{"id":425573,"date":"2026-01-23T19:24:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/425573\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:24:14","slug":"oregon-town-to-test-river-where-wood-treater-sent-polluted-stormwater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/425573\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon town to test river where wood treater sent polluted stormwater"},"content":{"rendered":"

A northwest Oregon town is stepping up testing of the river that supplies some of its drinking water, prompted by InvestigateWest\u2019s reporting<\/a> that a local wood treater released stormwater tainted with toxic preservatives into the waterway while regulators kept it quiet.<\/p>\n

The Sheridan City Council has instructed staff to consult with environmental researchers and state regulators on a new plan to test water samples from the South Yamhill River for chemicals used in recent years by Canadian company Stella-Jones. The proposed tests are separate from standard monitoring for contaminants in city drinking water that Sheridan is required by state law to regularly conduct.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Stella-Jones facility in Sheridan, Ore.<\/p>\n

Amanda Loman \/ Investigate West<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be nice to know what\u2019s there, since we do have someone upstream dumping water that does have a chemical in it,\u201d Sheridan Mayor Cale George said in an interview. \u201cUnless we\u2019re testing, we don\u2019t know for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council members said they were unaware of the impacts to the South Yamhill until InvestigateWest reported on Stella-Jones\u2019 nearly four-year history of chemical spills and polluted stormwater releases into the river, which has spurred state and federal penalties reaching nearly $1.5 million. That included a $250,000 criminal fine after the company pleaded guilty<\/a> to state charges of unlawful water pollution in August.<\/p>\n

New data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also shows chemicals found in soil and water near the Stella-Jones site have reached high enough levels to potentially harm wildlife, including crayfish, fish and birds. <\/p>\n

Sheridan City Council President Jim Buckles said he was particularly concerned about a town resident\u2019s August 2023 report to state regulators about the absence of crayfish in the South Yamhill River downstream from the Stella-Jones site. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have a pretty strong concern about when something as simple as crayfish suddenly disappears from our water,\u201d Buckles said. \u201cThat\u2019s not a good sign. Because not only do we have an intake on the river that we get part of our city drinking water from in the summer, (but) kids go out and play in it, and people on their canoes and kayaks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stella-Jones is appealing the largest fine: a $1 million penalty<\/a> from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality that was announced in September. In its appeal, the company argued DEQ has misapplied laws governing hazardous waste and failed to credit the company for corrective actions taken over the years to mitigate environmental harm.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Sheridan Bridge over the South Yamhill River in Sheridan, Ore.<\/p>\n

Amanda Loman \/ Investigate West<\/p>\n

It also places blame for excessive chemicals in its stormwater on the state and EPA, arguing they\u2019ve shirked their responsibility to manage contaminated groundwater on-site that predated Stella-Jones\u2019 ownership of the property. <\/p>\n

The EPA has monitored this contamination in concert with DEQ since 2001, when federal regulators designated a Superfund there and completed a cleanup over several years.<\/p>\n

A plume of groundwater on the property that is polluted with pentachlorophenol \u2014 a likely carcinogenic wood preservative used for decades at the site \u2014 is supposed to be contained within an underground wall maintained by the EPA. But in 2022, the agency reported that the plume was escaping containment and needed to be investigated.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Corrente, a Stella-Jones spokesperson, said in a statement that well before the state fined the company, Stella-Jones had made \u201csignificant investments in the facility\u2019s operations, plant leadership, and employee training as part of the company\u2019s ongoing improvements at the site. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis important work at the Sheridan facility has continued while Stella-Jones has been working to resolve outstanding legal and factual issues with (the Department of Environmental Quality) and EPA,\u201d Corrente said. <\/p>\n

If the Department of Environmental Quality and Stella-Jones fail to reach a settlement, the appeal will go before an administrative law judge. Few appeals reach that point, said Erin Saylor, interim manager of DEQ\u2019s compliance and enforcement office, but the Stella-Jones penalty is \u201ca complicated case and we don\u2019t know how long it will take to reach an agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dispute over the state penalty comes as the EPA has finalized a 1,600-page report investigating pollution on and around the Stella-Jones property. The report concluded that some contamination is likely attributable to Stella-Jones\u2019 operations, while other spots are being impacted by the migrating groundwater. It flagged pentachlorophenol, copper, and other toxic and carcinogenic byproducts such as dioxin as the main pollution sources posing risks to wildlife. <\/p>\n

