Darigold’s Chehalis facility was fined $249,500 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act multiple times between September 2018 …
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Darigold’s Chehalis facility was fined $249,500 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act multiple times between September 2018 and April 2024, the EPA confirmed Friday.
The Clean Water Act establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into United States waters and regulating quality standards for surface waters, according to the EPA.
The EPA released legal documents Friday, Jan. 17, pertaining to the enforcement actions the EPA’s Region 10, which includes Washington state, completed in 2024.
The EPA reportedly found that the Darigold facility located at 67 SW Chehalis Ave. in Chehalis, which produces whole milk, nonfat milk and buttermilk powders, violated the Clean Water Act by failing to properly sample its stormwater, resulting in the facility discharging polluted stormwater in the City of Chehalis municipal storm sewer system between Sept. 28, 2018, and April 28, 2024.
The City of Chehalis storm sewer system deposits water into Dillenbaugh Creek, a small tributary of the Chehalis River.
Alleged stormwater sampling violations committed by Darigold at the Chehalis facility included inadequate sample documentation, an inadequate stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP), an inadequate SWPPP site map, an inadequate SWPPP facility assessment, failure to follow SWPPP sampling plan procedures, inadequate best management practices and inadequate site inspections or site inspection documents.
Darigold also allegedly violated the Clean Water Act at its Chehalis facility by allowing industrial products, including milk and butterfat, to commingle with stormwater on at least four occasions between February 2021 and March 2022, according to a consent agreement released by the EPA.
The EPA also alleged that Darigold violated the Clean Water Act on April 28, 2024, when a valve failed and caused approximately 278,000 pounds of buttermilk to be released from a storage tank, “a portion of which resulted in an unauthorized discharge of buttermilk from the facility,” according to the consent agreement.
The Chehalis Police Department received a report of the milk spill at the facility just after 11:30 p.m. on April 28.
The state Department of Ecology later confirmed that the total volume in the tank was approximately 32,000 gallons and approximately 13,000 gallons were captured by the on site wastewater system, according to previous Chronicle reporting.
In signing the consent agreement with the EPA, Darigold stated it “neither admits nor denies the specific factual allegations contained in this consent agreement” but “consents to the assessment of the civil penalty … and agrees to pay the total civil penalty within 30 days” of the date the final order was filed: Sept. 4, 2024.
The settlement does not prohibit the EPA from pursuing criminal action against Darigold, the agreement notes.
The full consent agreement can be read on the EPA’s website at https://tinyurl.com/47tep4wk by clicking on the hyperink of the case.