SEP

302008

POlIUtiOfl

STATE

OF

Control

ILLINOIS

Board

OFFICE

OF THE

ATTORNEY

GENERAL

STATE OF ILLINOIS

Lisa Madigan

ATTORNEY

GENERAL

September

26, 2008

John T. Therriault, Assistant Clerk

Assistant Clerk of the Board

Illinois Pollution Control Board

James R.

Thompson Center, Ste.

11-500

100 West

Randolph

Chicago, Illinois 60601

Re:

ESG Watts, Inc. v. Illinois

EPA

PCB No. 06-06

Dear Clerk:

Enclosed

for filing please

find the original and

one copy of a Notice of Filing

and

Respondent’S Motion to Suspend Decision Deadline Waiver

and Request for Hearing and

Decision

in

regard to the above-captioned matter. Please file

the

originals

and return file-stamped

copies

to me

in the enclosed envelope.

Thank you

for your cooperation

and consideration.

Very truly

yours,

Thomas

Davis, Chief

Environmental

Bureau

500

South

Second Street

Springfield,

Illinois 62706

(217) 782-9031

TD/pjk

Enclosures

500 South Second Street, Springfield,

Illinois 62706

• (217) 782-1090

• TT’Y: (877) 844-5461

• Fax:

(217)

782-7046

100 West Randolph Street,

Chicago, Illinois 60601

• (312) 814-3000

• ‘TTY: (800) 964-3013

• Fax: (312)

814-3806

---

BEFORE

THE ILLINOIS

POLLUTION

CONTROL

BOARD

WASTE MANAGEMENT

OF

)

ILLINOIS,

INC.,

)

Petitioner,

v.

)

PCB No.

08-1 01

(Permit AppeaIINPDES)

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION

AGENCY,

)

Respondent.

)

NOTICE OF

FILING

r

20

To:

Larry

Woodward

Corporate

Counsel

00

ç.

ESG Watts,

Inc.

525 1

7

th

Street

PC

Box 5410

Rock

Island, Illinois

61204-5410

PLEASE

TAKE

NOTICE

that on this date

I

mailed for

filing with the Clerk of

the Pollution

Control Board

of the

State of

Illinois,

RESPONDENT’S

MOTION TO

SUSPEND

DECISION

DEADLINE

WAIVERAND

REQUEST

FOR HEARING

ANO

DECISION, a copy of

which

is

attached

hereto

and

herewith

served upon you.

Respectfully

submitted,

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

500

South

Second

Street

Springfield,

Illinois

62706

217/782-9031

Dated:

September

26,

2008

---

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that I did on September 26, 2008,

send by First

Class

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 and RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO

SUSPEND DECISION DEADLINE

WAIVER AND

REQUEST

FOR

HEARING AND DECISION

To:

Larry Woodward

Michelle Ryan

Corporate

Counsel

Illinois EPAIDLC

ESG Watts, Inc.

1021 North

Grand Ave. East

525

j

7

th

Street

P.O. Box 19276

P0

Box 5410

Springfield, IL 62794-9276

Rock Island,

Illinois 61204-5410

and the

original and ten copies by First Class

Mail

with

postage thereon fully prepaid

of the

same

foregoing

instrument(s):

To:

John T. Therriault, Assistant

Clerk

Illinois Pollution

Control Board

James

R. Thompson Center

Suite

11-500

100 West

Randolph

Chicago,

Illinois 60601

A

copy was also

sent by First Class

Mail with postage thereon

fully prepaid to:

Carol

Webb

Hearing Officer

Illinois

Pollution Control Board

1021

North Grand Avenue East

Springfield, IL 62794

THOMAS

DAVIS, Chief

Assistant Attorney

General

Environmental

Bureau

This

filing is submitted on recycled paper.

---

BEFORE THE

ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL

BOARD

ESG

WATTS, INC.,

)

an Iowa corporation,

)

Petitioner,

)

v.

,

06-06

Onit AppealfLand)

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

)

PROTECTION AGENCY,

SP

3

Respondent.

RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO SUSPEND DECISION DEADLINE WAIVER

AND

REQUEST

FOR

HEARING

AND DECISION

The

Respondent, ILLfNOIS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, by LISA

MADIGAN, Attorney

General of

the State

of Illinois, moves pursuant to Sections 101.308(c)

and

105.214(a)

of the Board’s Procedural Rules, 35 Ill.

Adm. Code 101.308(c) and 105.214(a), to

suspend the

operation of the open waiver of

decision deadline filed on October 13, 2006. For the

reasons stated

below, the Respondent requests

that

the permit appeal

proceed

to

hearing and

a

decision

rendered thereupon.

1.

The

Petition for Hearing was filed on

July

7,

2005.

2.

The

Respondent will not attempt to

summarize the enforcement history of the

Taylor Ridge

Landfill, except

to

cite to the

discussions of prior adjudicated violations in the

Board’s

orders in

People

of

the State ofIllinois v. ESG

Watts, Inc., PCB 96-107 and 01-167. In

PCB

96-107, the Board

revoked

the Petitioner’s

operating permit and ordered Watts to cease

accepting

waste at the

Taylor Ridge Landfill.

