DEQ fines Stanfield for wastewater pollution violations

Published 9:30 pm Thursday, July 31, 2025

STANFIELD — The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality fined the city of Stanfield for exceeding pollution limits in its wastewater.

The DEQ issued the $6,825 fine for violations that occurred during the winter of 2023 and 2024. Stanfield received one of 12 penalties in June, per a DEQ announcement Thursday, July 31.

Stanfield’s violations were for risking human health and water quality through exceeding pollutant limits for ammonia, E. coli and biochemical oxygen demand in the city’s wastewater.

Ammonia concentrations in effluent in November 2024 averaged 29 mg/L, above the permissible level of 28 mg/L. The city’s wastewater biochemical oxygen demand — the decay of organic matter in the wastewater — was over the limit at five separate times in November 2023 and January 2024. In November 2023, the city’s monthly average was 27% over the limit.

The permit allows for E. coli levels up to 406 organisms per 100 milliliters, and in July of 2024, two times the concentration of land applied recycled wastewater was more than six times the permissible limit.

The city must pay the fines to the state treasury or had to have filed an appeal within 20 days of receipt of the fine. The agency offers violators the chance to complete supplemental environmental projects to offset a portion of the penalty.