For example, dioxin levels in some sediment samples taken from the South Yamhill and Rock Creek, an adjacent waterway that flows to the river, were higher than the EPA\u2019s screening value \u201cby at least two orders of magnitude, suggesting the potential for population level effects to benthic invertebrates\u201d such as crayfish, worms or insect larvae.<\/p>\n

EPA officials said the contamination is relegated to \u201ca small footprint\u201d near each of the drainage ditches where Stella-Jones discharges water into the South Yamhill River and Rock Creek. Agency officials are working on a plan to clean up that pollution and other contaminated areas on the property. That report is expected to be published \u201cin the second half of 2026,\u201d EPA spokesperson Alice Corcoran said.<\/p>\n

The EPA and DEQ banned the use of pentachlorophenol at the site during the Superfund cleanup but reauthorized its use in 2011. Stella-Jones acquired the site in 2013 and was first cited by DEQ for excessive pentachlorophenol in its stormwater in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A sign along Highway 18 outside of Sheridan, Ore.<\/p>\n

Amanda Loman \/ Investigate West<\/p>\n

Since early 2023, the company has exclusively used another less toxic preservative, known as DCOIT, and no longer uses pentachlorophenol. <\/p>\n

Sheridan officials have said they want to test for both DCOIT and pentachlorophenol in their new sampling plan. Although the EPA report is publicly available<\/a>, City Manager Preston Polasek and several city councilors said they had not read it and couldn\u2019t say how the city\u2019s testing might differ from the agency\u2019s methodology. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s noble to be concerned about the resource of the river, but there\u2019s no evidence to question the health of our drinking water,\u201d Polasek said. He described the plan to test the river as a way to give \u201cpeace of mind\u201d to worried city councilors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need that,\u201d he said. \u201cThe councilors do. That\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pentachlorophenol is one of a group of synthetic organic chemicals for which public drinking water systems are required to test every three years under Oregon law. Chronic exposure to pentachlorophenol by ingestion, inhalation or skin contact is linked to higher cancer risk and problems with liver, kidney and blood health. The city completed its most recent tests for those contaminants in September and October and found no reportable level of pentachlorophenol in the water. <\/p>\n

In its sampling of river water in August 2024, the EPA noted high levels of pentachlorophenol in sediment samples close to the drainage ditches, but did not find pentachlorophenol present in surface water. The chemical tends to accumulate in soil and sediments more easily than water, though factors like acidity and temperature can impact whether it dissolves in water. <\/p>\n

Polasek said the city has been in touch with a researcher at Oregon State University about the plans for additional sampling, and the city is looking to test the water in the summer. The summer months are when Sheridan is more likely to draw drinking water from the river, but also when Stella-Jones does not release water into the river. He estimated the cost to be around $6,000.<\/p>\n

Nina Bell, an attorney and founder of Northwest Environmental Advocates, an environmental law firm that has sued the EPA and state over Clean Water Act claims, said Sheridan\u2019s testing plan won\u2019t necessarily shed light on other impacts to fish and organisms that spend their life in the river. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be unfortunate, I think, if it were determined that drinking water is not hazardous and they then cease to be concerned about the rest of the contamination,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause, obviously, there are high levels of toxics that are going to affect something, even if they don\u2019t affect the drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stella-Jones, meanwhile, has not violated its water permit since DEQ handed down its penalty. The company brought in extra storage to prevent untreated rainwater spills during atmospheric river events in December, and is planning upgrades to its stormwater treatment system that will \u201cenhance treatment\u201d and increase its capacity to handle big storms without spills. <\/p>\n

As part of its plea agreement to settle the criminal charges, Stella-Jones also agreed to remove sediment in the drainage ditch flowing to the South Yamhill where high levels of chemical contamination were noted. It is required to submit a progress report to state prosecutors by March.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story<\/a> was originally published by InvestigateWest<\/a> and distributed through a partnershp with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A northwest Oregon town is stepping up testing of the river that supplies some of its drinking water,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79,202554],"class_list":["post-425573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-water-oregon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}