Rancher Fined $1 Million for Water Pollution
A cattle ranch and its owner were ordered to pay $1 million for water pollution.
Masami Ishida, 70, is accused of discharging manure waste water from feedlots and retaining ponds at Masami Cattle Ranch into local creeks. The creeks feed into the Sacramento River.
Ishida was also sentenced to six months’ home detention as part of one year’s probation for violating the federal Clean Water Act, attorney John Vincent said.
Ranch foreman Manuel Madera Noriega, 46, received two years’ probation and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine.
Masami Cattle Ranch, west of Corning, is part of an enterprise that includes MCR; Masami Foods, a slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant; and Marusho Co. Ltd. of Osaka, Japan, a wholesaler and distributor of meat in Japan. The 6,000-acre ranch has been in operation since 1989, maintaining 5,000 to 8,000 head of cattle.
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