Parker Hannifin Corporation, formerly Helac Corporation, has agreed to pay nearly $64,000 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for numerous stormwater discharge violations.
Back in January 2023, inspectors found several violations of the company’s pollutant discharge elimination system at its Enumclaw location back in January 2023, the EPA said in a press release.
The violations found included a broken stormwater pipe, but also that the company failed to maintain a Stormwater Pollution Control Plan, sample and monitor its stormwater discharges, maintain discharge controls, and conduct routine inspections of the discharges it was aware of. Parker Hannifin Vice President Chris Farage said the necessary repairs and improvements to inspections and monitoring policies have been resolved.
As the last EPA inspection was performed in 2017, the agency does not have “definitive evidence” for when the discharge issues began, Public Affairs Specialist Suzanne Skadowski said in an email interview, but some evidence suggests these issues have been happening for years.
For example, the 2023 inspection report noted that Parker Hannifin recorded “no discharge” in their quarterly Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMR) between 2020 and January 2023, even though the inspector saw water discharging from a pipe. The inspector noted a DMR was submitted in February 2023, after the inspection.
Additionally, facility staff could not locate any monthly site inspection reports dating back to at least February 2018.
The site report only noted visible violations; however, Skadowski said later discharge sampling showed the temperature and pH levels of the discharge “exceeded permit limits on multiple occasions and the permit exceedances varies in terms of magnitude.”
The EPA did not mention any excess of other chemicals or pollutants in the discharge.
According to the agency, typical pollutants discharged by companies like Parker Hannifin — a Fortune 500 company and a manufacturer of motion and control tech for climate everything from hydraulics and pneumatics to aerospace systems — include diesel, copper, lead, and zinc, plus oil and other chemicals that can affect the acidity, basicity, and turbitity of a body of water.
While Parker Hannifin meets the various chemical discharge requirements from their permit, those pollutants could exacerbate the already poor quality of the Newaukum Creek, though it’s not clear if that’s the case.
“The stormwater discharge associated with EPA’s allegations did not impact the health or safety of team members, the surrounding community, or the environment,” Farage said.
According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, the creek failed to meet several critical water quality benchmarks During a 2017-2018 water quality test. At that time, the DOE saw all five testing sites recorded that the river was too warm and did not meet minimum criteria for dissolved oxygen. The report also noted fecal coliform (bacteria that lives in feces) exceeded minimal levels at three three sites, and levels of E. coli exceeded standards at another.
Though Parker Hannifin agreed to pay the civil penalty, doing so does not mean the company “admits or denies the specific alleged violations” outlined in the settlement.
