People v. Staunton Landfill, Inc.

614 N.E.2d 1286, 245 Ill. App. 3d 757, 185 Ill. Dec. 601
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 3, 1993
Docket4-92-0663
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 614 N.E.2d 1286 (People v. Staunton Landfill, Inc.) 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.

Bluebook
People v. Staunton Landfill, Inc., 614 N.E.2d 1286, 245 Ill. App. 3d 757, 185 Ill. Dec. 601 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE LUND

delivered the opinion of the court:

The office of the Attorney General of the State of Illinois (State) appeals the denial of its motion for preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin Staunton Landfill, Inc. (SLI), from accepting wastes in its landfill site until SLI complies with a number of provisions of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act (Act) (111. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. HV-k, pars. 1001 through 1056.6). After a full hearing, the trial court issued an order finding many of the State’s allegations unfounded. The order also reflected an agreement among the parties that, without any admission of liability, SLI would be enjoined to cease and desist from violations of specific sections of the Act. The State appeals the trial court’s finding that allegations of the violations were unfounded and asks that an injunction be issued to preliminarily enjoin SLI from further violations of the Act. We affirm.

Defendant SLI, a Missouri corporation authorized to do business in Illinois, operates a landfill in Macoupin County, Illinois. The landfill was formerly owned by Charles Westhoff, who sold the facility on contract to SLI on July 26, 1990. According to the terms of the contract, SLI would operate the landfill in his stead until the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) transferred the operating permit to SLI. In December 1991, SLI came under new ownership and management. Thomas Immel, the attorney of record for defendant on appeal, became the president of SLI at this time.

At the time Immel took control of SLI, there was an ongoing permit appeal between the IEPA and the former owners of SLI. The original permit issued in 1974 had specified a limitation on the final height of the landfill at the time of closure. When SLI began operating the landfill, it was notified that certain unused sections of the landfill exceeded the permitted elevation. The former owners of SLI proposed to the IEPA, in SLI’s closure plan, that this height violation be allowed to remain in place and, in exchange, SLI would reduce the use of other permitted areas. The IEPA rejected this closure plan on November 7, 1990. SLI submitted another closure plan in February 1991, and this was denied a few months later.

When Immel took control of SLI in December 1991, it was decided to abandon any attempt to modify the original permit. Instead, SLI began shaving off wastes from the area in violation of the height restriction in order to bring the elevation down to the permitted level. The “skimmed off” waste was moved to areas of the landfill which were not over the final elevation limits, and the area that had been skimmed off received a new cover. The project took a couple months to complete and was finished on May 11,1992.

On February 4, 1992, the State filed a complaint in response to a number of alleged violations of the Act. The complaint called on the trial court to (1) enter a preliminary injunction enjoining defendants from continuing to accept wastes at the landfill; (2) enter a permanent injunction enjoining defendants from violating sections 9.1 and 21 of the Act (111. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. HV-k, pars. 1009.1, 1021); (3) find that defendants had repeatedly and knowingly violated these sections of the Act; and (4) impose civil penalties of $10,000 for each initial violation that occurred prior to July 1, 1990, plus $1,000 per day for each day that the violation was allowed to occur. For those violations occurring after July 1, 1990, the State asked for a penalty of $50,000, plus $10,000 for each day the violations were allowed to continue. In addition, the State requested defendants be ordered to pay plaintiff’s costs, attorney fees, and the cost of expert witnesses and consultants.

On April 6, 1992, the State filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, alleging the same violations of the Act as in the original complaint and caUing for the closure of the landfill until the alleged violations ceased. The motion was filed in conjunction with the original complaint, and the hearing on this motion forms the basis of this appeal. The status of the original complaint is unknown and presumed to be pending.

The alleged violations can be grouped under four general claims for relief. The first claim alleged that SLI failed to meet requirements imposed on landfill sites that accept waste material containing asbestos. Section 9.1(dXl) of the Act (111. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. lll1^, par. 1009.1(dXl)) incorporates the standards adopted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency governing disposal of asbestos waste. The complaint alleged a violation of section 61.154(b) of the Code of Federal Regulations (Code) (40 C.F.R. §61.154(b) (1991) (as amended eff. November 20, 1990)), adopted pursuant to section 112 of the Clean Air Act (see 42 U.S.C. §7412 (1988)). Section 61.154(b) of the Code provides:

“Unless a natural barrier adequately deters access by the general public, either warning signs and fencing must be installed and maintained as follows, or the requirements of paragraph (cXl) of this section must be met.” (40 C.F.R. §61.154(b) (1991).)

Section 61.154(cXl) of the Code provides in relevant part:

“[A]t the end of each operating day, or at least once every 24-hour period while the site is in continuous operation, the asbestos-containing waste material that has been deposited at the site during the operating day or previous 24-hour period shall:
(1) Be covered with at least 15 centimeters (6 inches) of compacted nonasbestos-containing material.” (40 C.F.R. §61.154(cXl) (1991).)

The trial court found that SLI was currently meeting the daily-cover requirement of subsection (cXl) of the Code and was therefore not required to have either a natural barrier, fencing, or warning signs around the perimeter of the landfill site.

Another alleged violation trader section 61.154 of the Code was SLI’s failure to maintain records of asbestos waste deposited in its landfill. Such records are required to contain, among other things, the identity of the waste generator, quantity of waste, and its location in the landfill, and must be furnished on request and made available during normal business hours. (40 C.F.R. §§61.154(e), (f), (i) (1991).) The issue of SLI’s violation of this regulation was ultimately settled by agreement between the parties. This agreement, incorporated in the court’s order, states that without any finding or admission of liability, SLI would be enjoined to take all necessary actions to collect and maintain the required records of asbestos waste shipments.

The second claim for relief alleged that SLI violated section 21(dX2) of the Act (111. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. llV-lz, par. 1021(dX2)), which prohibits the violation of any regulation or standard adopted by the Hlinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB).

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614 N.E.2d 1286, 245 Ill. App. 3d 757, 185 Ill. Dec. 601, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-staunton-landfill-inc-illappct-1993.