Seattle recycler receives fine for pollution discharge

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has fined Seattle Iron and Metals Corp., Seattle, $64,000 for discharging stormwater with excessive levels of several pollutants into Seattle’s Duwamish River. The company has 30 days to appeal the fine, which was issued on Jan. 26, 2017.

If the company does file a notice of appeal, it would be heard by the state’s Pollution Control Hearing Board.

The river has been listed as a Superfund site, so the state has been involved in the cleanup. Jerry Shervey, who handles water quality industrial permits for the Department of Ecology, says the state has completed some early stage actions with the river, although the bulk of the cleanup has yet to be done.

Under a Department of Ecology water quality permit, which was custom written, the company operates a treatment system to remove pollutants from stormwater that drains from 6.5 acres of the property before discharging treated water into the river. According to a spokesman for the Washington Department of Ecology, the permit is more stringent that the general permit.

The company’s monitoring records showed 27 violations of pollutant limits in water treated by its system from February 2015 through December 2016. Additionally, on two days this past June, stormwater was allowed to bypass the treatment system, which resulted in four additional violations. Seattle Iron and Metals also failed to submit monitoring reports for the fourth quarter in 2015, Ecology says. 

According to Ecology, the monitoring showed excessive concentrations of zinc, copper, lead, petroleum compounds, ammonia and fine particles above the limits set in the permit. The pollutants are byproducts of scrapping various types of metal.

“We’re very concerned that these violations continue to happen,” says Heather Bartlett, who manages Ecology’s Water Quality Program. “It’s critical for Seattle Iron and Metals to meet its permit requirements in order to protect the Duwamish.”

The company paid Ecology $18,000 for a penalty issued in 2014 for similar violations at the same facility.

“Seattle Iron and Metals takes its environmental responsibilities seriously,” says Alan Sidell, company president. “We remain committed to working with the Department of Ecology to address the complex stormwater quality issues that exist at our metal recycling facility. We are currently in the design phase for improvements to our stormwater treatment system to address these compliance issues.”