Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued the following announcement on June 17.
*Note: DEQ is committed to balancing its vital obligation to enforce the law and protect the environment with a consideration of the dramatic disruptions to public health and the economy caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. DEQ will continue to exercise reasonable enforcement discretion within its authority when issuing civil penalties. In addition, DEQ recognizes that the outbreak may affect the ability to comply with corrective actions or pay a civil penalty. Visit our webpage https://ordeq.org/COVID19 for more information about DEQ’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.*
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued 20 penalties totaling $926,206 in May for various environmental violations. A detailed list of violations and resulting penalties is at https://go.usa.gov/xEQJn.
Fines ranged from $975 to $611,403. Alleged violations included operating a solid waste disposal site without a permit, improper hazardous waste storage, and emitting more pollution than is allowed by the facility’s air quality permit.
DEQ issued civil penalties to the following organizations and individuals:
• City of Heppner, $3,150, Heppner, wastewater
• Columbia Northwest Recycling, Inc., dba Construction Materials Recycling, $611,403, Cornelius, solid waste
• Container Management Services, LLC, $59,213, Portland, solid and hazardous waste
• Corpac Construction Company, $26,400, Troutdale, asbestos
• Forest Park MHP LLC, $975, Oregon City, wastewater
• Genesis Acquisition Company Inc., dba Northland Furniture Company, $3,000, Bend, hazardous waste
• J's General Contractor, $32,000, Portland, asbestos
• Ochoco Lumber Company, $2,400, John Day, air quality
• Port of Tillamook Bay, $19,800, Tillamook, solid waste
• Red Moon Development & Construction Inc., $27,459, Coos Bay, stormwater
• Regenis , $17,250, Tillamook, solid waste
• Rogers Northwest, Inc., $16,800, Sherwood, air quality
• S-C Paving Company, $6,800, Tillamook, air quality
• Start LLC, $30,400, Portland, asbestos
• Sulussolar35 LLC, $4,800, Mollala, stormwater
• Tillamook Biogas LLC, $26,700, Tillamook, solid waste
• Ultimate RB Inc., $12,125, Portland, stormwater
• Westrock CP LLC, $11,478 , Portland, stormwater
• Wilbur-Ellis Feed LLC, $14,053, Clackamas, stormwater
• Willamette Graystone LLC, $6,800, Salem, stormwater
Organizations or individuals must either pay the fines or file an appeal within 20 days of receiving notice of the penalty. They may be able to offset a portion of a penalty by funding a supplemental environmental project that improves Oregon’s environment.
Penalties may also include orders requiring specific tasks to prevent ongoing violations or additional environmental harm.
DEQ works with thousands of organizations and individuals to help them comply with laws that protect Oregon’s air, land and water. DEQ uses education, technical assistance, warnings and penalties to change behavior and deter future violations.
Original source can be found here.
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