Farwest Steel Corporation
Location: 2001 Henderson Avenue, Eugene
Activity at this Location: Farwest Steel Corporation conducts shaping and cutting of steel at this location.
Permitted Discharges: Farwest Steel Corporation 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).
Farwest Steel Corporation also has coverage under Oregon’s statewide general wash water permit for discharges associated with washing of vehicles.
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.
Oregon’s statewide general wash water permit allows permit holders to discharge water resulting from vehicle, equipment, building, and pavement washing provided that they perform required monitoring of discharges, and report the results of this monitoring to the DEQ. Oregon’s statewide general wash water permit includes limits on the concentration of oil & grease, copper, lead, zinc, pH, and total suspended solids in discharges. The full text of Oregon’s statewide general wash water permit can be viewed in a PDF file at the Oregon Department of Envrionmental Quality (DEQ) Web site.
Where Discharges Go: It appears that discharges from this facility flow toward Glenwood Slough. (Glenwood Slough is located in the Upper Willamette Sub-basin of the Willamette Basin.)
Compliance History: OCWAP initiated an enforcement action against Farwest Steel Corporation on behalf of Sierra Club and and Northwest Environmental Defense Center in April of 2004 after documenting multiple Clean Water Act violations by Farwest, including Farwest’s failure to report disharge monitoring results to the DEQ and Farwest’s failure to prepare and implement a legally-adequate stormwater pollution control plan. OCWAP’s enforcement action resulted in Clean Water Act compliance by Farwest Steel, along with Farwest Steel providing $5,000 to Willamette Riverkeeper for its Willamette River Water Quality Monitoring and Enforcement Project.
Total suspended solids (TSS) levels in Farwest’s wash water discharges exceeded the permit limit of 60 milligrams per liter (mg/l) on at least three occasions between July of 2006 and June of 2009 (the most recent time period for which monitoring results are available to OCWAP from DEQ). Two of these permit violations were attributed by Farwest’s consultant (Bergeson-Boese & Associates, Inc.) to low flow at the time of sampling and and agitation of the sample.
Web Site: www.farweststeel.com
Last updated: Aug 10, 2009