WestFarm Foods Will Pay State Fine: Lynden Plant Says Violations Occurred During an Upgrade
Posted on: Wednesday, 5 April 2006, 09:00 CDT
By Katie N Johannes, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.
Apr. 5--A Lynden cream and powdered milk producer fined $60,000 for environmental violations will pay the penalty after losing its appeal.
WestFarm Foods was fined for releasing high volumes of sugars, milk solids and cleaning chemicals into the city wastewater system.
Steven Rowe, vice president of legal and public affairs for WestFarm, said Tuesday that the company had pursued an appeal because violations occurred while it was working to fix known problems at its Depot Road plant.
WestFarm markets its product using the Darigold brand.
"The issue was less the money than it was the tone," Rowe said. "This is one of those situations where this is an old plant. We were putting in some significant upgrades."
The state Department of Ecology said the company violated its water quality permit standards 71 times in the last five years, allegations not denied by Michael Campbell, director of regulatory compliance for WestFarm. Thursday, Ecology denied the appeal filed Jan. 17 by WestFarm.
No environmental damage resulted from the violations because the city wastewater treatment plant was able to correct any problems before discharging treated water into the Nooksack River.
But the violations did increase the potential for overwhelming the sewage treatment system, which could send polluted water into the Nooksack, harming fish, wildlife and plants that depend on the river's water quality.
"You don't necessarily have to have a violation, in our view, to be able to say it was a serious impact on the city's treatment plant," said Doug Knutson, an environmental engineer for Ecology.
He said the city was forced to take "extraordinary measures" to avoid violating its own water quality permits.
Reach Katie N. Johannes at katie.johannes@bellingham herald.com or call 756-2805.
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Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.
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