State environmental regulators have fined Oregon Cherry Growers $9,372 for failing to monitor wastewater discharges at its Salem facility during the 2017-18 monitoring year.
It’s the second year in a row the company has failed to do so, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said in its penalty order.
Oregon Cherry Growers operates a 135,000-square-foot processing plant factory at 1502 Woodrow St. NE. It produces about 24 million pounds of maraschino cherries each year.
The company has a permit to discharge wastewater to the Willamette River. It is required to test its wastewater for iron, lead and mercury, and for biochemical oxygen demand, a measure of organic pollution.
The company did not perform any monitoring, despite an Aug. 31, 2017 warning from DEQ, the order states.
Oregon Cherry Growers was also cited in 2015, for failing to test its wastewater during the 2014-15 monitoring year.
The company did not respond to a request for an interview.
Oregon Cherry Growers has operated in Salem since 1932. Last year, it was sold to California-based Pacific Coast Producers, a private-label packer of canned fruits and tomatoes.
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