SALEM — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in October fined two out-of-state companies for asbestos removal violations on a pipeline running across Northeastern Oregon.

The DEQ issued a $39,853 penalty against Ohio-based Marathon Pipe Line LLC for five violations and issued a $23,600 penalty against Industrial Piping & Welding LLC, of Utah, for three violations.

According to the DEQ, the companies used contractors the DEQ had not licensed for the removal of friable asbestos from 2020 through 2024 during renovations on Marathon’s pipeline that transports petroleum products through Oregon from approximately Ontario to Pendleton. The violations took place in locations near Adams, Helix, Baker City, Huntington, North Powder and Ontario.

Friable asbestos is easily crushed or reduced to powder when dry, meaning it can release asbestos into the air and requires particularly careful handling. Becka Puskas with the department’s Office of Compliance and Enforcement in the notices told the companies their actions “had the potential to release asbestos fibers into the air and expose workers and the public to asbestos,” for which there is no known safe quantity. This constitutes a health and human safety risk.

In addition, DEQ reported Marathon failed to provide the department with notification on four of the projects and submitted inaccurate notifications about the work in Adams. And Industrial Piping failed to notify the DEQ of two of projects and submitted inaccurate information about a third.

The DEQ announced the fines Nov. 25 as part of its monthly press release roundup. The penalties were among 14 the environmental regulator issued in October totaling $266,787.

Oregon law does not require any notifications to communities where violations occurred. According to DEQ public affairs specialist Antony Vorobyov, the way notification occurs is through the organization’s monthly “enforcement roundups” that are sent to news media.

Despite the enforcement notice claiming a potential risk to the public, there is no defined or consistent process through which the public would be made aware of the risk in a timely manner given DEQ does not announce penalty notifications until the following month.

Appealing the penalty

Vorobyov said Marathon’s failure to notify the DEQ about four of the five projects from 2020 to 2024 contributed to it taking so long to issue penalties.

“Both nonfriable and friable asbestos abatement projects require a notification and fee to be submitted to DEQ prior to beginning any work,” he said. “Considering that Marathon Pipe Line was conducting friable asbestos abatement projects, they were required to provide timely and accurate notifications to DEQ in order for us to plan inspections and ensure that projects were performed by licensed contractors and certified workers.”

But that didn’t happen, even after a warning, according to the DEQ, which led to the enforcement action. Vorobyov said Marathon has since stopped its work and has brought in a DEQ-licensed asbestos abatement contractor, as the department ordered it to do. The company will have to provide the DEQ with a list of its active projects, which includes their precise locations, the amount of asbestos containing material to be removed and the name of the contractor removing it.

Recipients of DEQ civil penalties must either pay the fines to the state treasury or file an appeal within 20 days of receiving notice of the penalty — that was Oct. 4 for Industrial Piping and Oct. 27 for Marathon. The companies appealed, which is normal, and entered into the settlement process with the DEQ, Vorobyov said.

Kaleigh Warnement, communications business partner with Marathon, said in a statement the contractors hired completed asbestos abatement training in compliance with either the Environmental Protection Agency’s Asbestos Model Accreditation Plan or federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations for pipeline coating removal. However, Oregon does require the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to certify contractors.

“The safety of our people and the public is our top priority,” Warnement said. “We have been in discussions with the Oregon DEQ through an appeal process, and do not have additional specifics to provide at this time.”

The companies may be able to fund a supplemental environmental project that benefits human health or the environment to offset up to 80% of the penalties.