Clean Water News

 As the new home of OSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Oregon can be contacted regarding this news release.

Agreement Requires Concrete Steps Toward Compliance with Discharge Permits, Funds Local Watershed Council, Prohibits Discharges to Degraded River

PORTLAND– After over four years of fighting a losing battle in a Clean Water Act enforcement suit brought by the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (“OSPIRG”) and two local residents, Pacific Seafood Group, the third largest seafood company in North America, has agreed to remedy illegal pollutant discharges at its seafood processing facility in Warrenton, Oregon. Under an agreement and proposed order submitted today to an Oregon federal judge, the company has pledged to make no further wastewater discharges to the Skipanon River, to implement numerous measures to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act in future discharges to the Columbia River, and to pay $200,000 to the Skipanon River Watershed Council to remediate the effects of past pollution. By law, the judge has 45 days to review to agreement before it may be signed into legal effect as an order of the court.

“We’re thrilled that Pacific Seafood is finally cleaning up its act after decades of polluting Oregon’s rivers,” said Jeremiah Baumann, an environmental advocate with OSPIRG. “It’s great news for the community and residents of Warrenton who live on the Skipanon and Columbia Rivers, for those who use those rivers for recreation, and for all who are concerned about the continued survival of Pacific salmon.”

The Warrenton facility is located one mile upstream of the mouth of the Skipanon River, which drains into the Columbia River roughly 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The facility is operated by two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Portland-based Pacific Seafood Group: Pacific Coast Seafood Co. and Pacific Surimi Co. Pacific Coast discharges wastewater from a number of conventional seafood processing lines (such as shrimp, crab, and Pacific whiting), and Pacific Surimi discharges wastewater from the processing of “surimi,” a fish paste made from whiting that is used to make products such as imitation crab and shrimp.

Dating back to 1983, the facility had operated in chronic violation of the federal Clean Water Act, discharging millions of gallons of oxygen-depleting wastewater into the Skipanon. The Skipanon has been identified by various state and federal agencies as providing habitat for

numerous species of threatened fish, including coho salmon and the Pacific lamprey, and has been designated by the state Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) as “water quality impaired” for not meeting in-stream standards for dissolved oxygen. Although the company began discussing compliance alternatives with DEQ years ago, including a proposed relocation of the facility’s discharge to the Columbia River, those plans languished without solid deadlines.

In July 2002, OSPIRG, along with Warrenton resident Diane Heintz and Astoria resident Rena Taylor, sued the companies under the Clean Water Act’s “citizen suit” provision, which authorizes concerned citizens to step in as “private attorneys general” to help ensure that federal clean water goals are met. The plaintiffs alleged that the plant’s surimi processing line was being operated without a federally-required discharge permit, and that both the surimi wastewater and the wastewater from the facility’s conventional seafood processing lines were in violation of discharge limits set by DEQ. In October 2004, the plaintiffs added claims relating to faulty wastewater monitoring and reporting practices.

In March 2005, the federal court found the companies liable for nearly 1,400 days of violation of the Act, and ruled that the discharge of surimi wastewater from the facility without a permit was illegal.

In May 2005, finding that the facility’s wastewater discharges to the Skipanon River posed an unacceptable danger to human health and the environment, the court issued an injunction requiring the facility to halt all discharges from its surimi processing line until such time as the facility could relocate its wastewater discharges from the Skipanon to the Columbia. Since the injunction was issued, the facility has rerouted its wastewater to the Columbia River, where it now discharged through a deep-water, multi-port diffuser that minimizes the effects of the oxygen-depleting material in the wastewater.

In September 2006, the court ruled that Pacific Coast had violated its discharge permit on 60 occasions by failing to monitor its wastewater for “biochemical oxygen demand” – a measure of the oxygen-depleting character of the wastewater – and report the results to DEQ, and by largely failing to monitor or report any effluent discharge information concerning its most pollutant-intensive processing lines for a period of several years. Shortly thereafter, the parties reached agreement on a conceptual outline for a settlement that would avoid the need for a trial.

