Darigold settles for salmon work

Darigold agreed to pay $2 million to the Yakama Nation to settle a Clean Water Act lawsuit over pollution tied to its Sunnyside plant. (columbiariverkeeper.org) The settlement, announced April 13, resolves a 2025 lawsuit filed by Columbia Riverkeeper in federal court in Eastern Washington. Darigold also must submit an engineering report, subject to Washington Department of Ecology approval, showing how it will meet clean-water standards. (tricitiesbusinessnews.com) (pacermonitor.com) The money is earmarked for Yakama Nation water-quality projects in the Yakima River, including work on water stargrass in the lower river south of Sunnyside. Regional coverage said the plant has clogged stretches of river from near Sunnyside toward Richland. (yakimaherald.com) (yahoo.com) Water stargrass is a native aquatic plant, but agencies in the Yakima Basin say it now behaves like a weed in some reaches because low flows and nutrient buildup let it form dense mats. Those mats slow the river, trap heat, lower oxygen, and make salmon migration harder. (columbiariverkeeper.org) (kimatv.com) Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife crews and Yakama Nation Fisheries were already removing the plant near Prosser and Benton City in September 2025 to reopen spawning habitat for fall Chinook salmon, steelhead, and coho. Benton Conservation District said its own 2023 harvesting removed about 504,000 pounds of plant material from 15.3 acres near Horn Rapids Park. (kimatv.com) (bentoncd.org) The lawsuit centered on wastewater from Darigold’s large dairy-processing facility in Sunnyside. Columbia Riverkeeper alleged permit violations for more than four years, including discharge exceedances and failures to properly monitor, report, operate, and maintain treatment systems. (tricitiesbusinessnews.com) (columbiariverkeeper.org) Darigold said it has worked with the Port of Sunnyside and the Department of Ecology to manage wastewater and disputed that its operations caused harm. The company said neither a court nor state ecology officials had found it at fault, and said it had upgraded treatment systems over the last year with more improvements planned. (tricitiesbusinessnews.com) State records show Darigold Sunnyside operates under National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit WA0052078, which Ecology modified on October 1, 2024. The Port of Sunnyside says its industrial wastewater system ultimately discharges treated water to Sulphur Creek Wasteway, which flows to the Yakima River. (apps.ecology.wa.gov) (portofsunnyside.com) The consent decree also leaves Darigold exposed to additional payments to the Yakama Nation if future pollution exceedances occur during the next 18 months. For the Yakima Basin, the settlement turns a pollution case into cash for river work aimed at keeping water moving for salmon again. (tricitiesbusinessnews.com) (columbiariverkeeper.org)