St. Helena Mayor Geoff Ellsworth has filed a consumer complaint with the Napa County District Attorney’s Office, alleging fire and contamination risks at Clover Flat Landfill near Calistoga and the Upper Valley Disposal Service facility on Whitehall Lane outside St. Helena.

“With wildfire season upon us I feel an urgency in bringing a complaint of negligence and reckless endangerment towards public health and safety in Napa County/Napa Valley related to significant and unnecessary fire and wildfire risk” at the two facilities, wrote Ellsworth, who filed the complaint as a Napa County resident, not in his capacity as mayor.

Ellsworth’s complaint, filed Aug. 11, cites “ongoing and inherently fire-prone operations and significant build-up of a volatile fuel load by these long term monopoly and for profit waste/garbage companies.”

Paul Gero, deputy district attorney for Napa County, said Ellsworth’s complaint is under review. It’s classified as a consumer complaint, similar to ones a citizen might file with the DA’s office against businesses and contractors.

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