EPA, ODEQ settle with JELD-WEN Millworks for Clean Air Act Violations at Klamath Falls facility

EPA News Release:

EPA, ODEQ settle with JELD-WEN Millworks for Clean Air Act Violations at Klamath Falls facility

Agreement includes $444,000 investment to improve local air quality, over $150,000 in state and federal penalties

CONTACT:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

Hanady Kader / Public Information / 206-553-0454 / kader.hanady@epa.gov

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality:

Jenny Root / Environmental LawSpecialist / 503-229-5874 / root.Jenny@deq.state.or.us

South Central Oregon Economic Development District:

Pamela Ruddock / Community Development / 541-884-5593 / pam@scoedd.org

(Seattle, Washington – Sept. 4, 2014) JELD-WEN’s Millworks Manufacturing-Thomas Lumber facility (JELD-WEN) in Klamath Falls, Oregon has settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for alleged air quality violations. Headquartered in Klamath Falls, Oregon, JELD-WEN employs approximately 20,000 people worldwide and has manufacturing and distribution locations across the United States and in more than 20 countries.

“This settlement will help improve the air people breathe in the Klamath Falls area,” said Ed Kowalski, director of EPA’s Enforcement Program in Seattle. “By meeting its financial obligations under today’s settlement, JELD-WEN is investing in the health and welfare of people who live, work and play near this facility.”

In addition to paying a $108,000 civil penalty to EPA and a $48,000 civil penalty to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, JELD-WEN will perform a major Supplemental Environmental Project by providing $444,000 to implement a local woodstove change-out program in the Klamath Falls area and the nearby town of Chiloquin to replace older, non-certified wood-burning stoves in the community with appliances that use cleaner fuels such as natural gas or new, certified wood-burning stoves. The program will be administered by the South Central Oregon Economic Development District for the next two years and will include both replacement of uncertified woodstoves and installation of fireplace inserts.

EPA alleged numerous violations of JELD-WEN’s air operating permit, primarily in 2008 through 2010, relating to opacity (an indicator of particulate matter), deviation reporting, compliance certification and monitoring. Also as part of today’s action, JELD-WEN is concurrently resolving the same violations with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

For more about how EPA’s Clean Air Act Enforcement Program helps protect the air we breathe: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/air-enforcement-policy-guidance-and-publications

For More about ODEQ’s Air Quality Program:  http://www.oregon.gov/DEQ/AQ/Pages/index.aspx

For more about the South Central Oregon Economic Development District: http://www.scoedd.org/