3.

When

Watts

did not immediately cease

operations upon revocation of its permit,

the

Attorney

General’s

Office obtained the

entry

of

an Injunction Order on March 20, 1998, in

—1—

---

Rock Island County Circuit Court

No. 98

CII 20,

requiring Watts to cease

waste

disposal

pending

appeal. The action was amended to include

Watts’ failure to comply with the

Board’s

order in PCB 96-107 regarding

the

corrective

and compliance actions, including

continuing odor

problems.

Watts confessed judgment on December 29, 1999, and

a Judgment and Injunction

Order was entered. Watts

was

to undertake

and complete closure and post-closure care of

the

landfill as required by its previously approved Closure Plan. Additionally, the

Court

ordered

Watts

to

monitor and remediate the groundwater,

to

operate the leachate and

gas extraction

systems,

to

perform all necessary work to correct erosion and runoff problems, and to prevent

adverse off-site impacts

from any surface water discharges from the landfill through the

implementation of its storm water management

plan.

Watts,

the

Illinois EPA and the Attorney

General’s Office

subsequently entered into discussions

regarding

the

necessary

corrective and

compliance actions. The parties

acknowledged that the resolution of the

vertical overfill

was

necessary prior to the final closure of

the landfill; the relocation of

approximately

34,000 cubic

yards of

vertical overfill for disposal

elsewhere

within the landfill so that no waste

remained

above a

certain elevation

would

necessitate the removal and

replacement of cover material,

and

the

temporary disconnection of

the gas/leachate wells,

thereby exposing refuse

and

allowing

gas

emissions. Watts

refused, however, to

undertake any

immediate

or

interim action without

a

permit.

4.

In

June 2001, the Attorney

General’s Office filed the complaint in PCB 01-167.

The

Board therein

found that Watts had committed

additional environmental violations

as those

adjudicated by

the Court, e.g.

exceeding the permit

elevation

for waste disposal and failing to

-2-

---

relocate

the waste, causing

air pollution through

the uncontrolled emissions

of landfill gas,

and

causing

water

pollution through

groundwater contamination

and offsite

runoff of storm

water.

5.

By then,

Watts had filed

a

permit application

with

the

Illinois

EPA

in December

2001

for the revision of

the Closure Plan and

the issuance of a significant

modification.

In

support of its permit

application, Watts

submitted to the Illinois

EPA

additional

information

on

four

occasions

and

waivers of

the

statutory

permit deadlines on

twenty-fiveoccasions

during

the

next few years.

On May 26, 2005,

the Illinois

EPA

issued a permit

approving the waste

relocation plan,

the revised surface water

management

plan, and the surface

water

retention

pond.

The groundwater

monitoring

plan

and other

closure plan

modifications were

not

approved.

6.

In an attempt to

abate the nuisance

resulting

from the

uncontrolled

emissions

of

landfill gas and

to

enforce the

Judgment and

Injunction Order,

the

Attorney

General’s

Office

obtained

a

Contempt

Order on August

1, 2006,

finding that Watts

had failed to

operate

the

landfill gas

management

system.

On

January 8,

2007,

the Court ruled

that Watts had

purged

itself of contempt

by

repairing

the

flare

but

cautioned that

the continuing

failure to comply

with

the

other

terms

and conditions of

the

Judgment

and

Injunction

Order

could

lead

to

further

contempt

proceedings.

Watts

argued that it

did not have adequate

financial

resources

to relocate

the

overfilled wastes

and perform

closure

and

post-closure

activities, and that the

overfill should

not

be

moved

because

such

work

would not be cost

effective and

would itself

create additional

environmental

and

public

health

threats.

7.

By providing

this

historical

summary,

the

Respondent

acknowledges

that it has

condoned or at

least tolerated

an inordinate

amount

of

delay both in the

permitting process

and in

-3-

---

the pending

permit

appeal.

The

time

has

come

to conduct

a

hearing

on

the

Petitioner’s

challenge

to

the

permit.

WHEREFORE,

the

Illinois

EPA

respectfully

requests

that the

Board

direct

the Hearing

Officer

to commence

a

hearing in

this matter

by

a date

certain regardless

of

the previously

filed

open

waiver.

Respectfully

Submitted,

ILLINOIS

ENVIRONMENTAL

PROTECTION

AGENCY

LISA

MADIGAN,

Attorney

General of

the

State of Illinois,

MATTHEW

J.

DUI’ThJ,

Chief

Environmental

Enforcement/Asbestos

Litigation

Division

BY:

THOMAS

DAVIS,

Chief

Environmental

Bureau

Assistant

Attorney

General

Attorney

Reg. No.

3124200

500

South

Second

Street

Springfield,

Illinois

62706

217/782-7968

Dated:

September

24,

2008

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