DEQ issues two penalties for water quality violations to Dry Creek near Milton-Freewater following an irrigation well construction project
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued two civil penalties related to an irrigation water well construction project that resulted in the discharge of sediment to Dry Creek near Milton-Freewater. DEQ penalized Person Pump and Well Drilling, Inc. $43,200, and also issued a $43,526 penalty to Powerline Ranch, LLC and Walla Walla Valley Appellation, LLC.
In January 2016, Walla Walla Valley Appellation hired Person Pump and Well Drilling to construct an irrigation well near 83501 Lower Dry Creek Road in Milton-Freewater on land owned by Powerline Ranch.
The well was constructed uphill from Dry Creek. During the well construction process, water was discharged to the ground surface, then traveled downhill toward the creek, picking up sediment along the way.
During construction activity in July 2016, Dry Creek was visibly muddy and turbid downstream from where the discharges entered the creek. DEQ staff observed large sediment deposits that were up to two feet thick in the bottom of the creek.
DEQ cited both respondents for discharging wastes to waters of the state without a permit and for violating water quality standards prohibiting the formation of bottom deposits.
Excessive amounts of fine sediment can have significant detrimental effects on aquatic life including to sensitive aquatic insects, fish and amphibians. Turbidity can hide food sources, harm fish gills, and smother fish eggs and invertebrate organisms living in the creek.
Turbidity can also create a public nuisance and harm other beneficial uses of public waters.
Once notified by DEQ, the respondents stopped all drilling and pumping at the well site as of July 27, 2016 and the landowner, Powerline Ranch LLC, built a system of diversion berms and settling basins to contain all of the remaining water generated from the project after that date. There were no further discharges to Dry Creek.
In addition to the civil penalties, DEQ ordered the property owners to contract with a qualified stream restoration professional to evaluate the impacts to Dry Creek from the discharge and to recommend corrective actions to restore the waterway in the upcoming dry season.
The respondents have 20 days from the date they received the penalties to appeal.
View the notices of civil penalty:
https://www.oregon.gov/deq/nr/011917powerline1.pdf
Contact:
Becka Puskas, Environmental Law Specialist, Portland, 503-229-5058, puskas.becka@deq.state.or.us
Tonya Dombrowski, Water Quality/TMDL Specialist, Pendleton, 541-278-4615, dombrowski.tonya@deq.state.or.us