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EPA Orders Fish Processor to Stop Fouling Ketchikan Waters

Release Date: 4/23/2001
Contact Information: Bub Loiselle and Ciannat Howett
[email protected]
(206) 553-6901 and (206) 553-7359

April 23, 2001 - - - - - - - - - - 01-12

Failure to comply could earn Alaska General Seafoods daily penalties of $27,500

The regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is ordering Alaska General Seafoods to prevent “eruptions” of seafood wastes that have polluted public beaches in Tongass Narrows and belched foul odors into the City of Ketchikan.

Last December the EPA filed a formal complaint against the company, charging it with seriously violating the terms of their Clean Water Act permits by discharging seafood sludge and other wastes which caused a film, sheen, emulsion, or scum on the surface of the water. The EPA also charged the company with violating Alaska’s water quality standards for having a waste pile larger than the one acre discharge zone for which it was permitted. (See attached news release from 12/19/00)

Excessive discharges can cause piles to “erupt,” which can damage invertebrate populations and remove dissolved oxygen from overlying waters. Eruptions can also produce unbearable odors.

During the summer and fall of 1999 residents of Ketchikan and nearby areas were subjected to odors described by one citizen as “a cross between sewage and rotten fish.” One citizen reported that the smell was so bad that he vomited on at least four occasions. The citizen also reported that his fishing gear and clothing were so fouled by residues that despite washing them in bleach, he was unable to remove the stench.

The EPA order requires Alaska General to present a plan to prevent further eruptions by any means necessary. The company will be required to stop discharging as soon as there is another eruption or once it has processed nine million round pounds (nine million pounds of whole fish) for the 2001 processing season, whichever occurs first. To process after an eruption or after it has processed more than nine million pounds, Alaska General will need to find an alternative method of disposal.

Failure to produce and abide by such a plan could subject the company to penalties of up to $27,500 per day for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.