Man Charged in Illegal Dumping Case in Sierra County

“On July 5th, an off-duty Sierra County Sheriff’s Office detective driving on Highway 49 noticed a GMC pickup with a gray and yellow Attitude trailer parked on Highway 49 near the Forest Service Road 9 at mile-post-marker 40.19.

The off-duty detective saw a white male, later identified through a California State driver’s license as Peter Cate (booking photo attached), standing next to the trailer dumping the black tank into the ditch along Highway 49. The license plate on the vehicle was noted and reported to Sierra County Sheriff’s Office dispatch, and an illegal dumping case was opened.

The Sierra County Sheriff’s Office detective could see brown water discharging from the trailer. The detective turned around and parked across from the truck and trailer. He observed Cate discharging sewage from the black tank. The sewage ran down the road and into an adjacent ditch that drained into a nearby creek. Cate then closed the black tank, got back into his truck, and drove away.

Photographs were taken of the raw sewage which ran approximately 30 yards from dump site. The detective reported a strong smell of sewage and could see toilet paper and human waste. The sewage was about 12 inches from a stream in which the detective could see trout.

Local Fish and Wildlife Warden, Steve Ulrich responded to the scene and assisted the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office in charging the suspect with felony discharge of pollutants into a waterbody. Warden Ulrich notified Fish and Wildlife officers in Cate’s jurisdiction and asked them to contact and interview Cate.

Sierra County Sheriff’s Office wrote an arrest warrant that was served that evening by the Livermore Police Department. Cate was booked into Alameda County Sheriff’s Office on a felony charge of the California Water Code section 13387(a)(1) and a misdemeanor charge of Fish and Game Code, 5652(a), Disposal of Trash into or within 150 feet of a waterbody.