Opus One Winery ordered to pay for Napa River contamination

Oct 2, 2017

(NVR) - Opus One Winery has been ordered to pay more than $10,000 in monetary relief for contaminating the Napa River with grape waste last year.

An undetermined amount of grape waste from the Oakville winery was accidentally pumped into the river in October during the 2016 harvest, Opus One CEO David Pearson said Wednesday. The pump was set up so that rain water from the winery’s parking lot would get pumped into the river, but when rain got into and leaked through a container of pomace, red water went into the drain system and was pumped into the river.

“The pump was on when it shouldn’t have been,” Pearson said.

When the winery was notified of the spill the next day, they responded immediately. The pump has been adjusted so it no longer directs into the river, Pearson said.

“It’s a onetime incident that made us very upset,” he said. “We take our stewardship of the river and the environment very seriously.”


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