Mushroom farm found in violation
Petaluma Argus-Courier
January 8, 2003By LOIS PEARLMAN, ARGUS-COURIER STAFF
Sonoma County code enforcement inspectors descended on the Petaluma Mushroom Farm Jan. 2 and discovered the company was violating a Dec. 31 deadline for halting its composting operations.
In July, citing neighborhood complaints about foul odors and unremedied water pollution violations, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors gave the mushroom farm until the end of 2002 to stop making compost at its Thompson Lane facility.
At that time mushroom farm officials said they were constructing a new facility for the compost piles in Colusa County.
The plan was to begin trucking the compost in from the new facility to the mushroom-growing rooms on Thompson Lane in time to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. But the new facility is still under construction.
According to planning officials in Colusa County, the mushroom farm, operating under the name Colusa Mushroom, has received permits for construction of a sump pump and concrete slab, but it has not yet provided the county with information to determine if its composting operations fall under state regulations.
County officials have decided to file a notice of violation against the mushroom farm, requiring it to stop composting within 30 days or face consequences.
A spokesperson for the mushroom farm said the compost was gone, but neighbors say it is still on site.
(Contact Lois Pearlman at lpearlman@arguscourier.com)