agr.wa.gov

Battery stewardship

In 2023, the Legislature passed a law creating a product stewardship program for batteries. This new law requires battery producers to create a statewide collection system for portable batteries by ...
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Environmental penalties issued for the third quarter of 2023

The Washington Department of Ecology issued $138,800 in penalties of $1,000 or more from July 1 – Sept. 30, 2023. A detailed list of the violations and resulting penalties is in the table below.
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Property owners fined $204,000 for damaging Deschutes River shoreline

Two Thurston County property owners were fined $204,000 by the Washington Department of Ecology for unpermitted shoreline development along the Deschutes River near Yelm. Chuck and Austin Rogers ...
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Landowners fined for illegally pumping 500 million gallons from Odessa aquifer

MOSES LAKE – Landowners near Moses Lake have been fined for illegally pumping more than 500 million gallons of groundwater from the declining Odessa aquifer. In June, the Washington Department of ...
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31 years of Hanford cleanup

The signing of the Tri-Party Agreement in 1989 between Ecology, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, This year marks a half century of work to protect, preserve ...
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Damage to wetlands in Grant County results in $267,540 fine

Left photo: Alkali wetland located on King Ranch land in July 2019. (Image from Google Earth) Right photo: Alkali wetland located on King Ranch land in April 2021 with evidence of heavy equipment ...
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New steps to improve groundwater management in the Pasco Basin

A new legal designation establishes the boundaries for a future groundwater co-management agreement in the Pasco Basin. Water in eastern Washington is a scarce resource, and tracking groundwater ...
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Updates on cleanup sites in your inbox

Since we started tracking cleanup site data, we’ve listed over 14,000 contaminated or formerly contaminated sites. While over half of them have been cleaned up, that still leaves more than 6,400 ...
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Pilot project takes root with landowners along Hangman Creek

350 acres of new streamside vegetation is improving water quality The Hangman Creek watershed is changing, and we don’t mean changing from summer to fall. After five years and $9 million in state ...
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Funding now available to public agencies for drought relief

OLYMPIA – Public agencies experiencing hardships related to drought conditions may now be eligible for funds to ease drought-related effects. Beginning today, the Washington Department of Ecology is ...
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2024 Water Year in Review

The water year begins Oct. 1 and ends Sept. 30. Three months before the calendar year changes, hydrologists and other water scientists mark the start of the new water year. Starting the water year in ...
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$21,600 fine levied for unpermitted development on Palmer Lake shoreline

The Washington State Department of Ecology has issued an administrative order and $21,600 civil penalty to Greg Newmarch of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, for unauthorized shoreline construction ...