Electron Hydro to pay $1 million Clean Water Act penalty for 2020 artificial turf, tire crumb discharge into Puyallup River
SEATTLE (November 21, 2023) -- The U.S Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Electron Hydro, LLC, and its Chief Operating Officer, Thom Fischer, have agreed to pay a $1,025,000 civil penalty for major violations of the Clean Water Act stemming from the illegal installation of thousands of yards of artificial turf at a construction project at the Electron dam and the subsequent release of hundreds of yards of the turf and the crumb rubber it contained into the Puyallup River in the summer of 2020.
Turf has been found at least 5000 feet from the site and crumb rubber has been found at least 19 miles downstream. Recovery of all the discharged material is not possible.
“Sadly, Electron Hydro’s and Mr. Fischer’s unfathomable violations will have lasting environmental impact on the Puyallup River and the fish and wildlife that rely on it,” said Ed Kowalski, Director of the Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division in EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle. “Payment of this major penalty cannot undo the damage. However, the additional work required by this settlement represents a significant step toward restoring our precious water resources and should serve as a strong reminder that EPA will exact significant sanctions, monetary and otherwise, from those who ignore their legal responsibilities to protect our water resources.”
Artificial turf contains a wide range of toxic compounds, including plasticizers, zinc, lead, and other toxic compounds. Crumb rubber is made from waste tires that contain 6PPD, a chemical used in tire manufacturing. When 6PPD reacts with ozone, it forms 6PPD-q, which is toxic to salmon, trout, and many other fish and aquatic species, and is known to be lethal to coho salmon.
The Puyallup River, which flows into Puget Sound, is home to Chinook salmon, bull trout, and steelhead trout, all of which are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The river is also home to coho, chum, and pink salmon, as well as cutthroat trout.
The Puyallup Tribe owns the bed and banks of the Puyallup River within its reservation and downstream of the discharge site. Since time immemorial, Tribal members have fished the waters of the Puyallup River, the Puyallup River Watershed, and Commencement Bay -- and the Tribe’s fishing rights are protected by treaty.
In its investigation, the EPA also discovered that for many years Electron Hydro violated the conditions of the Washington Department of Ecology’s Construction Stormwater General Permit by failing to:
- update its Notice of Intent to reflect the true size of the construction area;
- provide secondary containment for equipment containing fuel;
- implement and/or maintain required best management practices;
- adequately conduct and/or document inspections;
- maintain records on-site; and
- timely submit discharge monitoring reports.
The company’s failure to comply with the conditions of the permit may have resulted in environmental harm due to discharge of pollutants such as sediment, phosphorus, and petroleum products from the construction site to the Puyallup River.
In November 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint in federal court. After multiple successful rulings in federal court, the EPA and the Department of Justice negotiated a Clean Water Act settlement with Electron Hydro and Fischer, which is memorialized in the Consent Decree announced today. In addition to paying a penalty of $1,025,000, the company and Fischer agreed to perform a significant amount of injunctive relief that will directly benefit the Puyallup River and/or redress the harms from their Clean Water Act violations. Specifically, they agree to:
- Implement comprehensive turf management requirements to ensure as much turf as possible is recovered from the environment, including establishing a phone line and web reporting tools for members of the public to report artificial turf observed;
- Hire an independent third-party contractor to evaluate operations covered by the Construction Stormwater General Permit and implement all recommended stormwater best management practices and publish stormwater compliance information to a public website for transparency and accountability;
- Preserve in perpetuity approximately 70 acres of land along the Puyallup River that provide valuable salmon habitat;
- Hire an independent third-party contractor to evaluate the company’s new plans to complete the failed 2020 construction project and submit the contractor’s evaluation to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and
- Forgo hydroelectric operations until they remove thousands of yards of rock placed in the river in October 2020.
The Consent Decree is subject to a 45-day comment period and final court approval. The public view the Consent Decree at https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees.