NEWPORT — One of Pacific Seafood’s five processing plants on the Newport bayfront has been fined by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for exceeding its permitted levels of waste discharged into Yaquina Bay.
The DEQ levied an $8,500 fine against Pacific Surimi, which uses processed Pacific whiting to make imitation crab and other seafood products, for three alleged violations of discharging more wastewater than its permits allow on multiple occasions in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022. It was among 16 fines issued to private parties and local governments around Oregon announced by the agency last week.
According to the DEQ’s findings of fact, the Pacific Surimi plant exceeded levels of three types of effluent — the demand on oxygen from bacteria and other microorganisms, total suspended solids, and oil and grease — in its treated wastewater.
DEQ says the plant’s discharged wastewater exceeded permitted average biochemical oxygen demand during seven months from June 2021 to August 2022, once by as much as 49 percent. Total suspended solids were exceeded during two days in August 2018, reaching as high as 74 percent higher than permitted, as well as on average during one month in 2019 and two months in 2021.
And daily oil and grease effluent levels were exceeded on four days during 2018, according to DEQ, once by more than three times the permitted limit. Levels of oil and gas exceeded permitted average monthly amounts during three months the same year.
But the DEQ found the magnitudes of all three violations were minor because of how much the effluent was diluted by Yaquina Bay and issued fines of $1,700, $3,400 and $3,400.
An attorney for Pacific Surimi told YachatsNews via email the company will appeal the fines.
“Pacific Surimi is challenging the notice of penalty as we believe several of the alleged violations are simply mistakes by DEQ in misreading or failing to update data,” said Eric Mills, deputy general counsel for Pacific Surimi.
“We have made significant improvements over the years to minimize and eliminate these types of violations, including working directly with the fleet to incentivize delivery of higher quality and fresher whiting, and investing in improvements to our practices and equipment,” Mill wrote.
This is the first time in at least 10 years the Pacific Surimi plant has faced a DEQ fine, according to the agency’s enforcement database. Earlier this year DEQ fined the parent company’s plant in Astoria $10,200 for wastewater violations, and its Warrenton plant has also faced enforcement action.
— Kenneth Lipp/YachatsNews
