Friday, February 14, 2020
CapitalPress.com 11
New Ecology director: ‘Let’s not
let small problems get any bigger’
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
Laura
Watson
was
appointed by Gov. Jay Ins-
lee as the new director of the
Washington Department of
Ecology in December.
She was most recently
senior assistant attorney
general in the Ecology Divi-
sion of the Attorney Gen-
eral’s Office. As chief legal
counsel to the Director of
the Department of Ecology,
she provided advice and rep-
resentation to the agency’s
administration.
She is also a former dep-
uty solicitor general in the
Attorney General’s Office.
She replaced Maia Bel-
lon, who served as Ecology
director for nearly seven
years.
Watson began her new
position Jan. 8.
For her first media inter-
view as director, Watson
spoke by telephone with the
Capital Press on Jan. 29. The
interview has been edited
for length.
Q. Tell us a little bit
about your background.
How did you become inter-
ested in Ecology?
I think, like a lot of peo-
ple, I became interested in
environmental issues just
very simply because I love
the outdoors, I love natural
areas, I love being outdoors,
I love outdoor recreation.
We live in this amazingly
beautiful state and the desire
to protect the beauty of our
state, I think is what moti-
vates me.
When I was in college
at the University of Pitts-
burgh — Pittsburgh is where
I grew up — I got involved
with social justice issues.
Specifically, I worked with
a women’s homeless popu-
lation in Pittsburgh and con-
tinued my working with that
population into my legal
career.
When I think about it, it
seems to me that environ-
mental pro-
tection
is
really also
a social jus-
tice issue.
I think we
all
agree
everybody
Laura
deserves
Watson
clean water,
clean air, access to natural
areas. It feels to me like an
extension of my commit-
ment to those justice issues.
Q. Do you have any
agriculture
in
your
background?
I don’t. I’m not from an
agricultural family. When
I first moved to Thurston
County, I had the pleasure
of renting a farmhouse on
an 80-acre farm. The farmer
ran beef cattle on the prop-
erty. It was wonderful. I feel
lazy saying this, right? But
I had the pleasure of being
able to live on this beautiful,
bucolic piece of property
and not have to do any of
the work of running a farm.
But it was a really beautiful
piece of property.
Q. With the under-
standing that you’re still
new in the position, are
there any priorities you’ve
identified?
I’m really still in the pro-
cess of getting out there and
listening to folks — associ-
ations, businesses, Ecology
staff, groups out there — as
to what our main priorities
should be.
Having said that, of
course there are some things
that jump out right away. A
big one is climate change
resiliency. Whether you’re
talking about drought, flood-
ing or wildfires, this is
something we really need to
address.
Q. Will you continue
Maia Bellon’s approach
in reaching out to farmers
and ranchers?
Absolutely, I will plan
to do that. It is a big pri-
ority of mine to do that. I
know Maia started the Agri-
culture and Water Quality
advisory committee close
to seven years ago, I think.
I never had the pleasure of
being able to attend one of
those meetings, but now that
I’m in this role, and into the
future, I’ve heard it’s a very
valuable committee, it’s a
high priority of mine to con-
tinue that.
The way it’s been
described to me is “a com-
fortable but structured con-
versation” on how we all can
work together to protect our
water. It’s really a way for us
at Ecology to communicate
about our work, why it’s
important, and to be trans-
parent with the people our
work most directly affects.
I don’t want to limit com-
munications with farmers
and ranchers just to the com-
mittee. I would hope we can
build durable relationships
so we can have more durable
solutions to problems. We
all want a thriving economy,
we all want a thriving envi-
ronment, we want a thriving
environment that supports
the economy.
Q. What can the agri-
culture community expect
from Ecology under your
leadership?
I’m here to listen. I really
do want to hear about some
of the challenges that are
facing the industry, as well
as the priorities.
I met with the Washing-
ton Association of Wheat
Growers just last week, and
it was a great meeting.
I really got to learn a lot
about the industry.
Our agency’s mission
is to protect the environ-
ment. The best way for us
to do that is if we’re all
working together.
Q. What are you look-
ing for from them?
Primarily, let’s not let
small problems get any
bigger. So if there are
issues that folks are hav-
ing with the Department
of Ecology that are mak-
ing it difficult for us to
work together, I would
hope people would feel
comfortable reaching out
directly to me and let’s
try to work through those
issues together.
I think a lot of the big-
gest problems arise when
there are communication
breakdowns. I would hope
we’re not going to let that
happen and we’re reach-
ing out before those small
problems get any bigger.
Q. What would make
your term as Ecology
director a success in your
eyes?
