Clean Air Act, 42 USC §7412
. Asbestos is regulated as a hazardous air pollutant because it
is a carcinogen
. Regulated ACM contains more than one percent asbestos and is generally
"friable," which means such materials, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to
powder by hand pressure .
6.
40 CFR §61
.141 provides the following pertinent definitions
:
Adequately wet means sufficiently mix or penetrate with liquid to prevent the release of
particulates
. If visible emissions are observed coming from asbestos-containing material,
then that material has not been adequately wetted
. However, the absence of visible
emissions is not sufficient evidence of being adequately wet
.
Facility means any institutional, commercial, public, industrial, or residential structure,
installation, or building . . . .
Friable asbestos material means any material containing more than 1 percent asbestos as
determined using the method specified in appendix E, subpart E, 40 CFR part 763 section
1, Polarized Light Microscopy, that, when dry, can be crumbled, pulverized, or reduced to
powder by hand pressure
. If the asbestos content is less than 10 percent as determined by
a method other than point counting by polarized light microscopy (PLM), verify the
asbestos content by point counting using PLM .
Owner or operator of a demolition or renovation activity means any person who owns,
leases, operates, controls, or supervises the facility being demolished or renovated or any
person who owns, leases, operates, controls, or supervises the demolition or renovation
operation, or both .
-2-
Regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM) means (a) Friable asbestos material, (b)
Category I nonfriable ACM that has become friable, (c) Category I nonfriable ACM that
will be or has been subjected to sanding, grinding, cutting, or abrading, or (d) Category II
nonfriable ACM that has a high probability of becoming or has become crumbled,
pulverized, or reduced to powder by the forces expected to act on the material in the
course of demolition or renovation operations regulated by this subpart
.
Remove means to take out RACM or facility components that contain or are covered with
RACM from any facility
.
Renovation means altering a facility or one or more facility components in any way,
including the stripping or removal of RACM from a facility component
. Operations in
which load-supporting structural members are wrecked or taken out are demolitions
.
7.
40 CFR §61
.145 provides in pertinent part as follows
:
Standard for demolition and renovation
.
(a) Applicability.
To determine which requirements of paragraphs (a), (b),
and (c) of this
section apply to the owner or operator of a demolition or renovation activity and prior to
the commencement of the demolition or renovation, thoroughly inspect the affected
facility or part of the facility where the demolition or renovation operation will occur for
the presence of asbestos, including Category I and Category II nonfriable ACM
. The
requirements of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section apply to each owner or operator of a
demolition or renovation activity, including the removal of RACM as follows
:
(1)
*
*
In a facility being demolished, all the requirements of
paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section apply, except as provided
in paragraph (a)(3)
of this section, if the combined amount of
RACM is
(i)
At least 80 linear meters (260 linear feet) on pipes or at
least 15 square meters (160 square feet) on other facility
components, or
(b) Notification requirements
. Each owner or operator of a demolition or renovation
activity to which this section applies shall
:
(1) Provide the Administrator with written notice of intention to demolish or
renovate. . . .
(i) At least 10 working days before asbestos stripping or removal work or
any other activity begins . . . .
-3-
(c) Procedures for asbestos emission control
. Each owner or operator of a demolition or
renovation activity to whom this paragraph applies, according to paragraph (a) of this
section, shall comply with the following procedures :
(1) Remove all RACM from a facility being demolished or renovated before any
activity begins that would break up, dislodge, or similarly disturb the material or
preclude access to the material for subsequent removal . RACM need not be
removed before demolition if :
(6) For all RACM, including material that has been removed or stripped:
(i) Adequately wet the material and ensure that it remains wet until
collected and contained or treated in preparation for disposal in accordance
with §61 .150; and
(ii) Carefully lower the material to the ground and floor, not dropping,
throwing, sliding, or otherwise damaging or disturbing the material .
8 .
40 CFR §61 .150 provides in pertinent part as follows :
Standard for waste disposal for manufacturing, fabricating, demolition, renovation, and
spraying operations .
Each owner or operator of any source covered under the provisions of §§61 .144, 61 .145,
61 .146, and 61 .147 shall comply with the following provisions :
(a) Discharge no visible emissions to the outside air during the collection, processing
(including incineration), packaging, or transporting of any asbestos-containing waste
material generated by the source, or use one of the emission control and waste treatment
methods specified in paragraphs (a) (1) through (4) of this section .
(1) Adequately wet asbestos-containing waste material . . . .
(b) All asbestos-containing waste material shall be deposited as soon as is practical by the
waste generator at:
(1) A waste disposal site operated in accordance with the provisions of §61
.154,
-4-
or
(3) The requirements of paragraph (b) of this section do not apply to Category I
nonfriable ACM that is not RACM
.
9.
On November 5, 2003, the Respondent was conducting the demolition of the
office portion of the Howard Johnson Express Inn
. The Respondent ceased work at the request
of the Illinois EPA and retained Farmer Environmental Services to thoroughly inspect for the
presence of asbestos
. It was determined that over 200 square feet of sprayed on ceiling material
contained asbestos
. A proper abatement of the office portion was subsequently accomplished
.
10.
The Howard Johnson Express Inn is a "facility" and the Respondent is an "owner"
and/or "operator" of a "demolition" as these terms are defined at 40 CFR 61
.141 .
