From: Mark Strandberg
Sent: Thu Nov 10 13:27:08 2016
To: J.W. Ring; Gerald Fisher; Dan Huff
Subject: RE: Attorney - RE Molalla FEA.
Importance: Normal
We should also note that the City has already made $26,000 in stipulated payments for these violations under the Consent Decree.
From: J.W. Ring
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 1:23 PM
To: Gerald Fisher; Dan Huff
Cc: Mark Strandberg
Subject: RE: Attorney - RE Molalla FEA.
We should appeal because this is becoming a habit with them. The fine is not fair and we should point it out to them in the least costly manner possible but we can not let the behavior go unchecked.
From: Gerald Fisher [mailto:gfisher@cityofmolalla.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 4:19 PM
To: Dan Huff
Cc: Mark Strandberg; J.W. Ring
Subject: Attorney - RE Molalla FEA.
Dan,
They are issuing a civil penalty for
1. Exceeding total coliform
2. Exceeding turbidity
3. Not completing the lagoon leak test within one year
Here is my issue with their fines. We had a failure in one of our systems that caused the issue in #1 and #2. Exceedance of #1 was only for one day. There is no biological hazard with #2. The length of #2 was based on the time it took to correct the mechanical failure. The City only applied on the cattle ranch in specific locations that can take the class of water we were applying and the Class A water requirement we inherited is not necessary for what we do. DEQ approved Class A for the City knowing full and well that we had significant I&I issues that impacted the plant, yet still issued a Class A classification to an older plant. When asked DEQ could not tell me the last time that a lagoon leak test was performed other than start up. They could not answer how often the test should be done. They could not answer and had not witnessed a test being done. They issued the mandatory test requirement without looking at the plant, they approved, to determine during the first test that the testing method would not work and that additional measures needed to be in place to have a successful test. They told us to test and likely knew we would fail or didn’t take the time to determine if a test could be performed on a plant they approved. And at the end of the day, we installed additional equipment at the cost of $40K+ and passed the test. DEQ has failed to regularly test, update their testing requirements, train their staff on testing of lagoons, and work with smaller municipalities to ensure they are successful when testing systems. I was the one that brought up to them that they did not have testing procedures on their website. I was also the one that has brought up the fact that there is no minimum or mandatory language for posting of public notification during discharges of treated effluent.
Here is the quandary. We can spend a lot of staff time, attorney time, and money fighting this, we could pay the fine under duress (if that is the accurate term) and submit a letter stating we have cause to disagree with their finding but would rather put the future money into our system than waste it fighting DEQ over this nonsense, or we can pay the fine and move on. Tell me if I am wrong but as much as I hate to do it and love a good fight I think we should pay the fine and move on.
Regards,
Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director
City of Molalla
117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038
Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218
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From: COLE David [mailto:david.cole@state.or.us]
Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2016 2:34 PM
To: 'Gerald Fisher' <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: COLE David <david.cole@state.or.us>
Subject: Molalla FEA.
Hello Gerald. To follow up my voice mail message from this morning, please find attached an electronic version of the penalty notice that our Office of Compliance and Enforcement is mailing out today. Tiffany will follow up with Dan on this matter.
David Cole, R.G.
Water Quality Specialist
DEQ - Northwest Region & Western Region
700 NE Multnomah Street, Suite 600
Portland, OR 97232
503-229-5011 (P)
503-229-6957 (F)