MacHado
MacHado v. State Water Resources Control Board
Opinion
Opinion
Hull, J.
In this appeal, plaintiffs Robert A. Machado, David A. Machado, Frank R. Machado, Mabel G. Machado, and Machado & Machado Dairy (collectively referred to as the Dairy) challenge the issuance of a cleanup and abatement order. The Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) issued this order because the Dairy was discharging manure and wastewater into a ditch that flowed into a drainage system and then into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The Dairy asserts (1) due process required a hearing before the cleanup and abatement order could be issued, (2) the order was vague and included remedies that exceeded the authority of the RWQCB, and (3) the reports required as part of the cleanup and abatement order threatened the Dairy’s right against self-incrimination.
The trial court rejected each of these claims and denied the Dairy’s petition for writ of mandate. We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
Discharges into the state’s water system are usually regulated through the issuance of waste discharge requirements (WDR’s). (See generally Wat. Code, §§ 13260, 13263, 13264 [all further undesignated statutory references are to the Water Code].) However, in 1982, the RWQCB…