The company is required to comply with permits from Ecology when applying chemicals to treat lakes for potentially dangerous and harmful aquatic plants and algae. The company hasn't complied with permit requirements, thereby putting public health and the environment at considerable risk, said White. After we resolve this long-standing case with Allied Aquatics, we will ask Washington courts to order other companies to pay the price for polluting. Taking these cases to court is part of Ecology's ongoing effort to protect water quality by improving the enforcement of the laws. When a company or municipality breaks an environmental law, Ecology often provides assistance to help the organizations comply, but when that doesn't work the agency takes enforcement action.
Collection agencies track down companies with unpaid penalties.
Still, many penalties go unpaid.