The Washington Department of Ecology issued $794,804.89 in penalties of $1,000 or more from Jan. 1, 2025 – June 30, 2025. $133,761.93 of that total was issued in the first quarter and $661,042.96 in the second quarter. A detailed list of the violations and resulting penalties is in the table below.
Ecology works with thousands of businesses and individuals to help them comply with state 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 settlement or court rulings. Funds collected go to the state’s general fund or to dedicated pollution prevention accounts.
Ecology strives to protect, preserve, and enhance Washington’s environment and promote wise management for current and future generations. When someone pollutes Washington’s land, air or waters, Ecology enforces state and federal regulations in hopes of changing behavior and deterring future violations.
|
County |
City |
Date Issued |
Recipient |
Description |
Amount |
Media contact |
|
Chelan |
Manson |
3/13/2025 |
Kludt Waldron Orchards, Inc. |
On Dec. 1, 2023, prohibited materials were burned on the farm property. The fire included items like garbage, furniture, plastic pipes, hoses, appliances, tires, metal, painted or treated wood, pallets, fruit bins, construction debris, tarps, and other unknown items. This caused toxic smoke that nearby residents and orchard workers had to breathe. |
$4,062 |
509-571-0352 |
|
Chelan |
6/17/2025 |
Central Washington Asphalt |
On July 21, 2023, Central Washington Asphalt, Inc. (CWA) negligently spilled at least 70 gallons of hot mixed asphalt through an approximately three-inch gap between two bridges on U.S. 2 in Peshastin. News release |
$49,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
|
Clark |
Camas |
1/30/2025 |
Toll Brothers, Inc. |
Construction company Toll Brothers, Inc. received a $1,500 fine for discharging contaminated water into a stormwater inlet, which flows into Lake Lacamas. While construction workers cleaned their concrete tools and trucks in a designated area on site, some contaminated cleaning water overflowed and went into the inlet. Ecology tested this wastewater and found its pH levels were at 12, which was well above the discharge limit of 8.5. Any pH discharge above 8.5 can harm aquatic life. |
$1,500 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Clark |
Ridgefield |
3/11/2025 |
Terry Wollam |
Terry Wollam received a $1,500 penalty after contaminated water left his construction site and impacted nearby groundwater. Wollam didn’t install a concrete washout area, which means contaminated water with high pH levels increased the risk of harm to the environment and nearby waters. This project rests about 80 feet from Whipple Creek. |
$1,500 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Clark |
Camas |
1/18/2025 |
Chad Williams |
Private landowner Chad Williams received a $71,800 penalty for knowingly doing work without permits, which caused damage to wetlands on his property. This penalty also came from Williams failing to comply with an enforcement document (called an agreed order) that he signed with Ecology to fix the issue. News release |
$71,800 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Cowlitz |
Kalama |
1/07/2025 |
LANXESS |
LANXESS, a chemical manufacturer company, received a $4,000 penalty and violated its water permit after it discharged water that wasn't clean enough to meet requirements. The discharge flowed into the Columbia River. |
$4,000 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Jefferson |
Port Townsend |
3/17/2025 |
Gary Nelson |
Ecology issued a $2,400 penalty to fishing vessel owner Gary Nelson after the vessel spilled hydraulic oil into Port Townsend Bay on June 13, 2023. Nelson tried to clean the spill on his own with dish soap. Ecology recommends not using dish soap to clean an oil spill, as doing so disperses the oil and makes a spill worse. |
$2,400 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
Jefferson |
Port Townsend |
5/12/2025 |
Marshall Benhard |
A sunken vessel off Port Ludlow spilled approximately 1 gallon of diesel and 11 gallons of lube oil on Sept. 8, 2023. The owner, Marshall Benhard, did not notify or respond to the oil spill and Ecology fined him $4,200. |
$4,200 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
King |
Kent |
5/05/2025 |
Puget Sound Fire |
An Ecology inspection of Puget Sound Fire’s underground storage tank found the fire authority did not comply with requirements for recordkeeping of release detection and testing of the corrosion protection system. |
$1,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
King |
Kent |
6/10/2025 |
Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping |
Ecology’s underground storage tank inspection found that the business failed to conduct periodic testing on release detection and overfill prevention equipment and failed to verify corrosion protection at a dispenser. |
$1,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
King |
Mercer Island |
6/27/2025 |
Mercer Island, Inc. (Mercer Island Shell) |
An Ecology inspection of the underground storage tanks at Mercer Island Shell found the gas station was operating without pollution liability insurance, failing to protect three steel tanks from corrosion, and operating without a valid business license with an underground storage tank endorsement. |
$1,300 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
King |
Burien |
6/30/2025 |
Roxanne O’Keefe |
On April 19, 2024, Roxanne O’Keefe trespassed, driving her vehicle onto Seola Beach and abandoning it. The abandoned vehicle spilled approximately 1 cup of engine oil into the Puget Sound. O’Keefe took no action to notify of the spill or remove the threat of pollution from the beach. |
$2,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
King |
Kent |
1/16/2025 |
Total Reclaim, Inc. |
During an inspection of the Total Reclaim waste recycling facility in Kent, Ecology inspectors found dangerous waste violations including an unpermitted battery recycling operation, improper shipment of the material reclaimed from the battery recycling to an out-of-state manufacturer, and acceptance and handling of waste containing nicotine, a type of dangerous waste the facility was not permitted to handle. News release |
