PORTLAND, Ore. (Legal Newsline) — Alsco, a commercial linen laundry facility in Portland, Oregon, will pay an $819,059 civil settlement over allegations of environmental misconduct, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced recently.
Between April 1, 2004 and September 25, 2014, Alsco allegedly manipulated water-testing samples by diluting its wastewater discharge and then dumping it in Portland’s sewers.
“The environment, and especially our public water system, is something we all have to protect,” Rosenblum said. “Fortunately, (Oregon Department of Justice’s) Environmental Crimes Unit was able to move on this case—and we will make sure that this bad behavior does not continue.”
The monetary penalties will go toward restitution and fines: $319,056 will go toward sewer fines imposed by Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES), along with $140,000 in additional fines; $200,000 will go to Oregon Department of Justice’s (DOJ) consumer education account; $100,000 to the Western States Project Training Fund; and $60,000 to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
The DOJ’s Environmental Crimes and Cultural Resources Unit, along with Assistant Attorney General Patrick Flanagan handled the case.