By Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
MARYSVILLE — A state agency has fined National Food Corp. of Everett $109,000 for violating its wastewater permit and for withholding two year’s worth of monthly reports on discharges at its egg-processing plant north of Marysville.
Larry Altose, spokesman for the state Department of Ecology, said pollution in the plant’s wastewater was five times more than the maximum level allowed by the company’s discharge permit.
National is required to treat its wastewater at the plant before it is routed into Marysville’s sewer system, but the company exceeded the daily limit in two areas a total of 21 times in 2000 and 2001, officials said. The areas both involved materials that pull oxygen out of the water, harming fish and other aquatic life, officials said.
"The purpose of a penalty is not to rake in lots of money," Altose said. "The purpose of a penalty is to gain the undivided attention of the source and to promote the correction of the problem."
Earlier efforts to get a response from the company proved futile, officials said. Despite four requests by Ecology Department officials for the overdue reports, which would have detailed the violations, the company didn’t submit 23 of them until December.
National Food Corp. President Brian Bookey could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
In a written response to the state, Bookey said the data had been sent to the company’s corporate office but had not been forwarded to the agency. "I mistakenly believed that the reporting was being handled by someone other than myself there," Bookey said in an April 23 letter. "I was wrong and am solely responsible for that failing."
Of the $109,000 penalty, a total of $46,000 was assessed just for the missing reports alone.
"We did not consider this answer to be responsive … especially due to the fact that we made earlier contacts to the company requesting the overdue reports," Altose said.
In the letter, Bookey also stated the company had problems with its treatment system at times and that there were occasions when wastewater was being cleaned too much or not enough. Needed fixes were "quite costly," Bookey wrote, adding that the company reduced processing at the plant to lower the amount of wastewater generated.
The company also was paying higher surcharges to the city of Marysville for treatment of its sewage, Bookey said.
"It is not a solution to buy your way around your violations," Altose said. "The solution is to comply with your permit and to meet your emission standards."
According to Marysville officials, National Food had been paying for treatment at the Class 3 level — which coincides with the pollution levels set in its discharge permit — but switched several years ago to Class 6 level, which covers a much higher level of sewage treatment.
The current Class 3 rate is $1.50 per 1,000 gallons of sewage; the Class 6 rate is $3.88 per 1,000 gallons.
National Food can appeal the penalty within 15 days and ask the state agency for a reconsideration of the fine, or it can appeal to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days.
You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.
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