A Renton company doing construction near Snoqualmie Pass has been fined $18,000 for failing to properly manage storm- and wastewater generated at the large-scale construction site on the Interstate 90 corridor between the town of Easton and the summit.
The Washington Department of Ecology issued the penalty to Guy F. Atkinson Construction, LLC for allowing high pH concrete runoff water and loose concrete materials to wash into waters of the state without proper treatment.
The water quality violations were documented by Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) environmental inspectors on Nov. 9 and 10, 2015, and confirmed by an Ecology water quality specialist. Samples of the concrete wastewater taken on both days were in excess of criteria set for pH to protect aquatic life. The high alkaline reading of 10 pH was above the 6.5 to 8.5 pH allowable range for water quality.
WSDOT received a notice of violation for failing to adequately prepare and implement a stormwater pollution prevention plan as required under state water quality laws.
Atkinson Construction has 30 days to pay the penalty or file an appeal with the Pollution Control Hearings Board.