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Texas Gardening

big problem but a little off topic

16 years ago

our neighbors septic system is draining into our yard and i spend hrs working in the flowerbeds so that means i spending hrs in the neighbors pooh yuck!!! we have asked him to correct the problem but he told us that is what we get for living at the bottom of a hill(can you believe the jerk) we have talked to the county health people but they said it is to wet to do anything right now (it has rained for 2 months here) we had notice some signs of draining even during the droughts of past years but this year our yard smell like raw sewer. i talked to a lawyer but he said the county health people will handle the problem

my question is do i have legal rights to make neighbor clean this up and/or will the county step up and take care of the problem

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Comments (7)

gptx_gardener
16 years ago
I have no advice, but I just wanted to offer a great big "ECK!!!" Gah, I hope they get that cleaned up, that's absolutely ridiculous. And I hope someone here has more practical words for you than I do.
roseyt
16 years ago
I would file a written complaint with the county health department. I'd probably make sure to get a signed statement acknowledging their receipt of it.

Here's some info for you on how to handle things. (OSSF stands for On Site Sewage Facility.) This info was taken from the Texas Commission On Environmental Quality. (Link below)

"How do I file a complaint against a property owner who is operating a malfunctioning OSSF?
Complaints regarding malfunctioning OSSFs need to be filed with the local permitting authority. If the local permitting authority is not resolving the complaint in a timely fashion, notify the permitting authority's supervising authority (county judge, county commissioner, mayor, aldermen, boards, water program manager, etc.). If the complaint is still not resolved within a reasonable time, contact the appropriate TCEQ regional office."

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Commission On Environmental Quality
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shipp53
Original Author
16 years ago
THANKS ROSEYT THAT WAS THE KIND OF INFO I NEEDED AND YEAH IT IS GROSS!!! GPTX
mikeandbarb
16 years ago
You poor dear. I thought my neighbor was bad but this is way worse than most I've heard of. I would think it would be a health hazard?
I wish you the best of luck and hope it gets fixed ASAP.
Bev__
16 years ago
I agree....the county needs to address the problem ASAP.
You will probably need to clean up much of the mess in your yard. Taking the neighbor to court will be costly and take forever and a "win" is not guarenteed.
I think it would be unhealthy to work in this sewage seepage. Hope you wear gloves.
Our last house had a small portion of our yard that the neighbors drain field leaked into. He put in drains to steer it away, but that part of our yard was just a little downhill from his and it still kept draining in our yard.
I planted shrub roses there and they loved it!
MrsBox77
16 years ago
Ever been to Mexico, ordered orange juice and it was incredible? Better tasting than any you have ever had...or ordered a fruit plate and the fruit was awesome, SO much better than what we can get in the States? One of their tricks is to use human sewage as fertilizer....it is used all over Mexico. They even empty their sewage into their ocean/lakes, etc. That is why the fish taste so good. And also why we have to take medicines before we leave and while we are there. We went out to an Island off Cancun to snorkle. We were snorkling away and here comes this brown cloud towards us...they had emptied out the islands' sewage line right where we all were snorkling. We wondered what that drainage pipe was doing there by the dock. That really grossed us out...people were flying out of the water...lol

But that OJ sure was delicious...lol
fool4flowers
16 years ago
Thats what they use to make the golf course grass so nice also.

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