By ANN PORTAL
The Register-Guard

In a rare move, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has told Spectra-Physics Inc. that the company illegally filled 20 acres of wetlands when it built its Eugene plant in 1979 and must now build new wetlands to replace those lost.

While the cost of a wetlands mitigation project on that scale has not yet been determined, local officials said It could be In the neighborhood of $500,000 to $1 million.

EPA officials stressed Wednesday that they are not contending Spectra-Physics knowingly violated federal wetlands regulations.

"We don't feel there was any intent whatsoever. If there was some type of an intent, we would probably administer some type of a penalty," saId Bill Sobolewski, chief of the water programs section for the EPA office in Portland.

But Sobolewskl said the law is the law, and when the EPA becomes aware of illegal filling or dredging of wetlands, whIch are protected for their habitat and environmental contributions, it is oblIgated to take action.

"It's still an unauthorized fill. It still needed a permit," he said. "I guess this was an opportunity we saw of trying to recover some wetlands based on some past errors in judgment."

Charles Missar, Spectra-Physics facilities manager, said the company has hired consultants to work wiih the EPA "to understand what the problem is," and to move ahead with plans for an expansion that would add 700 to 1,000 employees to the current work force of 500.

"We don't want to take an adversarial relationship In this," he said. "Our business is making scanners and we want to continue doing that, preferably in Eugene."

"We are committed to doing whatever mitigation is required and just get on with it," he said.

Although Spectra-Physics has been involved for some months in efforts to expand, the controversy over its current site came to light Wednesday when U.S. Rep. Peter De Fazio, D-Oregon, confronted EPA Administrator William Reilly during a subcommittee hearing In Washington, D.C., on federal wetlands policy.

DeFazio, who had been briefed on the Spectra-Physics situation by the city of Eugene's lobbying firm in the capitol, said he asked Reilly whether it is now EPA policy to review all past developments to determine whether they might have taken place on wetlands.

DeFazio said in a telephone interview that when he asked specifically about Spectra-Physic's situation, without mentioning the company by name, Reilly "was somewhat flabbergasted. He said he wasn't considering a review of past actions that were legal actions. He said, 'If we did that, where would we stop?'"

He said Reilly asked for documentation, promising that if the situation were as DeFazio indicated, Spectra Physics "wouldn't be required to get a permit for past permitted activities."

Portland and Seattle EPA officials, though, remain convinced that they discovered an illegal fill after Spectra Physics applied in December for a permit to fill about 5 1/2 acres of additional wetlands as part of its expansion, Sobolewski said.

The situation is particularly puzzling for Spectra-Physics officials because the company dealt with the Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for issuing fill permits for wetlands, at the time of the original construction because the site is located on a flood plain.

No one from the corps could be reached for comment, but federal, state and local officials all agreed Wednesday that Spectra-Physics was not told in 1979 it was about to build on wetlands and, therefore, should obtain a permit.

Eugene did not discover the presence of about 760 acres of wetlands in west Eugene until last year, when it conducted a preliminary study of what city officials had thought were grass lands.

"I think there's enough fault to go around for everybody," said Ken Bierly, an environmental specialist for the Division of State Lands.

"At the time that the fill was placed, it's my understanding that the Corps of Engineers was not sure what wetlands were, let alone where they were," he said.

"The state of Oregon did not regulate wetlands at the time. It's apparent on its face that the city of Eugene had no idea," he said.

He said the EPA action in Spectra-Physics' case raises a "significant policy question" of how far back the agency can go in applying wetlands regulations enacted by the Clean Water Act of 1972.

"I am not clear at all on what this means. That's why it's of such concern," Bierly said. He said this is one of only four or five Oregon wetlands cases in which the EPA has taken enforcement action In recent years, despite the existence of what he said must be "a number" of similar illegal fills that occurred before wetlands became an issue.

"It does send a chil as to what is really out there, and how do we know what the rules of the bailgame are?" he said.