PushBack Memory: David J. Irey

San Joaquin Deputy District Attorney David Irey is a “special environmental prosecutor” who is known for harassing citizens who make minor infractions of environmental regulations by prosecuting them with serious criminal charges (often more than a dozen felony counts).

He has earned a place on the PushBack list of villains for doing this repeatedly:

The Womack Case

Mr. Irey is best known for the prosecution of Robert Womack for removing an underground gas tank. There was no evidence that the tanks were leaking, posed any danger to the environment, yet Irey spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of precious local and state money investigating Mr. Womack, his family, and his friends.

Elder Harassment

Irey also prosecuted Dorothy Sandberg, a 70-year-old retired woman who received a parcel of land and building in her divorce settlement that had previously been used as a gasoline station, and had two underground fuel tanks still on the property. (Modesto Bee article)

Sour Milk

Dairy farmers were another target of Irey’s legal power.

Supervisors: Gestapo-like tactics

The San Joaquin County board of Supervisors wanted to freeze funding for his activities, and likened his tactics to those of Germany’s WW II “Gestapo”.

Feds inspired by Irey

The Modesto Bee reported on the efforts of federal law enforcement to prosecute farmers with tactics modeled after Mr. Irey’s efforts. (“SJ Board Set to Hold DA Funding, Supervisors Lambaste Environmental Team”Modesto Bee, June 26, 1998; “Supervisors to Vote on Budget”, Stockton Record, June 26 1998)

David Irey is also a member of these organizations:

Environmental Enforcement Task Force

A program run by the California EPA.

The California Hazardous Materials Investigators Association