D&L Landfill, Inc. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board

2017 IL App (5th) 160071
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 20, 2017
Docket5-16-0071
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2017 IL App (5th) 160071 (D&L Landfill, Inc. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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D&L Landfill, Inc. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board, 2017 IL App (5th) 160071 (Ill. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

Rule 23 order filed 2017 IL App (5th) 160071 August 3, 2017; Motion to publish granted NO. 5-16-0071 September 19, 2017. IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ________________________________________________________________________

D&L LANDFILL, INC., ) Petition for Review of an ) Order of the Illinois Petitioner, ) Pollution Control Board ) v. ) PCB No. 15-137 ) THE ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD ) and THE ILLINOIS ENVIRONMENTAL ) PROTECTION AGENCY, ) ) Respondents. ) ________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE WELCH delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Moore and Justice Overstreet concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 This is an action for administrative review of a final decision and order of the respondent

Illinois Pollution Control Board (Board). The petitioner, D&L Landfill, Inc. (D&L), applied to

the respondent Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for certification that D&L had

completed post-closure care of a sanitary landfill. The IEPA denied the certification because the

groundwater beneath the site contained levels of contaminants that exceeded levels allowed by

the Board’s groundwater quality regulations. D&L appealed to the Board, and the parties filed

cross-motions for summary judgment. The Board granted the IEPA’s motion and denied D&L’s

1 motion. On administrative review, D&L asserts that, as a matter of law, it is only required to

monitor the landfill for 15 years after completing final cover; that it abated the damage to the

final cover, which was the only abatable problem identified; and, in the alternative, the

groundwater quality standards that it allegedly violated are not applicable to this landfill. For the

following reasons, we affirm.

¶2 In 1967, this Greenville, Illinois, property contained a city dump regulated by the Illinois

Department of Public Health. In 1970, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois

Environmental Protection Act (Act), which created the IEPA and the Board. 415 ILCS 5/1 et seq.

(West 2012). Thereafter, the Board created its own solid waste landfill regulations in the Illinois

Administrative Code (Code), commonly known as the part 807 regulations. 35 Ill. Adm. Code

807 et seq.

¶3 On May 13, 1974, D&L received its first IEPA permit, authorizing it to dispose of

general municipal waste and a small volume of dewatered sewage sludge. The landfill operated

as a “Part 807” landfill.

¶4 In 1990, the Board amended the landfill regulations and enacted comprehensive

regulations for the development, construction, and operation of landfills. Under the new rules,

existing facilities could remain open and meet the new requirements or close within a certain

time frame. On August 7, 1992, D&L notified the IEPA that it intended to close, thereby

avoiding the new landfill requirements.

¶5 On February 15, 1991, the IEPA approved D&L’s initial plan to close the landfill. It

issued D&L a supplemental permit with plans for the landfill’s closure, post-closure care, and

groundwater monitoring. The closure/post-closure plan included specifications for covering the

landfill with final cover and for maintaining the site for 15 years. This plan was used to develop

2 cost estimates for the amount D&L needed to post as a performance bond, which ensured that

closure and post-closure care conformed with the Act.

¶6 On August 10, 1992, D&L submitted a modified closure/post-closure care plan that

included revised cost estimates, and the IEPA approved the modification on September 18, 1992.

Over the next several years, the IEPA issued other supplemental permits dealing with closure

requirements, including groundwater monitoring. On January 21, 1997, the IEPA approved

closure activities at the landfill and identified August 31, 1996, as the beginning of the “15 year

minimum post-closure care period” for the site.

¶7 On December 31, 2012, D&L filed a supplemental permit application to end post-closure

care at the site. The application indicated that the 15-year post-closure care period had been

completed, and it addressed landfill gas, leachate, groundwater, and stormwater management.

Concerning groundwater, D&L acknowledged that analytical results for 2012’s third quarter

showed that some chemical levels in the groundwater exceeded naturally existing values and the

values set forth in part 620 of the Board’s regulations, which contains groundwater quality

standards. 35 Ill. Adm. Code 620 et seq., amended at 36 Ill. Reg. 15206 (eff. Oct. 5, 2012). The

application stated:

“Considering the number of non-detects, the percentage of non-exceedences, the

decreasing concentrations of compounds, and the low number of organic exceedances, it

appears the facility is not having a negative impact on local groundwater quality. Thus, it

is proposed [that the] groundwater monitoring associated with the groundwater detection

monitoring system at this site be discontinued.”

¶8 On January 18, 2013, the IEPA inspected the site. The inspection report stated that

erosion, settling, ponding water, and significant ongoing leachate collection were present on the

3 site. Additionally, in February 2013, the IEPA analyzed groundwater monitoring data from wells

at the site. It determined that the levels of many substances in the groundwater, including ethyl

ether, tetrahydrofuran, chlorobenzene, total arsenic, total organic halogens, and dissolved boron,

exceeded naturally existing values and the values set forth in part 620.

¶9 The IEPA sent a draft denial letter to D&L on February 26, 2013. The letter stated that

D&L “[had] failed to provide proof that granting this permit would not result in violations of the

[Act].” The letter stated that the IEPA inspector found several eroded and ponded areas around

the landfill and that the final cover needed to be repaired. The letter also noted the many

unaddressed groundwater limit exceedances.

¶ 10 On August 14, 2013, D&L submitted additional information in response to the IEPA’s

draft denial letter. The submittal indicated that the erosion had been corrected to the satisfaction

of the IEPA inspectors. The submittal also addressed the groundwater exceedances, stating:

“The overall trend of inorganic parameter concentrations at the downgradient

detection monitoring well locations is downward. A few organic parameters (TOX,

chlorobenzene, ethyl ether, tetrahydrofuron) have been identified at specific well

locations. The concentrations of these parameters have generally remained constant

and/or have decreased over time. In some areas (e.g., chlorobenzene at G106 and

tetrahydrofuron at G112) parameters are either no longer detected or the parameters are

not routinely detected at the well location.

As noted in Section VII above, Class IV groundwater standards were established

for this facility by the IEPA. Historical data and corresponding trend analyses suggest

groundwater quality at downgradient detection monitoring well locations is generally

4 trending downward, thus constituent concentrations are below existing concentrations of

constituents in groundwater.”

¶ 11 On December 3, 2014, IEPA representatives met with D&L representatives to explain

that D&L’s submissions did not address the ongoing groundwater exceedances at the site.

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D&L Landfill, Inc. v. Illinois Pollution Control Board
2017 IL App (5th) 160071 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)

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