Wood treatment plant had clean operating record

The Nevada Wood Preserving Corp. plant, which caught fire Tuesday night, was fined once in 1994 for hazardous waste violations but otherwise seems to have run a clean operation.

The wood preserving facility, on more than 100 acres in Silver Springs, is monitored by Lyon County's Fire and Community Development departments and the state's bureaus of water pollution control and hazardous waste.

Inspectors from the Bureau of Waste Management inspected the site Monday, the day before the fire.

The company's permit with the Bureau of Water Pollution Control was renewed Dec. 12, 2001, the fire department inspected the facility in March of 2001 and the annual building department inspection is due next month.

Val King, enforcement branch supervisor for the Bureau of Water Pollution Control, was on site Wednesday and said, "It looks like everything's contained and they're getting a handle on the disposal."

David Emme, chief of the Bureau of Waste Management, said inspectors at the site Wednesday found there were no chemicals released to the soil or water.

"The foam and water applied to the fire was contained on the concrete pad and on the secondary containment," Emme said. "There weren't any contaminants released."

Secondary containment consists of a concrete pad with concrete curbing around it so waste water doesn't run off, Emme said. The water drains into a sump, and from there it goes into a system where it is treated.

A contractor was on site Wednesday cleaning up the hazardous waste and some of the damage resulting from the fire, he said.

Monday's inspectors noted only minor violations in the plant's hazardous waste operation.

Emme said the plant was fined $5,000 in 1994 for about 40 hazardous waste violations but has not been fined or issued any notices of violation since then.

The 1994 violations included storing waste longer than regulations allow, not inspecting tanks and containers, labeling violations and failure to maintain manifest records, he said.

"They've straightened things out since then," he said. "They had corrected all of this. It's been a much better operated facility since then."

Emme said the wood preserving facility uses hazardous toxic chemicals to treat wood and in the process generates wastes containing some of those chemicals.

"Our job is to see that they properly contain those wastes so they aren't released to the environment," he said. "To see the wastes are shipped to facilities that can properly contain and treat those chemicals."

Chemicals used in the process include but are not limited to copper, chromium, arsenic, boron and pentachlorophenol.

Lyon County Community Development Director John Evasovic said the county special use permit was first issued Dec. 9, 1986, and that Tuesday's fire is the first incident at the plant. It opened as Selma Wood Treating and now operates under parent company Pacific Wood Preserving Corp. of Bakersfield, Calif.

The special use permit requires the company meet certain conditions, including: meeting all Nevada Department of Environmental Protection and state fire marshal regulations; complete a waste disposal plan, construct a fence, install security lighting, install an in-house fire control system, obtain a "will-serve" letter from the local water company, hold classes on handling chemicals, possess a Lyon County business license and comply with county building codes,

The plant including an office building, mobile home, shops and storage area sits on 21 parcels, more than 100 acres, just southeast of Highway 95A in Silver Springs.