Support NeoGAF

[Tripon]

WEAVERVILLE, Calif. (Reuters) - Pollution from illegal marijuana farms deep in California's national forests is far worse than previously thought, and has turned thousands of acres into waste dumps so toxic that simply touching plants has landed law enforcement officers in the hospital.

The volume of banned or restricted pesticides and illegally applied fertilizers in the woods dwarfs estimates by the U.S. Forest Service in 2014, when a top enforcement official testified that the pollution was threatening forest land in California and other states.

Growers use fertilizers and pesticides long restricted or banned in the United States, including carbofuran and zinc phosphide. In previous years, it was commonly sold fertilizers and pesticides that were used illegally, law enforcement officials said.

Exposure to the pesticides has sent at least five law enforcement officials and two suspects to hospitals with skin rashes, respiratory problems and other symptoms, court documents and state data show.

Federal prosecutors have also charged pot growers with environmental crimes in Alaska, Oregon and Washington.

The most toxic sites cost as much as $100,000 to clean up, leaving taxpayers with a bill that could reach $100 million or more in California alone.

Use of toxics has grown over the past three to four years, and chemicals have been found at sites in Oregon and Washington as well, said Chris Boehm, the Forest Service's assistant director for enforcement and investigation. "In the last couple years we've lost a lot of the ground we had picked up in eradicating and cleaning up the new sites we find."

The expense and danger of cleanup has created a backlog of 639 illegal marijuana farms awaiting restoration in California, according to U.S. Forest Service data compiled for Reuters. Each farm covers up to 50 acres.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...ec3a&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

 

[Trojita]

Holy shit at the butane picture.

 

[brianjones]

people that litter are asshole scumbags

 

[op_ivy]

I've heard local nfs wildlife biologists talk about this locally. Specifically, biological magnification and how it's affecting raptor populations like spotted owl and goshawks

 

[kmax]

I don't give a fuck if you want to produce pot, but fucking up the enviornment like that and hurting lives is a big fuck you from me with these consequences.

Shut em down.

 

[Conciliator]

This is why industries need regulation. The weed industry is young, and it needs regulation to check stuff like this.

EDIT: oh this is illegal, derp. well, then this shit should be shut down so we can make room for legalized, regulated farms!

 

[Yaboosh]

This is why industries need regulation. The weed industry is young, and it needs regulation to check stuff like this.

There is regulation. These are illegal grow ops.

 

[Aaronrules380]

You have to imagine this would've been much easier to avoid if we had legalized marijuana and thus been more capable of regulating supplies. I imagine pot farmers were far more likely to use illegal fertilizers because they were doing something illegal in the first place

 

[Kthulhu]

There is regulation. These are illegal grow ops.

I thought weed was legal in California?

 

[Derwind]

Easily preventable once proper regulation & industry oversight is in place. But god damn that picture in the OP is really powerful.

 

[Hugstable]

Holy shit at all those butane cans. I'm guessing it's all from makign the concentrated wax

 

[Gordon Shumway]

people that litter are asshole scumbags

💯

 

[Yaboosh]

I thought weed was legal in California?

Yes. Same in Colorado. And washington. And Oregon. But all still have problems with illegal grow ops and black markets because of high taxes. Just like the mob illegally trucked/sold cigarettes way back when. Or bootleggers made moonshine in the boonies.

 

[Pandy]

Holy shit at the butane picture.

people that litter are asshole scumbags

Both these things.

 

[DJ Lushious]

Why do the growers use illegal pesticides/fertilizers? The article doesn't ever say and I don't understand why growers would go that route.

 

[Tripon]

I thought weed was legal in California?

It is, it is not legal to grow in state and national parks. We didn't try to protect these lands just to let jackasses farm in secret.

 

[WedgeX]

Quite fucking up our national parks, illegal growers.

 

[Eusis]

This is why industries need regulation. The weed industry is young, and it needs regulation to check stuff like this.

EDIT: oh this is illegal, derp. well, then this shit should be shut down so we can make room for legalized, regulated farms!

It admittedly still shows why regulation is necessary and what happens when it's disregarded.

But fuck, these people make me so fucking angry.