The agreement filed today, formally known as a consent decree, will be in effect for five years. It contains numerous provisions for ensuring that Pacific Seafood maintains sustained compliance moving forward, including the following:

• The facility will discharge no wastewater to the Skipanon River for the full five years of the decree.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must each implement comprehensive best management practices (“BMP”) plans to reduce pollution in the facility’s wastewater. The yearly pollution reduction progress under the BMP plans is to be evaluated by a qualified wastewater consultant, who will also conduct comprehensive pollution reduction training sessions at the plant.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must retain a qualified wastewater consultant to design and implement environmental compliance and waste reduction training programs at the facility over the life of the consent decree.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must investigate the sources of bacteria in their wastewater and evaluate and implement procedures to reduce bacteria concentrations in the wastewater.

• After one year (during which the BMP plans and other pollution reduction measures are being implemented), both Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must maintain substantial compliance with their wastewater discharge permits for the life of the decree. 

• For the full five years of the decree, Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must pay stipulated penalties for violations of their respective permits.  The stipulated penalties will be paid to the Skipanon River Watershed Council (or another acceptable third party) to be used for Skipanon River restoration.

• Pacific Coast must monitor its wastewater for biochemical oxygen demand, perform representative wastewater sampling that reflects its more pollutant intensive processing lines, and disclose all the resulting information to DEQ and to plaintiffs.

• Pacific Seafood Group must implement environmental compliance and waste reduction training programs for key personnel at its other seafood processing facilities from Alaska to California.

• The company must pay a total of $200,000 to the Skipanon River Watershed Council, in ten annual installments, for Skipanon River restoration projects.  This financial sanction is in addition to the profits the company lost as a result of the 2005 surimi injunction and the $200,000 in penalties and restoration payments that Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi have already been ordered to pay by DEQ.

• The federal court will retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the requirements of the consent decree.

“We’re grateful to be receiving this funding on a sustained basis,” said Skipanon River Watershed Council head James Scheller. “The money will be put to good use in rebuilding habitat for endangered salmon for years to come.”

OR – After over four years of fighting a losing battle in a Clean Water Act enforcement suit brought by the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (“OSPIRG”) and two local residents, Pacific Seafood Group, the third largest seafood company in North America, has agreed to remedy illegal pollutant discharges at its seafood processing facility in Warrenton, Oregon. Under an agreement and proposed order submitted today to an Oregon federal judge, the company has pledged to make no further wastewater discharges to the Skipanon River, to implement numerous measures to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act in future discharges to the Columbia River, and to pay $200,000 to the Skipanon River Watershed Council to remediate the effects of past pollution. By law, the judge has 45 days to review to agreement before it may be signed into legal effect as an order of the court.

“We’re thrilled that Pacific Seafood is finally cleaning up its act after decades of polluting Oregon’s rivers,” said Jeremiah Baumann, an environmental advocate with OSPIRG. “It’s great news for the community and residents of Warrenton who live on the Skipanon and Columbia Rivers, for those who use those rivers for recreation, and for all who are concerned about the continued survival of Pacific salmon.”

The Warrenton facility is located one mile upstream of the mouth of the Skipanon River, which drains into the Columbia River roughly 10 miles from the Pacific Ocean. The facility is operated by two wholly-owned subsidiaries of Portland-based Pacific Seafood Group: Pacific Coast Seafood Co. and Pacific Surimi Co. Pacific Coast discharges wastewater from a number of conventional seafood processing lines (such as shrimp, crab, and Pacific whiting), and Pacific Surimi discharges wastewater from the processing of “surimi,” a fish paste made from whiting that is used to make products such as imitation crab and shrimp.

Dating back to 1983, the facility had operated in chronic violation of the federal Clean Water Act, discharging millions of gallons of oxygen-depleting wastewater into the Skipanon. The Skipanon has been identified by various state and federal agencies as providing habitat for

numerous species of threatened fish, including coho salmon and the Pacific lamprey, and has been designated by the state Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) as “water quality impaired” for not meeting in-stream standards for dissolved oxygen. Although the company began discussing compliance alternatives with DEQ years ago, including a proposed relocation of the facility’s discharge to the Columbia River, those plans languished without solid deadlines.

