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Department of Ecology News Release - May 24, 2007
07-139
The following is a summary of all penalties of $1,000 or more issued by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) during the first quarter (January-March) of 2007, totaling $758,567.
Ecology strives for voluntary compliance with environmental rules and regulations. When voluntary compliance is unsuccessful, Ecology may use increasingly stringent enforcement tools ranging from warning letters to monetary civil penalties and/or criminal prosecution.
The penalty money Ecology collects goes into either the state general fund or special accounts so it can be sent back to communities for projects that benefit the environment.
Penalties listed below can be paid to Ecology or appealed to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board. A particular penalty may be fully satisfied at this time.
| County of Violation | City of Violation | Date Issued | Penalty Recipient | Description of Violation | Amount | Media Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton | Richland | 2/28/2007 | American Safari Cruises | Spilled approximately 16 gallons of fuel into the Columbia River near Richland during onboard fueling operations. | $2000 | Joye Redfield-Wilder 509-575-2610 |
| Columbia | Waitsburg | 3/14/2007 | John Payne & Payne & Payne | Violated the Clean Air Act by conducting agricultural burning without a permit. | $3,500 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
| Grant | Royal City | 3/6/2007 | Golden West Farms & Gerald Brown | Violated outdoor burning regulations by burning prohibited materials including railroad ties and furniture. | $5,000 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
| Grant | Mattawa | 1/25/2007 | Tim Jenne & South county Septic | Disposed of 107 loads (approximately 130,500 gallons) of septage into unpermitted, unlined lagoons over 80 days. | $179,326 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
| Grays Harbor | Aberdeen | 2/9/2007 | Masco Petroleum | Transferred gasoline to tanker truck in an unsafe manner. Gasoline ignited and spilled to stormwater system and Frye Creek. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| King | Seattle | 1/19/2007 | Shultz Distributing | Failed to comply with release detection requirements for underground aviation fuel storage tanks at King county International Airport. | $1,400 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| King | Redmond | 3/14/2007 | Redmond Fire Department | Failed to comply with record keeping, release detection and corrosion prevention requirements for underground storage tanks at Fire Station 15 | $1,500 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 3/27/2007 | Central Puget Sound Light Rail System and RCI-Herzog | Violated an earlier Ecology order by initiating activity on the east Myrtle St. yard on Jan. 29, 2007 prior to meeting the terms of the order – to correct stormwater runoff violations – including obtaining authorization to resume work. | $4,000 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 3/30/2007 | Canal Boatyard LLC | Violated the Boatyard General Permit by failing to prepare and implement the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, failing to implement Best Management Practices and discharging pressure wash wastewater to the Lake Washington Ship Canal. | $9,500 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 3/28/2007 | Coastal Transportation Inc. | Spilled approximately 20 gallons of diesel fuel to Salmon Bay while refueling the cargo vessel Coastal Navigator. | $12,000 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| King | Renton | 2/15/2007 | JPS Holdings | Discharged stormwater from the Kristille Ridge construction site without a permit. | $21,000 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| Kitsap | Poulsbo | 3/28/2007 | The Boat Company | Released 20 gallons of diesel fuel into Salmon Bay due to overfilling tanks while refueling. | $1,000 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| Kitsap | Silverdale | 1/25/2007 | Sears Auto, Kitsap Mall | Employee inadvertently bypassed a pump's safety shutoff and pumped waste oil from shop, overfilling the waste-oil-storage tank. Oil went to storm drain and Puget Sound. | $1,500 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| Kitsap | Port Orchard | 3/19/2007 | Karcher Creek Sewer District | Applied and stored biosolids material without proper permits | 10,500 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| Mason | Shelton | 1/3/2007 | Young Pak (Shelton Shell) | Failed to remove hazardous substance from a tank that was corroding and not passing a tightness test. | $1,300 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pacific | Raymond | 2/2/2007 | Weyerhaeuser Co., Raymond Lumber mill | Discharged two separate 40-gallon spills of hydraulic oil from a log-handling machine and failed to notify the Coast Guard and Ecology in a timely manner. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pend Oreille | Usk | 1/27/2007 | Ponderay Newsprint Co | Failed to submit an application for an air operating permit - a requirement for larger sources of air pollution. The company also violated existing permit limits for volatile organic compounds. | $100,000 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 3/28/2007 | Chicagotrans | Spilled oil from a semi truck into a Supervalu parking lot. The oil went into the catch basin, which empties into the Thea Foss Waterway. The spill was not reported to Ecology or Coast Guard. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 3/8/2007 | Gateway Trucking Co. | Diesel spilled from fuel tank of a refrigerator truck to Tacoma stormwater system and Tacoma S. End Channel which discharges to Flett Creek. | $1,500 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 1/9/2007 | Organically Grown Company | Spilled at least 100 gallons of diesel into the Puyallup River as a result of vehicle accident on I-5. | $2,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Gig Harbor | 2/1/2007 | John McGraw | Discharged approximately 3000 gallons of gasoline-contaminated stormwater from a residential basement to the public stormwater conveyance. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 1/23/2007 | Southern Ship Management (Chile) | Spilled 20 gallons of fuel oil into Commencement Bay while fueling the M/V Pacific Explorer in Tacoma. | $4,500 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 1/19/2007 | First Student Inc Tacoma | Did not apply for the Industrial General Stormwater permit after several warnings and discharges of muddy water to the City of Tacoma storm sewer system. | $7,811 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Snohomish | Marysville | 3/12/2007 | Pacific Topsoil | Placed approximately 12 acres of fill in wetlands on Smith Island in the Lower Snohomish River Estuary without any permits. | $88,000 | Larry Altose 425-649-7009 |
| Spokane | Spokane | 1/12/2007 | Goodrich Corporation Carbon Products | Discharged wastewater containing hazardous-waste components to the city of Spokane sewer. | $260,000 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
| Thurston | Yelm | 2/6/2007 | Centralia City Light/Yelm Hydro | Discharged oil into the Nisqually River. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Thurston | Olympia | 2/20/2007 | Mike Bunce | Up to 25 gallons of diesel released from a sunken 35-foot pleasure craft in Gallagher Cove. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Thurston | Olympia | 3/1/2007 | Quality Rock Products, Delphi Pit | Discharged muddy water to McClane Creek. | $12,230 | Kim Schmanke 360-407-6239 |
| Whatcom | Blaine | 2/20/2007 | Paul Sanchez Property | Violated an immediate order to halt work re-routing portions of a stream, to apply for a construction stormwater permit and to conduct a wetland assessment before construction. | $16,000 | Shannon Sullivan 360-738-6247 |
| Whitman | Pullman | 3/27/2007 | Steelman Duff, Inc. | Violated temporary air quality permit regulations by emitting excessive air pollution while operating a rock crusher within the SR 270 right-of-way east of Pullman. | $5,000 | Jani Gilbert 509-329-3495 |
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
