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1 INTRODUCTION <br /> 2 The discharges of 1982 through 1998 are virtually undisputed strict liability violations. <br /> 3 The evidence is consistent that the dairy's location and layout allowed stormwater from the dairy <br /> 4 property, and adjacent properties to flow into the waste holding pond,overwhelming its' <br /> 5 capacity, resulting in contaminated discharge. As a suggestion of mitigating circumstances <br /> 6 Defendants' offered extensive evidence regarding the stormwater's ultimate uphill sources. <br /> 7 Such evidence, however,merely restated and confirmed the People's case,namely that <br /> 8 defendants never took adequate steps to isolate the corrals andwaste.pond from clean <br /> 9 stormwater defendants knew about <br /> 10 I. THE EVIDENCE <br /> 11 Defendants' dairy is located on the southwest corner of Mountain House Parkway and <br /> 12 Grant Line Road,the lowest point for miles to the south and west of that intersection. The waste <br /> 13 pond is immediately at the comer. The area, including Defendants' 148 acres, drains towar <br /> 14 their waste pond. Every witness but one testified that when Defendants began to operate in <br /> 15 approximately 1980, the pond consisted of levees on two or three sides of a rectangle, but was <br /> 16 open on the fourth,uphill, side. As a result,the pond fills and backs up the uphill side during <br /> 17 wet winters, discharging manure-laden water over San Joaquin County roads and neighboring <br /> 18 properties. <br /> 19 A. The First Decade of Discharges <br /> 20 John Menke testified that when he responded to a complaint in January, 1982,he saw a <br /> 21 tule-filled depression. At that time the Kimbroughs explained that a pump failed, resulting in <br /> 22 the overflow along Grant Line Road. Menke observed another discharge when he returned in <br /> 23 April of 1982. At the time, the Kimbroughs blamed that overflow on run-on from the Byrorh <br /> 24 Bethany Irrigation District [BEM]. <br /> 25 Two county employees recalled further discharges in the mid-1980's. Mike Huggins <br /> 26 testified that in 1983 the pond overflowed the north berm, flowed down Grant Line, and <br /> • 27 inundated some water wells. He recalled other discharges, one in about 1986. Although he <br /> 28 could not specify additional dates, there were enough discharges that he was "despondent"about <br />