Edhat Staff
Casitas Pass Road in Carpinteria
By edhat staff
A group of Carpinteria residents is pursuing legal action against neighboring marijuana farms over its smell.
A class-action lawsuit was filed on Thursday by a Santa Barbara attorney on behalf of Carpinteria residents against multiple growers in the area. The lawsuit is asking the growers to seal their greenhouses using “carbon-based filtration methods.”
Residents involved in the lawsuit state the currently used vapor-phase filtration is more harmful to allergy and asthma conditions and is irritating to eyes. The suit also alleges the current system can cause respiratory problems and headaches due to the emitted chemicals that are used.
One plaintiff, Greg Gandrud, stated his bedroom window is 70 feet from a grow house and feels his home hasn’t sold in two years due to the smell.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is also mentioned for not doing enough to rectify the situation and imposing lenient policies for marijuana growers. Supervisors Das Williams and Steve Lavagnino have come under fire for receiving campaign contributions from local growers.
In January, a cannabis grower whose farm was considered a “model marijuana grow” by County Supervisors was arrested for illegal possession and black market sales.
The lawsuit states the plaintiffs are not looking for money and would likely dismiss the case if the growers change their filtration system and odors decrease.
I think some of those points about the ag industry spraying pesticides are valid, but the reality is that we are surrounded by toxic substances in our modern life that we can’t do anything about. So we accept them. Noxious skunk-like odors are a constant reminder of this, and the majority will not accept the current situation. If the pot growers can’t figure out how to remedy this, they will be out of business as soon as we find some politicians that don’t fund their campaigns from grower donations.
Exactly, it IS the “new normal” – plan accordingly, folks. This is what voters decided. We live in a democracy and that’s what happens, sometimes you agree with the majority, sometimes you don’t. Tough, get over it.
JQB, why are you bringing up his politics? I don’t understand what thats has to do with the odor issue.
It’s obvious … Greg Gangrud is mentioned here as “one plaintiff”, with no mention of his long involvement in politics … his involvement here is not just as some random neighbor. Some people–like you!–have repeatedly said that politicians can’t be trusted. Also, you have repeatedly brought up politics when it actually was not relevant. I won’t respond further.
Byzarre and completely erroneous reasoning and claims, as always. ” the pot industry is destroying us right here and right now.” — talk about hysteria …
Justice is blind. Gandrud is taking this matter to court. Which is his full and proper right as a citizen in this country. No need for personal slurs based upon preceived politics. I wish him well.
Gandrud’s house stinks?
Pointing out that someone is a Republican politician is a slur? I’ll keep that in mind. And his politics is not merely “preceived”: republican_activist_greg_gandrud_elected_treasurer_of_california_republican
…I, too, would like to get in on this Class Action suit as I drive through that pundgent odor on my bike, motorcycle or car rides through Carp.
Are apples and oranges both fruits? The comparison is that there is an environmental affect. All environments not just the green one. Oil, mind you, is naturally found in the natural environment and is converted into useful inputs to the society you live in and are typing your assertions on. Hence the production of plastics and silicone that are forming your conclusions. The point is reason and the ability to ascertain how much and when policy should be drafted to create regulations that either help or hinder business enterprise in concert with public acceptance. For too long industries of all kinds have evaded and distributed out environmental costs upon the public. Grow marijuana. Just don’t pretend that either scrubbers work or that it doesn’t stink. Drill for oil but don’t pretend derricks don’t leak or you don’t drive a car. Grow broccoli but don’t pretend pesticides don’t drift or you don’t have goiter from cruciferous vegetables.
You could plant any number of crops in those greenhouses that would have an equal or worse impact on the surrounding area (hemp, broccoli, onions, garlic, etc). Cannabis has had a 100year headwind and is obviously going to be met with any and all excuse as to why it is a terrible plant to grow and has negative impacts that are somehow exclusive to it.
Just think, all those other crops you could grow in the green houses are actually nutritious or make beneficial use manufactured products. Pot just gets you high, so it is way down on my own list when you try to compare their relative values. Don’t even bother trying to peddle pot as “medicine”. It isn’t and it ain’t.
Pot odors alone are destroying what used to be. Displacing food crops is not to be celebrated either. Adding more intoxicants to already troubled lives committed to looking for artificial escapes is not anything I want to see more of either. But that is an opinion; the other arguments are facts.
Voters passed a state pot ordinance that included the ability to totally ban it within their communities, so that option always remains on the table. Banning this failed experiment, would put us back among the majority of other communities in this state who did chose to totally ban it. They were smart. They can learn from our very poor example. Hope Das Williams loses and this sends shock waves through the local pot industry. They will soon be on very borrowed time. They are on a very short leash to become far better neighbors than we have seen so far.
Coastwatch – good luck. This isn’t for people who have to smell something they don’t like for a few seconds as they drive through Carp. Go for it though!
