Auto Truck Transport USA Fined
$2,850 For Third Water Quality
Permit Violation in Three Years
The Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality has issued a $2,850 penalty to Auto
Truck Transport USA LLC, which operates
a trucking facility at 6220 N. Basin Ave. in
Portland, for failing to monitor its stormwater
discharges into the Willamette River as
required by its stormwater discharge permit.
DEQ issued the penalty because during
the 2009-10 monitoring year (July 1, 2009 to
June 30, 2010), Auto Truck Transport failed
to visually monitor its stormwater once a
month as required by its permit. It is crucial
that permittees sample and monitor their
stormwater discharge regularly to ensure their
discharges meet water quality benchmarks
set forth in their permit. Failure to meet the
benchmarks may indicate the presence of
harmful levels of industrial pollutants that
could enter the Willamette River. These
discharges can damage aquatic species and
their habitat as well as reduce the safety of
waterways used by the public.
This is the third consecutive year that
Auto Truck Transport has been penalized
for water quality permit violations. In May
2009, DEQ fined the company $1,949 for
failing to perform all required sampling of
its stormwater discharges during the 2007-08
monitoring period. In April 2010, DEQ fined
the company $6,961 for failing to conduct
required sampling and visual monitoring of
its discharges during the 2008-09 monitoring
period. The company paid both penalties in
full.
Permittees are required to submit their
discharge monitoring results to DEQ or an
authorized agent of DEQ – in this case, the
city of Portland – on a regular basis. Under
Oregon law, DEQ has the authority to pursue
formal enforcement action against permittees
who are believed to have violated their permit
requirements.
Auto Truck Transport USA LLC has
appealed this latest penalty and will meet with
DEQ to discuss the matter further.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
Soil Cleanup at Bly Truck Shop
Begins
Work to remove petroleum-contaminated
soil from former weyerhaeuser vehicle
maintenance facility site is part of ongoing,
voluntary cleanup effort.
Contractors working for Weyerhaeuser began
work recently to remove and clean petroleum polluted
soil from the former site of the
company’s truck shop in Bly. The project is
the latest part of Weyerhaeuser’s ongoing
cleanup of the site, which began when the
wood products company agreed to participate
in the Department of Environmental Quality’s voluntary cleanup program in 2002.
Weyerhaeuser used the site, located about
45 miles east of Klamath Falls, to maintain
logging trucks, log yard machinery and other
equipment from the early 1960s until 1991.
Cleanup began with removal of maintenance
buildings and above ground fuel storage
tanks from the site. The company followed
the demolition with routine soil and water
monitoring.
Monitoring found petroleum pollution
in the soil and water. Concentrations of the
contamination have decreased over time
as natural processes have broken down the
pollution, but several areas of the property
still have pollution levels above those allowed
by environmental regulations. The current
cleanup plan calls for GSI Water Solutions,
Weyerhaeuser’s contractor, to move the
contaminated soil from these areas to a
specially prepared area on the site, where
it will be treated using microorganisms to
breakdown the pollution.
DEQ expects the project to take several
months. The treated soil will be returned to the
site.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
DEQ Fines Atlas Towing Inc.
of North Portland $9,110 For
Operating without Stormwater
Discharge Permit
The Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality has issued a $9,110 penalty to Atlas
Towing Inc., of 570 N. Columbia Boulevard,
Portland, for operating its facility without an
industrial stormwater discharge permit.
Atlas Towing dismantles automobiles,
stores scrap and waste and engages in auto
fuel transfers, among other activities at its
site. A Jan. 5, 2011 city of Portland Bureau
of Environmental Services inspection of the
property confirmed that industrial activities
were occurring at the site, requiring an
industrial stormwater discharge permit. The
city issued Atlas Towing a letter saying that
the company was operating in violation of
environmental regulations and must apply
for the permit. The permit requires industrial
facilities such as Atlas Towing to take
measures to minimize the amount of pollutants
in stormwater discharged from their site into
the nearby Columbia Slough and also requires
discharge monitoring.
Atlas Towing failed to apply for the
permit by a March 24 deadline, and the city
referred the matter to DEQ for enforcement
action. In late April, DEQ notified Atlas
Towing that the company was operating in
violation of state law for failing to obtain the
discharge permit. DEQ issued the penalty to
Atlas on June 21, after receiving no response
from the company, which continued to operate
without the required permit.
