The company that runs Marion County’s garbage incinerator was fined $22,800 for multiple emissions violations, the state Department of Environmental Quality said.
The company did not appeal the citation by a July 19 deadline and now has until Sept. 5 to pay the fine, said Dylan Darling, Department of Environmental Quality spokesman.
The penalty, which the Department of Environmental Quality issued to the New Jersey-based Reworld Marion Inc. on June 27, is a civil penalty for multiple violations of its emissions limits for the facility at 4850 Brooklake Road N.E. in Brooks, a state notice sent to the company showed. The violations date back to 2022.
The agency announced the penalty last week.
The incinerator burns a large portion of garbage from Marion County homes and businesses, generating electricity.
Reached by phone Monday, Lloyd Naideck, the company’s director of government relations, said he believed Reworld intended to pay the fine but said the issue was outside his department and he could not officially comment on the company’s plans. Reworld Marion representatives did not respond to an inquiry from Salem Reporter through the company’s website, and an email listed for a company media contact was no longer active.
As part of the June citation, the state ordered the company to submit an operations and maintenance plan to the Department of Environmental Quality, to demonstrate how it will prevent future violations of its emissions restrictions.
Darling said the company submitted a plan on July 26.
The notice showed the garbage incinerator exceeded the permitted carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide or particulate matter emissions various times between 2022 and 2024. Sulfur dioxide is a pollutant which can cause acid rain.
“Particulate matter, when emitted in excess, can contribute to respiratory distress in individuals. Once inhaled, particulate matter can affect the heart and lungs, causing serious health problems such as decreased lung function, irregular heartbeat and chronic bronchitis,” the state’s notice said. “Additionally, increased particulate matter from your operation may increase filterable hazardous air pollutants and other air toxic emissions.”
The incinerator has operated in Marion County since 1987. The company processes around 90% of the county’s garbage.
The Marion County Board of Commissioners renewed a contract with Reworld Marion for six months in June. The contract renewal passed with votes from Marion County Commissioners Colm Willis and Danielle Bethell. Commissioner Kevin Cameron was absent.
The extended contract nearly doubled the amount the county pays Reworld for each ton of garbage it handles. Marion County will now pay $72 per ton of garbage, up from $39 previously.
That increase will cost the county about $1.3 million through the end of the year.
In 2023, the state legislature passed a bill introduced by Salem Sen. Deb Patterson, which requires Reworld Marion’s trash burner facility to provide emissions data to the public. The law also requires the company to submit a plan to the state detailing how it will monitor levels of 15 compounds over a year, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead and mercury.
State records showed the company was issued another fine in January 2022, when it did business in Oregon as Covanta Marion, Inc. The company was fined $15,722 for exceeding emissions limits in 2020 and 2021, a state notice issued to the company showed.
CORRECTION: Reworld has until Sept. 5 to pay a fine assessed against it for a DEQ violation. The original story and headline incorrectly said that the company had missed a July 19 deadline to pay. The story should have reported that the company did not meet a July 19 deadline to appeal to the agency. Salem Reporter apologizes for the error.
Contact reporter Joe Siess: [email protected] or 503-335-7790.
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Joe Siess is a reporter for Salem Reporter. Joe joined Salem Reporter in 2024 and primarily covers city and county government but loves surprises. Joe previously reported for the Redmond Spokesman, the Bulletin in Bend, Klamath Falls Herald and News and the Malheur Enterprise. He was born in Independence, MO, where the Oregon Trail officially starts, and grew up in the Kansas City area.
