EPA settles with Pacific Seafood – Westport, LLC, over alleged Clean Water Act violations at Washington seafood processing facility

June 18, 2020

SEATTLE – Pacific Seafood – Westport, LLC, has settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over federal Clean Water Act violations at its Westport, Washington, crab and shrimp processing facility. Pacific Seafood – Westport, LLC, is part of a major global seafood processing operation that employs more than 3,000 people at 41 facilities in 11 states, including several offshore locations.

According to settlement documents, EPA identified over 2,100 violations of the Westport facility’s wastewater discharge permit during an unannounced inspection in 2017. EPA documented discharge limit violations, as well as violations related to monitoring frequency, incorrect sampling, and incomplete or inadequate reporting.

“Seafood processors have wastewater discharge permit limits for a reason,” said Lauris Davies, acting Director of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in Seattle.  “Local receiving waters can get inundated with body parts, entrails, shell particles, oil and other byproducts in volumes they just can’t handle When discharges exceed permit requirements, companies must take swift action to comply with legal limits, or face penalties.”

As part of the settlement, the company agreed to pay a penalty of $190,000. In addition to paying the penalty, Pacific Seafood – Westport, LLC has launched a variety of new programs and implemented technologies to address compliance challenges at its Westport facility. By calculating the environmental impact of the violations, EPA expects to see the following environmental benefits as a direct result of the enforcement action taken:

• Fecal Coliform reduced by 17,995 lbs/year
• Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD₅) reduced by 256,564 lbs/year
• Total Suspended Solids (TSS) reduced by 115,845 lbs/year
• Oil & Grease (O&G) discharge reduced by 48,255 lbs/year

As part of the agreement, Pacific Seafood – Westport, LLC neither confirms nor denies the allegations contained in the signed Consent Agreement and Final Order.

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For more about EPA’s enforcement initiative with the Seafood Processing Industry: https://www.epa.gov/eg/seafood-processing-effluent-guidelines