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By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff
writer
David Ryan, the owner of Hood River Juice
Company, was charged last week with two misdemeanor counts of
water pollution.
He is already awaiting trial for six alleged
felony acts of pollution tied to 16 separate charges. In
addition, Ryan, 46, faces penalties for two felony counts of
supplying false information to a regulatory agent.
Although his requested jury trial for the
felony case was initially scheduled to take place this fall, the
court action has been delayed until early April.
According to reports, the delay was requested
by the state to prepare for a defense challenge of scientific
evidence. Those arguments will be aired before the trial begins
to determine which facts will be presented to a jury.
Deputy District Attorney Kate Stebbins, a
specialist in environmental law, is representing the people of
Oregon in the case. She is working in cooperation with the state
Department of Environmental Quality and the county health
department.
Ryan is being represented by a legal team
that is headed by David Angeli of Portland, a specialist in
criminal defense.
Stebbins and Angeli both declined to comment
on Ryan’s new charges or the pending trial.
Craig Ball, an environmental crimes
investigator with the Oregon State Police, served the search
warrant at HRJC last Friday. The manufacturing plant is located
on 31.84 acres at 1590 Country Club Road and employs about 65
individuals.
The business has been cited four times in the
last 10 years by DEQ for unpermitted discharges of wastewater.
While the search warrant was being executed
on Oct. 23, Ryan was taken into custody for allegedly violating
his prior conditional release agreement from jail by again
breaking the law.
He was booked into the Northern Oregon
Regional Correctional Facilities in The Dalles. Ryan was then
released on his own recognizance after Judge Paul Crowley
determined that he was not a flight risk.
Ryan was arrested in December 2008 following
a formal investigation by DEQ that began in February of that
year.
The state agency had received an anonymous
report that apple pulp had been discharged into a ditch near
HRJC that was used to carry irrigation water downstream to
farmers.
In an April 28, 2008, letter to Ryan, DEQ
Enforcement Officer Duane Smith outlined these findings of the
investigation:
n Wastewater had contaminated storm water with
nutrients and spurred growth of algal colonies that ranged from
gray to greenish-gray, red and orange. An inspector observed the
algae as far away as a designated wetland that drained into
Ferguson Creek, a tributary of Indian Creek.
n Wastewater illegally created aesthetic
conditions that were offensive to the human senses of sight,
taste, smell or touch.
n HRJC provided DEQ with incomplete annual
status reports outlining its management of wastewater.
n HRJC failed to abide by the terms of a
May 24, 2007,
pre-enforcement notice. Specifically, the company did not
provide accurate reports indicating the volume of daily
processed sludges and solids — as well as where waste was
disposed of.
n The facility appeared to be managing and
disposing of 10,214-19,070 gallons of wastewater per week. But
HRJC plans submitted to DEQ stated that 3,000-5,000 gallons
would be processed each week.
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