 

[MJPIA]

Christ

According to unpublished data seen by Reuters, Gabriel, who has visited more than 100 sites in California and is widely considered the top expert on toxics at marijuana farms, calculated that federal land in California contains 731,000 pounds of solid fertilizer, 491,000 ounces of concentrated liquid fertilizer and 200,000 ounces of toxic pesticides.

If much of the pesticide and fertilizer were released into a single stream rather than scattered around the state in leaky containers, the volume would exceed the amount of chemicals spilled in 2014 into the Elk River in West Virginia, which left 300,000 residents without access to potable water.

"We're getting contamination over and over again at those locations," said Gabriel, as toxins move from unsafe containers into the soil and water.

Gabriel said that figure understated the problem, and pointed out that toxics are used at thousands of illegal farms on private and tribal land. After a year or two, growers often abandon sites, leaving containers of chemicals so toxic a quarter-teaspoon could kill a bear.

As California moves to license growers, officials plan to regulate the use of chemicals. But rules can only be enforced against those who cultivate pot legally.

"There are a lot of incentives for continuing to grow illegally," said Washington Fish and Wildlife Deputy Chief Mike Cenci, citing growers' distaste for taxes and red tape.

"We've got 4,000 illegal grows in our county," said Keith Groves, a supervisor of Trinity County in Northern California. "I'll be happy if we can get 500 of them to become licensed."

This is as bad as mining companies that have shut down and leave toxic waste behind leaving the government to clean up and these guys are unlikely to ever get licensed and follow the rules and grow legally.

 

[Snowybreak]

Why do the growers use illegal pesticides/fertilizers? The article doesn't ever say and I don't understand why growers would go that route.

Well the operations themselves are illegal.

 

[bootsthecat]

So are they using the illegal pesticides because they're that much more effective, or just not buying legal stuff as to not put them on the radar of LE for big pesticide purchases? Or just cheaper?

Regarding the butane pic, how are legal growers making wax? Big re-fillable tanks of butane?

 

[Aaronrules380]

I imagine part of the reason these illegal farms are so popular even though you can grow legally there now is that it's easier to do business and sell to parts of the country where it isn't legal yet for a business that was illegal in the first place. I feel like stuff like this shows why marijuana needs to be legalized federally and not just state by state

(And I don't even use Marijuana)

 

[elrechazado]

Legalize it, and the crazy profit margins and need for crazy remote places to grow it will eliminate this issue.

 

[Sirpopopop]

You have to imagine this would've been much easier to avoid if we had legalized marijuana and thus been more capable of regulating supplies. I imagine pot farmers were far more likely to use illegal fertilizers because they were doing something illegal in the first place

We don't say the same thing about illegal logging companies and the pollution they emit.

These illegal pot farms deserve the same treatment, not, "Hmm... well if we always had legalized marijuna, well maybe, we wouldn't have to deal with this situation."

No, I'm more like, "Fuck them. You guys play at being hippies, but you're more like Hoggish Greedly than anything else."

 

[elrechazado]

We don't say the same thing about mining companies and the pollution they emit.

These illegal pot farms deserve the same treatment, not, "Hmm... well if we always had legalized marijuna, well maybe, we wouldn't have to deal with this situation."

No, I'm more like, "Fuck them. You guys play at being hippies, but you're more like Hoggish Greedly than anything else."

The cartels have been growing weed for decades in California national state parks.

 

[Aaronrules380]

We don't say the same thing about mining companies and the pollution they emit.

These illegal pot farms deserve the same treatment, not, "Hmm... well if we always had legalized marijuna, well maybe, we wouldn't have to deal with this situation."

No, I'm more like, "Fuck them. You guys play at being hippies, but you're more like Hoggish Greedly than anything else."

Obviously these guys are greedy assholes and deserve to be punished. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't take further steps to make it less lucrative to have these illegal farms. The best way to stop shitty people from doing shitty things is to make it in their best interest to avoid doing so

 

[Nazgul_Hunter]

One more reason why it needs to be legalized and regulated.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Why do the growers use illegal pesticides/fertilizers? The article doesn't ever say and I don't understand why growers would go that route.

Because they likely have to buy the stuff underground so as not to be flagged when buying large amounts of fertilizer legally... and I am assuming most stuff sold underground is the illegal stuff.

 

[Yaboosh]

We don't say the same thing about illegal logging companies and the pollution they emit.

