Oregon DEQ issues penalty to Insurance Auto Auctions

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued a $4,928 penalty to Insurance Auto Auctions, Inc. for violating the water quality permit for their facility located at 4415 NE 158th Ave. in Portland, Oregon.

DEQ issued the penalty because Insurance Auto Auctions failed to collect all of the grab samples required during the 2007/2008 monitoring year to ensure that their storm water discharges met the water quality benchmarks of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 1200-COLS general permit.

A grab sample is a single sample collected at a particular time and place which represents the composition of the storm water runoff from the facility into the Columbia River. Grab sample monitoring may reveal the presence of harmful levels of industrial pollutants that could enter public streams and rivers.

Appeal procedures allow Insurance Auto Auctions 20 days to appeal or pay the penalty.