Jeff:
Thank you for discussing the Molalla penalty letter (Case No. WQ/M-NWR-2016-163) with us yesterday. As we stated on the phone, we believe that DEQ has made a significant error in assessing the penalty for the “late” leak test. In its Notice of Civil Penalty and Order, DEQ states that the leak test was to be completed within one year of the effective date of the Permit, which was June 1, 2014. This would have made the deadline June 1, 2015, and as DEQ noted in Section II, Paragraph 12 of the Notice of Civil Penalty and Order, Molalla completed its initial leak test on August 19, 2015. While this is more than two months beyond the initial deadline, the determination that it was completed beyond the time granted by permit ignores the fact that on December 14, 2014, David Cole of DEQ issued a permit modification to Molalla extending that deadline to August 31, 2015. The extension was granted due to the difficulty in conducting a leak test during the rainy season in Oregon, and the higher likelihood of success during the dry month of August. The email from David Cole sending the permit modification to Molalla is attached.
Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, and we look forward to discussing this with you after the holiday. We would like to address this error without the necessity of filing a formal appeal.
Best,
Mark
Mark P. Strandberg
621 SW Morrison, Suite 600
Portland, Oregon 97205
(503) 964-6725 office direct
(503) 964-6730 office main
(773) 606-9467 mobile
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