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Department of Ecology News Release - March 7, 2013
13-066
OLYMPIA -- The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued $537,700 in penalties of $1,000 or more in the fourth quarter (October, November, December) of 2012. A table describing the violations and resulting penalties is available below.
Ecology issues individual news releases for penalties of $10,000 or greater. Links to the news release are included in the table. A particular penalty may be fully satisfied at this time or in the process of an appeal or settlement discussions.
Communities, families and businesses depend on clean air, land and water, and on reliable water supplies. Complying with our state’s and our nation’s laws helps assure this. See Ecology’s “Protecting Washington's Quality of Life” website portal for more information.
Ecology works with thousands of businesses and individuals to help them comply with these laws. 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 Pollution Control Hearings Board or a negotiated settlement. Ecology doesn’t benefit from penalty payments. The final penalty amount owed and collected is deposited in special accounts that pay for:
| County of violation |
City of violation |
Date issued |
Recipient |
Violation Description |
Penalty amount |
Media contact |
| Chelan | Malaga | 12/7/12 | Alcoa Wenatchee Works | Company discharged excessive amounts of aluminum and fluoride to the Columbia River on May 3, 2012, in violation of daily limits outlined in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Aluminum discharges were nearly 30 pounds more than allowed on a daily basis. Fluoride discharges were 76 pounds more than the daily allowance. The company also did not meet its monthly discharge limit for fluoride by 5.4 pounds for May 2012. | $8,000 |
Joye Redfield-Wilder, (509) 575-2610 |
| Clark | Vancouver | 12/19/12 | Alpha Iron LLC |
Company failed to develop and implement stormwater pollution prevention plan as required by its industrial stormwater general permit, and was not using best management practices to manage stormwater.
The facility also did not complete inspections or provide discharge monitoring reports for 11 months as required under permit. |
$1,500 |
Linda Kent, (360) 407-6239 |
| Grant | Quincy | 12/21/12 | Imerys Minerals California, Inc. | Plant emitted more particle pollution than allowed under its air quality permit for as many as 300 days. The company paid a $60,000 fine and provided $60,000 for a local environmental project that will pay for reducing diesel emissions from school buses in the Quincy School District. Please see news release. | $120,000 |
Brook Beeler, (509) 329-3478 |
| King | Seattle | 10/12/12 | Dunlap Towing Co., Everett |
The tug Manfred Nystrom spilled 33 gallons of diesel fuel into
Elliott Bay in Seattle on July 1, 2011, while fueling.
Please see news release. |
$16,000 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| King | Kirkland | 10/24/12 | Washington State Department of Transportation | Allowed a discharge of muddy water into Juanita Creek on Oct. 11, 2012, during clean-out of a storm drain on the I-405 Bellevue to Lynnwood project. | $1,500 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 12/12/12 | King County | Part of an agreed order King County paid to correct the county’s violation of municipal stormwater permit monitoring requirements. Please see news release | $36,300 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 12/13/12 | South Seattle Market | Failed to comply with multiple leak prevention and detection requirements of its underground storage tank. | $1,000 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| King | Seattle | 12/17/12 | Burlington Environmental LLC |
Cited for 16 violations of dangerous waste handling requirements that
occurred at the company’s Kent facility between Oct. 2011 and May 2012.
Please see news release. |
$282,000 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| King | Kenmore | 12/19/12 | West Creek Village | Discharged muddy water into wetland and to Swamp Creek while cleaning a stormwater vault on Dec. 11, 2012. | $2,000 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 10/24/12 | Simpson Tacoma Kraft | The facility’s recovery furnace did not meet air permit limits for opacity. Opacity is a measure of smoke density. Violations were reported by Simpson Tacoma Kraft to Ecology in July 2012. | $2,000 |
Linda Kent, (360) 407-6239 |
| Pierce | Tacoma | 10/17/12 | Trident Seafoods Corp |
On Oct. 15, 2011, company spilled approximately 232 gallons of diesel
fuel into Hylebos Waterway from its 195-foot fishing vessel Eastern
Wind. A fuel tank overfilled during an internal fuel transfer operation.
Please see news release. |
$33,500 |
Linda Kent, (360) 407-6239 |
| Skagit | La Conner | 12/21/12 | William McCarthey, Bellingham | Approximately 1 gallon of diesel oil and water mixture was spilled at the La Conner Marina from an automatic bilge pump from the pleasure craft Seafarer on June 22, 2012. A similar incident occurred Sept. 16, 2011. Appeal filed. | $1,000 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| Snohomish | Everett | 10/24/12 | Express Lube | Failed to comply with multiple underground storage tank leak prevention and detection requirements. | $1,800 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
| Spokane | Spokane | 10/26/12 | Emerald Petroleum Services Transfer Facility | Fined for mishandling “dangerous waste” by disposing 7,300 pounds of oily sludge at a landfill that was not permitted to accept it. The fine was reduced from $18,000 to $12,000 in an expedited settlement agreement. Please see news release. | $18,000 |
Brook Beeler, (509) 329-3478 |
| Whatcom | Bellingham | 10/11/12 |
SuperGas, 1409 Meridian Ave. |
Fined for selling fuel without a permit or proof of insurance, and for failing to comply with multiple underground storage tank leak prevention and detection requirements. | $2,000 |
Dustin Terpening, (360) 715-5205 |
| Whatcom | Lynden | 11/1/12 | Rory Butler, Butler Company | Fined for release of petroleum when excavator sunk and was left in wetlands during logging operation. | $2,000 | Dustin Terpening, (360) 715-5205 |
| Whatcom | Bellingham | 11/13/12 |
SuperGas, 1409 Meridian Ave. |
Fined for continuing to sell fuel without insurance and leak detection protections in place. Facility shutdown due to failure to meet safe operation requirements. | $1,600 | Dustin Terpening, (360) 715-5205 |
| Whatcom | Bellingham | 11/29/12 | Harris Trucking Company | Delivered fuel to SuperGas station that didn’t have a license to receive fuel. Licenses should be visibly posted before deliveries made. | $1,000 |
Dustin Terpening, (360) 715-5205 |
| Whatcom | Lynden | 12/27/12 | Darigold, Inc | Violated water quality permit limits for temperature and flow volume, and missed deadlines for or filed incomplete discharge monitoring reports at various times from June 2011 through March 2012. | $6,500 |
Larry Altose, (425) 649-7009 |
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