San Juan Bautista
– After violating wastewater discharge laws for the past two
years, organic giant Natural Selection Foods has agreed to pay a
$95,000 fine to the regional water board.
San Juan Bautista – After violating wastewater discharge laws for the past two years, organic giant Natural Selection Foods has agreed to pay a $95,000 fine to the regional water board.
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board could have fined the company up to $6.2 million for its violations, according to California Water Code.
However, based on Natural Selection Foods’ cooperation and fines in previous situations, the board determined that $95,000 was reasonable, said Harvey Packard, the water board’s enforcement coordinator.
Half of the fine will go toward a new wastewater reclamation project in San Juan Bautista, said Samantha Cabaluna, a spokeswoman for Natural Selection Foods.
The company discharges water used to wash its products, she said.
The water board was alerted to the violations during an investigation into the September 2006 E. coli outbreak traced to spinach processed in Natural Selection Foods’ plant, Packard said. The discharge had no relation to the outbreak.
“Our attention was at first focused on the facility because of the E. coli outbreak,” Packard said.
The discharge violations, which occurred during the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, were a result of the company’s increased production, Cabaluna said.
“We were outgrowing our permit,” she said.
That permit allows the company to discharge up to 70,000 gallons of wastewater from its plant per day onto a 36-acre alfalfa field.
However, over the course of the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, the company discharged an average of 274,000 gallons per day, with a maximum one day discharge of 582,307 gallons in July 2005, according a complaint filed by the regional water board.
The daily discharge of Natural Selection Foods is the equivalent of the average daily water consumption of 2,871 single-family American homes, according to figures in “Water Use and Conservation” by Amy Vickers.
According to the complaint, the company also expanded this field to 78 acres, abutting San Juan Creek, a tributary to the San Benito River, which flows into the Pajaro River.
Water board investigators witnessed wastewater spill from the field into the creek while reviewing the plant, in addition to the company’s self-documented incidents of spillage, Packard said.
The high chlorine content of the wastewater could threaten aquatic life in the waterways, Packard said.
“It’s more of a water quality issue than a human health issue,” he said.
One sensitive species that could be effected is the steelhead trout, Packard said.
Packard said the violations have made the water board more aware of possible violations at other food processing plants in the region.
“(Natural Selection Foods) are the only ones that have progressed to this point but there are other investigations,” Packard said.
As for coming into compliance with the law, Packard said, the board has been drafting a new permit while the company upgrades its disposal systems.
Cabaluna said the company should have a new permit by the end of May.
“Everything is in the process of coming into compliance,” Cabaluna said.
Jan McClintock, city manager for San Juan Bautista, said she could not comment on any collaboration with Natural Selection Foods on a wastewater reclamation project.
The regional water board has yet to approve any plans for such a project, McClintock said.
