Home owners in my neighborhood are dumping toxic waste as "fill".

Home owners 300ft from my home have been dumping toxic waste from gas stations in order to fill in land with intent of building homes.

I am not sure what to do and hope someone has some advice.


Where the land is situated, it used to be a deep cavern, now they have leveled it off with dead end street, but that has created a flow of water that then travels into the creek that runs behind our existing homes.

I dont have the money to hire a lawyer. Does anyone know if any public entities would come and do testing?

I am afraid this will render my home unsellable, we had planned on retiring and selling in 5 years now I am a wreck with worry....especially since the home is not paid off and all our savings is sunk into it.


Any help would be appreciated....thank you!

you mean burying waste? to build land?? this is common

Originally posted by timetothink
Home owners 300ft from my home have been dumping toxic waste from gas stations in order to fill in land with intent of building homes.

I am not sure what to do and hope someone has some advice.

edit on 29-3-2012 by timetothink because: (no reason given)

Call code enforcement to come check it out, just call the non-emergency police number. I had a family that used their backyard as a recycling bin and I had to call code enforcement because rats were being attracted to the area, code enforcement took care of the problem

reply to post by wlord


It is petroleum filled waste from gas stations...the neighborhood even smells now and we have a nature conservancy where the water runoff is now going...

Sorry I edited post and added more.

Mods...not sure where to put this...sorry.

reply to post by PageAlaCearl


Thank you for the reply....

One of our neighbors has called the town and we thought the DEC was getting involved but I think the town blew us off.

I am thinking maybe I should call the county?

I am usually the one people come to for research and answers...but the political crap has me baffled. Small town politics and all....maybe these people our paying them off....the homeowners I mean.

Agreed, the non emergency police phone would be able to route it to the correct place. After all, it very well could be a crime in your area.

You can make it legal all you want, but it still looks like a crime to me.

We could make anything legal, simply by writing it on paper and having a bunch of corrupt goons sign off on it.
You could make rape or murder legal, but it will always be a crime in the minds of good people!

In response to the OP I think you need to find lawyers and or an environmental group. You need to get enough people involved to create a large problem for the people behind this dumping. Only when the benefits begin to dissipate and the risks escalate will they re-think their decision.

And yes this is about $$$. For sure 100%.

Contact DEP immediately. Do it before it rains otherwise the toxins in the soil will spread into local aquafier.

reply to post by timetothink

It is petroleum filled waste from gas stations...the neighborhood even smells now and we have a nature conservancy where the water runoff is now going...

What exactly is petroleum filled waste? Where are they getting it from and how are they dumping exactly. It doesn't sound like the best thing to put down to build homes on top of, even if the purpose is just to make money.

Without more details this is quite confusing.

Several Years ago we were out mushroom hunting and while crossing a small creek noticed the water was entirely blood red. We live in IL. After a quick check we were told to notify the State EPA. I believe every state has their own EPA. ours is IEPA . They investigated in short order, discovered a chemical spill, and the Factory has since closed down because they were required to undo the damage. within a few months all was well.
Call your local or state EPA if there is no EPA in your state, then go oneline and file a federal EPA complaint.
DH

Seems to me that if this is a threat to water supplies or places where wildlife live, I would call the EPA. Small towns often let this type of thing go under the radar because the developer is some big fish in a little pond. The EPA is not tied to small-town politics, and once you file a report, you have a paper trail that you can use down the road if you have to sue the developer because they have destroyed the value of your home.

Best of luck to you!

reply to post by boncho


That's just it we don't know exactly what it is...but all of a sudden the area smells like a gas station and the closest one is 2 miles away.

I have heard that they are taking "garbage" from construction and rehab projects to fill the cavern, this has been going on for about 4 years...I was checking on it now and then and I did see what looked like old toilets, wall board, tiles...I was initially worried about asbestos.

So Myself and some neighbors contacted the town...they came down a few times and said everything was OK.

Then, in the fall the neighbors closest to the site said it was smelling like gas, so they went in to check and said the smell was horrible.

These people called the town, the town said they would contact DEC and nothing has happened.....

My family and I have had a terrible winter so my mind was not on this issue at all...now that things have calmed down it all of a sudden hit me, what if we cant sell the house because the land is poisoned?

I also should note....my husband is always telling me to keep my mouth shut...he hates waves or problems...hes the ignore it it will go away kind.

reply to post by DavidsHope


Good idea, I didn't think of the EPA.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Thank you...that puts my mind at ease...I will do that!

I guess after the horrible year we had, my brain is just mush and I needed a jump start ...thank you all.

reply to post by timetothink


First make sure you are right and have accurate facts so you don't make yourself Liable. If your wrong it could backfire on you in a very big way.

How do you know it's toxic? Who tested it?

Then I'd think you simply contact the EPA.

Ok So I called the EPA division in our area....spoke to the citizen's complaint coordinator...he said I should hear from someone in 2 days....wish me luck...

thank you again everyone!!

reply to post by Blaine91555


Thanks...Blaine...I called EPA.

It needs to be tested most definitely...hopefully EPA will do it soon.

reply to post by timetothink


Hope that works out for you. Good luck with it.

reply to post by timetothink


Have you thought about taking a sample of water leaching out of the garbage area and sending it to a lab?

I don't think it is very expensive as this type of testing is done for most water wells.

reply to post by boncho


That is a good idea also...thank you. Now that the weather is getting better I have to see if i can get to the creek.

It's a wetland are and pretty dense.