Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield today announced that Stella-Jones Corporation, a wood products manufacturer operating in Sheridan, Oregon, has pleaded guilty to 10 misdemeanor counts of Unlawful Water Pollution in the Second Degree for violations of its state-issued water quality permit.
The company admitted to repeatedly and with criminal negligence exceeding legal limits for pentachlorophenol, a toxic chemical used in treating wood products, in discharges from its facility between December 2022 and March 2023. This resolves a larger set of charges filed by the Oregon Department of Justice, which documented a pattern of permit violations across multiple months.
“Oregonians expect businesses to follow the law and protect our environment,” said Attorney General Dan Rayfield. “When companies cut corners and pollute our rivers and streams, it harms communities, natural resources, and public trust. This makes it clear that no one gets a free pass when it comes to safeguarding Oregon’s water.”
Stella-Jones will pay a $250,000 fine, $50,000 of which will be suspended if it avoids permit violations involving pentachlorophenol during the three years of probation. Stella-Jones will also be required to implement corrective actions to bring its facility operations into compliance with state environmental standards and clean up potentially impacted areas in and around the facility.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Jordan Bailey with ODOJ, with assistance from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon State Police.
