DEQ fines seafood company for Yaquina Bay pollution

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – Oregon has issued $43,200 in fines to a Seattle-based seafood company after environmental regulators found wastewater violations at its surimi factory in Newport.

The Statesman Journal reports the recent fine is the third time since 2015 the state Department of Environmental Quality has fined Trident Seafoods for polluting Yaquina Bay.

The factory, which processes fish into imitation crab meat, is allowed to discharge a certain amount of treated fish-processing wastewater into the bay.

According to the department’s penalty order, the company exceeded the limits of various pollutant amounts dozens of times between July and October 2017.

Plant manager Bill Olivera did not respond to the newspaper’s request for comment.

Department spokeswoman Katherine Benenati says the agency doesn’t anticipate finding additional violations because the facility is under new ownership.

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Information from: Statesman Journal, http://www.statesmanjournal.com