Gilroy
– One of the state’s biggest garlic producers, Christopher
Ranch, has accepted responsibility for a wastewater spill that
killed thousands of fish in Uvas Creek.
Gilroy – One of the state’s biggest garlic producers, Christopher Ranch, has accepted responsibility for a wastewater spill that killed thousands of fish in Uvas Creek.
Environmental officials who met with ranch owners Wednesday have not found the person who released garlic-tainted stormwater into the waterway just south of Gilroy, but they said the company has acted swiftly to prevent another accident.
“At this point, the problem should be fixed,” said Kyle Kroll, a warden with the California Department of Fish and Game. “There’s really not much else we can do. They’ve questioned all their employees and no one has come forward. The responsible party is still going to be Christopher Ranch.”
Owner Bill Christopher, whose family helped bring Gilroy national fame by co-founding the city’s Garlic Festival, said “we feel bad that it happened and we’re trying to make sure it won’t happen again.”
The spill originated with a 50-gallon stormwater tank, Christopher said. Though 15 feet below ground, the tank’s emergency release valve can be opened using an above-ground hand crank. A culvert connects the tank with Uvas Creek, but stormwater is never released into the waterway since it contains garlic and other vegetables that fall from delivery trucks. Instead, stormwater from the tank is routed to holding ponds that spread it safely into the ground.
“It’s a small tank … but if it was open for a few days, water would have kept coming through it for a few days from the storm drain area,” Christopher said. “It was enough to do some damage.”
Environmental officials said decomposing garlic created a toxic stew that killed not only fish, but algae, crayfish and virtually all other aquatic life along an eighth-of-a-mile stretch of the creek. The creek meanders through the city before winding through the fields of garlic and other row crops at Christopher Ranch, just north of state Route 25.
To prevent another release, Christopher has cut the chain connecting the tank’s release valve with the above-ground hand crank. He also locked the crank and added it to a checklist of equipment inspected twice a day.
“We’re concerned about what’s happening … and we have offered to clean up the creek,” Christopher added. “We’ve been told by fish and game (officials) to wait until after these next rains come.”
Forecasts predict wet weather through the weekend and officials hope a series of storms will dilute and clear out the pollutants, which robbed the water of oxygen and suffocated thousands of fish.
Game wardens are blaming the spill on “human error,” but stiff civil or criminal penalties could still be in store for Christopher Ranch. The matter has been referred to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, said Ken Rosenblatt, deputy district attorney in the environmental protection unit. He said it is too early to speculate on penalties.
Depending on the nature of the violation, the state’s fish and game code allows for jail time or civil penalties reaching into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The ranch could also face prosecution by federal officials for the death of least a dozen steelhead trout, a fish on the federal endangered species list.
