Is Sun-Maid factory near Fresno dumping pollution into this ditch? Neighbor thinks so
When black, sludgy water began pouring into the canal behind his Kingsburg home and nobody seemed to care, Doug Johnson couldn’t stay silent.
“They hoped I’d just shut up and everything would wash away with the rains,” Johnson said.
Johnson, his 80-year-old mother Lorrena, their six dogs, two donkeys and chickens live on nine acres near Highway 99 and the railroad tracks. A drainage ditch called the Ward Canal runs behind their property. Across Bethel Avenue sits the sprawling Sun-Maid factory headquarters, home to the world’s largest processor of raisins and dried fruit.
The ditch behind Johnson’s land is not utilized by the Consolidated Irrigation District for water deliveries. Rather, it collects surface drainage, including permitted runoff from the Sun-Maid plant.
But on Oct. 25, following a storm that dumped nearly an inch of rain, the liquid entering the Ward Canal through a three-foot pipe connected to the raisin factory didn’t look much like water to Johnson. The “black ooze” left a dark residue he described as “a pollution cesspool” that he feared would seep into the ground below the canal.
“We drink water from wells here,” Johnson said, “and that black stuff goes right into the water table.”
Johnson and his family have lived next to Sun-Maid for 43 years. After rain storms, they’re accustomed to seeing runoff from the factory pouring into the ditch. Just never the sludge he observed last month. Which makes Johnson suspect the company is sending more than rain water through the pipe.
An unusual event last summer helped heighten those suspicions. On July 19 and 20, after the central San Joaquin Valley hadn’t received a drop of rain since April and no serious downpours since March, the canal behind Johnson’s property filled with “hundreds of thousands of gallons” of water.
“There was so much water my dogs were swimming in it,” Johnson said. “We thought they had turned on the ditch until we saw the water was running the wrong way.”
Where did that water come from? It certainly wasn’t rain runoff from the factory.
On Oct. 25, the same day as he saw the black ooze, Johnson observed a company employee or contractor take a water sample from the canal. Except that person waited until the storm was over and the sludge had been diluted by rain.
“They took their samples when they had the best chance to be clean,” he said.
‘I’m not going to shut up’
The following day, Johnson reported the matter to the Consolidated Irrigation District. He said the district sent over a representative who appeared “alarmed” at what he saw, took a few photos, drove away and has since stopped returning his calls.
Frustrated by the lack of response, Johnson began contacting his elected representatives and various county, state and federal agencies. He also posted pictures of the canal on his Facebook page.
To ensure his neighbors and passersby knew as well, Johnson took a 15-foot-by-7-foot garage door and placed it at the edge of his property. In large black letters he painted “SUNMAID DUMPS POLLUTION HERE” with an arrow pointing to the ditch, which remains stained three weeks later. In smaller letters he painted “SEE DOUG JOHNSON FACEBOOK KINGSBURG.”
“They think this is all going to quietly go away, but I’m not going to shut up,” he said.
Johnson made enough noise to merit a response. Just before I arrived Wednesday afternoon, an assessment team from the California State Water Resources Control Board as well as four crew members from the Selma-Kingsburg-Fowler County Sanitation District inspected the canal. I’m told Sun-Maid representatives were present as well.
The “black stuff” in the canal does not look like storm water to Consolidated Irrigation District General Manager Phil Desatoff, who suggested it might be organic material. To be certain, Desatoff said he recently met with Sun-Maid officials and requested they take a soil sample.
“They should not be discharging solids into that ditch,” Desatoff said. “We’re going to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
After interviewing Johnson, I visited the Sun-Maid factory (home of the World’s Largest Box of Raisins) hoping to speak with someone who could answer questions. No one could, so I left a business card with the receptionist.
The answers, or at least a company statement, arrived the following day courtesy of a New York City-based public relations firm.
Response from Sun-Maid
The statement begins by asserting Sun-Maid takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and complies with all applicable laws and regulations concerning the discharge of processed water and storm water from their facilities.
“Sun-Maid has a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan on file with the State Water Resources Control Board for our Bethel Avenue facility,” it continued. “As such, we are subject to remain in compliance with all storm water discharges. Most storm water from our facility is captured in our retention ponds. However, during rain events like the one that impacted the Central Valley on Oct. 25, and in accordance with the Storm Water Pollution plan, runoff from the facility’s parking lot may enter into the Ward Canal.
“Water from Sun-Maid’s raisin processing operations is entirely separated from our storm water system. We are confident that no process-related water nor other discharge beyond what is legally permitted entered the Ward Canal during the Oct. 25 event, nor in previous events from Sun-Maid. While Sun-Maid only discharges permitted storm water into the Ward Canal, we note that the canal extends significantly beyond our facilities, and other entities may be permitted discharge access.”
I forwarded Sun-Maid’s statement to Johnson. He disputed parts of it, including the company’s contention that raisin-processing water is separated from rain water. He also claimed the pipeline leads to the raisin plant and no place else.
Johnson also wants water and dirt samples from the canal tested for pollutants, something he contends the irrigation district, state and county have yet to do. (He collected several samples and may order tests himself.) But mainly, he wants his factory neighbor held accountable.
“There isn’t one manager at Sun-Maid who would tolerate me dumping this stuff outside their house,” Johnson said. “So why should I have to tolerate it from them?”
