Ecology fines B&G Farms for alleged water violation

ROYAL CITY- The state Department of Ecology announced Thursday that B&G Farms in Royal City will have to pay a $20,000 fine for allegedly violating Washington's water quality laws.

According to Ecology, a heavy storm last July sent a large amount of soil from Smyrna Bench into lower Crab Creek covering the road, smothering fish habitat and polluting the creek with mud.

Ecology investigators claim measures by B&G Farms to prevent erosion on Smyrna Bench were inadequate, even though owner Mike Brown signed a settlement in 2004 requiring the use of best management practices to avoid erosion.

Smyrna Bench is a flat area between two steep hills on the north side of the Saddle Mountains, north of Royal City.

According to Ecology communications manager Brook Beeler, B&G Farms has 30 days to pay the fine or to appeal Ecology's ruling.

Prior erosion problems on the property led to the 2004 settlement between Brown and the state Department of Agriculture, according to Ecology. The settlement directed B&G Farms to establish a farm plan to maintain or improve the condition of the soil in order to minimize erosion.

Ecology also fined the Royal City farm operation in 2008, requiring them to pay a penalty of $9,000. The penalty was handed out in order to compel B&G Farms to improve soil condition after another erosion event occurred at the same place.

According to Ecology, its inspectors claim in 2012 that B&G farming methods had not changed since the agency's previous enforcement action.

Beeler said the B&G farm plan included recommendations such as planting cover crops which would allow roots to grow and hold the soil back during heavy rain storms.

"Our investigations indicate that they weren't necessarily following the most important parts of that plan that would have prevented that erosion," said Beeler on Thursday.

Ecology has also ordered B&G Farms to develop an entirely new farm plan to address erosion issues, which needs to be submitted by March 30.

Beeler said she hopes the new farm plan includes more aggressive measures than the previous plan.

"This is not the first time that a storm has caused this to happen," she said. "There needs to be some real aggressive measures to protect that ground up there and to protect Crab Creek."

According to a statement issued by B&G Farms Thursday, the storm was a lot more catastrophic than the Ecology press release let on.

Approximately 2.5 inches of rain and hail fell on the area within a 20-minute period, according to the statement.

"It destroyed fields and crops and flooded everything in its path," read the statement.

B&G representatives said they don't think the soil going down the hill was the sole cause of smothering fish and polluting the creek with mud.

B&G also maintains that any cover crop planted after their pea crop had been harvested in June would not have had enough time to grow.

And since the storm caused the area to receive more than two inches of massive rain fall within 20 minutes during the storm, cover crop would not have helped, said B&G representatives.

"No amount of cover crop could have held the amount of water that was raging off of the Saddle Mountain above our farm," read the B&G statement.

Patrick Acres, attorney for B&G Farms also commented on Ecology's ruling.

"Ecology is putting the horse before the cart," he said. "There has been no fine levied or hearing on this issue."He also said it is a misstatement to say that Brown didn't take the proper measures to avoid erosion.