A dilapidated greenhouse at a Northern California nursery was home to dozens of farmworkers and their families, who were living in tiny and unsafe dwellings without ventilation, authorities said on Friday.
Officials found 62 makeshift dwellings inside the greenhouse on a property in rural Monterey County.
They were put together with plywood, sheetrock and other materials, Monterey County Government spokesperson Nick Pasculli said.
Photo: AFP
“There are exposed gas lines and wiring, no proper sewer. The conditions are very rough,” Pasculli said.
It was not yet clear if the farmworkers were employed at the nursery in the community of Royal Oaks or just lived there, Pasculli said.
He added that some residents were paying up to US$2,000 per month in rent and one told investigators he had lived there for more than eight months.
Investigators have not yet determined where the migrant families are from, although some of them speak indigenous languages native to the Mexican state of Oaxaca, he said.
Authorities started investigating the property this week after receiving an anonymous complaint.
The nursery owner would be fined nearly US$60,000 each day his property is in contravention of structural, health and environmental codes, Pasculli said.
The landlord’s name was not released due to an ongoing investigation, he said.
County officials were working with the families to find suitable housing and their landlord would have to pay for two months of rent for each of the 62 families that were living on his property, Pasculli said.
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