NOTICE: ANNOUNCEMENT OF AVAILABILTY OF DRAFT PERMIT

| February 15, 2006 8:00 PM

PERMIT NO. ST 5382

APPLICANT: Oregon Potato Company

P.O. Box 169

Boardman, OR 97818

FACILITY: Washington Potato Company

1900 W. 1st Avenue

Warden, WA 98857

Oregon Potato Company has applied for renewal of the State Waste Discharge permit for its Washington Potato Company facility located in Warden, Washington in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 90.48 Revised Code of Washington (RCW) and Chapter 173-216 Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

Washington Potato Company operates an onsite process wastewater pre-treatment facility consisting of filtering and settling which is designed to handle an average daily flow of 652,350 gallons per day. The wastewater, following treatment, must meet the requirements of the Washington State Water Pollution Control Act and applicable regulations for the permit to be re-issued.

Following the evaluation of the application and other available information, a draft permit has been developed which would allow the discharge of the pre-treated process wastewater from Washington Potato to the City of Warden's Industrial Wastewater facility.

A tentative determination has been made on the effluent limitations and special permit conditions that will prevent and control pollution. A final determination will not be made until all timely comments received in response to this notice have been evaluated.

PUBLIC COMMENT AND INFORMATION

The draft permit and fact sheet may be viewed at the Department of Ecology (Department) website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/permits/eastern_permits.html. The application, fact sheet, proposed permit, and other related documents are also available at the Department's Eastern Regional Office for inspection and copying between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., weekdays. To obtain a copy or to arrange to view copies please call the permit coordinator at (509) 329-3537, e-mail cywa461@ecy.wa.gov, or write to the address below.

Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the proposed permit. All comments must be submitted within 30 days after publication of this notice to be considered for the final determination. Comments should be sent to:

Water Quality Permit Coordinator

Department of Ecology

N. 4601 Monroe

Spokane, WA 99205

Any interested party may request a public hearing on the proposed permit within 30 days of the publication date of this notice. The request for a hearing shall state the interest of the party and the reasons why a hearing is necessary. The request should be sent to the above address. The Department will hold a hearing if it determines that there is significant public interest. If a hearing is to be held, public notice will be published at least 30 days in advance of the hearing date. Any party responding to this notice with comments will be mailed a copy of a hearing public notice.

Please bring this public notice to the attention of persons who you know would be interested in this matter. Ecology is an equal opportunity agency. If you need this publication in an alternate format, please contact us at (509) 329-3537 or TTY (for the speech and hearing impaired) at 711 or 1-800-833-6388.

#02049

Pub.: February 16, 2006