SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced August 25 that Stella-Jones Corporation, which operates a wood treatment facility in Sheridan, Oregon, pleaded guilty to 10 misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Water Pollution in the Second Degree for violations of its state-issued water quality permit.
According to the Attorney General’s office, the company admitted to “repeatedly and with criminal negligence” exceeding legal limits for pentachlorophenol, a toxic chemical used in treating wood products, in discharges from its facility between December 2022 and March 2023 into the released into the South Yamhill River. This resolves a larger set of charges filed by the Oregon Department of Justice, which documented a pattern of permit violations across multiple months, the prosecutor said.
“Oregonians expect businesses to follow the law and protect our environment,” said Rayfield. “When companies cut corners and pollute our rivers and streams, it harms communities, natural resources, and public trust. This makes it clear that no one gets a free pass when it comes to safeguarding Oregon’s water.”…