Simplot is fined by DEQ
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, April 29th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
SALEM – The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued 12 penalties in March totaling fines of more than $3 million for various environmental violations. One of those fines went to J.R. Simplot Company LLC for violations in its Hermiston and Ontario facilities.
The fine of $31,800 is for wastewater disposal permit violations in Hermiston and Ontario and for a violation of its air containment discharge permit in Ontario. DEQ says that violations of the Hermiston permit include exceeding nitrogen limits for Simplot’s wastewater land application program and failing to conduct required wastewater monitoring. The Ontario violations include discharging effluent into waters of the state that contained pollutants in excess of the permit’s limits.
“Your Hermiston wastewater permit limits nitrogen application because of nitrogen related groundwater contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater Management Area,” the letter to Simplot states. “Your exceedance of the pollutant limits at the Ontario facility created a risk of harm to aquatic life and water quality.”
