San Diego extraction company, WellgreensCA, has been charged for allegedly disregarding compliance and illegally dumping 55-gallon barrels of contaminated ethanol in various locations around the city.
Compliant waste removal is a major factor of cannabis production and manufacturing. Companies that process cannabis into oil using solvents like ethanol are required to dispose of the solvents in compliance with stringent state regulations.
WellgreensCA is one of 40 permitted cannabis production plants in San Diego; the company processes cannabis to create THC oil and packages cannabis oil for private labels. According to the company’s attorney, Vikas Bajaj, WellgreensCA is a “model extraction lab that has been used as an example by California regulators.”
Ethanol is used as a solvent by cannabis oil producers and manufacturers, typically during the winterization stage of the distillation. According to the indictment, “The waste ethanol generated by Wellgreens was a federally regulated hazardous waste that exhibited the characteristic of ignitability.”
Beginning in February 2018, WellgreensCA allegedly paid for their contaminated ethanol to be dumped at various locations including State Routes 52 and 125, in San Diego.
WellgreensCA allegedly paid cash to have the drums of ethanol removed from their site. The cost of the unlawful disposal amounted to half of the expense of compliant disposal. No invoices, manifests, or receipts were created by either WellgreensCA or the disposer, according to the indictment.
Co-Owners Lunar Loussia and Nadia Malloian have been charged in the indictment. Loussia has also been approved to operate dispensaries in Lemon Grove and La Mesa and has three applications for recreational cannabis storefronts in Chula Vista. Vikas Bajaj says the indictment may carry implications for Loussia’s other cannabis businesses. Read the entire story at www.candidchronicle.com
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