Gina Gallo, Dry Creek Store Charged With Polluting Russian River

Gina Gallo and her Dry Creek General Store LLC have been sued in U.S. District Court by the Northern California River Watch and charged with polluting the Russian River and surrounding ground water with sewage from a defective septic system.

According to the complaint, defective leach lines from the the store and restaurant at 3495 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg,  “have been an ongoing source of discharge of sewage into Dry Creek, both from the runoff of surface discharges and from underground sewage discharges into the Dry Creek via groundwater, since at least 2002.”

COUNTY GAVE GALLO PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT OVER NEIGHBOR

River Watch’s complaint alleges that the issue was discovered in 2009 when sewage was discovered  on the surface of the adjoining property owned by Brady Phenicie at 3475 Dry Creek Road.

Before anyone determined that the sewage was actually coming from the Dry Creek General Store, the County of Sonoma ordered Phenicie to repair or replace his sewage disposal system within 30 days or vacate the property. The Sonoma County Permit and Resource Management Department (PRMD) also ordered him to have the septic tank pumped daily as an interim measure.

However, according to the River Watch complaint, when the county discovered that the sewage spill was coming from the store, Gallo was allowed to pump the septic tank on a daily basis, but no order was issued to repair or replace the system and no order was made to vacate the property as in Phenicie’s instance.

“Without a viable long term solution there is the highest degree of likelihood that ongoing discharges will resume,” said the River Watch complaint which added, “Defendants’ pumping operation creates a nuisance in the form of odors and noise.”

The entire complaint and exhibit is available here for VIP Premium Subscribers.