SEATTLE—A company that operates a century-old hydroelectric dam near Mount Rainier National Park and its chief operating officer each pleaded guilty to a single criminal count Monday in connection with a spill of synthetic field turf and the tiny rubber particles used to make it into the Puyallup River in 2020.
The company, Electron Hydro LLC, also will pay $1 million that mostly will go to projects to restore salmon habitat.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson initially brought three dozen misdemeanor charges against Electron and Chief Operating Officer Thom Fischer, saying they discharged pollutants and intentionally violated a permit when they used old field turf as a liner during a construction project. The dam, built southeast of Tacoma in 1904, provides electricity to 20,000 customers….