In its Nov. 22 penalty order, the Department of Environmental Quality called school officials “reckless.” It noted that, six months after an inspection found contaminated soil, officials still had not shown the soil has been removed from campus.
The school, at 999 Locust St. NE, is operated by the Oregon Department of Education.
School Director Sharla Jones declined an interview request, referring questions to ODE Communications Director Marc Siegel.
“The site has been cleaned, we’ve upgraded our campus maintenance procedures to prevent this from happening again and Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has received all the appropriate documentation. The fine will be paid from our operating budget,” Siegal said in a written statement issued on behalf of Jones.
The violations were discovered during a May 10, 2019 inspection. DEQ inspectors found 22 containers of old, unused chemicals and pesticides, with a total capacity of 345 gallons, stored in a shed on the school campus.
They also found unlabeled containers, with a total capacity of 70 gallons, that turned out to be full of used oil. And the gravel floor of the shed next to those containers was visibly stained with oil.
School officials had the containers removed and disposed of, at a cost of $2,861, on June 26, 2019, nearly seven weeks after they were found, DEQ said.
Officials told DEQ they had the contaminated soil excavated and stockpiled in another location in August 2019, but had not provided required documentation to show it was removed from the property.
DEQ fined the school for storing the hazardous waste for at least several years without obtaining a required permit, and for failing to immediately clean up a spill or release of oil.