$33,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
Kitsap |
6/11/2025 |
Tom Britton |
On June 23, 2023, a 39-foot recreational vessel caught fire and sank off Foulweather Bluff near Hansville. Tom Britton, the vessel’s owner, used fuel receipts and voyage records to estimate 195 gallons of diesel were onboard when the vessel sank. The vessel could not be recovered, and all fuel onboard was released to Admiralty Inlet. |
$1,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
|
Lewis |
Chehalis |
3/12/2025 |
Darigold Inc., Chehalis |
Ecology issued a $3,500 penalty to the Darigold plant in Chehalis after 250,000 pounds of buttermilk spilled from a silo April 28, 2024. The buttermilk flowed through the stormwater system and into a small pond that drains into Dillenbaugh Creek. Darigold reported approximately 19,000 gallons of buttermilk entered the pond and creek. |
$3,500 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Mason |
Tahuya |
3/12/2025 |
Arturo "Art" Castillas |
Ecology issued vessel owner Arturo "Art" Castillas a $1,600 fine after his vessel sank at Summertide Resort and Marina in Tahuya and spilled 15 gallons of gasoline spilled into Hood Canal. Castillas did not report the sunken vessel or the spill that took place on June 23, 2023. |
$1,600 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
Okanogan |
5/12/2025 |
Harold Lloyd |
On July 15, 2023, a Ford F-350 diesel truck owned by Harold Lloyd entered Upper Green Lake, spilling approximately 10 gallons of diesel and 1.5 quarts of engine oil. |
$1,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
|
Pierce |
Lakebay |
1/06/2025 |
Mary Kennedy |
Ecology issued a $1,400 penalty to Mary Kennedy after a vessel belonging to Kennedy partially sank in Lakebay and leaked an estimated 2.5 cups of motor oil into the water on Feb. 3, 2023. The Department of Natural Resources successfully removed the vessel from the water on April 14, 2023. |
$1,400 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
Pierce |
Ft. Lewis |
4/04/2025 |
KAG Disbursement |
Delivery company and fuel distributor KAG Disbursement received a $2,000 penalty for delivering fuel to tanks on the military base that were not supposed to receive this fuel delivery. |
$2,000 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
Pierce |
Tacoma |
1/07/2025 |
U.S. Oil & Refining Co. |
U.S. Oil & Refining Co. received a $9,000 penalty for multiple violations stemming from one incident. The company didn't have the proper document to track its dangerous waste when it left the company's dock on its way to the company's refinery site. The company also didn't get the required ID number for the company dock in use. Any facility that generates dangerous waste needs an ID number. And finally, the refinery site received the dangerous waste without having the proper permit to do so. |
$9,000 |
Brittny Goodsell |
|
San Juan |
6/30/2025 |
Steven Zidell |
On May 3, 2024, Steven Zidell fell asleep at the helm, causing his vessel, the Chief Joseph, to run aground, sink, and release oil into Haro Strait. |
$3,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
|
Skagit |
Anacortes |
2/18/2025 |
HF Sinclair |
Oil refinery HF Sinclair violated its wastewater permit after it discharged water into Fidalgo Bay that was over the allowed limit for total suspended solids. |
$2,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
Skagit |
Anacortes |
5/14/2025 |
Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company |
Tesoro’s Marathon Anacortes Refinery discharged wastewater that was over the allowed limit for phenols, a group of chemicals that are toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Tesoro was also penalized for failing to take representative samples while monitoring for total suspended solids, and for failing to take nutrient samples. |
$5,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
Snohomish |
Everett |
5/12/2025 |
Ben Smith |
On Jan. 14, 2024, a fire destroyed two boathouses at the Port of Everett Marina, causing two vessels to sink. 30 gallons of gasoline was onboard one vessel and 120 gallons of diesel was onboard the second. All oil on the vessels was released to Possession Sound. |
$1,000 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
Snohomish |
Everett |
6/30/2025 |
Floyd J. Waite |
On Aug. 25, 2023, the 1943 26-foot wooden tugboat Pine, owned and operated by Floyd J. Waite, sank while moored on the Snohomish River. The sunken vessel released diesel to the Snohomish River while submerged. Waite did not notify the Washington Emergency Management Division of the oil spill. |
$1,600 |
Jasmin Adams |
|
Spokane |
Cheney |
6/24/2025 |
Kelowna Corp. |
Kelowna Corporation pumped at least 1,058 gallons of red-dyed diesel from its Chevron station into the stormwater system, a wetland, and Minnie Creek. The company did not report the spill. News release |
$315,000 |
509-202-5674 |
|
Whatcom |
Point Roberts |
1/21/2025 |
Whidbey Telephone Co. (Whidbey Telecom) |
Whidbey Telecom operates a generator supplied with fuel from an underground storage tank. During an October 2024 inspection, Ecology notified the company that they had failed to conduct required testing of their systems to safeguard against tank leaks and required the business to perform the testing. Whidbey Telecom failed to comply in a timely manner and was issued a $1,000 field penalty. |
$1,000 |
Scarlet Tang |
|
Yakima |
Yakima |
5/14/2025 |
Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital |
Spill response buckets at the hospital hadn’t been tested or were past due for testing. The overfill protection system also hadn’t been tested or was overdue. In addition, the tank monitoring records were missing required details. |
$2,000 |
509-571-0352 |
In addition to the penalties above, Ecology fined 23 plastic producers a combined $277,000 in 2025 for not following all or part of Washington’s post-consumer recycled content law. This means they did not meet the minimum 15% requirement for recycled content in their beverage containers. Contact Dave Bennett at dave.bennett@ecy.wa.gov for questions.