Escondido nursery owner sues California as state destroys 32,000 plants

A local nursery owner in Escondido is suing the state of California in federal court, claiming state agriculture crews are destroying tens of thousands of his plants without compensation.

Mark Collins, the owner of Evergreen Wholesale, said state agriculture employees began destroying about 32,000 citrus plants at his nursery this week. The business has operated in Escondido for about 20 years and has been in the plant-growing industry for roughly 80 years.

“It’s tough,” Collins said. “They’re destroying our citrus crop.”

According to Collins, roughly 25 state agriculture workers are on site in northern Escondido, removing plants he intended to sell.

“Thirty-two thousand plants,” Collins said. “Yeah. Really bad for business.”

Collins said this is the first time something like this has happened in his family’s decades-long history in the nursery business. He said inspectors discovered the Asian citrus psyllid bug in some trees about five miles away and determined those trees were carrying a devastating disease.

“Huanglongbing is the name of the disease,” Collins said.

Collins said the trees where the bug was found were discovered two years ago, before the plants now being destroyed even existed.

“I understand that the industry needs to try to protect itself,” Collins said.

Collins said he followed every protocol ordered by the state, including spraying and defending his property.

“Well, they never found a bug here, ever,” Collins said.

Instead of testing or inspecting his property for the bug and disease, Collins claims, the state opted to destroy the plants.

“Our plants, as you can see, they’re healthy and nothing’s wrong with them,” said Rollie, an Evergreen Wholesale employee.

“So, the only guy who’s lost any money in the whole deal so far is me,” Collins said.

Collins estimates his losses could reach up to $3 million, which, he said. is why he decided to sue thesState of California in federal court. He said state officials have no intention of reimbursing him for the plants.

The state employee in charge at the site declined to speak with NBC San Diego. Multiple questions sent to Sacramento went unanswered as of Tuesday evening.

Adding to Collins’ frustration, he said, is the fact that the state is only destroying citrus plants in pots and not citrus trees planted in the ground that have been there for more than two years.

For now, Collins said, all he can do is watch as state agriculture crews continue destroying thousands of plants at his Escondido nursery.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.