Cyclone Marine discharge into street
Neighbors off Business Highway 20 and Ridge to Canyon Drive were back at Toledo City Hall Wednesday, barely a week after the Cyclone Marine “Fish Market” was given a business license with very strict conditions on its operations. The neighbors again complained to city officials that Cyclone Marine, Saturday, Sunday and Monday was washing fish product waste out of their building at Highway 20 and Ridge, and allowing it to run across the sidewalk and down the street to a storm drain that leads to the Yaquina River. Such a discharge is strictly prohibited in Cyclone Marine’s business license issued to them last week by the city.
City Manager Michelle Amberg and her city attorney told NewsLincolnCounty.com that a Toledo police officer as well as Amberg herself documented the wastewater discharge over the weekend which is now the subject of a letter from Toledo City Hall to Cyclone Marine’s management and owners. Amberg said “We are demanding compliance with the provisions of their business license they agreed to last week.” When asked whether any further violations would provoke a stronger action by the city, Amberg said they will deal with it appropriately if it does happen again. She said she did not want to comment as to whether further violations would prompt an actual revocation of Cyclone Marine’s business license. Under city codes there are fines that can be levied against companies that violate business and public health codes short of revoking a business license.
Cyclone Marine is said to be operating what amounts to a fish handling operation, namely “Hag” fish which are eels that are highly valued in South Korea, not only as a food delicacy, but also as an aphrodisiac. As the eels are bagged live and readied for air shipment to Korea, they give off a stress-related oozing of slime that is very smelly and slippery. Neighbors say it comes down into their yards and that the foul smell wafts through their homes. And they want it stopped. They say their efforts have been met with only limited success, because despite the business license conditions placed on them last week, Cyclone Marine continues to act as they always have.
The land parcel Cyclone Marine sits on is zoned for neighborhood commercial which allows, among other things, retail fish sales. However, by their own admission, Cyclone Marine officials say nearly all their product is bought from commercial fishermen in Newport, which is then trucked to their facility in Toledo, and then bagged and air-shipped live to South Korea. But Cyclone Marine officials also point out that to be in compliance with the zoning, they technically do have a retail fish sales area in the building. A company official recently admitted to city officials, “We don’t do much retail. Most food shoppers in Toledo aren’t looking to cook eels for dinner.”
So, the neighbors and city hall await a reply to their latest demand that Cyclone Marine abide by their business license conditions and be good neighbors.
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Perhaps it’s time to change Toledo’s Mascot from The Boomers to The Paper Tigers.
Nice… Dave… I have been doing some research into Feng Suey and wonder what these guys are doing? I am not into hag fish but I do understand that they are desired in Korea. I am wondering why the owners have not tried to relocate to a location where they can conduct their business activities with the community’s approval.
I was hired last month to act as operations manager, which lasted a month. They have many problem there that need resolved. #1 is they do not pay their employees on a regular bases. I had seen employees in my office wanting to get paid since May 2010, and this is Oct. #2 They have mostly Korean speaking bosses and they hire Latino speaking help.
I did not get paid for the month I was there. So don’t take this as a upset employee, I just stating the facts I seen there.
They in my opinion need to move out of Toledo and go back to California.