Lynnwood

Lynnwood pays $550K fine over air quality violations

Tests found the sewage incinerator had been releasing illegal amounts of pollutants since 2020.

LYNNWOOD — The city agreed to pay the Environmental Protection Agency a fine of $550,000 after multiple air quality violations at Lynnwood’s wastewater treatment plant, the agency announced Wednesday.

Since 2020, the plant’s sewage sludge incinerator had been spewing illegal amounts of pollutants into the air, test results showed.

The city also failed to run the incinerator at a proper temperature, reducing the “effectiveness of pollution reduction devices,” the EPA said in a statement Wednesday.

The EPA gave Lynnwood until May to bring the plant up to federal standards.

“The City of Lynnwood’s decision to use incineration to manage its domestic sewage sludge came with the responsibility to adhere strictly to the rules designed to reduce air pollutants and protect people’s health,” EPA Regional Director Ed Kowalski said in a written statement. “The city failed to meet that responsibility, committing significant Clean Air Act violations and earning significant penalties.”

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