Oregon’s largest glass container recycler has agreed to control emissions at its Northeast Portland plant or else shut down.
An agreement with the state Department of Environmental Quality gives Owens-Brockway, a subsidiary of glass manufacturing giant O-I Glass Inc., until the end of 2023 to install pollution controls. If it doesn’t make progress, though, it must shut down in June.
The company had faced a $1 million fine over emissions at the facility, located just west of Interstate 205 off Northeast Columbia Boulevard. The agreement brings the financial penalty down to $662,000, of which $529,000 must be spent on a DEQ-approved air quality project near its facility.
The recycling plant also will face closer scrutiny until the pollution controls are installed or the facility shuts down. The state said it would fine the company $18,000 for exceeding allowed air pollution limits under the agreement.
A spokesperson for O-I Glass acknowledged the agreement but declined to comment further. He did not respond to questions about whether the company would pursue the new pollution controls.
Owens-Brockway had been fined nine times by the state for air quality violations since 2004. The company has exceeded opacity limits — the degree to which visibility is reduced by pollution — at two glass melting furnaces at least 50 times since 2009, according to the state. Opacity is an indicator of particulate matter being released into the air, which when emitted can cause serious health problems, according to an enforcement notice from the state.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency also fined Owens-Brockway $39,000 for failing to submit annual reports about toxic chemicals at its Portland facility.
Oregon depends heavily on Owens-Brockway for its curbside recycling programs. It’s the only glass recycling facility of its size in Oregon, and a subsidiary is the only glass processor in Oregon capable of taking mixed color glass collected in residential recycling bins.
-- Elliot Njus
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