It’s the time of month once again when the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality puts out its list of worst offenders in the state. For August, there’s a Benton County location on the list.
4-R Equipment has been fined $12,800 for discharging murky wastewater into Marys River from Rickard Rock Quarry. The wastewater negatively impacts fish and aquatic life.
The largest fine in August went to John Hyland Construction of Eugene. They received a fine of $134,734 for working without a water quality permit.
The smallest fine went to the City of Warrenton Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was fined $563 for exceeding pollution limits.
The rest of the crowd:
- Higgins’ Petroleum of Eugene was fined $775 for failure to test underground storage tank equipment.
- Jason Richard Bicknell and Nicole Rae Bullock of Trail were fined $1,871 for establishing and operating a solid waste disposal site without permit.
- In Tualatin, Advanced Chemical Transport was fined $3,600 for conducting underground tank services without a license.
- Realtors Kohler Meyers & O’Halloran of Portland were fined $3,880 for allowing an unlicensed firm conduct asbestos abatement at a residence.
- In Phoenix, Clements Enterprises was fined $7,668 and Dirt Doctor was fined $4,201 for allowing unlicensed asbestos abatement and for conducting unlicensed asbestos abatement at a residence, respectively.
- Vale’s EP Minerals was fined $11,700 for failing to perform required testing or monitoring of air quality.
- Lane County was fined $13,465 for failure to operate and maintain an underground storage tank.
- Portland’s Gilford’s Floor Covering was fined $14,800 for conducting asbestos abatement without proper license at a residence.
- In McMinnville, Cascade Steel Rolling Mills was fined $33,818 for continuing to do business when their pollution control equipment wasn’t operating. This led them to fail to properly monitor air quality as they were required to.
- The City of La Grande was fined $46,504 for failing to monitor stormwater discharge, thereby violating their underground injection control system.
- Discount Towing and Recovery in Salem was fined $67,575 for failing to comply with requirements for hazardous waste, used oil, waste tire, and stormwater.
These fines are civil penalties, and each recipient has 20 days from the time they are received to give notice of appeal.
By Sally K Lehman
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