XPost: ca.environment, free.nancy.pelosi.sewage.plant, talk.politics.guns XPost: sac.politics

California waste workers who serviced Nancy Pelosi and Gavin Newsom's
vineyards are suing a Napa Valley landfill site, claiming they were
exposed to toxic chemicals when they had to work during and directly after
the 2020 Glass Fire.

The group says they were exposed to methane gas, which is highly explosive
and can cause suffocation, and contaminated water leaking from the Clover
Flat Landfill during the fire that broke out in late September and
originated on Glass Mountain Road.

They also claim in their lawsuit that they were retaliated against and
faced racial discrimination for blowing the whistle on landfill's
potential to pollute air and water.

Former St. Helena Mayor Geoff Ellsworth even allegedly brought up his
concerns about contamination to Pelosi and Newsom for years, but he said
his warnings went unheeded.

In total, the group is seeking $300million in restitution from the
landfill and the Upper Valley Disposal Services from their complaint to California's Division of Occupational Health and Safety.

Jose Garibay Jr., who originally filed the suit, claims that a 15-man crew
for the Upper Valley Disposal Services was forced to work 11 to 12-hour
days in the aftermath of the devastating Glass Fire in 2020.

They had no training on the handling of hazardous material cleanup and no equipment other than an N95 mask, the former supervisor said.

'We didn't have experience at all with these situations,' he told FOX
Business. 'We didn't have protocol for what happens in a fire, what
happens in an emergency. we had no training whatsoever.

'But they did send us right after the fire to clean up the mess before officials showed up.'

During that time, he said, 'We were exposed to the gas methane escaping
from the landfill and leachate water.'

By the time officials showed up one week later, evidence of the damage
from the wildfire — which scorched more than 67,000 acres of California's famous wine region — had been cleared.

But a report in the complaint from the San Francisco Bay Regional Water
Quality Board found that 'the site was severely impacted by the Glass
Fire.'

That was just one instance, the waste workers argues in which Clover Flat Landfill officials put employees at risk.

Two complainants, Gary and Ricky Hernandez, said they were forced to come
to work during an evacuation order while the fire was still raging.

They also said they were pressured to come into work during the height of
the COVID pandemic.

'I'm working with COVID, over there servicing Nancy Pelosi's house, and
she's out there getting her hair done,' Gary told FOX Business, referring
to a video of the former House Speaker getting a blow-out at a salon that
was closed during lockdown.

Ricky, who is not related to Gary, meanwhile, said he was servicing the
French Laundry restaurant — where Newsom violated his own COVID lockdown
order for an expensive lunch party with friends.

And Garibay said he was tasked with clearing fire damage at the 'old
winery' near the landfill and St. Helena's water supply.

The landfill has since been sold to Waste Connections Inc., but some
former members of the management still remain on the job — including
Christy Pestoni, whose family founded the collection business in the 1950s
and owns a nearby winery.

The landfill employees are now calling for an investigation into the
landfill's former management, as well as testing for potential toxic
material downhill.

They believe some laws have been violated, with Garibay claiming he and
other workers who lived at the site of the landfill were also exposed to contaminated wastewater pumped through employee housing, the Napa Valley Register reports.

Garibay, who started as a driver for the company, was ultimately fired in
2022 — and, he says, he was wrongfully terminated for speaking out against
the conditions at the landfill.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Waste Connections Inc. and Pestoni for comment.

The suit comes after years of inaction by Pelosi and Newsom, former Mayor Ellsworth claims.

He said he has been warning for years that the landfill — which sits at
the top of a hill — has the potential to pollute water and agricultural
land in the valley below and could create health issues for people
breathing in the air after a wildfire.

'There's a machine politic thing going on here — this is the backyard of
San Francisco, and people have their second homes and their wine
businesses,' he said.

'But it doesn't absolve them from taking responsibility for the laws in
the area and the treatment of people working here.'

Ellsworth, who worked at the landfill 30 years ago, said he reached out to numerous California government agencies and officials over the past three
years — reaching out to members of Congress, the governor's office, state
and local regulators and even the former House Speaker.

'They blew me off,' he claimed. 'Nobody would talk about it.'

Meanwhile, he said, the Pestoni winery continued to host campaign events
for some of the state and local lawmakers he reached out to.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12296649/California-waste- workers-sue-landfill-site-300-MILLION-exposing-toxic-chemicals.html

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