Prineville property owner fined more than $10,000 for unpermitted waste tire storage site
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ)— A Prineville property owner has been fined more than $10,000 after state environmental regulators said he continued operating an unpermitted waste tire storage site despite repeated warnings from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
As part of a statewide enforcement report released this month, DEQ assessed a $10,709 civil penalty against Kenneth Ferguson for storing hundreds of waste tires on his property at 6260 SE Thomas Road without the required permit.
According to DEQ records, Ferguson has stored more than 100 waste tires at the property since at least July 2023. State law requires operators of waste tire storage sites to obtain permits and comply with safety requirements intended to protect public health and the environment.
DEQ officials said the violation remained unresolved despite a Warning Letter with Opportunity to Correct issued in July 2023 and a subsequent pre-enforcement notice sent in June 2024.
"Storing in excess of 100 waste tires without complying with the protections required by a waste tire storage permit poses a risk to human health and the environment, including the risk of fire," DEQ wrote in its penalty assessment.
The agency said several hundred waste tires remain on the property.
In addition to the financial penalty, DEQ has ordered Ferguson to develop a cleanup plan within 30 days after the order becomes final. The plan must outline how the tires will be removed and legally disposed of. Once approved by DEQ, the cleanup plan must be implemented and documented with photographs and disposal receipts.
Of the total penalty, $2,709 represents what DEQ described as the economic benefit gained by avoiding proper disposal costs. The agency said it may reconsider that portion of the penalty if the required cleanup is completed.
DEQ classified the violation as a Class I offense and said the penalty amount was increased because the violation has continued for an extended period and remained uncorrected after multiple notices from regulators.
The Prineville case was one of 13 environmental enforcement actions announced by DEQ for April. Altogether, the agency assessed more than $3.4 million in penalties statewide for violations involving air quality, water quality and waste management regulations.
Recipients of DEQ penalties have 20 days to either pay the fine or appeal the action. The agency also allows some violators to offset a portion of penalties through approved Supplemental Environmental Projects that provide environmental benefits to Oregon communities.
DEQ said it works with thousands of businesses and property owners each year through education, technical assistance, warnings and enforcement actions aimed at preventing harm to Oregon's air, land and water resources.
DEQ issued civil penalties to the following entities:
- Rusty B. Taylor, Garibaldi, $19,382, stormwater
- Christine and Alexander Tsarnas, Wolf Creek, $14,053, solid waste
- City of Wilsonville, Wilsonville, $10,400, wastewater
- Confederal Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation – Imtwaha Fish Hatchery, Milton-Freewater, $5,200, wastewater
- Kenneth Ferguson, Prineville, $10,709, solid waste
- NW Cascade Painting, LLC, Portland, $40,268, asbestos
- Oak Lodge Wastewater Treatment Plant, Milwaukie, $7,200, wastewater
- Pacific Bio Products – Warrenton, LLC, Warrenton, $104,800, wastewater
- Pacific Cast Technologies, Albany, $50,780, hazardous waste
- Pacific Seafood – Brookings, LLC, Brookings, $114,000, wastewater
- Pacific Seafood – Charleston, LLC, Charleston, $2,985,262, wastewater
- PMP Properties, Portland, $12,000, stormwater
- PNW Metal Recycling, Inc., doing business as Rivergate Scrap Metals, Portland, $51,000, air quality
