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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (June 25, 2015)
NORTH COAST THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2015 3A Wiegardt Brothers plead guilty to wastewater violations Owner reported problem, complied with investigation lease, investigators with the federal Environmental Pro- tection Agency’s Criminal In- vestigation Division could not determine whether or not Wie- gardt Brothers actually pollut- ed the bay, but concluded that Fritz Wiegardt knew a key By NATALIE ST. JOHN employee was not complying EO Media Group with testing requirements and failed to do anything about it TACOMA, Wash. — Oys- for more than a year. ter processing company Wie- “Here, a company that gardt Brothers Inc., and its SUR¿WVIURPRXUUHJLRQ¶VFOHDQ president and majority own- waters failed to take import- er, Frederic “Fritz” Wiegardt ant steps to protect those very have been ordered to pay a resources,” said U.S. Attorney ¿QH DQG D Annette L. Hayes in a state- community service fee, af- ment. ter pleading guilty to misde- Under the terms of the plea meanor violations of the fed- agreement, the company will eral Clean Water Act in U.S. be required to implement an District Court. EPA-approved environmental In a plea agreement Fri- monitoring program. Wie- day, Wiegardt admitted that, gardt will be jointly respon- from at least 2012 to 2014, sible for paying the $100,000 the company violated its Na- ¿QHDQGZLOODOVREHUHTXLUHG tional Pollution Discharge WRGRKRXUVRIFRPPXQLW\ Elimination System permit service, and publish an apolo- by discharging untested or J\LQWKH3DFL¿F&RDVW6KHOO- improperly tested wastewater ¿VK *URZHUV¶ $VVRFLDWLRQ into Willapa Bay. quarterly newsletter. According to a press re- In a phone interview Mon- day, Wiegardt’s attorney, Bart Freedman, of the Seattle law ¿UP ./ *DWHV //3 VDLG Wiegardt took the plea bar- gain because he and other company staff wanted to in- YHVWWKHLUHQHUJ\LQ¿[LQJWKH problem rather than focusing on an extended and costly le- gal battle. “I think Fritz wanted to take responsibility for this. He wanted to get it done,” Freed- man said. He described Wie- gardt’s response to concerns about the company’s testing methods as “diligent,” and said consultants hired by the FRPSDQ\KDYHFRQ¿UPHGWKDW the problems did not cause environmental harm, or affect any of the company’s prod- ucts. Testing samples Under the terms of the dis- charge permit, the company was required to take month- ly samples from a discharge pipe, and submit them to a lab for testing. At some point in about 2012, Wiegardt learned that, due to an equipment malfunction, the company’s general manager was taking samples from a different piece of equipment, known as the “bubbler.” According to the press re- lease, “… sampling from the bubbler — the location where shucked oysters are cleaned — failed to account for the vast majority of wastewater components that were dis- charged from the facility …” According to the EPA- CID, Wiegardt waited until August 2014 to disclose the violations to the state Depart- ment of Ecology, which over- sees discharge permit-holders in Washington state. Freedman said the problem arose as a result of Wiegardt’s inexperience, rather than from a lack of respect for the envi- ronment. According to Freedman, the company hired a general manager (with previous oyster-processing experience) between 2002-04. Wiegardt, who was not actively involved in managing the day-to- day operations, entrusted the man (who is no longer with the com- Home invasion suspects remain as co-defendants The Daily Astorian Six suspects connected to an Astoria home invasion in April will continue to be tried as co-defendants. Judge Cindee Matyas granted the prosecution’s re- quest to consolidate the indi- vidual cases during a hearing in Clatsop County Circuit Court Wednesday. The hearing was in re- VSRQVHWRDQREMHFWLRQ¿OHGE\ the defense lawyer for Antho- Q\ 9 /DQH WKH ¿UVW VXVSHFW arrested in the home invasion. Thomas Freedman, Lane’s defense lawyer, argued against the consolidation based on the fact that the defendants are not charged with the same crimes and there is “substan- tial prejudice to defendant and/or defense counsel.” Judge Matyas did allow the defense to ask for the cas- es to be severed at a later date. Five of the suspects — Lane, Joseph V. Armstrong, Kevin J. Morse, Amanda M. Preston and Tasha Van Dolah — are each charged with 13 counts. The charges involve IRXU FRXQWV RI ¿UVWGHJUHH robbery, two counts of sec- RQGGHJUHH DVVDXOW ¿UVWGH- gree burglary, unlawful use of a weapon against another, two Health advisory lifted at Tolovana Beach Capture the Flag at Parks After Dark The Daily Astorian Astoria Parks and Rec- reation’s next Parks After Dark event is Capture the Flag at 8 p.m. Saturday at Shively Park. The event is open to ages 14 and older. There is a $5 entry fee to play. Beer is being provided by Buoy Beer Co. Food is being catered by the North Coast Food Web and will include gourmet hot dogs, corn on the cob and straw- berry shortcake. All proceeds go to the Astoria Parks Recreation and Community Founda- tion to support scholar- ship programs that pro- vide low-income families access to health and well- ness opportunities. For in- formation, call 503-325- The Daily Astorian cials said the native Pacif- ic Northwestern moth has descended on the county, feasting on the leaves of broadleaf trees and shrubs. Officials say the hungry caterpillars are unlikely to kill most trees, but they strip trees bare of foliage, making them appear dead or diseased. Young or un- healthy trees could be at risk. The caterpillars enter their cocoons in midsum- mer, allowing most trees to recover. Insecticides are not necessary to combat the insects. Removing tents from trees by pruning in- fested branches or blast- ing them with water is an effective way to minimize