The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sent a warning letter to Hull-Oakes Lumber Company April 16 for repeated Clean Water Act violations at its mill outside of Monroe. DEQ’s letter cites low pH (acidic) log pond discharges to Miller Creek in November, December, January and February, and notes the harm posed to aquatic organisms by such violations. DEQ issued the Clean Water Act permit for the Hull-Oakes Monroe mill in 2007 and it expired in 2011. DEQ’s warning letter gives Hull-Oakes until May 16 to submit a report outlining how similar violations will be prevented from recurring in the future.
Compiled by Indigo Sherck/Oregon Clean Water Action Project