An Oregon wood treatment facility has been polluting the South Yamhill River for years, according to a report from InvestigateWest. Regulators finally handed the company more than $1 million in fines, but they stopped short of shutting the facility down for good.
What's happening?
Since 2022, the Stella-Jones Corporation has reportedly been dumping tainted stormwater into the South Yamhill River, which provides drinking water to nearly 6,000 people.
The Stella-Jones facility in Sheridan, Oregon, has historically treated wood with pentachlorophenol. This toxic and likely carcinogenic chemical prevents rotting and fungus in wood products like telephone poles.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality knew about the contamination for nearly four years, according to InvestigateWest, but until recently failed to take measures to stop it. In an enforcement notice dated Sept. 8, the DEQ issued Stella-Jones a civil penalty of $1,055,825 for 23 violations.
"DEQ finds that the violation had a significant adverse impact on human health or the environment," the agency wrote. The plant will have to clean up its waste, but it will still be allowed to operate.
Why is pentachlorophenol pollution important?
Pentachlorophenol "poses cancer and non-cancer health risks of concern to workers in wood treatment facilities," according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
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The chemical is also harmful to marine life.
The EPA writes that "PCP is very highly toxic to aquatic non-target organisms and honey bees, and slightly toxic to avian species." In the summer of 2023, one crayfish trapper reported that, for the first time in decades, crayfish had disappeared in the part of the South Yamhill River downstream from the wood treatment facility, according to InvestigateWest.
What's being done about the contamination?
Because Stella-Jones pleaded guilty to 10 misdemeanor water pollution charges, it has agreed to upgrade its stormwater treatment system and clean up a contaminated drainage ditch that leads to the South Yamhill River.
In 2022, the EPA implemented a five-year plan that aims to phase out the use of pentachlorophenol by 2027. At that point, "pentachlorophenol will no longer be manufactured, sold, or distributed in the United States."
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