Oliver Whaley, director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency, believes Clean Water Act violations committed by Dineh Benally and his hemp greenhouse production are enough for his office to stop operations, but there needs to be coordination.
When NEPA received reports from residents that Benally’s hemp workers were discharging sewage into the San Juan River, NEPA began looking into it. Although NEPA’s Water Quality department did not find sewage in the river, they found a list of other concerning issues regarding the mobile homes workers have moved onto farms and other parts of the land, which goes against the home-site lease process. NEPA also found violations regarding the hemp greenhouses.
“We found they installed septic tanks without any regard to our domestic wastewater regulations,” said Whaley, a clear violation of the Clean Water Act. “They didn’t get any permits or anything like that. It didn’t appear they were using them to hold sewage but for shower, hand-washing water. But it still has to be put in place properly and still has to be pumped out and disposed of properly.”
Then there are the generators running fans in the greenhouses, which can be found in Shiprock, Gadiahi, Hogback, and other communities throughout the Navajo Nation.
Read more at navajotimes.com