DA’s Office announces settlement with Clover Flat landfill over 2019 leachate spill
The owners and operators of Clover Flat landfill must pay nearly $6.7 million for environmental restoration projects as part of a settlement in connection with environmental violations, according to the Napa County District Attorney’s Office.
The civil complaint stems from a March 2019 allegation that Clover Flat, which is three miles south of Calistoga on Silverado Trail, released 40,000 gallons of leachate-laden stormwater into nearby streams that flow to the Napa River.
Leachate is the contaminated liquid generated when rainwater and moisture drain through landfills and draw out components of the waste. When released into waterways, it can impact water quality and aquatic life.
A Department of Fish and Wildlife investigation into the 2019 incident found other violations, including the unauthorized construction of a road that altered a stream and unauthorized removal of vegetation, according to a complaint the Napa County District Attorney filed on Sept. 12 in Napa County Superior Court.
As part of the settlement, Clover Flat landfill, which was purchased in 2022 by Waste Connections Inc., a Texas-based waste management company, will pay an estimated $4 million to restore 4.24 acres of habitat on and around the landfill and replant vegetation. They must also remove an unauthorized road that was excavated through a stream and re-establish those natural streams, according to a statement from the District Attorney.
Additionally, the defendants will be required to pay nearly $2.7 million toward funding of other Napa County environmental restoration projects. The payments include $1.55 million toward the Bale Slough-Bear Creek Tributary restoration project, $954,000 toward the Huichica Creek restoration project and $150,000 to the county’s Resource Conservation District to be used for either its Huichica project or the Suscol Creek restoration project.
It will also pay a minimum of $100,000 in civil penalties.
“Our office is responsible for prosecuting environmental violations in Napa County, and we take that responsibility seriously, particularly when it comes to water pollution,” Napa County District Attorney Allison Haley said. “This settlement reflects the severity of the leachate spill, as well as Clover Flat’s willingness to engage in a comprehensive and long-term environmental restoration plan.”
Representatives from Clover Flat did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Soon after the March 2019 incident, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a cleanup and abatement order for the landfill owners to take actions to comply with its permit and prevent the leachate from discharging from the landfill. In 2023, the Water Board and defendants entered a settlement and defendants agreed to pay an administrative fine of $619,000.
The District Attorney’s Office said the settlement resolves the violations stemming from the 2019 Department of Fish and Wildlife leachate spill investigation but does not address other allegations against the landfill. To date, it said, the office had not received other referrals from investigatory agencies to prosecute the landfill for any other legal violation.
Clover Flat landfill, also known as Clover Flat Resource Recovery Park, contracts with the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency and serves Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville and the unincorporated areas of the upper valley.
A vocal group of critics have long claimed that operations at Clover Flat are harming nearby waterways and present a potential fire threat. The landfill has been cited in the past for various environmental and safety violations and has been the subject of workplace complaints from employees.
The landfill and garbage company was owned by the Pestoni family from the 1960s until the family sold the landfill in 2022 to Waste Connections.
Last October, the company announced plans to close the landfill, a two-year process that is expected to be completed in 2027.
Kerana Todorov contributed to this reporting.
