As reported Wednesday, the government, your friend and protector, had just issued an announcement concerning the YMCA in Albany. Its headline: "Willamette YMCA and Pape Truck Leasing Inc. fined $22,000 for improper storage of PCBs."

But there was no "storage" at all in the ordinary sense of the word. Former industrial property adjacent to the Y near 34th and Pacific was donated to theY in 2003. The property housed a furnace along with related electrical equipment, "including two transformers and 43 capacitors that contained high levels of PCBs."

The stuff was not "stored." It just sat where it had been installed years before.

In December 2006, metal thieves hit the place, with the result that some of the oil in the equipment spilled. The Y reported the spill, and the EPA got involved.

It negotiated a fine of $20,000 against the company that had donated the property. It also wanted to fine the Y, but because of what the agency calls its "limited ability to pay," settled for a mere $2,000.

"The YMCA," the EPA declared, "took ownership of the donated facility and over three years allowed the illegal storage of the PCB equipment to continue and to further deteriorate."

Allowed illegal storage? That's a weird way of looking at the continued presence of industrial liquids in some old equipment that the Y knew nothing about.

In a rational system of regulation and environmental protection, a government agency would not seek to punish companies that had donated property to a worthy cause. And it would not charge a nonprofit like the Y $2,000 for accepting a land donation that turned out to have hazardous material on it. Instead it would thank the Y for reporting the spill so that it could be properly cleaned up, as it was.

The EPA said the enforcement action sends a "clear signal that companies must follow PCB regulations to protect communities and our environmental resources."

Sure. What it also does is send a signal that reporting the presence of pollution can cost you a hefty fine. (hh)