11 .
The ceiling tile in Respondent's facility was classified as "regulated asbestos-
containing material"
("RACM"), as defined at 40 CFR 61
.141, and therefore subject to the
asbestos NESHAP work practices and other requirements
.
12.
The owner and operator of a demolition activity subject to the asbestos NESHAP
is required by 40 CFR 61
.145(a) to thoroughly inspect the affected facility or part of the facility
where the demolition or renovation operation will occur for the presence of asbestos prior to the
commencement of the demolition or renovation
. The Respondent did not do so, thereby
violating 40 CFR 61
.145(a) and Section 9
.1(d) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/9
.1(d) (2006) .
13 .
The owner and operator of a demolition activity subject to the asbestos NESHAP
is required by 40 CFR 61
.145(b)(1) to provide to the Illinois EPA notification of renovation
activity at least 10 working days prior to commencing such activity
. The Respondent did not
provide written notification to the Illinois EPA prior to the commencement of demolition
-5-
activities at the facility, thereby violating 40 CFR 61
.145(b)(1) and Section 9 .1(d) of the Act, 415
ILCS 5/9 .1(d) (2006) .
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, the Complainant, People of the State of Illinois, respectfully
requests that this Board enter an Order against the Respondent
:
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) (2006), impose a civil
penalty of not more than the statutory maximum ;
E.
Pursuant to Section 42(f) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(f) (2006), 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
.
COUNT II
JUNE 2005 NESHAP VIOLATIONS
1-8.
Complainant realleges and incorporates herein by reference paragraphs 1 through
8 of Count I as paragraphs I through 8 of this Count II
.
9.
On or about June 10, 2005, and on dates thereafter better known to the
-6-
Respondent, the Respondent was conducting the renovation of the hotel portion of the Howard
Johnson Express Inn by altering the facility or one or more facility components in any way,
including the stripping or removal of RACM from a facility component
. The Respondent had
auctioned the contents and fixtures of the hotel portion in advance of its planned demolition by
Koman Properties, the subsequent purchaser of the facility
. The Respondent was causing and
allowing his own employees and members of the public who had purchased items of the hotel's
contents and fixtures to dismantle and remove such items, thereby disturbing asbestos-containing
materials
. In particular, interior walls of the facility were broken into and the copper plumbing
lines therein were removed
.
11 .
On July 21 and 22, 2005, the Illinois EPA inspected the facility at the request of
Koman Properties
. Walls throughout the hallways and within the 72 individual rooms had been
damaged and the copper plumbing lines had been removed
. Several elbows had been cut from
the pipes and discarded on the floor
. Thermal pipe insulation suspected to be asbestos-
containing was present on elbows as well as discarded on the floor after having been stripped
from the plumbing lines
. Three samples of the insulation were subsequently analyzed and
determined to contain 10% to 15% asbestos
. The Illinois EPA estimated that the scrapped
plumbing lines had contained 576 linear feet of RACM
.
12.
The Howard Johnson Express Inn is a "facility" and the Respondent is an "owner"
and/or "operator" of a "renovation" as these terms are defined at 40 CFR 61
.141 .
13 .
The thermal pipe insulation in Respondent's facility was classified as "regulated
asbestos-containing material" ("RACM"),
as defined at 40 CFR 61
.141, and therefore subject to
the asbestos NESHAP work practices and other requirements
.
-7-
14.
The owner and operator of a renovation activity subject to the asbestos NESHAP
is required by 40 CFR 61
.145(a) to thoroughly inspect the affected facility or part of the facility
where the demolition or renovation operation will occur for the presence of asbestos prior to the
commencement of the demolition or renovation . The Respondent did not do so, thereby
violating 40 CFR 61
.145(a) and Section 9 .1(d) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/9 .1(d) (2006) .
15 .
The owner and operator of a renovation activity subject to the asbestos NESHAP
is required by 40 CFR 61
.145(b)(1) to provide to the Illinois EPA notification of renovation
activity at least 10 working days prior to commencing such activity
. The Respondent did not
provide written notification to the Illinois EPA prior to the commencement of demolition
activities at the facility, thereby violating 40 CFR 61
.145(b)(1) and Section 9.1(d) of the Act, 415
ILCS 5/9
.1(d) (2006) .
16 .
The Respondent also failed to collect, contain and deposit as soon as practicable
all RACM and asbestos-containing waste materials generated during the removal at a site
permitted to accept such waste, and thereby violated Section 9
.1(d) of the Act, 415 ILCS
9 .1(d)(2006), 40 CFR 61 .145(c)(6), and 40 CFR 61
.150(b)(1).
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, the Complainant, People of the State of Illinois, respectfully
requests that this Board enter an Order against the Respondent :
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;
-8-
C .
and associated regulations ;
D.
penalty of not more than the statutory maximum ;
E .
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) (2006), impose a civil
Pursuant to Section 42(f) of the Act, 415 ILCS 5/42(f) (2006), 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
.
Respectfully submitted,
Of Counsel
:
Stephen J . Janasie
Assistant Attorney General
500 South Second Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706
217/782-9031
Dated : June 6, 2007
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
Environmental Bureau
Assistant Attorney General
