Yuma County Seeks Termination of AG Tech Lease Over Flies, Odors

Millions of dollars in annual date crop losses and a local restaurant owner bleaching his kitchen daily to hold off fly infestations: these are the conditions behind Yuma County's formal push to terminate AG Tech LLC's state land lease over biosolids operations county officials say have made daily life intolerable for nearby communities.

In a December letter to the Arizona State Land Department, the county described conditions near the site as "overwhelming odors, severe fly infestations, and the spread of dust and debris from the use of biosolids on state land." Local date growers reported to county officials that the problems have caused crop losses "amounting to millions of dollars every year," losses they attribute directly to AG Tech's biosolids application on land owned by the state.

The economic damage extended beyond farms. Tyler Woodman, owner of The Lemon Grove restaurant in the Yuma area, described a daily battle against fly infestations that have driven into his business. "Our customers have to swat at everything and it's hard for us to keep our kitchen clean — we're having to bleach every square inch of this place," Woodman said. For a restaurant navigating health code requirements, the infestation creates both a customer-experience problem and a public-health concern that cannot be resolved without addressing the source.

Yuma County District 2 Supervisor Jonathan Lines led the county's escalation, pushing complaints not only to the Arizona State Land Department but also to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, agency directors, and the governor. "We have asked for accountability and compliance from [the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality]. We've also asked that their contract be reviewed," Lines said. The AG Tech lease is now operating month-to-month while state agencies weigh a response to the county's termination petition.

The regulatory picture involves a jurisdictional split that has complicated the county's effort. The land where biosolids are applied is owned by the Arizona State Land Department, but ADEQ holds responsibility for overseeing biosolids management. The county sent letters to both agencies and the governor's office, seeking coordinated state-level action.

A Yuma County Vector Control team inspected the land for fly-breeding evidence but did not find active breeding sites during that visit. County leaders argued the single inspection result does not resolve what has been a persistent, long-standing pattern of complaints from growers, restaurants, and residents across the affected area. AG Tech LLC declined to comment.

If the Arizona State Land Department moves forward with lease termination, the immediate practical effect would be to trigger cleanup obligations and clarify ADEQ's enforcement authority over any remaining biosolids on the parcel. The month-to-month lease structure means the state is not locked into a long-term contract cycle and could act relatively quickly. Until it does, date growers who say the conditions have cost them millions year after year, and business owners like Woodman who are bleaching their kitchens to cope, have no clear timeline for when the fly infestations and odors will end.