SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A northwest Oregon ranching couple has been fined nearly $18,000 for creating an illegal burn pile that included at least 40 dead animals.

The Statesman Journal reports on May 13 the Lebanon Fire Department responded to a large, unattended burn on property owned by Mark and Bethany Wahl.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said in its penalty order, made public last week, that the pile contained dead cattle, dead sheep, garbage, plastics, asphaltic materials, furniture and petroleum products.

Mark Wahl told the newspaper that the couple is appealing the fine.