These illegal pot farms deserve the same treatment, not, "Hmm... well if we always had legalized marijuna, well maybe, we wouldn't have to deal with this situation."

No, I'm more like, "Fuck them. You guys play at being hippies, but you're more like Hoggish Greedly than anything else."

It ain't hippies running these.

 

[Fuchsdh]

Legalize it, and the crazy profit margins and need for crazy remote places to grow it will eliminate this issue.

This seems like wishful thinking. It certainly wouldn't hurt, but the proliferation of legal marijuana hasn't removed the profit incentive of not having to pay for water or land to grow massive amounts of weed, which you can then sell tax-free. As the official points out at the end, they'd be happy if they can convert a small fraction of these to legal grows, but that still leaves the majority polluting national parks and getting away with it. There's no way for authorities to police all that parkland, let alone tribal or private lands.

 

[Vard]

Disgusting and sad...

 

[Trouble]

Yes. Same in Colorado. And washington. And Oregon. But all still have problems with illegal grow ops and black markets because of high taxes. Just like the mob illegally trucked/sold cigarettes way back when. Or bootleggers made moonshine in the boonies.

Plus the weed from these illegal grow ops aren't necessarily sold in the same state where pot is legal.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Obviously these guys are greedy assholes and deserve to be punished. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't take further steps to make it less lucrative to have these illegal farms. The best way to stop shitty people from doing shitty things is to make it in their best interest to avoid doing so

Yes, a good further step would be to go around shutting down these illegal farms. There's absolutely no reason for them to exist. There's already a legal path to growing marijuana, and even if that path didn't exist, there should be no sympathy to mass polluters who are fucking with endangered and threatened species that live in the wild.

 

[akira28]

find a better way to make BHO you dinks.

that picture of all those commercial cans, just pisses me off. you are so inefficient, i think I might want to fire you out of a cannon.

get a lab, get huge canisters and get your butane from a vendor for starters.

It ain't hippies running these.

yeah these are usually criminals who will kill you if you mess with their shit. or at least 5 years ago they would kill you.

 

[Clefargle]

illegal

Ok so legalize it and regulate the wax makers

 

[TemplaerDude]

Ok so legalize it and regulate the wax makers

No no no no no that doesn't make any sense, keep it illegal, that'll show them.

 

[Kyzer]

You would think if you can afford all those butane cans you could get a rosin press and make better stuff with no butane 🤔

 

[Daedardus]

Ok so legalize it and regulate the wax makers

It is already legal, these guys are just trying to circumvent the system.

 

[Bedameister]

One more reason to legalize it.

 

[TAJ]

I thought weed was legal in California?

I don't think it is. Last I heard it was going to take effect early next year at best.

 

[Tripon]

Pot is legal in california. This is still happening because cartels, gangs and large criminal organizations operating in California don't care about the legality of a product and will keep on trying to sell it on the black market.

 

[Shadowhelper]

Why do the growers use illegal pesticides/fertilizers? The article doesn't ever say and I don't understand why growers would go that route.

Cheaper and more effective in increasing yield. 99% of people who consume cannabis don't care about the quality.

 

[brianjones]

I don't think it is. Last I heard it was going to take effect early next year at best.

its legal to possess and grow

I think next year is when the actual legal sale of it begins (without a medical card?) .. correct if wrong pls

 

[Lord Fagan]

Holy shit at the butane picture.

Judging from that husk of a building in the background, police must have cleaned up one hell of mishap out in the forest.

 

[Josh5890]

Legalizing it throughout the country won't automatically kill the black market. This has been going on for decades and it won't end overnight

 

[NervousXtian]

Looks like they also fucked up and caught their shit on fire in that butane pic.

 

[Syriel]

Why do the growers use illegal pesticides/fertilizers? The article doesn't ever say and I don't understand why growers would go that route.

Because all they care about is profit.

They don't care about what they are actually selling.

It is, it is not legal to grow in state and national parks. We didn't try to protect these lands just to let jackasses farm in secret.

Exactly. These are just greedy assholes trying to maximize profit by minimizing safety.

 

[Cerium]

This is terrible and would be solved by complete legalization.

 

[Hex]

people that litter are asshole scumbags

Dude they're only trees

/s

 

[Beer Monkey]

Jesus Christ, time to make Roundup-resistant weed strains. Problem solved. Glyphosate is a million times safer than his crap they use.