DEQ fines K&E Excavating $57,387 for water quality violations at gold mine

State environmental regulators have fined a Salem company $57,387 for multiple water pollution violations at a gold mine it operates near Baker City.  

K&E Excavating owns the Buckland Mine, about three miles east of Bridgeport.

The mine has been discharging uncontrolled wastewater and stormwater to nearby Clarks Creek, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said.

DEQ cited the company for violating its permitted pH effluent limit 14 times, discharging wastewater and stormwater without required permits, making false representations on permit renewal documents and modifying its wastewater disposal system without obtaining required approval from DEQ.  

Company officials did not respond to an interview request Friday afternoon.

“Wastewater and stormwater from mining operations can introduce pollutants – including but not limited to turbidity, metals, solids and increased pH levels – to nearby waterways causing harm to aquatic organisms,” DEQ wrote in its order.

“Additionally, K&E Excavating’s failure to submit accurate information to DEQ during the permit renewal process has not only created an administrative burden for the agency but has eroded DEQ’s ability to timely draft an accurate and environmentally protective permit,” DEQ wrote.

The state also ordered the company to cease all wastewater discharges, identify and map all waters of the state within the area, and submit an accurate facility plan to DEQ.

It’s the second time DEQ has cited K&E Excavating for violations at a gold mine.

In March 2021, DEQ cited the company for 85 environmental violations at High Bar Mine, another gold mine it operates near Baker City.

In that case, one of the wastewater treatment ponds at the mine overflowed, causing about 2,200 gallons of turbid wastewater to flow into the Burnt River. The company failed to immediately report the discharge to DEQ, as required. Instead, it was reported by a Baker County official.

DEQ levied 19 fines in August

The fine was among 19 the department levied during August, totaling $500,665.

Recipients can appeal their fines by requesting a hearing within 20 calendar days of receiving their penalty letter. DEQ sometimes reduces or eliminates fines after appeals. Recipients also may be able to resolve part of their penalties by completing or sponsoring an environmental project instead of paying a fine.

Here are the other fines:

• Dave's Killer Bread, Milwaukie, $136,845: For failing to report 12 new bread product lines added between 2014 and 2021, as required, and failing to submit new volatile organic compound emission factors prior to adding the products. The bread baking process emits VOCs, which are an ozone precursor. The company agreed to pay the fine without admitting to the violations.
• Malheur Lumber, John Day, $83,503: For violating multiple provisions of Oregon’s water pollution control laws.
• Georgia Pacific Toledo, Toledo, $43,704: For multiple air quality and water quality violations.
• Trillium US, Clackamas, $26,573: For operating its pump repair facility without an air pollution permit.
• Mark Wells, Roseburg, $23,200: For performing a friable asbestos abatement project without a license, and for openly accumulating asbestos-containing waste material.
• Advanced Chemical Transport, dba ACTenviro, Clackamas, $22,800: For transporting hazardous waste without a manifest.
• Oregon Metallurgical, dba ATI Albany Operation, Albany, $21,600: For multiple hazardous waste violations.
• Larry Navilhon, Roseburg, $20,000: For allowing an unlicensed asbestos abatement contractor to perform a friable asbestos abatement project, and for openly accumulating asbestos-containing waste material.
• Basque Station, Jordan Valley, $14,809: For numerous underground fuel storage tank violations.
• S&H Logging Co., Aurora, $14,000: For operating an air curtain incinerator at its facility in Aurora without required permits.
• Clackamas Water Environment Services, Welches, $7,500: For exceeding limits for total residual chlorine in wastewater from the Hoodland Sewage Treatment Plant four times in December 2021 and January 2022. The wastewater is discharged to the Sandy River, a tributary of the Columbia River.
• Swanson Group Mfg., Roseburg, $6,000: For constructing a new lumber drying kiln without the required air contaminant discharge permit.
• Woodgrain, Pilot Rock, $6,000: For failing to collect and report pH monitoring data, as required, for its lumber sawmill facility.
• Patricia Davis, O’Brien, $5,800: For failing to comply with a 2021 DEQ order to remove inoperable vehicles and other solid waste from her property, and for allowing open burning of prohibited materials at the property.
• Burns' Davey Jones Locker, Charleston, $5,144: For numerous underground fuel storage tank violations.
• Oregon Potato Company, Boardman, $2,800: For exceeding the permitted limit for nitrogen oxide emissions.
• City of Stanfield, $1,950: For discharging wastewater from its sewage treatment plant that exceeded permitted coliform limits.
• Regency of Oregon (Canby Regency Mobile Home Park), Canby, $1,050: For exceeding limits in its wastewater discharge permit, which allows discharge to the Willamette River.

Tracy Loew covers the environment at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips totloew@statesmanjournal.com, 503-399-6779. Follow her on Twitter at@Tracy_Loew