Juvenile marijuana plants in a grow room.

An Alameda County judge upheld an order by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District calling for two Oakland cannabis cultivation facilities to stop using diesel generators — an order the agency said the facilities refused to obey.

After the Air District’s independent hearing board ruled in July that nine of the diesel generators at Green Sage, LLC’s two East Oakland locations be shut down, the Denver-based cannabis company continued to use five of the generators until August, according to an Air District press release.

While Green Sage’s lawyers argued the Air District’s order was not immediately enforceable, Judge Evelio Grillo upheld the independent hearing board’s abatement ruling and encouraged the Air District to apply for a temporary restraining order in the event that the company attempts to bring back the generators, the release added.

“The Air District, City of Oakland and Alameda County will continue to work together to protect the residents of East Oakland who are already disproportionately impacted by air pollution. We will not let up until these air quality violations have ceased permanently,” Air District Senior Deputy Executive Officer Veronica Eady said.

When all nine generators were being used, the amount of electricity produced by the buildings at The Oakland Tinnery and The Oakland Cannery on the 5600 and 5700 blocks of San Leandro Street was enough to power 9,000 homes, the agency added.

According to Green Sage’s website, the Tinnery is 278,928 square feet while the Cannery sits at 162,500 square feet. Both are located in Oakland’s Permitted Zone for Cannabis Facilities.

The Air District has issued a notice of a diesel generator violation at one other unnamed site which has now come into compliance with their power grid, according to Air District spokesperson Kristine Roselius.

“Seeking the judicial enforcement of the abatement order in the face of defiance is one more step the Air District has had to take to ensure the harmful diesel emissions from Green Sage’s 24/7 operation of generators is stopped,” Eady said.

Green Sage did not respond to request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.

Joel Umanzor (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: joel.umanzor@sfchronicle.com

Joel Umanzor joined The San Francisco Chronicle as a breaking news reporter in 2022. A 2021-2023 Hearst Fellow, he was previously a breaking news reporter on The Houston Chronicle's Metro desk.

Originally from Richmond, Calif., Umanzor graduated from San Francisco State University in 2021. When not in the newsroom or chasing down a source, he can be found painting, listening to hip-hop or watching sports.