ANALYSIS
In 2001, Pacific Seafood Group faced increasingly strict regulations governing wastewater discharges from its Warrenton, Ore., fish processing plant. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was going to require the company to either drastically reduce its discharge or eliminate the discharge altogether, requiring major capital investments or processing curtailments.

ADVOCACY
Working with company officials, Gallatin’s Portland office designed an outreach campaign to educate and engage local and state elected officials, state regulators, businesses, and community leaders in support of a consensus plan that would meet the DEQ standards, protect the 250 processing jobs and enhance the local environment. Through these efforts, the company forged a partnership with the City of Warrenton – which was under similar DEQ wastewater constraints – on a new joint wastewater solution that would meet all regulatory requirements for both the city and the company. The plan was submitted by Gallatin’s Washington, D.C., office to U.S. Senators Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden and U.S. Rep. David Wu, all of whom agreed to seek federal funding to help finance the necessary infrastructure to achieve the project’s goals.

ADVANTAGE
In 2004, Congress appropriated $950,000, and in 2005, $250,000 to the city of Warrenton to help fund the joint wastewater project, protecting the 250 processing jobs and improving the local environment.

“The Gallatin Group has made our outreach and communications with public officials and the media more effective. We rely on their strategic counsel and knowledge of government affairs to help us achieve our business goals.”
Frank Dulcich, CEO