1

Site Visit Report 

Alaska Seafood Processing Industry Petition Response 

Lindsay Guzzo 

Environmental Engineer 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Region 10 Permits Division 

guzzo.lindsay@epa.gov

206-553-0268 

 Betsy Bicknell 

 Senior Environmental Engineer 

 Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG) 

 betsy.bicknell@erg.com

 703-633-1612 

Plant Name E.C. Phillips 

Plant Address Ketchikan, Alaska 

NPDES Permit # AKG520001 

Date of Visit Friday, August 13, 2010 

People Contacted Paul Cyr, General Manager 

Seafood processed Chum, Coho, King , Sockeye, and Pink salmon 

Halibut, Rockfish, Shrimp, Cod Fish, Sablefish, Herring 

Sea Cucumber and Geoduck 

Products Fish is sold fresh and frozen, whole with head on, 

Headed & gutted, filleted, portioned, Salmon roe and 

Ikura 

No canned products 

Range of annual production volume [Confidential Business Information (CBI), removed from 

this report] 

Months of operation Year round 

Discharge type Grind and discharge 

Company Website www.ecphillipsalaska.com 

E.C. Phillips has operated in Ketchikan since 1926 (almost 90 years)1. The plant, built in 1950, 

operates year round. When salmon season ends in October, they begin processing dive fish (sea 

cucumbers and geoduck) and continue to process salmon that was frozen in the summer months 

into portions and fillets. Crabs are not processed at the plant. 

The final products from this facility are packaged into boxes and transported in shipping 

containers all over the world. Fish are sold fresh and frozen, whole with head on, headed & 

gutted, filleted and portioned. 

Waste Management. [CBI, removed from this report] fish heads were iced and sent to [CBI, 

removed from this report]. The remaining fish processing waste (guts and frames) is sent through 

the grinders and discharged shore side. 

Paul Cyr has managed the E.C. Phillips plant for about a year. Mr. Cyr asked how environmental 

impact of at-sea disposal differed from disposal through their current outfall. Ms. Guzzo 

explained that the disposal area is much larger at sea. Mr. Cyr stated that the E.C. Phillips plant is 

now set up to grind their fish waste to a specific size before disposal and the small fragments are 

 

1

 For history of the plant and product descriptions see http://www.ecphillipsalaska.com/
2

washed away without generating a pile on the sea floor2. He asked why EPA is considering 

changing these guidelines if they currently are enough to protect the environment. Ms. Guzzo 

explained the industry petition and EPA’s information collection to respond to it. 

EPA §308 Request 

Mr. Cyr stated that the financial portion of the questionnaire was quick and easy to complete but 

retrieving discharge reports for 2003 to 2005 has taken longer. He asked why the questionnaire 

was not distributed during their slow season between October and March. 

Mr. Cyr noted that they had not received a questionnaire for the E. C. Phillips buying station in 

Craig. This facility receives fish in totes and may add ice. The facility is permitted to discharge 

but currently generates no sea food processing waste. They operate an ice machine3

. 

Facility Tour. 

Production was low on the day of the tour. How the fisheries are managed impacts when they get 

fish. At the time of the visit, the seine schedule was two days open, two days closed. This resulted 

in a similar production schedule. During the visit, workers were cleaning fish processing 

equipment, as shown in Figure 1 shows workers cleaning equipment. 

The fish arrive packed in totes or are pumped out directly from the fish hold tanks of tenders. The 

fish are gutted and the roe sacs are sorted out. The guts are disposed of into slurry before entering 

two grinders and then pumped out shore side. Figure 2 shows fish waste on the floor as it is 

washed into the floor trains for sluicing to the grinders. 

The heads are stored in green totes and iced before they are sent to be processed.. Figure 3 shows 

totes at the E.C. Phillips street entrance, waiting for pick up. Figure 4 shows the truck arriving to 

pick up the totes. 

Whole fish is processed in one line while a separate smaller line is entirely for pink salmon 

processing. The pink salmon line is about half the size of the main processing line. Figure 5

shows workers glazing whole fish. 

All of the ikura that leaves the plant is frozen product. Fillets are cut to standard size, resulting in 

trimmings (bits and pieces) of salable product. These bits and pieces and tails are frozen and sold. 

Figure 6 shows workers preparing fillets for freezing. 

Troll fish (fish caught by trolling) is generally cleaned at sea so on-shore processing generates 

very little waste. Processing sea cucumbers and geoduck generates no waste. Processing herring 

also generates no waste. Roe herring and bait herring are frozen and shipped whole. 

 

2

 See 

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/31f0470aec334c5c852572a000655938/167539a9dcb0280e85257

2040060b6f4!OpenDocument for a news release of E.C. Phillips 2006 settlement of NPDES permit 

violations: failed to treat seafood processing waste and instead discharged the untreated waste directly into 

Tongass Narrows and onto the adjacent shoreline; failed to ensure that its effluent was one-half inch or less 

prior to discharge; and failed to develop and implement an adequate Best Management Practices Plan. 

3

 After the site visit, Paul Cyr and Don Anderson discussed the E.C. Phillips facility in Craig. Mr. Anderson 

told Cyr that EPA did not need a questionnaire for the Craig plant. 
3

Figure 1 Equipment Cleaning 

Figure 2 Waste sluicing 
4

Figure 3 Totes waiting for pick up 

Figure 4 Truck arriving for totes 
5

Figure 5 Glazing whole fish 

Figure 6 Preparing fillets for freezing