DEQ issued the penalty because
stormwater runoff from industrial facilities
contains pollutants that can damage aquatic
life and harm other uses of public waters.
The permit requires permittees to implement
stormwater control measures and monitoring
stormwater runoff from the property to help
protect water quality and minimize the amount
of industrial pollutants exposed to stormwater.
DEQ told Atlas Towing that if the company
applied for the permit, DEQ would recalculate
the penalty to reflect economic benefits gained
by failing to apply for the permit as delayed
rather than avoided, and would adjust the
penalty accordingly.
Atlas Towing Inc. failed to file its appeal
by its appeal deadline date.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
Pendleton Man Fined $1,056 for
Illegal Open Burning
The Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality has issued a $1,056 penalty to Charles
Edwin Baker, of Pendleton, for open burning
of prohibited materials on property at 504 SE
19th St., in Pendleton, across the street from
his residence in early June.
The Pendleton Fire Department referred
information about the incident to DEQ after
it responded to a fire on the property on June
4. Baker was at the site overseeing the burn.
A DEQ natural resource specialist witnessed
the fire, observing that the burn pile included
carpeting, a couch, painted ceramic vases, a
mattress spring and pressure-treated wood.
All such materials are prohibited from being
openly burned because they cause dense
smoke and noxious odors when burned.
Baker did not appeal the penalty to DEQ by his appeal deadline, so the full penalty
amount is now due.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
Groundwater Protection
Committee to meet Sept. 13 in La
Pine
The Steering Committee, composed of
residents of South Deschutes and North
Klamath counties, is charged with identifying
cost-effective solutions to protect area
groundwater.
What: The South Deschutes and North
Klamath County Groundwater Protection
Project Steering Committee will meet to
discuss topics including: Oregon Health
Authority’s Office of Environmental Public
Health presentation on private well water
safety in the area; questions and answers with
Bill Mason, DEQ hydrogeologist. Strategic
planning for communications and outreach;
subcommittee updates: Options, Domestic
Well Sampling, Spray Field Well Data
The committee plans to meet monthly for
the next year. Exact meeting times may vary so people should check DEQ’s website for
updated times and locations.
Shimadzu USA Manufacturing
Fined $1,800 for Violations
involving Used Oil Storage at
Canby Facility
The Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality has issued $1,800 in penalties to
Shimadzu USA Manufacturing Inc., of Canby,
for failing to properly store and label used oil
at the company’s facility at 1900 SW Fourth
Ave.
At the Canby facility, Shimadzu USA
manufactures analytical and measuring
instruments, including high-performance
liquid chromatographs. It had reported to DEQ that it was a large-quantity generator
of hazardous waste (generating more than
2,200 pounds of hazardous waste per month)
annually from 2007 to 2010. DEQ inspected the facility in March 2011 and
observed numerous used oil waste storage
and labeling violations and other hazardous
waste violations. DEQ had observed similar
violations at the plant during an inspection
several years ago, and sent the company
a warning letter in 2006 identifying these
violations and steps to avoid future violations.
In late July 2011, DEQ issued penalties to
Shimadzu USA for: failing to store used oil in
a container ($1,050 penalty). During its March
inspection, DEQ found used oil leaking from
machines and outside secondary containment
onto the plant floor, where it was being tracked
around and had the potential to contaminate
the environment.
The DEQ also issued penalties for storing
used oil in containers without labeling the
containers as “used oil.” ($750 penalty).
DEQ cited Shimadzu USA for several
other violations of hazardous waste
regulations, but did not issue penalties for
these violations: failing to close containers
holding hazardous waste (spent solvents,
including acetone, isopropyl alcohol and
xylene); failing to contain spent metal halide
lamps in containers that were structurally
sound to prevent breakage; failing to properly
label spent metal halide lamps with the words
“universal waste lamps,” “waste lamps” or
“used lamps”; failing to maintain aisle space
sufficiently to allow unobstructed movement
of personnel and decontamination equipment
to any area of the facility in the event of an emergency; failing to label a container storing
spent solvent hazardous waste with the words
“hazardous waste.”