In July 2002, OSPIRG, along with Warrenton resident Diane Heintz and Astoria resident Rena Taylor, sued the companies under the Clean Water Act’s “citizen suit” provision, which authorizes concerned citizens to step in as “private attorneys general” to help ensure that federal clean water goals are met. The plaintiffs alleged that the plant’s surimi processing line was being operated without a federally-required discharge permit, and that both the surimi wastewater and the wastewater from the facility’s conventional seafood processing lines were in violation of discharge limits set by DEQ. In October 2004, the plaintiffs added claims relating to faulty wastewater monitoring and reporting practices.

In March 2005, the federal court found the companies liable for nearly 1,400 days of violation of the Act, and ruled that the discharge of surimi wastewater from the facility without a permit was illegal.

In May 2005, finding that the facility’s wastewater discharges to the Skipanon River posed an unacceptable danger to human health and the environment, the court issued an injunction requiring the facility to halt all discharges from its surimi processing line until such time as the facility could relocate its wastewater discharges from the Skipanon to the Columbia. Since the injunction was issued, the facility has rerouted its wastewater to the Columbia River, where it now discharged through a deep-water, multi-port diffuser that minimizes the effects of the oxygen-depleting material in the wastewater.

In September 2006, the court ruled that Pacific Coast had violated its discharge permit on 60 occasions by failing to monitor its wastewater for “biochemical oxygen demand” – a measure of the oxygen-depleting character of the wastewater – and report the results to DEQ, and by largely failing to monitor or report any effluent discharge information concerning its most pollutant-intensive processing lines for a period of several years. Shortly thereafter, the parties reached agreement on a conceptual outline for a settlement that would avoid the need for a trial.

The agreement filed today, formally known as a consent decree, will be in effect for five years. It contains numerous provisions for ensuring that Pacific Seafood maintains sustained compliance moving forward, including the following:

• The facility will discharge no wastewater to the Skipanon River for the full five years of the decree.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must each implement comprehensive best management practices (“BMP”) plans to reduce pollution in the facility’s wastewater. The yearly pollution reduction progress under the BMP plans is to be evaluated by a qualified wastewater consultant, who will also conduct comprehensive pollution reduction training sessions at the plant.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must retain a qualified wastewater consultant to design and implement environmental compliance and waste reduction training programs at the facility over the life of the consent decree.

• Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must investigate the sources of bacteria in their wastewater and evaluate and implement procedures to reduce bacteria concentrations in the wastewater.

• After one year (during which the BMP plans and other pollution reduction measures are being implemented), both Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must maintain substantial compliance with their wastewater discharge permits for the life of the decree. 

• For the full five years of the decree, Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi must pay stipulated penalties for violations of their respective permits.  The stipulated penalties will be paid to the Skipanon River Watershed Council (or another acceptable third party) to be used for Skipanon River restoration.

• Pacific Coast must monitor its wastewater for biochemical oxygen demand, perform representative wastewater sampling that reflects its more pollutant intensive processing lines, and disclose all the resulting information to DEQ and to plaintiffs.

• Pacific Seafood Group must implement environmental compliance and waste reduction training programs for key personnel at its other seafood processing facilities from Alaska to California.

• The company must pay a total of $200,000 to the Skipanon River Watershed Council, in ten annual installments, for Skipanon River restoration projects.  This financial sanction is in addition to the profits the company lost as a result of the 2005 surimi injunction and the $200,000 in penalties and restoration payments that Pacific Coast and Pacific Surimi have already been ordered to pay by DEQ.

• The federal court will retain jurisdiction over the case to enforce the requirements of the consent decree.

“We’re grateful to be receiving this funding on a sustained basis,” said Skipanon River Watershed Council head James Scheller. “The money will be put to good use in rebuilding habitat for endangered salmon for years to come.”