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Department of Ecology News Release - June 16, 2008
08-167
BELLINGHAM – The Department of Ecology and Whatcom County Fire District No. 18 have reached a settlement agreement following unpermitted construction activities that sent a muddy plume into Lake Whatcom last summer.
As part of the settlement, the fire district has paid $11,000 in fines, reduced from the $21,000 imposed by Ecology as part of the initial penalty, issued in August, 2007. Whatcom County also imposed a fine and, along with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, required the district to perform extensive restoration work.
“We think the fine required under this settlement, combined with the restoration work, convey the message that this kind of behavior is unacceptable,” said Richard Grout, manager of Ecology’s Bellingham Field Office. “In agreeing to reduce the fine, we were mindful that the taxpayers in District 18 didn’t commit the violation.”
Ecology pursued enforcement against Fire District No. 18 after Fire Chief George Henderson cleared, graded and filled in the shoreline behind the fire station at 3250 South Bay Drive in Sedro Woolley in June 2007.
No written plans, designs or dimensions for the project were produced, and no permits were issued by local, state or federal agencies to conduct the work.
The fire district appealed Ecology’s penalty. The two parties agreed to settle rather than continue an expensive legal process at taxpayer expense.
Lake Whatcom fails to meet state standards for dissolved oxygen and phosphorus. Mud washing into the lake contains phosphorus that feeds algae blooms and reduces oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive.
More algae increases the cost of treating drinking water, causes unpleasant odors and yields more trihalomethanes, a byproduct of the treatment process that some studies link to cancer.
Mud also can harm fish by clogging their gills. Cutthroat trout and kokanee are present near the Fire District No. 18 property.
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Media Contacts:
Larry Altose, media relations, 425-649-7009; pager 206-663-1785
Richard Grout, Bellingham Field Office manager, 360-715-5200
Kurt Baumgarten, water quality specialist, 360-715-5200
Original penalty news release: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2007news/2007-233.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
