We initially note the purported split in authority in the appellate court on whether the appellate court should conduct its review of the Board's decision or that of the local siting authority. Compare Turlek v. Pollution Control Board, 274 Ill. App. 3d 244, 249 (1995) ("On review, we are to determine whether the Board's decision is against the manifest weight of the evidence"); File v. DL Landfill, Inc., 219 Ill. App. 3d 897, 901 (1991) ("standard of review to be exercised by both the Pollution Control Board and this court is whether, respectively, the decisions of the county board and the Pollution Control Board are contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence"), with Concerned Adjoining Owners v. Pollution Control Board, 288 Ill. App. 3d 565, 576 (1997) ("the court is limited to a determination of whether the siting authority's decision was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence"); Fairview Area Citizens Taskforce v. Pollution Control Board, 198 Ill. App. 3d 541 (1990); Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. v. Pollution Control Board, 160 Ill. App. 3d 434 (1987); City of Rockford v. Pollution Control Board, 125 Ill. App. 3d 384, 386-87 (1984). We find these cases to be of little value because each of them provided little to no analysis a
A decision is against the manifest weight of the evidence only if the opposite conclusion is clearly evident, plain or indisputable. Turlek v. Pollution Control Board, 274 Ill. App.3d 244, 653 N.E.2d 1288 (1995). Moreover, it is for the local siting authority to determine the credibility of witnesses, to resolve conflicts in the evidence, and to weigh the evidence presented.
Waste Management, 175 Ill. App.3d 1023. "That a different conclusion may be reasonable is insufficient; the opposite conclusion must be clearly evident, plain or indisputable." Turlek v. Pollution Control Board, 274 Ill. App.3d 244, 249 (1995). All of the statutory criteria must be satisfied before approval of the siting application can be granted, and the manifest weight of the evidence standard is to be applied to each and every criterion on review.