In calculating the penalties, DEQ took
into account efforts Shimadzu USA has
made in correcting all of the violations. The
company has 20 days to appeal the penalty
from the date it receives official notice of the
penalty. If it does not appeal, the full penalty
amount will be due.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
DEQ Seeks Comment on
Greenhouse Gas Reporting
Protocols
DEQ is seeking comments on greenhouse gas
reporting protocols for electric companies.
Oregon rules require investor owned utilities
and electricity service suppliers to report
greenhouse gas emissions from the generation
of the electricity they supply for use in
Oregon. DEQ is holding a public comment
period on the protocols specifying how
these companies will report. DEQ would
like feedback about how well the proposed
protocols work for reporting companies.
DEQ encourages all investor owned utilities
and electricity service suppliers subject to
the reporting rules to review the protocols.
Members of the public are also invited to
review the protocols and submit comments.
To view the proposed protocols, learn
more about the reporting requirements for
these companies and for instructions on how
to submit comments, please visit DEQ’s
website: http://www.deq.state.or.us/aq/
climate/electricity.htm
The comment period closes at 5 p.m. on Sept.
23, 2011.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
DEQ Extends Comment Period to
Sept. 16 for Proposed Petroleum Cleanup at Port of Astoria
The Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality has extended the deadline to Sept.
16 for comments on a proposed cleanup of
petroleum contamination on a portion of the
Port of Astoria’s property in Astoria. This
contamination resulted from past activities on
the property involving storage and distribution
of petroleum within the Port’s facility.
DEQ has extended the public comment
period because of requests for more time to
review information about the site in order
to comment. DEQ will consider public
comments in its selection of a final remedy.
Send written comments on the proposed
cleanup by 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 16, to
DEQ Project Manager Anna Coates,
DEQ
Northwest Region Office, 2020 SW 4th Ave.,
Suite 400, Portland, Oregon 97201,
or email
to coates.anna@deq.state.or.us .
To view the project files, please call File
Review Specialist Dawn Weinberger at 503-229-6729 to schedule an appointment.
Ask for
ECSI file #2277. For more information, call
Anna Coates at 503-229-5213.
Background: DEQ issued an order in 2001 to the Port
of Astoria, several oil companies and other
current and past owners and operators at, and
adjacent to, the port’s facilities where fuel
spills occurred. The order required the parties
to determine the extent of contamination and
develop cleanup actions to protect human
health and control petroleum seeps to the
Columbia River.
The proposed remedy for the property
would require the following: construct a
treatment barrier and sediment cap in Slip 2
to control on-going releases to the Columbia
River and prevent exposure to petroleumimpacted
sediments; remove and dispose
of off-site surface soil in a limited area;
implement institutional controls to prevent
exposure to petroleum contamination.
Controls would include inspection and
maintenance of previously implemented
engineering controls (capping and building
venting) and groundwater monitoring to
document the progress of reducing the
concentration and mobility of petroleum
contamination remaining at the site.
The estimated cost for the cleanup,
including operations and maintenance, is
approximately $3.6 million. The design data
collection and remedial design is expected to
take approximately nine months to complete.
The Port of Astoria facility is part of a
larger investigation and cleanup site referred
to as the “Astoria Area Wide Cleanup Site.”
The site is divided into five areas. The focus
of this proposal is “Area 4” which includes
port property where the former Mobil/Niemi
Oil bulk plant operated. Area 4 also features
several petroleum distribution pipelines, a
port maintenance shop, a former port vehicle
service facility, and portions of former
steelworks and furniture manufacturing
facilities. Area 4 extends to the head of Slip 2
where an ongoing petroleum seep discharges
into the Columbia River sediment bed and
surface water.
ISSUE #469/ SEPTEMBER 2001
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) / 2011 PENALTIES
DEQ announced 15 penalties totalling $78,813 for June 2011. To date in 2011, DEQ has issued 81 penalties totalling $499,768.
