Modification of coverage for Monson Fruit Company's discharge permit announced.

NOTICE: Announcement of Modification of Coverage Under a General Permit to Discharge to State Waters
 
PERMIT NO: WAG994283
 
PERMITTEE: Monson Fruit Company
                       252 N. Rushmore Ave
                       Selah, WA 98942-9313
 
Monson Fruit Company has requested a modification of coverage under the Fresh Fruit Packing General Permit. This permit is a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System/State Waste Discharge General Permit (the general permit). The General Permit, and any subsequent coverage modification proposals, are issued in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 90.48 Revised Code of Washington, Chapter 173.226 Washington Administrative Code, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended.
 
This modification of coverage is for the addition of a new Rainier Cherry Pack Line and refrigeration and/or long-term apple storage. The modification of discharge location is at Monson Fruit Company—Monson Zillah Facility located at 200 Northstone Parkway, Zillah, WA.
 
Chemical additives include chlorine-based fungicides and/or peroxyacetic acid (PAA) and will increase discharges to land application, or dust abatement, or publicly owned treatment works (POTW) from 300 gallons per day to 1,500 gallons per day during cherry season. During non-cherry season operation flow discharges may be up to 500 gallons per day for non-contact cooling water discharges when the controlled atmosphere (CA) Storage is operated. Land application and dust abatement will be to 6 and 12 acres, respectively, located adjacent to the facility. Discharges to POTW, when utilized, will be to the City of Zillah POTW. All discharges to be in accordance with the Department of Ecology's Water Quality Standards.
TENTATIVE DETERMINATIONS
Ecology proposes to issue this modification of coverage under the general permit to the above listed applicant to discharge to public water, subject to certain effluent limitations and special permit conditions. These determinations are tentative. A final determination will not be made until all comments received pursuant to this notice have been evaluated.
PUBLIC COMMENT AND INFORMATION
Any person desiring to present their view to the Department of Ecology regarding this permit application may do so in writing within thirty days of the last date of publication of this notice. Comments shall be submitted to the Department of Ecology. Comments should be sent to Washington State Department of Ecology, Central Region Office, 1250 West Alder Street, Union Gap, WA 98903, Attn: Marcia Porter. E-mail comments should be sent to the Permit Manager at marcia.porter@ecy.wa.gov.
 
If the comments received indicate significant public interest in the applicability of coverage, or if useful information could be produced, the director may hold a public hearing. Ecology shall only consider issues regarding the general permit's applicability or non-applicability to the Permittee when considering the need to hold a public hearing.
 
The change in operations form and related documents are available for inspection and copying between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. weekdays at the Central Region Office. For more information or special accommodation needs contact: Marcia Porter at 509-406-6624 or TTY (for the speech and hearing impaired) at 1-800-833-6388.
 
Dates published March 28, 2026 and April 4, and 2026.
 
(112119) March 28 and April 4, 2026