OREGON (From news reports) -- Oregon regulators levied a $20,800 penalty Tuesday on International Paper over a March oil spill into the McKenzie River.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said a hydraulic line broke at a company facility March 13, releasing 1,000 gallons of oil into the river near Springfield. Wastewater lagoons captured some of the spill; the department said at least 95 gallons made it to the McKenzie but International Paper maintains the total was less than that.
International Paper, a Tennessee company, took more than five hours to report the spill, according to the department. The state said that delayed cleanup.
"We apologize for this incident and systems have been put in place to prevent it from happening again. We respect the agency's decision," Doug Black, manager of International Paper's Springfield Mill, said in a written statement.
"Healthy watersheds are essential to people's lives, our planet and the manufacturing of our products," Black wrote. "Our mill will continue to be a good neighbor in the Springfield community."
The Department of Environmental Quality fined International Paper $6,400 for the reporting delay and $14,400 for the spill.
