DEQ fines North Powder, residents over wastewater and tire violations

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined the City of North Powder $10,923 for wastewater reporting requirement issues and fined Eduardo Bedolla and Maria Bedolla Vazquez $22,552 for waste tire storage violations, putting $33,475 in local penalties on the books in southern Union County. Those citations were part of 11 May enforcement actions statewide that DEQ said totaled $540,262, with penalties ranging from $6,400 to $260,700.

The city’s fine points to a paperwork and compliance problem rather than an immediate spill or shutdown, but it still carries practical consequences for a small municipal budget. DEQ’s wastewater permit system keeps records and public documents online for NPDES and Water Pollution Control Facility permits, and the agency uses those files to track whether cities are meeting reporting obligations tied to their discharge permits. In North Powder, that means officials now have to answer for how the reporting lapse happened and how quickly it will be corrected.

For the Bedolla and Bedolla Vazquez property, the waste tire citation carries a different kind of risk. DEQ requires a waste tire storage permit when a facility holds more than 100 waste tires, and carriers and storage sites must file annual reports with the agency. Tires stored above the threshold can draw state enforcement because they can create fire, pest, and debris problems for nearby property owners if they are not managed properly.

DEQ says civil penalties are calculated under Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 340, Division 12, and the city and residents must either pay the penalty or appeal within 20 days of receiving notice. The agency also notes that several weeks or even months can pass between the date a notice is issued and the date it is received, which can push the correction clock well past the date listed on the enforcement release.

The fines land against a backdrop of continuing wastewater spending in North Powder. In March 2023, the city approved a final construction plan for a wastewater project tied to a $390,000, 30-year loan. Another wastewater report later put a lagoon dredging project at about $850,000, with sewer bills expected to rise by $13 a month.

For residents watching how the city and property owners respond, the immediate questions are whether North Powder fixes the reporting problem internally, whether the tire violation leads to cleanup, and whether DEQ follows up if either case remains unresolved.