CLATSKANIE, The state has fined the City of Clatskanie $10,400 for sending too much sewage solids and oxygen-consuming waste into the Clatskanie River from its aging treatment plant, and fined the contractor building the plant’s $33 million replacement another $13,200 for letting muddy runoff from the construction site reach the same river.
The two penalties were among nine the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality announced Oct. 26 for September. They are the only two in Columbia County. Together they put the state’s enforcement arm on both ends of a project the city has described as the fix for exactly the kind of violations it is now being fined for.
What the City Did
The city’s penalty notice, dated Sept. 3, says the plant at 100 N.W. Fourth St. exceeded its permit limits five times in February and March 2024. On Feb. 29, 2024, the plant discharged 344.9 pounds a day of biochemical oxygen demand, 37 percent over the daily limit, and 565.6 pounds a day of total suspended solids, 126 percent over. The solids limit was exceeded again the week of March 1 by 198 percent, and the monthly average for February ran 14 percent high.
DEQ counted the exceedances as two violations for oxygen demand and three for solids, and assessed $5,200 for each group. The notice says the plant’s discharge permit expired on June 30, 2017, and has been administratively extended since because the city applied for renewal on time.
City Manager N.J. Johnson told the council on Oct. 7 that the city had received a $30,000 penalty from DEQ, $20,000 tied to the plant construction permit and $10,000 for effluent violations, and that after an appeal DEQ acknowledged the construction portion “was intended for the contractor,” according to the meeting minutes. The minutes say the city “is awaiting a response to its appeal of the remaining $10,000 penalty.” The notice DEQ posted lists the city’s penalty at $10,400. Recipients have 20 days from receiving a notice to pay or request a hearing.
What the Contractor Did
The second notice, dated Sept. 30, went to Tapani Inc., which holds the stormwater permit for the “Clatskanie Waste Water Treatment Plant Improvements project” at the same address. DEQ inspectors visited the site on Feb. 9, 2026, and found an access road and equipment staging area built outside the permitted area, a stockpile of cleared vegetation and dirt partly sitting in an unnamed channel that drains to the Clatskanie River, erosion controls missing or poorly maintained, a concrete washout area within 50 feet of a wetland, and turbid stormwater pooled near the stockpile.
DEQ assessed $2,400 for working without a permit on the expanded area, $2,400 for failing to follow the erosion control plan, and $8,400 for polluting a water of the state. The notice says Tapani applied for permit coverage on the extra area on April 24 and brought the rest of the site into compliance, and that DEQ “considered these efforts when determining the amount of civil penalty.” The river runs about 250 feet west of the site.
The Plant Behind the Fines
Clatskanie’s treatment plant was built in 1977 and “is operating beyond its intended design capacity and has experienced ongoing structural and mechanical failures,” the Columbia County Board of Commissioners wrote in February letters backing the city’s request for $5 million in federal funding. The letters put the total cost of the replacement at more than $33 million, with about $22 million already financed, including American Rescue Plan Act and Community Development Block Grant money. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici submitted the request for fiscal 2027 in March.
The cost is already reaching ratepayers. At the Oct. 7 council meeting, Phillip Rissel of River’s Edge RV Resort asked the council for seasonal relief from a proposed surcharge tied to the plant loan, citing the resort’s swings in occupancy, according to the minutes. When a resident asked later in the meeting whether the council would address it, Mayor Robert Brajcich said the city was working with its attorney to review the matter. The city’s finance manager reported about $337,000 in September payments on the plant project.
Public Works Director Mitch Warren told the council the new plant’s concrete work, basin coatings, and electrical installation were under way, while crews replaced 25 feet of blower piping at the old plant to keep it running.
What Is Next
The council meets Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. The agenda does not list the DEQ penalties as an item, though the city manager’s report typically covers the plant. The council is also set to vote on a $3,000-a-year agreement with the City of Scappoose for economic development services and to pick a new city logo, and will go into executive session to evaluate the city manager.
DEQ’s notices give both the city and the contractor the option of funding a “supplemental environmental project” in place of part of a penalty.