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Department of Ecology News Release - September 5, 2008
08-246
Following is a summary of all penalties of $1,000 or more issued by the Department of Ecology during the second quarter (April, May, June) of 2008. All together, Ecology has issued $1,029,623 in penalties of $1,000 or more this year. Ecology works with thousands of business and individuals to ensure compliance with laws written to protect Washington’s air, land and water resources. Penalties are issued in cases where non-compliance continues after Ecology has provided technical assistance or warnings, or for particularly serious violations.
The money owed from penalties may be reduced from the issued amount due to a ruling by the Environmental Hearings Board or a negotiated settlement. The final penalty amount owed and collected is deposited in special accounts that pay for:
The most common accounts receiving collected penalties are:
For more detail about Ecology’s enforcement policy and actions, please see the 2007 Enforcement Report at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0801015.html.
| County of Violation | City of Violation | Date Issued | Penalty Recipient | Description of Violation | Amount | Media Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton | Richland | 6/12/08 | U.S. Department of Energy Hanford Facility | Failed to meet the Hanford Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (HFFACO) Article VII waste management milestone to certify required volume of Transuranic mixed waste for shipment to New Mexico. | $25,000 | Sharon Braswell, 509-372-7895 |
| Chelan | Wenatchee | 4/3/2008 | Central Washington Asphalt Rocky Reach Pit | Failed to obtain a temporary air quality permit prior to operating an asphalt plant in the Rocky Reach pit. | $4,500 | Joye Redfield-Wilder 509-575-2610 |
| Clark | Vancouver | 4/23/2008 | Pacific Rock Products | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports since the second quarter of 2007 for its Kiewit Pit as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Clark | Washougal | 6/9/2008 | Hambleton Lumber Sales | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports for all quarters of 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Clark | Yacolt | 4/23/2008 | North Clark Construction | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports for its Courtney Pit for the third and fourth quarters of 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke,
360-407-6239 |
| Cowlitz | Kalama | 6/23/2008 | Harvest States Cooperative | Failed to submit quarterly stormwater discharge monitoring reports for 2006 and 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
Cowlitz | Kelso | 4/23/2008 | Derosier Trucking | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports for its Coweeman Pit for each quarter of 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
Cowlitz | Kelso | 4/23/2008 | Derosier Trucking | Failed to submit any of its quarterly stormwater discharge monitoring reports for the Pleasant Hill Pit for the year 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Grant | Quincy | 5/29/2008 | Celite Corp. | Celite Corp. failed to apply for an “Air Operating Permit” that is designed for facilities that emit or could emit 100 tons of air pollution in a year. Celite operated in 2006 and 2007 without the proper permit. | $6,143 | Cathy Cochrane, 509-329-3433 or Jani Gilbert, 509-329-3495 |
| Grays Harbor | Hoquiam | 4/23/08 | Chenois Creek Quarry | Failed to monitor reports of its stormwater discharge since the third quarter of 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Jefferson | Port Townsend | 4/11/2008 | Port Townsend Paper | Exceeded total suspended solids limit for the sanitary system that is allowed by permit. | $1,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Jefferson | Port Townsend | 4/29/2008 | William Hammer | Spilled 110 gallons of diesel during two spill events at Boat Haven. Mr. Hammer became distracted and forgot about an internal fuel transfer until 60 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed. Later, an open siphon line allowed another 50 gallons to spill to the bilge area and be pumped overboard over the following three days. | $2,500 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Jefferson | Pleasant Harbor | 5/9/2008 | Maures Tinaza Sr. | Allowed his fishing vessel to sink, spilling 10 gallons of petroleum product to Pleasant Harbor. | $12,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| King | Seattle | 5/2/2008 | Michigan Street 76 | Violated underground fuel tank leak and spill prevention requirements for four sets of tanks and lines. | $1,600 | Larry Altose, 425-649-7009 |
| King | I-90, mile post 27 |
6/9/2008 | Spider Transport Inc; | Failed to respond to a diesel fuel spill that released approx. 20 gal. to a storm drain and 60 gal. to soil after an accident. | $2,000 | Larry Altose, 425-649-7009 |
