State environmental regulators have fined Marion County and the city of Stayton for polluting state waterways while pressure washing the Jordan Bridge in the city’s Pioneer Park.
Paint chips and wood debris washed off the covered foot-bridge into Salem Ditch, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said.
The ditch diverts water from the North Santiam River into Mill Creek. It supplies water for commercial and agricultural operations and habitat for fish and other aquatic life, DEQ said.
Stayton hired a Marion County “transition team” work crew, made up of minimum-security offenders, to do the job on May 2, 2017.
The city was made aware of measures that would safeguard the ditch, but failed to take any of those measures, DEQ said.
A DEQ inspector found the contamination May 3, and the city cleaned the area on May 3 and May 4.
DEQ fined the city $23,347. Of that, $10,147 represents the amount the city saved by not protecting the ditch.
The fine also was increased because DEQ previously cited the city, in 2007, for 29 violations of effluent limitations and monitoring requirements.
DEQ fined Marion County $8,400.
The city of Stayton has appealed the penalty. Officials there could not be reached for comment.
Marion County also will appeal the fine, spokeswoman Jolene Kelley said in an email.
Source: http://stjr.nl/2wxRKA9
