Chilkoot Lumber Company – EPA TSCA Fines Negotiation

Ed Lapeyri bought the Chilkoot Lumber Company Mill after a litany of environmental issues caused by previous owners plagued the property.  In 2008 Ed hired Chilkat Environmental to cleanup the closed millsite and community powerplant.  After the successful cleanup of the entire mill including 28 PCB devices and associated dielectric oil the EPA levied fines of $208,000 for paperwork violations associated with improper storage of PCB containing electrical equipment prior to cleanup.  These violations did not relate to a pollution event and were misguided because Ed had just spent 1.8 million dollars cleaning other people’s messes.  Chilkat joined Ed in direct negotiations at EPA headquarters and was able to get the fine reduced to $34,000.  Ed died but is remembered as the individual that personally funded cleanup of the largest abandoned millsite in southeast Alaska.