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!
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Clatsop SWCD is offering a $50 gift certificate and a T-shirt to the winner
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Astoria , O R 97103
503-325-4571
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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.
To a p p ly:
• W rite a 3-pa ra gra phc expla n a tion on how you respon sibly ta k e ca re of
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Two root canals and an
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