Pubdate: Thu, 08 Aug 2013
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/0n4cG7L1
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376

WATER REGULATORS NEED TO TARGET POT FARMS

Regardless of how you may feel about marijuana, we should all be able
to agree that the state's environmental laws should be applied equally
to both pot and non-pot farmers. How we farm affects our quality of
life and it is proper for government to enforce common-sense rules
that protect public health and safety.

Unfortunately, public confidence in the state agency in charge of
protecting much of the Sacramento Valley's water, due to concerns for
safety, is hampered by not applying these rules equally. While it
enforces compliance on traditional crop farmers and timber companies
for violations, this agency has been unable to go after illegal pot
farmers in Butte County.

Over the past few years, pot farms have proliferated in the high
Sierra and foothills where they are much harder to detect. Drug
cartels created many of these farms by mowing down pristine wilderness
areas and diverting creeks. They post armed guards in these farms to
protect their crops, creating a clear and present public safety threat
for those who may happen to accidentally come across them.

Drug cartels, illegal pot farmers and even some legal growers have
shown little concern for laws such as the Clean Water Act or the
California Environmental Quality Act.

Their activities poison the land, water and the wildlife that feeds on
it.

I got a firsthand account last week on a drive along with the Butte
County Sheriff's Office.

What I saw was horrific. Chemicals poured all over the ground seeping
into the creeks and lakes.

Bulldozers stripped away entire portions of mountains. Brush, trees
rooted out and tossed into huge piles. The land was completely
stripped bare.

It looked like Malakoff Diggins in Nevada County during the Gold Rush
days.

I've joined with local officials asking state regulators to act, and
charge pot growers with violations of water regulations that carry
tough penalties.

In a response to a letter by local county supervisors asking for a pot
farm crackdown, the executive director of the Central Valley Regional
Water Quality Control Board wrote, "We simply cannot, in good
conscience, put staff in harm's way." Another official said, "This is
outside of our expertise, it's not the kind of thing that we do."

I understand and support the need for the safe environment for state
employees to do their job.

But in this case the agency refused to inspect violations without
conferring with law enforcement input as to whether it is safe to
inspect certain sites.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office stated to me that it can ensure the
safety of all inspectors to do their job. The office was surprised by
the agency's statement. It doesn't seem that the Central Valley board
has a policy for investigating violations involving the cultivation of
marijuana. In contrast, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control
Board does go after similar violators in its own region. For example,
it prosecutes pot farmers who contaminate streams and flatten hilltops.

This unequal environmental enforcement needs to be mitigated. As the
state assemblyman for a north state district that is being hurt by the
lack of pot farm enforcement, I am working with local leaders and the
water board to resolve this discrepancy.

We have expressed our concerns to the Central Valley board over the
diminishing water quality in our region and have asked it to enforce
the same laws that it is enforcing against other non-marijuana farms.
I have also asked Gov. Jerry Brown's administration to help in this
fight to protect our environment.

The state should use every available resource at its disposal to help
enforce our laws equally in every region. Until it does, illegal pot
farms will continue to pollute our state, diminish our water quality,
and endanger the public safety of local residents.
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MAP posted-by: Matt