After Hacker Creek
In spite of the large amounts involved, the fines in such cases can be the least of a grower’s problems. While investigating a diesel spill in the Piercy area back in 2005, a Dept. of Fish and Game officer discovered Cody Dobbs in a grow room associated with the fuel mess leaked from three water tanks filled with diesel. Convicted of growing over 10,000 marijuana plants in Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, Dobbs faced a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison.
The perception among many is that environmental damage will increase sentences for marijuana crimes. As an anonymous commenter on the Times-Standard‘s May 23, 2008, online edition explains about Dobbs’ 10-year sentence, “In reality he’s not going to the can for growing weed but for polluting a stream.”
Indoor growers are taking note of this trend and adjusting their practices. An elderly retired couple from a community near Garberville spent this summer upgrading their fuel system. Used to supply their diesel generator, it powers their indoor grow scene. They installed both a large feeder tank with containment and a double-walled fuel tank which has special shutoff valves designed to instantly halt the diesel flow when the generator stops for any reason. “I might forget to shut the valve off,” “Max” explains. [Ed. note: The names and a few identifying characteristics of “Max” and other non-convicted marijuana growers in this story have been changed.]
Tapping the front of his walker which Max uses whenever he leaves home, he grins ruefully. “I’m old,” he says. “Besides, cops cut your lines when they bust and blame you for a spill.” He believes the new valve system will make it harder for this to happen.
Law enforcement severing fuel lines and blaming the resulting mess on the grower is frequently cited by diesel proponents as the reason so many busts have spills associated with them. Earlier this year, Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman vehemently denied these allegations, but growers continue to claim they happen — though most of the cases cited are over 10 years old.
Both Max and his wife are retired professionals in their seventies, but medical bills eat up a large part of their income. He farms indoors to make ends meet. “I can’t live on outdoor,” he says. Unspoken — because he believes it is obvious — is the belief that without some form of marijuana income, he would be unable to pay the bills at all. “Last year is the first year I felt confident enough to grow outside,” he says. Bracing himself painfully on his walker, he waves his other hand out over his lush vegetable garden, where several medium-sized marijuana plants mingle with arugula, tomatoes, corn and other vegetables. “They haven’t been here in years,” he says, meaning the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP).
Although he has a few outdoor plants, the majority of Max’s income results from his indoor crop. He is worried because the costs continue to increase. In order to fill his large diesel tank, he must drag $5,000 from his pockets and hand it to a fuel company. Then he lays out $3,000 for clones (smaller plants taken from a large mother plant and thus guaranteed to be females of the same desirable strain) and $1,000 for dirt and other amendments. Max farms his marijuana organically, both indoor and outdoor, but he is the exception in an industry rife with chemicals designed to rid grow rooms of spider mites, powdery mildew and other problems. Thus, he must also pay for ladybugs and other natural merchandise to keep his product healthy.
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Today
Label GMOs Signature Gathering Training
meetings / 4 p.m. Sun Yi's Academy of Tae Kwon Do, 1215 Giuntoli Lane, Arcata. Help gather valid signatures to get the 'California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act' on the 2012 ballot. E-mail northernhumboldtlabelgmos@hotmail.com. 223-0424.
Open Celtic Music Session
music / 3 p.m. Cafe Veritas/Mosgo's, 180 Westwood Center, Arcata. Informal monthly gathering of musicians playing Irish and other Celtic music. Hosted by Seabury Gould. seaburygould.com. 845-8167.
Nonviolence Action Camp
etc. / 10 a.m. Chinmaya Mission near Piercy. Weekend-long direct action orientation features workshops, role playing, seminars, ceremonies and field trips. Bring food, bedding, warm clothes, signs, banners, bikes, drums, acoustic instruments. Pre-register. saverichardsongrove.org. 932-5898.
Audubon Society Field Trip
outdoors / 9 a.m. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1020 Ranch Road, Loleta. Meet at Refuge Visitor Center off Hookton Road. Leisurely, two- to three-hour trip intended for people wanting to learn birds of Humboldt Bay area. 822-3613.
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11 Comments
Comment / By Ernie Branscomb / Oct. 2, 2008, 3:52 p.m.
Wow, the NCJ went from yellow journalism, (Pistol Packing People, Heidi Walters) to real journalism in less than one week. Nice work.
Kym Kemp really nailed the need for environmental reform in the article that she wrote on diesel fuel spills. The article was very descriptive of the wide range of people and critters that were effected. Kym made me want to do something more about taking care of this river canyon that I love, even more than before. I can put up with people that don’t see things my way, but I can’t tolerate this kind of destructiveness.
I hope you can get her to do more writing for you. Nice work Kym! Ernie
Comment / By Ben Schill / Oct. 2, 2008, 10:06 p.m.