For info: Jeff Bachman, DEQ Enforcement, 503/ 229-5950 or Bachman.Jeff@deq.state.or.us / www.oregon.gov/DEQ/
RESPONSIBLE PARTY & LOCATION
VIOLATION(s)
PENALITY
STATUS
Nate Faris
(Portland)
Open burning of prohibited materials (including garbage, plastic, plywood and yard debris) on
property in October 2010 and again in December 2010
$2,511
Did not respond;
penalty due
Boise Cascade Wood
Products LLC
(Elgin)
Violating air quality permit for sawmill and plywood manufacturing facility by allowing
veneer dryer emissions to vent directly into atmosphere instead of routing to catalytic oxidizer
mechanism for destruction, as required ($4,000 penalty); violating federal regulatory codes by
failing to conduct annual catalyst media sampling in 2010 ($4,400 penalty)
$8,400
(total)
Will pursue a
supplemental
project as part of
penalty
City of Estacada
(Estacada)
Violating wastewater discharge permit for wastewater collection, treatment and disposal
facility by exceeding allowable limits for total suspended solids and biochemical oxygen
demand on several days between November 2010 and March 2011
$937
Will pursue a
supplemental
project as part of
penalty
PGG/HSC Feed
Company LLC
(Hermiston)
Open burning of prohibited materials (including pallets wrapped in plastic sheeting, as well as
grease) at Hermiston Feedmill on Feb. 24, 2011
$4,800
Paid
Tony Harden and Coal
Harden
(Crawfordsville
Open burning of prohibited materials (including rubber products, plastics, metals, furniture,
automobile parts, carpet and household garbage) on property on Nov. 11 and Dec. 20, 2010
$1,013
Did not respond;
penalty due
L & R Recycling &
Farm Cleanup
(Ontario)
Open burning of prohibited materials (including plastic and rubber wire coatings) at salvage
yard on Feb. 14, 2011
$1,500
Did not respond;
penalty due
Sea Mark Management
Inc.
(Portland)
Causing pollution of state waters at Kinder Morgan Terminal No. 5 at Port of Portland on
March 18, 2011 due to overflow of bunker oil fuel tank of vessel Transcenden Time, resulting
in release of about 126 gallons of bunker fuel into Willamette River
$10,400
Paid
JELD-WEN Inc.
(Klamath Falls)
Violating air quality Title V permit for wood products and manufacturing facilities by failing
to report excess pollutant emissions events of March 28 and March 29, 2011 to DEQ within
one hour of the event, as required
$4,000
Will pursue a
supplemental
project as part of
penalty
Daniel Robert Lee
(Turner)
Open burning of prohibited materials (including plastics, rubber, carpet, metal, styrofoam,
fiberglass and batteries) on property on March 9, 2011
$2,028
Did not respond;
penalty due
North Coast Retail LLC
(Warrenton)
Violating wastewater discharge permit for construction activities at North Coast Retail Center
on U.S. Highway 101 and SE 19th Street by failing to implement permit’s erosion and sediment
control plan from August to December 2009 ($4,500 penalty); causing pollution of state waters
by allowing sediment-laden wastewater to be discharged from above-listed construction site to
adjacent wetlands ($4,800 penalty)
$9,300
(total)
Did not respond;
penalty due
Atlas Towing Inc.
(Portland)
Violating state law by operating a facility causing industrial runoff (an auto wrecking,
scrapping and dismantling facility) without an industrial stormwater discharge permit
$9,110
Did not respond;
penalty due
Northwest Natural Gas
Co.
(Columbia County)
Conducting construction activities for natural gas pipeline replacement project at U.S.
Highway 30 and Eilertsen Creek without first applying for a National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System wastewater discharge permit
$4,500
Response due
Bud Jones Trucking Inc.
(Corvallis)
Installing or repairing a septic (onsite) system in February 2010 without the required permit
$2,250
Appealed
Pallet Companies Inc.
dba/IFCO Systems
(Portland)
Violating stormwater discharge permit for pallet management services facility by failing to
perform all required monthly visual monitoring of stormwater discharge during 2009-10
monitoring period
$4,200
Response due
Commercial Powder
Coating Inc.
(Bend)
Failing to determine if residues (wastewater sludge, various liquid corrosive wastes, waste
rags, waste paint stripper) generated at metal coating business were hazardous ($9,864
penalty); failing to immediately clean up release of hazardous materials (waste paint stripper
and broken mercury-containing fluorescent lamps) at above-listed facility ($4,000 penalty)
$13,864
(total)
Response due
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (DEQ) / 2011 PENALTIES
DEQ announced 15 penalties totalling $106,446 for April 2011. To date in 2011, DEQ has issued 50 penalties totalling $364,857.
