Human Composting Draws Concerns in Central Valley

Here are the morning’s top stories on Monday, April 20, 2026

• Along the banks of the San Joaquin River in Fresno County, an unusual soil has sparked heated, public conversations. That’s because, it’s not your typical soil. And the process that creates it is only legal in a handful of states.
• A man, who is part of a class action lawsuit challenging immigration raids in Los Angeles, has been detained again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

‘Human composting’ along San Joaquin River sparks debate

The wind moves softly through the trees at Sumner Peck Ranch, along the San Joaquin River north of Fresno. Much of the soil here looks as normal as one would expect soil to look – green and earthy – but some of this is different. It’s been composted not from food scraps, but from human bodies.

Some people call it “human compost,” but Sharon Weaver prefers a different term. “It is technically called natural organic reduction soil,” said Weaver, who is executive director of the non-profit San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust.

The process is an environmental alternative to burial or cremation, and the soil that’s produced is marketed as safe and rich in nutrients. “The compost that we were using here looks exactly the same, feels exactly the same,” Weaver said. “It just happens to be made in a different way.” Weaver approved of using this compost along the San Joaquin River because, she said, it would help restore the land. “We were approaching it simply from a soil health standpoint,” Weaver said. “The lens we were looking at it through was, ‘Would it be beneficial for the river environment?”

The practice had been happening for more than a year. But last month, it became the center of a public conversation. That’s because Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld caught word of it. He immediately called a press conference to speak out – not just against the soil, but also about where it was being used. “When you take that without telling anybody it’s being used on public lands, and you just do it, I think that’s wrong,” Bredefeld said.

The Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians also opposed the practice. “The idea that composted human remains would be distributed across these lands where our ancestors lived, prayed, and were laid to rest there is deeply troubling and profoundly disrespectful,” a tribe spokesperson wrote in a press release.

In March, the county handed Weaver a cease-and-desist letter to stop using this soil along the San Joaquin River – and she did stop. The soil is no longer being applied there. Still, green burials like this are gaining popularity around the country.

Plaintiff in immigration lawsuit detained again by ICE

A man who is part of a class action lawsuit challenging immigration raids in Los Angeles has been detained again by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina was arrested Thursday during a routine check-in with ICE. His attorney  Stacy Tolchin says this arrest is no coincidence.  “He absolutely feels that he’s being retaliated against because of his role in the litigation,” she said.

Villegas Molina was originally arrested last June while waiting at a bus stop in Pasadena with other day laborers. That’s when he  joined other plaintiffs in a lawsuit claiming the Trump administration’s immigration raids are race-based and discriminatory.

The  case is still playing out in the courts. And Tolchin believes  his most recent arrest was retaliation for the lawsuit. “We actually believe this is related to his position as a plaintiff in the raid litigation, Vazquez vs. Perdomo. And he’s also scheduled for a hearing on the motion to terminate. And we think this is really about ICE trying to put him into custody and to keep him detained so that they can choose a more favorable judge for themselves,” she said.

Villegas Molina is currently being held at the Adelanto detention facility in San Bernardino County. The Department of Homeland Security said in an email to the LA Times that Villegas was arrested again “after multiple violations of his supervised release —including missing required check-ins.” Tolchin disputes those claims.