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Both companies were found to be in violation of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program, authorized by the Clean Water Act. The permit program controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into federal waters.
North Pacific Processors Inc. will pay fines totaling $23,000 for wastewater violations at its Cordova facility, which is currently operated by Bear & Wolf Co., and Island Seafoods Inc. will pay $5,000 for wastewater discharge violations at its Kodiak facility, the EPA said.
"It is not our intention to put anyone out of business," said Margo Young, a compliance officer with the federal environmental agency in Seattle. "Our goal is to create a deterrent effect (to such violations)."
Young said the fines are paid directly to the U.S. Treasury, rather than to the EPA, and that costs to the government for conducting the inspections, compared to the fine, were not available.
EPA officials found during an August 2004 inspection that there were numerous violations at North Pacific Processors' facility. These included failure to route all seafood processing waste through a treatment system prior to discharge, failure to grind seafood solids to one-half inch or less, and failure to minimize the discharge of wastewater which causes build-up of foam and scum on the surface of the water.
Island Seafoods was found during an August 2003 inspection to have also violated its NPDES permit. The EPA said Island Seafoods failed to properly treat all seafood waste prior to discharge, failed to maintain adequate records and failed to submit records as is required under the permit.
"The seafood processing industry is critical to Alaska's economy," said Marcia Combes, director of EPA's Alaska Office in Anchorage. "But it must manage its waste water in a way that protects the environment that the seafood ultimately depends upon."
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaska
journal.com.
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