SERRA MESA, Calif. (KGTV) — Wednesday, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board approved a cease and desist order against the owners of the Pine Hill Egg Ranch in Ramona to stop discharging contaminated wastewater at their Ranch and Pullet Farm.
Team 10 Investigates first covered the story in 2019 following complaints of foul smells, piles of chicken carcasses, and impacted well water from people who live near the egg processing facility.
"This has been something that's been going on for years," Tamra Martin said.
Martin and her family have been living near the Pine Hill Egg Ranch property since 2014.
She said the stream of water that runs from the facility through their property used to be clear and clean.
But as the facility grew, so did the problems.
"Now it's this massive facility with water that's contaminated, big plumes of foam sometimes, and film on top," Tamra said.
Residents said the smell became unbearable.
"It would be so strong we'd have to run from our car into the house," said Robert Martin, Tamra's husband.
The couple is part of a group of neighbors who attended the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board meeting about the issue.
Prosecutors with the board recommended a cease and desist order for the facility following an investigation that showed the facility did not remove contaminants from the wastewater.
This resulted in high levels of ammonium-nitrate and other nutrients in the Santa Teresa Valley Creek, which could eventually pose health risks to those who use the water.
"The levels that they had were not quite at that level... about 45 parts per million when you get to that level. They were reporting up to 12, but it's going in the wrong direction is the bottom line," said Dave Gibson, Executive Officer of the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Alex Demler, the owner of Pine Hill Egg Ranch, said he'll comply with the order and is taking steps to clean up operations.
"We've eliminated the discharge of the wastewater. We're going to be hauling that offsite going forward and we're also going to discontinue composting onsite," Demler said.
Meanwhile, residents said they've had to spend thousands of dollars on water filtration systems because of the facility.
While they say getting reimbursed for the costs would be nice, their health is more important.
"We want to be healthy. If we never got a dime back, and we're healthy and our water's good, I think we can all be okay with that," Tamra said.
The order still allows the owners to operate the facility. However, it also requires them to get wastewater discharge permits and implement pollution control devices.
