LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER
On Thursday, October 19, the Board of Directors of the Mammoth Community Water District (MCWD) responded to several claims submitted on behalf of “The Mammoth Group” led by its representatives, Seth Guthrie, Matthew Filzen, and “William Wallace.”
The Mammoth Group is a grassroots organization, advocating for civil and constitutional rights.
The letters submitted to the MCWD Board pertain to ongoing wastewater sampling in Mono County.
Tom Smith, President of MCWD’s Board of Directors, explains:
“In February of 2023, MCWD entered into an agreement with Mono County to permit county public health officials to collect samples of wastewater generated throughout the District and conveyed to the MCWD wastewater treatment plant.”
As for the motivation behind the collection and analysis of these samples, Smith explains that it is an effort by the county to “determine the presence of COVID and other communicable diseases, consistent with a program operated by the California Department of Public Health.”
The samples are collected from aggregated wastewater found in the public sewer system.
Banal? Mammoth Group tends to disagree.
The first email—the signature of which was not included in the Board’s materials—harkens back to a meeting held in August of 2022, at which Guthrie claims to have informed the Board that he did “not consent to being subjected to, or taking part in wastewater surveillance experimentation.”
He continued that despite having educated the Board about one’s right to refuse participation in “experimental research,” the Board nonetheless entered an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the county the following February.
“The very act of entering an MOU for wastewater sampling that I am forced to take part in without my consent and approval is a violation of my rights,” he claims.
Which begat a request: A ceasefire of experimental wastewater sampling.
Further, a request for compensation. The violation, under the California Health and Safety Code – HSC § 1430, entitles him to a payout of $500 for each wastewater sample taken at the Mammoth Community Water District, from each board member whose decision “resulted in the egregious indignity.”
The second email, penned by Filzen and submitted to the Board, proffers similar claims.
Again citing the California Health and Safety Code, in his submission, Filzen claims that MCWD qualifies as a “health facility” and for that reason, “is subject to the laws and penalties that pertain to health facilities and resident/patient rights.”
While Filzen concedes that the nature of the relationship between the alleged health facility and the general resident/consumer is not clearly defined in this instance, it is implied that “the MCWD and the County Health Department are practicing medicine … without the appropriate license.” Filzen also asked for reparations of $500, per violation.
Filzen concluded the email by emphasizing his prioritization of privacy and his own biometric data. The last line urged the Board to settle the matter, in the absence of formal litigation.
“We feel the outcome of our case strongly favors our positions,” concluded Filzen.
Tom Cage, longtime Board member, is not convinced.
“We’re not a health organization. We’re not a hospital. We are a water and wastewater organization,” says Cage, “We comply with state water resources. We’re constantly tested by the state to see if we’re doing our job—which is to provide safe, clean water to the community.”
And in Cage’s opinion, the demands being made by the Mammoth Group are not realistic, given the infrastructure in which Mammoth Community Water District abides.
“We’re at the top of the water source,” explains Cage. “So the water originates in the Sierras. It travels south, going through canals and ditches, and over streams and rocks … It percolates in the ground, and comes back up through wells.”
From there, it’s a trickle down effect.
“We treat it, test it, purify it. That’s the world we live in. It’s the world we’ve always lived in.”
And for that reason, Cage believes that the Mammoth Group’s claims are untenable.
“The Group’s comments would be akin to if LADWP said ‘We own Lake Mary’s water. And the Water District said ‘We own Lake Mamie’s water,’” explains Cage, “And then the LA District said ‘Well don’t use Mary water, you can only use Mamie Water.’ But Lake Mary goes through Lake Mamie, down through Twin Lakes and into our water system.”
The analogy reveals an obvious truth. Well, obvious to Cage.
“There is no way to separate the Lake Mary water out from the Lake Mamie Water. And it’s the same with waste. When you flush your toilet, all that water goes into the same system.”
Cage says that, in town, there are 3 main trunk lines where all that water converges at the District. From there, it goes through separation, aeration, and treatment.
But even before all that, from the moment you flush your toilet, or watch your tap water run down the sink drain, it is no longer yours.
“Wastewater becomes non-owned,” says Cage. “It’s no one’s property. We’re just charged with treating it, and we perform that task.”
Mammoth Group has also previously claimed violations of the Public Health Emergency Privacy Act. Guthrie, in an email with the subject line, “Mammoth Community Poop is Not for Sale,” claimed that the collection of biometric data—including data pertaining to illicit drug and prescription drug use, dietary habits, and biopower—outside of a state of emergency, overreaches the law.
According to Smith, “There is no ‘Public Health Emergency Privacy Act.’ There were several bills in the 2020-2021 session of the US Congress that proposed such an act, but they were never passed … Thus, there can be no conflict between MCWD’s lawful operations and a non-existent law.”
“We are not in a state of emergency, and we aren’t acting as though we’re in a state of emergency,” says Cage. “Our job is to make sure the water stays clean, and that water is in the public domain.”