For info: Jeff Bachman, DEQ Enforcement, 503/ 229-5950 or Bachman.Jeff@deq.state.or.us / www.oregon.gov/DEQ/
RESPONSIBLE PARTY & LOCATION
VIOLATION(s)
PENALITY
STATUS
Randy Hagedorn, Scappoose
Performing sewage disposal services in Scappoose and in Deer Island without the
required license
$2,482
Appealed
Thomas Ray Moroni,
Ashland
Conducting an unlicensed asbestos abatement project (removing about 2,000 square
feet of cement asbestos board siding from a building) in Jan. 2010
$8,400
Amount
Due
Kinzua Resources
LLC,
Pilot Rock
Violating solid waste disposal permit for Pilot Rock Sawmill Wood waste Landfill by
disposing of waste at the site without prior DEQ approval ($12,800); violating permit
by failing to take immediate action to extinguish underground and surface fires at
landfill ($7,829)
$20,629
(total)
Appealed
Alumaweld Boats Inc.,
White City
Failing to determine if residue generated (paint wastes) at boat manufacturing facility
were hazardous ($4,500); failing to properly label containers of hazardous waste with
the date on which the facility first began accumulating the waste ($1,125); failing to
label containers of hazardous waste as hazardous ($825); failing to close containers of
hazardous waste ($825)
$7,275
(total)
Appealed
JELD-WEN Inc.,
Klamath Falls
Violating air quality permit at wood products and manufacturing complex by failing
to report to DEQ excess emission events at facility within one hour of occurrence on
five separate days in Aug. ($2,400); violating above-listed permit by failing to timely
submit portions of semi-annual compliance reports to DEQ ($1,400); submitting
compliance certificates to DEQ that did not accurately identify and account for permit
deviations ($2,600)
$6,400
(total)
Settled
Beall Corporation,
Portland
Violating stormwater discharge permit for trailer manufacturing facility by failing
to visually monitor its stormwater discharge on a monthly basis during the 2009-10
monitoring year, as required
$4,225
Appealed
Sand Works Inc.,
Warrenton
Conducting construction activities at a site greater than one acre (Anne Marie Park
subdivision) in Sept. 2010 without a discharge permit
$11,318
Appealed
Pendleton Flour Mills
LLC,
Pendleton
Violating air contaminant discharge permit for flour and grain mill by failing to submit
its annual report by its 2/5/11 deadline
$1,425
Penalty
Due
Raymundo Maldonado,
Herlinda Vicente,
Hermiston
Open burning of prohibited materials (including insulation, treated wood, plastics and
food waste) on 2/9/11
$327
Penalty
Due
Hermiston Station
LLC,
Hermiston
Causing wastes (untreated sewage) to be placed in a location where such wastes are
likely to escape to be carried into state waters in Nov. 2010
$2,546
Appealed
Feigner Nursery Inc.,
Portland
Discharging turbid, sediment-laden water runoff from nursery grounds into state waters
at level in violation of state water quality turbidity standard
$8,424
Appealed
Goldstar Enterprise
Inc.,
Forest Grove
Storing hazardous waste (shredded cathode ray tube glass and other ground-up
electronics waste) at electronics recycling facility without a hazardous waste storage
permit ($11,307); failing to provide financial assurance for the site ($8,800)
$20,107
(total)
Appealed
Feenaughty Machinery
Co.,
Portland
Violating stormwater discharge permit for construction and forestry equipment sales,
rental and service facility by failing to visually monitor discharge on a monthly basis
as required
$5,400
Appealed
Northwest Aluminum
Specialties Inc.
The Dalles
Violating Title V air quality permit for aluminum smelting and refining facility by
failing to submit to DEQ its 2010 annual report by its 2/15/11 deadline
$1,700
Response
Due
Environmental Fibers
International Inc.,
Portland
Violating stormwater discharge permit for commercial recycling facility by failing to
conduct all required discharge sampling and monitoring during the 2008-09 and 2009-
10 monitoring periods