outbreaks. The Oregon Health Au- thority lifted the health advi- sory for Tolovana State Park Beach Wednesday after lab results indicated that marine fecal bacterial levels fell to acceptable levels. The state had issued an advisory against direct water contact at the beach Tuesday when monitoring showed higher than normal levels of fecal bacteria in the ocean. The advisory did not apply to recreational activities that did not involve water. Disorderly conduct • At 9:43 p.m. Wednes- day, Warrenton Police ar- rested Titus Jay Cooper, 24, transient, for second-degree criminal trespass and disor- derly conduct after Cooper reportedly refused to leave a fitting room inside Ross. He was in the fitting room for 45 minutes, according to police. Caterpillars infest Tillamook County trees The Associated Press TILLAMOOK — Til- lamook County trees will look less verdant this sum- mer as tent caterpillars, lar- val moths that live in gauzy tents stretched between tree branches, are eating their leaves. The Oregonian report- ed that state forestry offi- FRXQWV RI ¿UVWGHJUHH WKHIW menacing, and two counts of fourth-degree assault. The sixth suspect, Leticia V. Westfall, who acted as an alleged lookout, is facing two counts of hindering prosecu- tion. “We just want them to- gether for now to try to get those cases resolved,” Clatsop County Deputy District Attor- ney Ron Brown said. pany) with the monthly testing responsibilities. It’s unclear when the man stopped testing, but in 2012, Wiegardt began to suspect that the manager wasn’t complying with the testing rules. Freedman acknowledged that Wiegardt was to slow act on his suspicions, saying, “He became concerned that some- thing wasn’t right, and it took a little bit of time to take that next step and get some advice and take action.” But he says DVVRRQDV:LHJDUGWFRQ¿UPHG his suspicions in 2014, he im- mediately contacted his attor- neys and voluntarily reported the violations to the state in short order. Since then, Freedman said, the company has hired consul- tants, made facility upgrades and personnel changes. “They’ve revamped that whole side of their operations to make sure nothing like this can happen. I think their goal is to put this behind them and move on with their business,” Freedman said. Freedman said that while Clatsop County approves budget to approve the county’s bud- get. Commissioner Lianne Thompson abstained from The Clatsop County the vote, citing her concerns Board of Commissioners ap- that the Board of Commis- proved the county’s budget sioners should have an ac- IRUWKHXSFRPLQJ¿VFDO\HDU countability system in place during its regular meeting to measure performance and Wednesday night. intended goals before accept- The adopted budget, ing budgeted money. which begins in July, is $52.2 “For us as board mem- million, down slightly from bers, what is it that we say PLOOLRQWKLV¿VFDO\HDU our work is? We need to Four service district bud- GH¿QHWKDWLQRUGHUWREHDF- gets totaling about $8 million countable,” Thompson said. were also approved by the Budget and Finance Di- Board of Commissioners. rector Monica Steele told the ³,Q ¿YH \HDUV ZH KDYH Board of Commissioners if it been through some tough decides to create performance times and have had to make measures, the measures can some tough decisions, but be included in the budget. Clatsop County has arguably “I prefer my performance the healthiest budget of all of measure to be from my con- the coastal counties,” Scott stituents,” Lee said. Lee, the board’s chairman, In other business: said. “That is something the • The Board of Commis- staff and this board can be sioners reappointed Bruce proud of. We really worked Francis and appointed Myr- hard to keep our house in or- na Patrick to the county’s der.” Planning Commission for Commissioners voted 4-0 terms that end June 30, 2019. By KYLE SPURR The Daily Astorian In hon or of Ju ly 4th, T he D aily Astorian ’s offices in Astoria an d S easid e w ill b e CLOSED On the record DUII arrest • At 8:05 p.m. Wednesday, Warrenton Police arrested Scott Andrew Smotherman, 56, Warrenton, for driving XQGHUWKHLQÀXHQFHRILQWR[L- cants near Anchor Avenue and First Street in Warrenton. FRIDAY, JULY 3 PAPER DELIVERY WILL PROCEED AS USUAL H ave a safe holiday! Cla tsop Soil & W a ter Con serva tion D istrict For fa rm s, fish a nd forestry since 19 64 Youth AFO Award 2015 If you a re a you th (gra d es 4-12) in Cla tsop Cou n ty a n d ta k e ca re of m u ltiple livestock , horses or sm a ll a n im a ls, you a re eligible for the 2015 Y ou th A FO A w a rd W A NTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber N orth w es t H a rdw oods • Lon gview , W A Contact: Steve Axtell • 360-430-0885 or John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Clatsop SWCD is offering a $50 gift certificate and a T-shirt to the winner APPLY TO DAY! D u e Ju ly 3, 2015 750 Com m erica l St. Room 207 Astoria , O R 97103 503-325-4571 csw cd @ cla tsopsw cd .org WKH LQ IHHV LV FHU- tainly not pocket change, he believes the feds gave Wie- gardt and his company a rel- atively light penalty because Wiegardt self-reported and cooperated with the investi- gation. Penalties for violating the Clean Water Act vary widely from case to case, depending on the level of environmental damage caused, and whether the defendant acted willful- ly, or was merely neglectful. For example, in April 2014, Ray Caldwell, the owner of a Longview, Wash., septic service business, was found guilty of 33 violations of the Clean Water Act, after he was caught dumping raw sewage into the city’s sewer system. Because investigators be- lieved Caldwell willfully and knowingly violated environ- mental laws, he was charged with felonies, rather than mis- demeanors. He was sentenced WR PRQWKV LQ SULVRQ SOXV SUREDWLRQ¿QHGDQG ordered to pay about $635,000 in restitution. 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