I guess I’d say what
probably most directors
would say: I’d like to say
I made measurable prog-
ress toward some of our
biggest
environmental
challenges, whether it’s
drought resiliency, cli-
mate change or water pol-
lution. And as an agency,
we’re focusing our energy
and resources on address-
ing those problems.
We all know that these
issues are big. They don’t
get resolved overnight.
Really, at the end of my
tenure, I’d want to be able
to say to my daughter that,
for example, the staff at
Ecology did a fabulous job
of making more cubic feet
of water available, while
also protecting flows for
fish or keeping more toxic
substances out of the envi-
ronment. I’d be really
proud if I were able to do
that.
It’s not just what I would
hope to accomplish, but
how we get there. The only
way we get to those great
accomplishments is through
our partnerships. The more
brains we have at the table
trying to come up with cre-
ative solutions, the more
likely we are to hit on the
right solution.
Beyond Burger
The plant-based Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger is sold
in grocery stores. The company has landed in court
over investor allegations.
Beyond Meat maker
embroiled in litigation
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
An investor has filed a
lawsuit against the Beyond
Meat company, which
makes plant-based imita-
tion beef, pork and poul-
try products, for allegedly
minimizing a dispute with a
former food processor.
The complaint requests
class action status, which
would allow other stock-
holders to join in the liti-
gation and seek compensa-
tion for a drop in Beyond
Meat’s share prices.
According to the com-
plaint, Beyond Meat didn’t
fully disclose its legal vul-
nerabilities in an earlier
lawsuit filed by Don Lee
Farms, a former manufac-
turing partner that accused
the company of stealing
trade secrets.
Don Lee Farms also
made other allegations,
such as claiming that
Beyond Meat had supplied
its food processing facil-
ity with ingredients con-
taminated with plastic,
cardboard, a metal nozzle
and an unidentified white
powder.
The former processor
also claimed that Beyond
Meat had falsified a food
safety audit and that it
breached a contract by
shifting its business to
another manufacturer.
In a cross-complaint,
Clear Springs
Foods under
new ownership
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By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
Riverence Holdings LLC
has acquired Clear Springs
Foods Inc., a Buhl, Ida-
ho-based rainbow trout com-
pany that has operated fish
farms in the area since 1966.
Riverence Holdings also
owns Riverence Brood in
Washington and Riverence
Farms in Idaho. With the acqui-
sition, Riverence Holdings has
become the largest land-based
producer of trout in the Amer-
icas, the company said in a
press release announcing the
acquisition.
Riverence and Clear
Springs were not immedi-
ately available for comment on
Monday afternoon.
The Magic Valley will con-
tinue to be the base of opera-
tions for both Riverence and
Clear Springs, with the intent
to maintain the existing brands,
team members and the markets
they serve. Together, the com-
panies employ over 450 peo-
ple, the company said.
“We believe in aquaculture
and sustainable, land-based
production of seafood,” Rob
Young, CEO of Riverence,
said in the press release.
“We have found a commu-
nity of like-minded people in
the Magic Valley. With this
investment, we are strength-
ening our commitment to
them and to setting tables
across the country with pre-
mium, responsibly raised
fish,” he said.
“We’re starting to reimag-
ine the potential of the U.S.
trout industry,” Jeff Jermun-
son, CEO of Clear Springs
Foods, said.
“We are honored to begin
the next chapter of our com-
pany’s long history as part of
the Riverence family,” he said.
Together with Clear Springs
Foods, Riverence gains “egg to
plate” command of the supply
chain, from its brood stock to
delivery to distributors.
Beyond Meat and its new
manufacturing
partner
denied these claims and
accused Don Lee Farms
of violating its contract by
contaminating
products
with “salmonella and other
foreign objects.”
While the legal con-
flict began about two years
before Beyond Meat began
selling its shares to the pub-
lic in 2019, the new stock-
holders’ lawsuit alleges
the food company made
“generic disclaimers” about
the litigation that didn’t
fully reveal its “actual
known risks.”
According to the com-
plaint, the truth began
to emerge after Don Lee
Farms issued a press release
in late January that touted a
couple recent preliminary
legal rulings that worked in
the former manufacturing
partner’s favor.
The press release caused
Beyond Meat’s “artifi-
cially inflated” stock price
to tumble $4.63, or 3.71%,
to $120.12 by the next
day, the complaint said.
The company’s stock has
recently traded below $120
per share.
The investor lawsuit
argues that Beyond Meat
has made materially false
and misleading statements
in violation of federal secu-
rities laws and seeks com-
pensation for damages in an
unspecified amount.
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