The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a $127,800 fine Tuesday to Lamb Weston’s Hermiston potato processing plant for repeated wastewater violations that contaminated the groundwater in nearby communities, as Monica Samayoa reports for Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB).
Lamb Weston’s Hermiston facility, which produces about 750 million pounds of french fries annually, violated its wastewater permit 90 times from 2015 through 2021 and added approximately 224 tons of excess nitrate to nearby farmland, according to DEQ.
DEQ also cited the facility for a separate spill of almost 25,000 gallons of industrial wastewater into soil near the processing plant.
Lamb Weston spokesperson Shelby Stoolman said the company takes environmental compliance seriously and is carefully reviewing the information it received from DEQ.
Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting. Read the full story here
Photo: Lamb Weston is a potato processing plant located in Hermiston that produces around 750 million pounds of french fries annually for global distribution. Credit Monica Samayoa / OPB
