EPA issues ultimatum on toxic waste
If ex-owner doesn't clean up site, agency will - and cost may triple
Published: November 03. 2009 4:00AM PST
The federal government issued an ultimatum Monday to the former Powell Butte rancher charged with dumping hazardous waste on his property: Clean up the ranch or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will — and it could cost triple.
Dennis Beetham, who owns the formaldehyde manufacturing company D.B. Western Inc., could have the hazardous waste cleaned up by the end of December, if he follows an EPA timeline, and no new waste is discovered.
If Beetham declines to voluntarily clean the site, the EPA will step in and finish the work but could charge triple the cost, plus other penalties.
“We're letting them clean it up with our oversight,” said Michael Boykin, EPA's project manager for the site. “Every day they are out there cleaning up, I will be out there overseeing it.
“They will not be on site without my presence ... We gave them the work that needs to be done, exactly what needs to be done, and they either choose to do it or if we do it, they will pay our cost for the work we do.”
Beetham, who also faces federal and state criminal charges, declined to comment.
Zachary Wright, a lawyer who represents Beetham and his company, said his firm has not yet received a complete copy of the action memo from the EPA.
“Until we have had a chance to review all the terms and orders and attachments, we can't tell you whether D.B. Western is in a position to follow the order,” Wright said. “As you know, D.B. Western in the past has taken on voluntary cleanup, and they may be able to do so in the future. But until we see the action memo and attachments, that's the most I can say at this time.”
In 2007, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued Beetham and D.B. Western several notices for environmental offenses, such as illegal disposal of hazardous wastes, placing wastes where they were likely to enter state waters and operating a hazardous waste disposal site without a permit.
Officials started to remove hazardous waste from the site, and the more they investigated, the more they found.
So far, nearly 265 tons of hazardous waste, 241 tons of industrial waste and 3,000 tons of solid waste have been removed from the property, according to information from the EPA.
Boykin, of the EPA, said he estimates the cleanup to take two weeks. “(D.B. Western) need(s) to investigate a lot of areas,” he said. “In the main cinder pit, where previous work has been done, in the workshop area and the horse barn area, those are the three main areas we'll ask them to investigate, which means dig. ... I think it will take one to two weeks. If we find something big and nasty, all bets are off, and it could be longer.”
At one point, the cleanup was a team effort between Beetham and the DEQ. But officials from DEQ said Beetham, who lives in North Bend, stopped complying with DEQ's requests for additional cleanup and investigation. Beetham eventually filed a breach of contract lawsuit.
In August, Beetham pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges alleging he dumped formaldehyde and nitric acid, both hazardous materials, into a cinder cone on his former ranch, on Northwest McDaniel Road, between June 2005 and August 2007. He also faces charges for allegedly storing the hazardous materials on the ranch. The four federal charges all carry maximum prison terms of five years.
In Crook County Circuit Court, he has been charged with two counts of first-degree unlawful air pollution, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
He also faces 10 misdemeanor charges for unlawfully creating air pollution, disposal of solid waste without a permit, unlawfully creating water pollution and failure to complete a cleanup of a waste site. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $6,250 fine.
Lita Kilpatrick, whose property is near Beetham's former ranch, is ready for the cleanup to be finished. “We're putting this place on the market,” she said, referring to her home. “And I don't want the Beetham situation to curtail the kind of price we get,” she said. “I hope it's being taken care of. That's my main concern that it's being taken care of.”
Lauren Dake can be reached at 541-419-8074 or at ldake@bendbulletin.com.
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