Marijuana Farm pays $100,000 for Water Pollution

Posted by Sagar Satapathy on March 21, 2016.

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board reached an agreement on Friday with a Shasta County property owner Brent Alan Vanderkam who allegedly discharged waste from a marijuana grow operation into ground water near Millville. Vanderkam has agreed to pay a penalty of $100,000 to the state for alleged water pollution.

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board said, Vanderkam was held responsible after he was "unwilling to identify" the person leasing his land.

“The failure of Mr. Vanderkam or his lessee to obtain the necessary permits prior to developing the property for marijuana cultivation resulted in significant impacts to water quality,” said Clint Snyder, assistant executive officer for the Central Valley Water Board.

The Board's Prosecution Team said they believed Vanderkam's lessee developed the property to support a large scale marijuana growing operation.

Vanderkam is also subject to a Cleanup and Abatement Order issued on March 25, 2015, to remediate ongoing problems within the property. This requires obtaining all necessary permits; prepare a restoration, mitigation, and monitoring plan; and conduct long-term monitoring. His consultant estimates it will cost $95,000 to comply with the order, in addition to the $100,000 penalty.

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