FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Feb. 14, 2002 02-029
OLYMPIA - Three Southwest Washington industrial operations have been fined by the state for exceeding the amount of pollution they are permitted to discharge into rivers.
Longview Fibre Company, a Longview pulp and paper mill, was fined $32,500 for 11 violations of its wastewater-discharge permit last November. Longview Fibre reported that waste water discharged to the Columbia River exceeded permit limits for oxygen demand, pH and suspended solids. The discharges occurred when the mill started up its mill after a four-day shutdown.
I. P. Callison & Sons, a Chehalis mint-oil distiller, was fined $24,000 for discharging waste water contaminated with mint oil into Salzer Creek, a tributary of the Chehalis River. Ecology inspectors discovered the discharge last November when they observed workers washing drums and allowing wash water to flow into a storm drain connected to the creek.
In addition to other violations, the firm failed to install a cooling tower to reduce the temperature of its discharge water. Mint oil is toxic to aquatic life, including rainbow trout, and the Chehalis River is currently too warm to meet state water quality standards for temperature.
Sonoco Products Company of Sumner, a cardboard recycler, was fined $17,500 for discharging more pollution into the White River than its permit allows.
The firm reported that it exceeded limits for suspended solids and oxygen demand in October, November and December of last year. The White flows into the Puyallup River, which has a cleanup plan in place to protect the river's water quality.
Permits issued by Ecology limit the amount of pollution that Sonoco Products Company and other industries may discharge into the environment.
Each of the firms may file an application for relief from the penalty with Ecology within 15 days and/or may file an appeal within 30 days with the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
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