California marijuana manufacturer charged with toxic waste dumping

A California cannabis company and two of its executives face federal criminal charges for dumping 1,500 pounds of toxic waste.

The charges against WellGreensCA stem from alleged violations of Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

A U.S. attorney’s office has charged that Lunar Louissa, part owner of WellGreensCA, and Nadia Malloian, a company administrator, conspired to illegally dump 28 drums of ethanol waste from their company’s cannabis extraction lab, without proper federal permits, San Diego TV station KNSD reported.

According to the June 19 indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California, the illegal dumping conspiracy dates to November 2017 through at least June 2018.

Both Louissa and Malloian hired an unlicensed refuse hauler to get rid of 55-gallon drums of ethanol, according to the indictment.

The drums were allegedly left at five different sites around San Diego County.

The company said it paid the hauler in cash. Investigators said the required paperwork was not filed.

WellGreensCA does business as Trade Street, KNSD reported.

A WellGreensCA attorney told the TV station that its state-permitted facility had been inspected “multiple” times and “was always in full compliance.”

The attorney said the company didn’t know anything about illegal waste dumping.

Rather, he blamed a consultant who had been hired by WellGreensCA to help the company navigate state and federal regulations.