Ecosort, L.L.C.
Location: 3425 E 17th Avenue, Eugene
Activity at this Location: Ecosort, L.L.C. operates a material recovery facility at this location at which recyclable waste materials are brought on site, sorted, and transported off site to secondary materials markets.
Discharges: Ecosort, L.L.C. has Clean Water Act permit coverage for industrial stormwater discharges, which are regulated under Oregon’s statewide general industrial stormwater permit, which was issued by and is administered by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Oregon’s statewide general industrial stormwater permit allows permit holders to discharge industrial stormwater provided that they prepare and implement a stormwater pollution control plan, perform required monitoring of discharges, and report the results of this monitoring to the DEQ. Oregon’s statewide general industrial stormwater permit includes “benchmarks” for total copper, total lead, total zinc, pH, total suspended solids, and total oil & grease, and if monitoring of stormwater discharges reveals exceedance of any of these benchmarks, the permit holder must review and, if necessary, revise its stormwater pollution control plan accordingly. The full text of Oregon’s statewide general industrial stormwater permit can be viewed in a PDF file at the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Web site.
Where Discharges Go: Discharges from this facility flow toward Glenwood Slough.
Compliance Summary: The concentration of total suspended solids in stormwater discharged from Ecosort, L.L.C.‘s 17th Avenue facility has regularly exceeded the applicable industrial stormwater permit benchmark of 130 milligrams per liter since at least 1997. Oregon Clean Water Action Project sent Ecosort, L.L.C. a letter on behalf of Willamette Riverkeeper on March 26, 2007 informing Ecosort, L.L.C. that Willamette Riverkeeper would file a Clean Water Act suit against Ecosort, L.L.C. unless it addressed the concentration of total suspended solids in its stormwater discharges. Ecosort, L.L.C. responded to our letter within a week, and subsequently agreed to take the following steps aimed at reducing the concentration of total suspended solids in its stormwater discharged:
- Extend the hours of baling operations to increase daily baling capacity and thereby mintmíze cardboard/paper inventory located outside the buildings.
- Add an additional person who will have significant housekeeping duties.
- Install a concrete barrier (“Jersey’‘) extending 70-80 feet from the building to the end of the dump area where paper/cardboard products are dropped off. Booms or pads will be placed underneath the barrier to direct storm water around the barrier. This new wall will both direct storm water away from cardboard/paper inventories waiting to be baled and ensure that vehicles drive around those inventories rather than over thereby improving the quality of storm water discharge.
- Add drain inspections to monthly operations manager check list for inspection.
- Tenant [Weyerhaeuser Recycling] will clean catch basins 7 and 8 twice a year on the off-Ecosort schedule, thereby having those drains cleaned four times per year.
OCWAP will be continuing to review Ecosort, L.L.C.‘s monitoring results as soon as they become available in order to gauge the effectiveness of the steps listed above.
Last updated: Aug 28, 2008