High Lake Poultry, Inc. v. Pollution Control Bd.

• Decision Date: 14 February 1975
• Docket Number: No. 73--169,73--169
• Citation: 25 Ill.App.3d 956,323 N.E.2d 612
• Parties: HIGH LAKE POULTRY, INC., Petitioner, v. POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD et al., Respondents.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 612

323 N.E.2d 612

25 Ill.App.3d 956

HIGH LAKE POULTRY, INC., Petitioner, v. POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD et al., Respondents.

No. 73--169.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, Second Division.

Feb. 14, 1975.

Edward S. Margolis, Julian I. Silvertrust, Teller, Levit & Silvertrust, Chicago, for petitioner.

Wm. J. Scott, Atty. Gen., Harvey M. Sheldon, No. Reg. Environmental Control Div., Geo. D. Karcazes, Frederic J. Entin and Meredeth Wright, Asst. Attys. Gen., Chicago, for respondents.

DIXON, Justice:

This is a proceeding to review an order of the Pollution Control Board, commenced in this court pursuant to section 41 of the Environmental Protection Act. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1973, ch. 111 1/2 § 1041.) A complaint had been filed with the Board against High Lake Poultry, Inc., the petitioner here, by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Agency had charged High Lake with having constructed and operated its waste treatment facilities without a valid permit, in violation of section 12(b) of the Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 111 1/2 § 1012(b)), and with having operated those facilities without employing a certified operator, in violation of rules of the Sanitary Water Board which remained in effect. A hearing took place before a hearing officer designated by the Pollution Control Board. At that hearing High Lake admitted the violations charged but introduced evidence of mitigating circumstances. Thereupon the Pollution Control Board issued an order finding that the violations had occurred as alleged, and assessing penalties of $2,000 for constructing and operating the facilities without a permit and $500 for not having had a certified operator. It is this order which has been brought directly to us by High Lake for judicial review.

It appears from the record that High Lake Poultry, Inc., is a corporation engaged in the business of cutting up, sizing, boxing, and distributing poultry. At the present time it employs approximately 40 persons in its plant plus eight truck drivers. The business was started as a home occupation in about 1942, but grew until a new building had to be built for it in 1959, near West Chicago, in DuPage County, Illinois. At that time a septic system was used for disposition of the wastes generated, which were primarily washdown wastes from the cleaning of equipment and walls, and not blood, feathers, or viscera from chickens.

The business continued to grow, and in 1965 an addition to High Lake's processing plant had to be constructed. High Lake applied to the DuPage County Building Department for a building permit, but was required to construct a sewage disposal system prior to issuance of the permit. This was done. The new system treated the wastes in a sewage treatment plant, from which the fluid passed into a pond for further treatment, and from there into Kress Creek, a tributary of the DuPage River.

It developed that the sewage disposal system did not work properly. Tests taken by the Sanitary Water Board showed an extremely high biochemical oxygen demand (B.O.D.). To correct this, High Lake employed an engineer to prepare plans for a new sewage treatment system, which were submitted to the Sanitary Water Board for approval. On October 8, 1969, the Sanitary Water Board issued a permit authorizing construction of the new facilities in accordance with those plans, which was to be valid for a period of one year.

By this time High Lake had plans for another addition to its plant, which was to be a welfare facility for its employees, consisting of larger lunchrooms, locker rooms, and washrooms. The DuPage County Building Department refused to issue a permit for this new addition, however, unless a cash bond of $10,000 were posted to guarantee that the proposed sewage treatment facilities would reduce the B.O.D. to meet the Sanitary Water Board's limits. There was no certainty that the proposed facilities would do this, though the Sanitary Water Board had issued a permit in the expectation that the proposed new system would operate in accordance with its requirements. Therefore in the summer of 1970, with the encouragement of the Environmental Protection Agency, High Lake began negotiations with the City of West Chicago for the purpose of annexing and connecting into that city's sewage treatment facilities. Efforts in this direction were brought to an end when the Agency notified High Lake on April 30, 1971, that West Chicago was having its own sewage treatment problem.

Meanwhile, on April 9, 1971, High Lake received a memorandum from the Illinois Department of Agriculture, notifying High Lake that its welfare facilities were not large enough to meet the Department of Agriculture's requirements. The proposed new addition to the plant would have satisfied those requirements, but the DuPage County Building Department was still withholding issuance of a permit until it received a cash bond of $10,000 which might very possibly be forfeited, and High Lake's annexation efforts were going slowly. The Department of Agriculature demanded that High Lake commence construction of its proposed new welfare facility by June 15, 1971. If High Lake did not do so, its license to do business was to be revoked. Therefore, early in May of 1971, High Lake filed a new application with the Environmental Protection Agency for a permit to...