The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined a Yamhill County wood treating company $1,055,825 for numerous violations of environmental regulations for water quality, hazardous waste and spill response and cleanup.
DEQ issued the penalty to Stella-Jones, located in Sheridan, because wood preserving chemicals pose a risk to public health and the environment when not properly managed, the department said in a news release Sept. 8.
Those chemicals include pentachlorophenol (penta or PCP), a human carcinogen.
Most of the fine, or $877,225, is for costs and expenses the company avoided by not complying with environmental regulations.
In 2023, DEQ issued an order requiring corrective action, which the company complied with. It has since issued three pre-enforcement notices outlining additional violations.
The enforcement action cites 23 violations, including some addressing pollution to the South Yamhill River, which supplies drinking water to about 6,000 nearby residents.
DEQ also found that Stella-Jones sent hazardous waste to Riverbend Landfill in McMinnville between 2013 and 2021 and to Coffin Butte Landfill near Corvallis between 2021 and 2022. Neither landfill is permitted to accept hazardous waste.
The order requires Stella-Jones to address:
- Hazardous waste violations, by reporting accurately, paying fees, and addressing the storage of hazardous waste in tanks.
- Water quality violations, by taking several actions including increasing monitoring and reporting for certain chemicals, upgrading its stormwater treatment system, and improving its operations relating to preventing overflows of the stormwater treatment system.
“This enforcement not only addresses the company’s past violations, but also requires the company to revise its operations plan, conduct additional monitoring, and take other preventative measures to ensure it stays in compliance going forward,” said Erin Saylor, interim manager of DEQ’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement.
In addition to the DEQ penalty, Stella-Jones and the Oregon Department of Justice agreed to a settlement in late August 2025 in a parallel state criminal case based on water quality violations. The company pled guilty to 10 misdemeanor counts of unlawful water pollution for violations of its state-issued water quality permit.
It will pay a $250,000 fine, $50,000 of which will be suspended if it avoids certain permit violations during the next three years.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also recently reached a settlement agreement with Stella-Jones that includes a $98,000 civil penalty.
Once Stella-Jones receives the enforcement action from DEQ it has 20 calendar days to file an appeal.
Stella-Jones did not respond to questions from the Statesman Journal about the violations and fine from DEQ.