Gravel company appealing state fine for leak into river.

Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran May 23, 2007): Delta Sand & Gravel of Eugene was cited but ultimately not fined by the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency for dust emissions 2 1/2 years ago. An article on Page D1 on Tuesday reported an inaccurate outcome of the enforcement action.

A leak in a dike that allowed silty water to flow into the Willamette River north of Belt Line Road may cost Delta Sand & Gravel company a $7,257 fine.

State officials discovered the leak last summer while investigating anglers' complaints of patches of dirty water appearing in the Willamette and McKenzie rivers, said David Waltz, inspector with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

Officials toured the confluence of the two rivers, north of Eugene, where four gravel companies mine rock that ultimately goes into Lane County's roads and buildings.

The inspections were part of a crackdown on sediment discharges into the rivers.

State water quality law prohibits silty discharges because the sediment smothers the tiny organisms on the river bottom and leaves little food for fish to eat, including the salmon and steelhead that run in local waters.

"We were trying to get a river's eye view of all the sand and gravel facilities - and other potential sources," Waltz said.

The dikes of Delta and the other gravel companies are intended to keep river water and fish out of the gravel pits, and pit sediment out of the river.

At Delta, along the Willamette in north Eugene, inspectors found a hole in a dike that leaked 5 gallons of dirty water a minute into the river. That volume is equal to two flushes of a low-flow toilet each minute.

Delta operations manager Gordon Loeschen said the company is appealing out of a belief that the fine is out of proportion. The leak was "like a garden hose just barely left on," he said.

"They put it in one of the most serious categories. We we're kind of wondering how five gallons per minute would fit into that category, because that's nothing," Loeschen said.

Loeschen said the leak occurred at a place where the dike is 40 feet thick. He theorized that the leak could have been caused by an underground stream, a nutria burrow or a tree that had been buried and rotted, leaving a void through which water could flow.

The company took action in the days after the inspection, moving 400 cubic yards of fill to the area of the leak. That closed the hole, Loeschen said.

"The little tiny dribble (the inspector) found, we could not see it from above. You had to be in the river in a boat to see it," he said.

Now, Loeschen said he inspects the dikes by boat each month.

As part of the enforcement, the DEQ asked the company to hire an engineer to assess the integrity of the pond and dike system.

Last fall, an inspector also found that Delta was allowing water to run down the river bank - picking up silt - each day as employees filled water trucks they use to dampen dust on the roads running in and out of the gravel operation.

The Lane Regional Air Protection Agency requires Delta to keep those roads well watered - and it has, in the past, fined the company for failing to do so. "We got people telling us to do one thing on one hand, and then we get slapped on the other for doing the same thing," Loeschen said.

Waltz said the agency is working with the company to find a remedy and would not levy another fine.

The DEQ last fall sent warning letters to three other local gravel companies when it started searching for the sources of the silt in the river.

Wildish Sand & Gravel and Eugene Sand & Gravel quickly brought their water quality inspection plans up to date, Waltz said. "We're done as far as we're concerned."

But the agency's lawyers in Portland are reviewing a proposed enforcement action against Egge Sand & Gravel, which is located on the north side of the McKenzie River, just south of Coburg, for failing to produce and follow a storm water pollution control plan, officials said.

The situation was complicated last October when Spokane-based CPM Development Corp. bought Egge. CPM officials were not available Monday afternoon.

DEQ inspectors, in the meantime, are waiting to see if anglers see continued silty patches this summer.

"You're more likely to get them when the water level drops and more fishermen get out. The next 1 1/2 months or so will be telling as to whether or not anybody notices anything - including us," Waltz said.