CHIP you and Coastwatch ate the last people on earth who can complain about someone “bringing politics” into anything. Do you forget nearly every post you’ve ever written?
“are,” not “ate” hahah! Though it wouldn’t surprise me!
make sure you state ” Natural ” skunk-like odors, as pesticides are NOT natural. so if you could choose the odor…… lets aim for a natural one.
Actually, they are ahead of a certain anonymous poster, so … next to last.
im sorry this has become so much of a disturbance for( some ) people. let me take the same high road everyone else takes when someone complains about housing costs, our community and the economic state. “JUST MOVE IF YOU DONT LIKE IT”………. let see who gets ruffled feathers this time.
BTW, the whole idea of “bringing politics into it” is absurd, when politics is explicitly mentioned in the article: “The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is also mentioned for not doing enough to rectify the situation and imposing lenient policies for marijuana growers. Supervisors Das Williams and Steve Lavagnino have come under fire for receiving campaign contributions from local growers.” The really funny thing is that these folks are up in arms and accusing me of making personal slurs for merely mentioning that Gangrud is a Republican politician … like that’s a *bad* thing.
It’s helpful that some people are making it clear that it’s not the odor that is at issue for them, but rather the very legitimacy of cannabis and its legalization.
JQB: Williams and Lavagnino are elected officials who made pot policies for this country. Gandrud is a private citizen in this legal action. Big difference when you throw around the term ‘politician”. Bringing the names of elected officials is not introducing “politics” into the discussion.
I didn’t make any accusations or imply anything. Just curious why you brought up the man’s politics. I have yet to see any explanation of how that is relevant. Thought perhaps it tied into the story somehow.
If you haven’t worked hard, made prudent personal financial decisions, saved enough of your hard-earned dollars, forgone unnecessary luxuries, you know, really “stuck to your guns” enough to be able to afford an air filter (or car air fresheners for drivers), then you chose the wrong place to live. Hey, not everyone and anyone can live stink-free in such a beautiful town! 😉 wink wink…..
PSTARSR – love it!
“All I need is some tasty waves and a cool buzz, and I’m fine. ” – Jeff Spiccoli
Are you leaving SACJON? Wink…Wink..
No, Roger…sorry you’re stuck with me a little longer ol’ buddy! Just teasing all the “bootstrap” pulling Republicans here who constantly tell poor people to leave because they didn’t “work hard” enough.
It smells so bad now, sue em! I used to really enjoy visiting Carp but now I avoid it, even foregoing the avocado festival which is my fave!
I’m amazed the Carp. High School hasn’t joined the lawsuit. The odor is beyond bad at the campus. Hopefully, this lawsuit prevails.
You think weed stinks – try living downwind from a bunch of wineries when fermentation is going on – 24 hours a day of sweaty high school gym socks.
Pitmix: It should be, as soon as we can find some voters willing to vote out cannabis-saturated politicians. We had a choice in this election….
@1:14 This is not what we voted for. We voted to decriminalize marijuana. We voted so we could legally buy cool cannabis products at retail stores. We voted for a law that gave cities and counties explicit control to develop ordinances which fit the needs of the community. We voted for tax dollars we were promised this industry would bring. We did not vote for unlimited grows. We did not vote for Temporary permits to be handed out without oversight. We did not vote for acres of plastic hoops, lit up greenhouses, constant generator noise, 8 ft fences, security lighting, security guards, horrible odors, ugly temporary storage containers, major traffic increases, unpermitted grading or exploding butane labs. We did not vote for activities that ruin the rural landscape, use major amounts of electricity and water, stink up neighborhoods, devalue adjacent property or impact the quality of life for those subjected to all of this. We didn’t vote for Dennis Bozanich or his VanWingderden assistant. We didn’t vote for the cannabis lobby to take over creation of this ordinance. This debacle is not what Santa Barbara residents voted for.
What is the added cost of using “carbon-based filtration methods?” Will that effectively remedy the smell? Or, is this about something more than the smell of cannabis?
and that smell has been there for close to a decade….maybe it’s time to get over it? Would you whine and complain about the smell of Onions and garlic growing or even worse…the stench of broccoli? What about the local indigenous plants that stink. We have many. This is a lot of uproar and hype from people that are just opposed to one thing or another. It’s a smell from a plant. Pretty straight forward. Don’t like it? Move. Carp growers have been growing and spraying product with cancerous pesticides for decades and you people wank and cry fowl and start making up lies about the smell making yo sick and irritating your eyes and lungs. The only people that are dumb enough to believe this statement are the science deniers. Why do I say this? Because it simply does not cause throat or eye irritation. If it’s an allergy issue, then you’re double screwed as we have similar plants in our hills and forests that are in the same family as marijuana and it grows around here. I find it all of the time while hiking and it stinks just as bad. Maybe the 3 people that are trying to sue, don’t hike, rarely leave their property and are against 3 businesses that are following all of the obnoxious restrictions and jumping up when told to do so. This is good business and it’s helping out economy a great deal. If you don’t like it, move out of the area. This isn’t going to change, and your lawsuits are baseless and I’ll be very surprised if they aren’t thrown out of court.
