The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued $622,281 in penalties of $1,000 or more in the first quarter (January, February, March) of 2013. A table describing the violations and resulting penalties is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2013/141.html.
This quarter includes a $405,000 penalty to Bret A. Simpson and his company Principle Metals LLC. Simpson and his company were fined for spilling oil during the illegal in-water scrapping of the Barge Davy Crockett in the Columbia River near Camas. The penalty included fines for 40 days of ongoing environmental harm from continuing oil leaks to the Columbia River. Simpson offered no assistance or cooperation in the response, cleanup or removal of the Davy Crockett. On July 12, 2012, he pleaded guilty to two criminal violations of the federal Clean Water Act in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. The U.S. Coast Guard and the states of Washington and Oregon oversaw a 10-month project to surround the 431-foot vessel with a steel wall, cut it up and completely remove it from the river.
Ecology’s fine to Simpson is the fourth-highest spills penalty the state has issued, with the highest being the $7.5 million penalty issued in the case of the 1999 Olympic Pipeline explosion that claimed three lives and burned through the heart of the city of Bellingham.
Ecology doesn’t benefit from penalty payments. The final penalty amount owed and collected is deposited in special accounts that pay for:
• Environmental restoration and enhancement projects.
• Research and development.
• Permitting and regulatory programs.
• Education and assistance.
Communities, families and businesses depend on clean air, land and water, and on reliable water supplies. Complying with our state’s and our nation’s laws helps assure this. See Ecology’s “Protecting Washington’s Quality of Life” website portal for more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/about/qualityoflife.html.
Ecology works with thousands of businesses and individuals to help them comply with these laws. Penalties are issued in cases where non-compliance continues after Ecology has provided technical assistance or warnings, or for particularly serious violations.
The money owed from penalties may be reduced from the issued amount due to a ruling by the Pollution Control Hearings Board or a negotiated settlement.
The most common accounts receiving collected penalties are:
• Coastal Protection (RCW 90.48.400 and RCW 90.48.390)
• Vessel Response (RCW 90.56.335)
• Underground Storage Tank (RCW 90.76.100)
• Air Pollution Control (RCW 70.94.015)
• Biosolids (RCW 70.95J.025)
• State Toxics Control (RCW 70.105D.070)
• Oil Spill Prevention (RCW 90.56.510)
• Reclamation (RCW 18.104.155 and RCW 89.16.020)
• Electronic Recycling (RCW 70.95N.130)
