Gordon Smith responds to environmental violations at his family's food plant
By Molly BlancettEUGENE, Ore. - Senator Gordon Smith was in Eugene Tuesday to accept an award from the AARP. But he also found himself addressing questions about reports that a frozen food plant run by his family violated state environmental regulations when wastewater used to clean vegetables overflowed into a near bye creek. "It was a very minor incident," said Senator Smith. "But we are required by law to detect it, which we did immediately and reported it to the state." Smith said he's not involved in the company. "I don't run the plant," said Smith. "I have an ownership in it." But he said he is willing to take some blame. "If people want to blame me they should be free to do that," said Smith. "I will take full responsibility even though I am not there." This isn't the first time Smith Frozen Foods has been in hot water over its wastewater. The plant had a similar violation almost exactly a year ago. Up in Portland, a representative from Smith's opponent, Jeff Merkley's campaign also responded to the violations. "It really contradicts the image he tries to portray on television," said Campaign Spokesman Matt Canter. KVAL News asked Smith if he was concerned for how the violations would effect his campaign. "Oh sure, yes," said Smith. "But at the end of the day when you work in agriculture working with millions of gallons of water to wash vegetables, sometimes a pipe breaks and that's what happened." Smith said the latest violation is fairly minor. The company has already submitted a corrective action plan to the Department of Environmental Quality to prevent future spills. |
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