.C&H Hit With Massive Fine

C&H Sugar, the Crocket sugar refinery that has been operating for more than a century and produces some 700,000 tons of sugar per year, has been slapped with fines that could reach $500,000, for repeated toxic discharges into the Carquinez Strait. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the refinery spilled sugar, bacteria, mercury, and other nasty material more than 50 times, largely because operators have failed to repair or replace the facility’s aging coolant system. State water regulators fined C&H $30,000 in 2005 for similar incidents. The refinery could still appeal the ruling.