Oregon glass recycler agrees to install pollution control technology or shut down

Owens-Brockway, a glass recycling facility in Portland, Oregon, that is a subsidiary of Ohio-based Owens-Illinois, has reached an agreement with the state of Oregon to either shut down or install pollution control technology at the facility, according to an agreement announced by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Owens-Brockway produces glass bottles and jars from postconsumer glass and raw materials and has been operating in Portland since 1956.

The Oregon DEQ issued the facility a $1,032,354 penalty in June, citing the company for multiple, ongoing air quality violations. In that citation, the DEQ required Owens-Brockway to develop a plan to reduce emissions immediately and to submit an application to modify its permit to include pollution controls. According to that citation, the facility’s violations included exceeding its permitted amount of particulate matter emissions as well as the permitted opacity, which is the degree to which visibility is reduced by pollution.

The latest agreement from the Oregon DEQ states that Owens-Brockway must either shut down or submit a permit application to install pollution controls to the department by June 30, 2022. If the company chooses to continue operating past that date, it must install the pollution controls within 18 months of the department’s approval of its application, and during those 18 months, Owens-Brockway must demonstrate progress toward the design, procurement and installation of controls.

“If the facility decides to install pollution controls, this agreement requires they demonstrate that the controls achieve a 95 percent reduction in particulate matter emissions,” says Nina DeConcini, the Oregon DEQ’s Northwest Region Administrator.

Additionally, until controls are installed or the facility is shut down, the Oregon DEQ says Owens-Brockway will be subject to an interim opacity limit in addition to existing permit limits. Violations of this limit will result in a penalty of $18,000 per violation.

Oregon DEQ says the facility also must spend $529,404 of its penalty amount on a project that will provide air quality benefits to the surrounding Portland community.

The total settled civil penalty is $661,756 from the original $1 million. According to the Oregon DEQ, the penalty reduction is primarily due to Owens-Brockway’s commitment to install controls. The Oregon DEQ says it is in the process of reopening the facility’s permit.