Ferndale's Chemco fined by Northwest Clean Air Agency

SAM TAYLOR - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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FERNDALE - A local wood treatment company has been fined $439,387 by the Northwest Clean Air Agency for not abiding by strict federal pollution standards.

The fine has been conditionally reduced to $235,864, according to agency documents.

CHEMCO Inc., based in Ferndale, "grossly underestimated" its emissions and improperly filed a permit application with incorrect information, said NWCAA Director Mark Asmundson.

Asmundson said that the error occurred due to improper work by an outside consulting engineering firm that CHEMCO hired to file its federal permit.

CHEMCO President John Gibb said Friday, Oct. 9, that, rather than point fingers, he wanted to note that "the most important thing" from the company's perspective is that there was no actual emissions increase; the company just operated under an incorrect permit for a period of time.

"We obviously regret that, and we're obviously going to pay for that," Gibb said. "I think we're pleased that there wasn't a failing in our controls, there wasn't a failing in our actual emissions or our control of our emissions."

The issue occurred at CHEMCO's facility between Blaine and Ferndale. The company specializes in treating wood to harden it, as well as making other products fire resistant, according to the company's Web site.

CHEMCO also has a facility in Skagit County.

Most of the penalty the company received was due to economic benefit from not having followed the correct federal standards, Asmundson said. The error wasn't realized until an agency inspector visited the company's facility.

About 90 percent of the fine was due to not having paid annual renewal fees, not having reported more information required under the stricter standards and not being in the required program. The smaller amount was punitive, Asmundson said, because the company was "extremely cooperative."

"It was a mistake made by somebody they hired," he said.

That mistake led to the company's methanol emissions on the permit being off by a factor of four digits, he added.

"They're good guys, a mistake was made," Asmundson said, adding that the agency is currently working with CHEMCO to develop a proper permit.