Clark County officials and advocacy groups are calling for stronger penalties and remediation efforts following an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigation into two environmental violations.
The county-owned Chelatchie Prairie Railroad stretches 33 miles from Vancouver to Chelatchie, passing through Yacolt and Battle Ground. Since 2012, the Portland Vancouver Junction Railroad (PVJR) has operated the rail and plans to use it to transport aggregate materials from Chelatchie to the south. PVJR’s relationship with Clark County has been fraught with litigation and accusations of noncompliance with environmental regulations, despite a revised lease agreement approved in 2022. The company has since faced scrutiny from regulatory agencies and local advocacy groups.
After an extensive investigation, the EPA released its findings on PVJR’s environmental violations on Jan. 15, leading to a proposed settlement that local advocates and the Clark County Council Chair believe fails to adequately address the extent of the damage.
EPA's investigation and proposed settlement
In February 2025, the EPA formally initiated enforcement actions against PVJR and Green Works Enterprises, Inc. for unauthorized discharges of pollutants into federally protected waters. These actions followed complaints from environmental groups, local residents and county officials about PVJR’s disregard for waterway protections.
According to the EPA, PVJR used heavy earthmoving equipment to relocate and discharge dredged and fill material — including soil, gravel, rocks and asphalt — into wetlands adjacent to Curtin Creek in Vancouver. The agency also found that the company disturbed more than an acre of land without the necessary stormwater permits. The EPA has issued a $65,000 fine as part of a settlement.
Similarly, Green Works Enterprises was found to have conducted unpermitted construction activities that obstructed water flow in Chelatchie Creek tributaries. This work led to unauthorized discharges into wetlands connected to Lewis River, a habitat for endangered Coho salmon. The EPA has proposed a $8,000 fine for this violation.
According to the EPA, both instances occurred during or shortly after December 2021 and directly violate the Clean Water Act.
Clark County Council Chair Sue Marshall has expressed significant concerns about the EPA’s findings and the penalties imposed on PVJR and Green Works Enterprises. Having personally visited both sites, Marshall described the environmental damage as severe and said the fines were inadequate in addressing the harm caused.
“The findings seem accurate ... The fine itself is nowhere near the ability to compensate for that damage,” Marshall stated. “I didn’t see anywhere in the consent agreement (any) information about remediation of the property, especially in the Curtain Creek area. That’s multiple acres of wetland that were destroyed.”
Marshall noted that residents had reported watching truck after truck fill in the wetlands with material that included glass slag and other questionable substances. She raised concerns about whether the site could even be restored and emphasized that someone should be held accountable for the destruction.
Marshall expressed concerns that the fines offer no remediation for the area. She argued that fines should serve as a deterrent against future violations, and in this case, they failed to do so.
“You want to have a penalty that deters this kind of activity in the future, and in that regard, I think the penalties are way too low,” she said. “This so far is not holding the companies accountable for the damage that was done.”
Marshall also questioned Clark County’s ability to enforce stricter compliance measures, given the limitations of the county’s lease agreement with PVJR.
In a Monday, Feb. 10, open letter, the Chelatchie Prairie Coalition (CPC), a local neighborhood association, strongly criticized the EPA's handling of the case, particularly in light of the environmental significance of the affected areas. The group emphasized that the impacted tributaries identified in the consent agreement contain confirmed Coho salmon runs, as documented by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as recently as December 2024. Since these tributaries connect to the larger Lewis River, CPC stressed that any disturbance to these waterways demands heightened scrutiny, especially concerning stormwater runoff and water source diversion.
"We have reviewed the consent agreement proposal with dismay,” CPC President John Nanney wrote. “We are left wondering what the EPA hopes to achieve with what can only be described as an index finger flick on the wrist. We find it impossible to even call it a slap, because we doubt this will be felt. While Green Works Enterprises Inc. is a privately owned company and therefore their annual earnings are hidden from public view, the idea that an ‘Assessed Penalty’ of $8,000 is any more than a minor adjustment on the bottom line of a company whose owner also owns one of Clark County’s larger Trucking companies is laughable.”
When asked about PVJR’s role in the violations, Marshall explained that the company had filled in the wetlands to create a level area adjacent to the railroad for industrial use, such as storing equipment or railcars. Green Works Enterprises, she added, had been hired to conduct work related to a proposed aggregate mining project in Chelatchie, which remains under litigation.
The 2022 Clark County Council decision to approve a mining overlay for Granite Construction on a 330.95-acre site in Chelatchie further complicates matters. The decision took Clark County out of compliance with state regulations, leading the Washington Growth Management Hearings Board to rule that the overlay violated the state Environmental Policy Act. As a result, Clark County lost eligibility for $6.4 million in clean water project grants and short-term loans over the next five years. The decision is currently under review by the Court of Appeals.
Beyond the environmental impact, Marshall emphasized that the violations had severely damaged public trust in the railroad’s operations. Residents along the rail line, she noted, have expressed deep concerns about the project and its long-term effects on their communities.
“The public’s trust has been broken. I don’t know the pathways to get that back,” Marshall said. “I just don’t see how we can move forward under the current circumstances.”
