Ron Freitas
District Attorney
District Attorney
The Environmental Protection Unit of the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office serves to protect our county’s natural resources, as well as the health and safety of San Joaquin County residents through
the investigation and prosecution, both civilly and criminally, of a wide variety of violations of environmental laws. These laws are designed to protect San Joaquin County residents, as well as the air, water, land, and wildlife.
Enforcement of these environmental laws and regulations also serves to prevent violators from gaining an unfair business advantage over competitors who adhere to the rules. Dedicated to protecting natural resources, and preventing air and water pollution, the Environmental Protection Unit investigates and prosecutes complex environmental crimes including violations of laws involving the handling, storage, transportation, and disposal of hazardous waste, underground storage tanks, hazardous material laws, and regulations.
San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office also works in partnership with other State and local environmental agencies and health departments to stop businesses that operate in San Joaquin County and other areas of the state from violating environmental laws and regulations and is committed to requiring violators to correct illegal activity.
California’s waterways are extremely important to our economy and our everyday life in San Joaquin County. The Environmental Crimes Unit works with State Fish and Wildlife to protect our waterways by prosecuting water pollution cases, stream bed alteration violations, and combating poaching and other illegal fishing and hunting violations that threaten our natural resources.
Illegal dumping not only violates the law but impacts public health and safety and potentially reduces property values. The Environmental Protection Unit works with county and city Code Enforcement agencies to combat this restricted activity.
A simple step you can take to help us protect our environment is to properly dispose of hazardous waste, like incandescent lightbulbs, batteries, and waste oil, properly. To learn what items may be recycled or disposed of, please use this link to visit the San Joaquin County Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
Other helpful contacts:
Celeste Kaisch
Deputy District Attorney
Jennifer Day
Deputy District Attorney
Contact Environmental Protection:
Consumer-Environmental Phone Line:
(209) 953-7730