Everett manufacturer settles oil spill fines for $222,000

EVERETT – An Everett maker pays $ 222,200 to fines for two oil spills that polluted a rainwater pond and stained native wildlife near Narbeck Creek.

In July 2018, an Achilles USA employee at the company’s South Everett facility dropped a movable bag of lube oil, causing the container to burst and spill into the building’s rainwater system. From there the oil was flushed into a retention basin, which is known to be home to animals.

During the removal of this spill, the emergency services discovered that an overflowing sump in the facility also drained into the retention basin.

A total of 340 gallons of oil was dumped into the pond. The cleaning took three weeks.

The emergency services caught and cleaned six geese and a snake that were covered in oil. They also saw blue herons covered in oil but unable to catch them.

The State Department of Ecology cited Achilles USA, a manufacturer of plastic films, last year for $ 327,200 liability, negligence, and failure to notify authorities of the incident.

The settlement approved by the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board resolves the penalty. The money will be used for environmental remediation, which is administered by public agencies and non-profit organizations.

Achilles also paid nearly $ 12,000 to cover state spending on responding to the spill and nearly $ 4,000 for a separate natural resource damage assessment.

In a statement, the company named environmental responsibility a priority and noted that it has invested more than $ 200,000 in spill prevention equipment and employee training. The company said it had also improved its environmental policies and spill prevention plans.

“We are confident that these improvements will help prevent pollutants from entering our containment pond in the future,” the company said.

Dale Jensen, an ecology program manager, reiterated the company’s assessment.

“We are happy that the company has taken its responsibility seriously and hope that there are no further incidents,” he said in a statement.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; [email protected]. Twitter: @zachariahtb.