Sac, it’s more than the smell. They are just whiners that want everything their way…or the highway.
666 you are comparing the oil and gas industries to the cannabis industry??? that is just….lol wow…not even apples and oranges, more like apples and a rock. No comparison at all, by scent, effect, cost, environmentally friendly. Funny, none of yall whined this much when the avos were being sprayed with cancerous chemicals on a regular basis…
Greg Gangrud is a Republican politician.
Was looking for actual info supporting a valid point in your post, but it escaped me. Maybe because I live near Santa Claus lane and haven’t been thinking real good lately…..
If I lived in Carpinteria I would be really upset. Every time I drive pass all I smell is the marijuana that smells like skunk
So disgusting, that smell makes me want to through up. I would be very unhappy if my house my furniture my air smelled like that everyday.
I still don’t understand how it was allowed to be grown in a city that has schools for children.
That’s not true. The odor is very rare and faint at the high school. If it was bad, parents would be marching in the street. They’re not. Stopping spreading misinformation and fear mongering.
That sounds like a Rush Limbaugh comment. Totally F A R R I G H T. Boo!
I was recently at the Grand Canyon. I noticed a group of young people standing near the rim of the canyon laughing and joking and smoking marijuana. They were having a good time, but suddenly they started throwing their various Red Bull, Diet Coke, and Coors containers into the canyon. A park ranger came over and scolded them. “Hey, you can all have your fun, but this is not a can abyss.”
The residents of Carpinteria should also sue Das Williams as well. And he resides in Carpinteria!
and this has what to do with this article/ topic?
It lightens up the topic about stupid kids lighting up.
Who would even want to send their kids to Cate? Just the kids of pot czars, I guess. Come to school along the beautiful Pacific coast, surrounded by acres and acres of lush pot plants.
Conservatives preach – live within your means. Which remains good advice.
or walking through downtown where more and more active beer breweries make the streets smell like an exploding yeast infection for many blocks around…
If one is a paid political apologist, everything is political. One underestimates the numbers of persons in this town directly employed by One-Party Inc.
They should have voted to kick Das out, but they didn’t. Though it is close enough that the final ballot count not known in California for weeks, may still change the alleged “winner” in this race. But since both are pot backers, no one wins.
10:15, the whole point of Laura’s campaign was to rein in the pot industry. Apparently you have been hitting the snooze button for the last 6 months?
Bird, she got really close, that should teach Das something unless he is an old dog that can’t learn new tricks. When is the last time an incumbent almost lost their seat to a challenger? I can only remember Joni Gray and she only lost because she wasn’t conservative enough for the Santa Maria republicans.
Pstarsr, natural is not the same as non-toxic. “There are highly successful products based on natural compounds in the major pesticide classes. These include the herbicide glufosinate (synthetic phosphinothricin), the spinosad insecticides, and the strobilurin fungicides.” Also “Pyrethrins are pesticides found naturally in some chrysanthemum flowers. They are a mixture of six chemicals that are toxic to insects.”
Edhat comment page has gone nuts. Should change the name of the site to ed hate. “Carpinteria residents” in the headline means two residents. Carpinteria residents voted yesterday in a county supervisors election that became a cannabis farming referendum. The candidate put forth by anti-cannabis forces lost. And to those who say the smell is horrific in downtown carp or at carp high school: stop lying. It never smells in downtown Carpinteria. It rarely ever smells at carp high, and when there’s a whiff, it’s short lived and no big deal. Grow up.
You think those stink, try living next to a wastewater treatment plant or paper mill or a dairy or slaughterhouse or any common facility in our modern life where you’d have to be crazy if you lived next to them. When people moved to Carpinteria, it didn’t smell like this. The industry moved in next to them, and should never have been allowed to do this. Das, are you listening?
Hmm… it appears there is no public nuisance at hand only a private nuisance claim. The very few coming forward are complaining of things that would not bother the average person in the community, only their extra sensitivities which are appear to be very unusual. The average person is not bothered by the smell or allergens. If there is a public nuisance at hand, the slight smell will not outweigh the benefit to the community in jobs and tax revenue. I do concur with one poster, as the majority of all Southern California communities face a real housing/rental crisis… move away if you dont like it. We have come to far with removing the bible belt stigmata against MJ that has literally threatened our planets well-being to stop now. Full speed ahead… puff, puff, puff.
Farming has been in Carpinteria since long before those neighborhoods. No greenhouse farm was built to grow cannabis. They were already there. There’s now a different plant that has a distinctive smell. It is being mitigated. The sky isn’t falling. In fact, there’s rarely a smell, and it’s not widespread. Are you listening? Are you being reasonable?