The Washington Department of Ecology has issued a $29,000 fine to Toledo-based L Rock Industries for repeatedly refusing to submit required quarterly reports that monitor stormwater discharge and potential oil sheening from machinery.
Despite technical assistance calls and visits, warning letters, emails, and a $3,000 penalty in March of 2022, L Rock Industries has not submitted a quarterly discharge monitoring report since the first quarter of 2018. Periodic monitoring and quarterly reporting of stormwater discharge is required by Ecology’s Sand and Gravel General Permit. The frequency of required monitoring can increase during the rainy season – sometimes even requiring daily reports.
This tracking and monitoring is important because stormwater discharge from sand and gravel operations can carry muddy water, debris, and chemicals into local waterways, reducing water quality and harming aquatic life. The Sand and Gravel General Permit also requires permittees to create and maintain a site management and monitoring plan, which L Rock Industries failed to complete.
Water quality penalty payments to Ecology are placed into the state’s Coastal Protection Fund, which provides grants to public agencies and Tribes for water quality restoration projects.
L Rock Industries has 30 days to appeal the penalty to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.