The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued its largest penalty of the year on Friday, fining railcar and barge manufacturer Gunderson $254,362 for multiple offenses, some of which were repeat offenses.

Among the offenses named by the DEQ was that Gunderson was not properly disposing of its flammable waste paint and paint containing the hazardous solvent toluene, considered a source of both water and air contamination.

For a two-year period between 2004 and 2006, Gunderson disposed of this waste in various solid-waste containers on its property, instead of at a permitted waste disposal facility.

The company also illegally treated its waste paint containing toluene in open containers, allowing hazardous particles of the aromatic chemical with a smell akin to nail polish remover to enter the air.

Gunderson was further fined for failing to realize that the epoxy paint it was using in its marine facility was even hazardous.

Located on 4350 NW Front Ave., Gunderson is situated within an area formerly cited by the federal government as having poor air quality. That has improved in the last decade, but DEQ Hazardous Waste Programs Manager Mike Kortenhof remains concerned that lax waste management standards will endanger humans and wildlife.

Toluene has been identified as contributing to air pollution and ia considered a major cause of ozone layer depletion.

“They’ve been having problems meeting air quality standards down there (along Northwest Front Avenue),” Kortenhof said. “And that can have significant environmental and economic ramifications.”

After talks with Gunderson, however, he said changes to the company’s policies have been forthcoming.

“We believe that these violations have been corrected, in terms of their mismanagement,” Kortenhof said.

The bulk of the DEQ’s fine – the fifth largest in the last decade – is based on the financial benefit that Gunderson Inc. obtained by not following state law. In failing to properly dispose of and store its waste materials, the company was able to avoid an estimated $217,562 in expenses.

Still, companies the DEQ considers to be repeat offenders may find themselves being visited by the agency’s inspectors more regularly than companies that have clean records, Kortenhof said.

Repeat visits haven’t prevented Gunderson from racking up fines, however.

During several other visits to Gunderson between 1998 and 2008, the DEQ fined the company for similar offenses. The company has until Sept. 2 to appeal the latest DEQ penalty, which Kortenhof expects the company to do.

“We need to get a fix on what’s happening here,” Kortenhof said.

He added that appeals can last several months and can go from an informal process, handled within the DEQ, all the way to the courts.

Gunderson did not return calls by press time.