Report: Smith frozen food plant charged with polluting creek

The frozen food plant owned by U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith's (R-Pendleton) family let wastewater overflow into a nearby creek, the Willamette Week reported Monday afternoon.

The article says that Smith Frozen Foods, located in Weston, had an overflow in their wastewater discharge on July 29, resulting in a white, milky discharge being released into the Pine Creek. It was the second time in a year that Smith Frozen Foods had let waste overflow into the creek, a violation of state environmental regulation.

According to the Willamette Week, the violation is considered a serious Class 1 violation by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, meaning it can "harm aquatic life, contaminate drinking waters, and impair recreational, commercial and agricultural uses of water."

Read the article here: http://wweek.com/wwire/?p=12791