DEQ issues $1,650 penalty to G & R Portables for violations related to supplying portable toilets in Malheur County
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued a $1,650 penalty to G & R Portables, Inc. for supplying portable toilets for use in Oregon without ensuring that the toilets were covered by a valid and effective contract with a DEQ-licensed pumping service. The company provided portable toilets for use in Malheur County from April through September 2015.
DEQ issued the penalty because Oregon law requires the pumping and cleaning of portable toilets by licensed pumpers in order to ensure protection of public health and the environment. Sewage poses a public health hazard through either direct human contact or through contact with insects. Sewage also is a pollutant that can harm aquatic life, contaminate drinking water and impair recreational uses of water.
G & R Portables, Inc. has appealed the penalty.
View the notice of civil penalty: https://www.oregon.gov/deq/nr/052416grportablesE.pdf
Contact:
Bob Baggett, Onsite Wastewater Specialist, Bend, 541-633-2036, Baggett.robert@deq.state.or.us
Esther Westbrook, Environmental Law Specialist, Portland, 503-229-5374, westbrook.esther@deq.state.or.us