| Kittitas | Cle Elum | 4/2/2008 | Associated Petroleum Products; | Delivered petroleum to regulated underground storage tanks/gas stations that did not display compliance tags. Tags are required at regulated fueling facilities and demonstrate the site is in compliance with performance requirements. | $1,000 | Joye Redfield-Wilder, 509-575-2610 |
| Lewis | Chehalis | 4/23/2008 | Sterling Breen | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports since the fourth quarter of 2005 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239
|
| Lewis | Chehalis | 5/29/2008 | Phil Smith | Cleared 190 acres without appropriate permits. Ignored offers of technical assistance and Ecology administrative order outlining necessary actions to meet state water quality protection standards. News release: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2008news/2008-145.html | $232,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239
|
| Okanogan | Brewster | 6/12/2008 | The Triangle Shell Food Mart | Failed to comply with corrosion protection and leak detection requirements at gas pumps and underground petroleum storage tanks. | $1,000 | Joye Redfield-Wilder, 509-575-2610
|
| Okanogan | Oroville | 6/12/2008 | Skipper Lee Hamilton | Failed to comply with release detection for underground storage tanks and failed to provide insurance. | $1,800 | Joye Redfield-Wilder, 509-575-2610
|
| Pierce | Crystal Mountain | 4/15/2008 | Puget Sound Energy | Malfunctioning automated fuel transfer pump resulted in an 18,000 gallon diesel fuel spill at PSE’s un-manned Crystal Mountain emergency generator station. The spill lasted close to 18 hours and impacted Silver Creek, White River and wetlands. News release: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2008news/2008-089.html | $366,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Gig Harbor | 5/6/2008 | Joseph Smith | Spilled 25 gallons of diesel when his excavating equipment backed into a pond and tipped over. Mr. Smith did not report or clean up the spill. Ecology was informed of the incident by an anonymous caller. | $1,500 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Orting | 4/23/2008 | Washington Rock Quarries | Failure to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports since the first quarter of 2007 as required by its permit. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 5/7/2008 | Simpson Tacoma Kraft | Exceeded allowable total reduced sulfur emissions on two occasions from lime kiln 2. | $4,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239/TD> |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 5/27/2008 | Trident Seafoods Corp. | Spilled an estimated 90 gallons of diesel to Commencement Bay during a fueling operation on July 10, 2007. News release: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2008news/2008-144.html | $12,000
|
Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Pierce | Wilkeson | 4/23/2008 | Wilkeson Sandstone Quarry | Failed to submit discharge monitoring reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2007. | $3,0000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Skamania | Stevenson | 4/23/2008 | Home Valley S&G Wilson Barnes Pit | Failure to submit discharge monitoring reports. | $3,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Snohomish | Everett | 5/29/2008 | Kimberly Clark World Wide; | Excessive particulate matter emissions from Power Boiler 14 on Nov. 21, 2007. | $2,000 | Larry Altose, 425-649-7009 |
| Snohomish | Marysville | 4/9/2008 | Quil Ceda Tanning Co; | Failed to submit water quality monitoring reports from June, 2006 to Dec., 207. Violated a water quality permit limit from Oct. to Dec., 2007. | $6,000 | Larry Altose, 425-649-7009 |
| Thurston | Olympia | 4/23/2008 | Hancor, Inc. | Failed to submit stormwater discharge monitoring reports for the second, third and fourth quarters of 2007 as required by its permit. | $4,000 | Kim Schmanke, 360-407-6239 |
| Walla Walla | Burbank | 6/6/2008 | James M & Jane Ann Smith | Twice in 2007, the Smiths violated the Washington state regulation that makes it illegal to burn prohibited materials. . | $5,500 | Cathy Cochrane, 509-329-3433 or Jani Gilbert, 509-329-3495 |
| Whatcom | Bellingham | 6/5/2008 | IMCO General Construction | Released muddy water that exceeded water quality standards into Ten Mile Creek as a direct result of not implementing recommended erosion and sediment control measures as requested by WSDOT staff. News release: www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2008news/2008-173.html. | $8,000 | Katie J. Skipper, 360-715-5205 |
| Skamania | Ferndale | 4/29/2008 | ConocoPhillips Co. Ferndale Refinery | Violated water quality permit limits for total suspended solids on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 2008. | $3,000 | Katie J. Skipper, 360-715-5205 |
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