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DEQ Fines Portland for Wastewater Discharge by Vickie Kavanagh The Oregonian, February 27, 2015

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DEQ VIOLATIONS
• Portland Disposal & Recycling was fined $5,200 for stormwater violations at its facility at 7202 N.E. 42nd Ave. in Portland.

  DEQ issued this penalty because stormwater data from this facility has exceeded the benchmark discharge limit for E. coli and the company failed to implement a plan required by its stormwater permit for implementing additional treatment measures to achieve the benchmark limit.

  The company submitted a revised engineered plan to DEQ on Feb. 2 and implemented portions of its revised plan. DEQ considered these efforts when determining the civil penalty.

  Portland Disposal & Recycling has until March 11 to appeal the penalty.

• The City of Portland was fined $25,000 for the Oct. 23, 2014 unauthorized discharge of chlorinated wastewater to the Columbia Slough.

  On or about Oct. 23, 2014, the City of Portland Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant discharged approximately 300,000 gallons of treated, chlorinated wastewater into the Columbia Slough.

  Although the wastewater was treated by the city's Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant, the effluent was not dechlorinated, as required by the DEQ permit, resulting in a violation of the state water quality standard for acute chlorine toxicity to freshwater aquatic life. Chlorine is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life at very low concentrations.

  The city has until March 6 to appeal the penalty.