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News Release
For release: May 21, 2012 Contacts: Salem Contracting Company Fined $3,000 For Failing to Immediately Clean Up Spill on its SE Salem Property The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has issued a $3,000 penalty to John Mills Concrete Contractor Inc. for failing to immediately clean up a spill of the hazardous substance xylene from its facility at 222 Judson St. SE, Salem, in early January. The penalty stems from a Jan. 4, 2012 observation by the Salem Bureau of Environmental Services of staining on the ground and an odor from an unpaved area of the John Mills Concrete facility, where chemical drums were stored. The Salem agency forwarded the complaint to DEQ. DEQ inspected the site on Jan. 6, 2012 and determined that the staining occurred when a drum containing a small amount of xylene – a toxic compound that’s a remnant of the petroleum refining process – had been overturned onto the soil to drain. Xylene is listed as a hazardous substance under the federal Water Pollution Control Act. Regulations called for the substance to be cleaned up immediately; instead, the spilled xylene and contaminated soil weren’t cleaned up on the site until Feb. 9, by a contractor hired by John Mills Concrete. DEQ issued the penalty because failure to immediately clean up spills of hazardous substances creates a risk of harm to human health and the environment. John Mills Concrete Contractor Inc. has appealed the penalty. |
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