WestRock Facility Contaminating River in Oregon, Suit Alleges

WestRock CP LLC failed to limit the pollutants leaving its Oregon facility through stormwater, likely affecting the Willamette River, an environmental group said in a citizen lawsuit filed in federal district court.

WestRock’s Portland facility, on the river’s east bank, produces corrugated boxes, trays, and other materials. The company hasn’t maintained systems that would reduce pollutants in its stormwater discharge, the Northwest Environmental Defense Center alleges in a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality authorized the company to discharge stormwater under a permit, which also requires WestRock to ...