California waste workers sue landfill site for $300 MILLION for exposing them ... trends now
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.
A group of waste workers are suing a landfill after it allegedly made them work during the 2020 Glass Fire (pictured) and exposed them to toxic chemicals
The group also claims they faced racial discrimination when they blew the whistle on environmental concerns at the Clover Flat landfill (pictured)
Both former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and California Gov. Gavin Newsom own wineries in the area, which the waste employees serviced
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.
The 2020 Glass Fire had scorched more than 67,000 acres of California's
