The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that Tyree Oil, a petroleum distribution and storage company based in Oregon, has paid an $87,700 penalty for violations of the Clean Water Act. The infractions were linked to the company's failure to maintain its Portland facility adequately and to implement a plan to prevent or respond to potential oil releases at the site, which ceased operations in early 2024.

An inspection conducted by EPA inspectors in October 2021 revealed significant violations of the Clean Water Act's Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. These regulations mandate facilities like Tyree Oil to develop and execute a plan aimed at protecting local waterways and shorelines from oil discharges. It was found that the facility's sewer lines were connected to Portland's stormwater system, which ultimately drains into the Columbia River.

The EPA noted that Tyree Oil's SPCC plan was insufficient and identified failures in implementing crucial parts of the plan designed to prevent oil spills. The agency cited 13 counts of Clean Water Act violations against the company. These included "failure to ensure that the facility’s diagrams match the actual facility layout," "failure to maintain adequate secondary containment in the event of a spill," "failure to have inspection records for oil-water separators used as spill prevention equipment at the facility," and "failure of the facility’s plan to include routine periodic leak testing procedures for underground oil piping."

Following these findings, EPA informed Tyree representatives about deficiencies in their SPCC plan during their inspection. In response, Tyree updated its SPCC plan in June 2022, addressing comments made by EPA inspectors.