HILMAR CHEESE COMPANY

is a and products manufacturer headquartered in , United States. The has over 1000 employees and specializes in the mass production of a variety of soft and hard cheeses. As of 2011, Hilmar Cheese produced over two million pounds of cheese per day. The company was founded in 1984 by 12 families located in ; it began production in 1985. It currently produces over half a million pounds of and per day and ships to over 40 countries worldwide. This plant is the company's second processing plant outside its , facility and corporate headquarters. , to sell its Turlock milk powder processing plant. In 2004, the Sacramento Bee published a report, alleging Hilmar had been polluting the environment by spreading waste byproduct on to farmland since 1989. This discharge had multiple effects on the local water table, including the drinking water. By 1997, neighbors complained of water smelling foul and causing burning sensations to their skin. In 2004, testing showed the salinity of the groundwater had grown to five times the natural level. Local wells reported rates of arsenic at 1. 3x the federal EPA maximum level, and nitrates more than twice the maximum. The board was criticized for creating a culture in which "we only take cases where we are 100 percent sure we are going to win," says former Water Board engineer Boris Trgovcich. "We only go after the guys who aren't going to fight us. They know Hilmar is going to fight it. This is why it pays to pollute. In 2005, the company was ordered to pay a $4 million fine, a record for the Water Board. 8 million toward environmental studies. Hilmar installed underground injection wells in 2006 and again in 2009. In 2023, the company was fined $92,000 for permit violations related to these wells. The violations included failing to maintain a minimum pressure of 100 psi in the annular space of one of its injection wells, and failing to report data as required by the facility permit over a two-month period