Posted on 01/29/2005 6:35:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - State water regulators fined one of the world's largest cheese factories $4 million for illegally flushing waste on Merced County fields for nearly three years, creating a stink for neighbors and polluting water.
The action Wednesday against Hilmar Cheese Co. by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board occurred the same day the company's co-owner, Chuck Ahlem, resigned as the state's undersecretary of agriculture, saying he needed to tend to wastewater issues.
The penalty is for just less than three years of daily water pollution violations since January 2002. But it follows a record of nearly 16 years of unchecked violations that were exposed by The Sacramento Bee last month.
The fine stems from high salt levels found in wastewater and groundwater beneath the company's fields. The company, which makes a million pounds of cheese a day and claims to be the world's largest, dumped an average of 700,000 gallons of wastewater daily on its fields.
Neighbors have griped for years about flies and a stench coming from the milky waste. Celia Silveira, whose family runs a nearby dairy, welcomed news of the fine.
"It's about time," said Silveira, who complained three years ago that the putrid stench from the plant prevented her family from enjoying their swimming pool.
The state attorney general's office is investigating allegations by a former Hilmar employee that the company illegally dumped waste in a nearby irrigation canal.
Ken Rodrigues, who managed wastewater disposal at the plant, said the penalty was too soft.
"It should have been 10 times that amount," Rodrigues said. "It doesn't begin to address the damage they have done to the environment."
The penalty is the largest by the board, one of nine regional water boards under the state Environmental Protection Agency.
Bill Jennings, who lobbies on behalf of environmental groups, said the penalty should send a message to food processing companies, which have typically faced less regulation than nonagricultural industries.
Hilmar Cheese issued a statement Friday saying it was reviewing the proposed fine and expected to have a water treatment facility operating in a few months to solve the problems. If the company doesn't appeal the penalty to the agency, it must pay the fine by Feb. 26.
Ahlem announced his resignation from the state after environmental groups targeted him because of the history of pollution violations.
The cheese company has been a major political donor. Ahlem was appointed to the water board by former Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, from 1996-2000. After supporting Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, the company gave $21,200 to Arnold Schwarzenegger's successful gubernatorial campaign in the recall election.
Ahlem became second-in-command at the Department of Food and Agriculture three months after the Republican governor took office.
Maybe California should leave cheesemaking to experts in Wisconsin.
Why do I have this wierd feeling that this is one of those stories... we all get to hate CHEESE.... the "Hispanics" have a very large voice in the interpretation of the article...p.s. the corporate "demon" is....EEEEVVVVIILLL!
Dig me up as crazy!
LOL! I love those commercials.
I repectfully disagree. I think that we should export CA chesse production to the French. That way we can boycott French cheese on a larger scale. /sarcasm
LOL
buy the votes, fix the election
Wow, fined $4 million for making cheese. How evil. Maybe the slimey eco-fascist bureaucrats can fine bottlers of water a billion dollars for making water. California is a lost cause. You've gone beyond weird into bizzare.
California needs three things - a declaration of independence, a constitution and some number of citizens with the guts to implement both.
That's where all my cheese comes from. There, and Canada.
Where there's a will, there's a whey.
Hooray, for Wisconsin cheese!
According to the article, the factory was " creating a stink for neighbors". I don't believe they were fined for making cheese, but for how they were cutting it.
I'll bet this is another case of the newer neighbors objecting to the practices of a business that was there first. Also, high salt levels in that area's ground water is nothing new, the area is pockmarked with alkali flats.
If this business is smart they will convert their waste into fertilizer and have another commodity to sell.
BTTT!!!!!
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