The buried oil problem is going to haunt us in the future. Kym Kemp has done a fine job on this article.
Comment / By Mike Goldsby / Oct. 3, 2008, 12:22 p.m.
This was a pleasure to read: Well written on an important topic. Thanks
Comment / By Not A Native / Oct. 4, 2008, 6:48 p.m.
I feel very sad for Barbara. She is committed to being non-judgemental and tolerant but her neighbors are abusing her good will and subjecting her to torment. She’s torn. Like a Sunni Iraqi in an Al-Qaeda area, she’s caught up in loyalty to her group, even as they blow up citizens. Her neighbors destroy the environment in the name of independence and freedom but actually for greed.
I have little sympathy for “Max”. Gotta grow pot for his medicine? Guess that justifies all the inner city ghetto drug dealers and pimps who do it to support their families. Thats the same excuse employers of illegal aliens at substandard wages use too, and similarly for politicians who take bribes. Everybody’s got to live, does that justify everyone seeking illegal money?
And tell me, if Max is so disabled and using a walker, who is planting and maintaining those gardens, contacting the customers, and bringing the product to market? There’s a lot of physical work in farming, Max’s role seems to be only the land owner and profit collector. Max is a criminal, plain and simple, whether he wants to admit it to the mirror or not.
If he grew for his own use or sold it at cost, that would be different. As it is, he’s growing only so he can get illegal profits, not as an act of conscience or civil disobience to protest unjust laws.
Comment / By anonymous / Oct. 6, 2008, 7:07 p.m.
Why cant folks just switch over to propane generators……propane is cheaper, and turns to a gas and rises into the air if it leaks……no fouling streams.
Jesus h christ it isn’t rocket science.
Comment / By love godess / Oct. 7, 2008, 12:40 p.m.
Message to not a native. Lets see either the government or max is going to pay the medical bills. Wouldnt you rather see him trying to pay his own way or would you rather have your tax dollars supporting him? At least Max is being cautious about his grow. Also do you really care that much as to how he is able to garden. You obviously waste alot of your time worry about petty things and need to get your own life and keep busy so you are not concerned as to how someone farms their garden. I also do not see a correlation between crack, tweek, or coke dealers to that of a marijuana grow. Those sort of drugs have nothing in common to that of a grow farm as long as precautions are taken place and not harming the environment
Comment / By Not A Native / Oct. 7, 2008, 5:07 p.m.
love godess. Funny isn’t it? You don’t even mention or have any sympathy for the pain Barbara experiences due to marijuana growing in her neighborhood. Would you tell her she should move or suck it up?
Many people have medical bills and needs but don’t take up criminal activities. If Max can’t pay, he’s old enough for medicare and if he’s poor enough he gan get medi-CAL. All of which I’m happy to help support as a social good, as opposed to the underground illicit marijuana trade. Max grows indoor to make the biggest buck and thats a pure profit motive.
You need to get your head out of your a and face up to the harm that he’s doing, and the harm criminality does to children who grow up around it, and the real environmental damage thats caused by it.
Get real, growers don’t take precautions. Reread the article about the “Harsh Reality”. They don’t give a hoot about the environment as long as they can intimidate their neighbors into hushing up. Like Barbara is being forced to. Growers create a climate of fear, secrecy, dishonesty and denial. Just like a dysfunctional family. How can that ever be a good thing for the community?
Comment / By Jeff Muskrat / Oct. 8, 2008, 5:58 p.m.
Nothing beats some good sun-powered outdoor organic ganja, grown with love and not greed.
Comment / By towelly the dread head / Oct. 11, 2008, 10:13 a.m.
i agree with mr muskrat. solar powered is the way to go. ‘max’ needs to get off the purple and go with some sour diesel or cherry AK if he wants some yield, and maybe once thats worked out he can afford to put in a solar powered compact flourescent veg room and quit paying for clones..
make the world a better place , one plant at a time
thanks NCJ for a really decent piece of journalism…
i assume its ok to use noisy polluting diesel generators for large scale construction projects and other asset creating endeavors with marginal benefit to the general public??
just not dope, nope
Comment / By Fancy Nancy / Dec. 25, 2008, 10:23 a.m.
Max talks about prescription drugs being shipped from China compared to diesel dope ,really they are very similar. The diesel does not originate here either. The sun however is local, organic and free! Max also says he is producing an organic product. How could that be if it’s grown under artificial lights that are powered by diesel?
Comment / By humboldtbambee / Jan. 12, 2009, 3:51 p.m.
There has to be a way to do anything without making a mess. In Oakland they have Oaksterdom—classes which help medical marijuana get to patients. We can grow mm without killing critters, causing a spill or burning down a Historic home in Arcata. We are not that stupid.