Hoa liability for hazard site

[f35phixer]

Hello all,

Well seems that a neighboring development cleared trees on what looks to be our property without our permission or proper permits. We are a waterfront community so cutting trees within X distance requires county permits. They have uncovered a dump that tested positive for asbestos by a privately hired testing company. They have contacted the county and the state environmental agencies and currently the state is doing their own testing.

What do you people think would be our liability for the mess they uncovered?

thanks.

[njhowie]

Before deciding what you might do, let the testing come back and the county/state give you their findings. Should they determine there is an issue and remediation is required, you'll have to pay for whatever needs to be done to resolve quickly. However, after that, depending how costly it is, you may look to take legal action against other parties (i.e. the developer you purchased from, and the adjacent development for trespassing and clearing your land being the obvious ones) to collect some money - which you'll need to decide if the time and cost of pursuing legally will be worth it compared to how much you stand to collect.

Also check your HOA insurance policy - it may provide some kind of coverage for it.

You should also verify your development's property lines to be very sure it's yours, and not the adjacent development's.

[Senator]

If it's asbestos, and it's buried, it's not hazardous. They can just fill in the hole.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator If it's asbestos, and it's buried, it's not hazardous. They can just fill in the hole.

Doubt it's that simple and will depend on state/local environmental laws. Leaving it there would certainly impact selling the property, that would need to be disclosed beforehand. No way would I touch any property that had asbestos buried in it.

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 Doubt it's that simple and will depend on state/local environmental laws. Leaving it there would certainly impact selling the property, that would need to be disclosed beforehand. No way would I touch any property that had asbestos buried in it.

Asbestos in a home is fine as long as it is 'encapsulated'. There are millions of homes with asbestos, anyone potentially built before 1999, and if it's not air borne, it's not a problem.

[Sunset]

Seems that since the developer cleared the land, and got the dump tested, they feel it is their property.
Let them pay to fix the dump, then afterwards check the property line and see if they are correct.

If they are owners of the land, nothing to do.
If they are wrong and don't own the land, point it out to them, and thank them for the free cleanup which you don't have to reimburse them, and could threaten them with unlawfully cleaning up your property and cutting the trees.

[zinger1457]

I'm not familiar with environmental laws, just have a hard time believing it's OK to dispose of asbestos waste by burying it on a residential property. There are a lot of reasons why someone might dig into their back yard and unknowingly expose it.

[Senator]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 I'm not familiar with environmental laws, just have a hard time believing it's OK to dispose of asbestos waste by burying it on a residential property. There are a lot of reasons why someone might dig into their back yard and unknowingly expose it.

Asbestos is still not 100% banned. Presumably, it was agricultural land when the company buried the asbestos. It may even have been a town dump or landfill at one time, then sold off to a farmer. Or a famers landfill. Likely 100% legal when they dumped it. Asbestos is mined, maybe it is a natural source?

If it is on the HOA land, and the HOA is not intending to develop it, they just need to cover it up to encapsulate it. If they were going to develop the land, maybe there would be a need to spray water on the asbestos while it is being removed to keep the fibers from blowing in the wind.

Or the Government could make the land worthless. They have done that before with gypsum dumping.

[f35phixer]

Thanks all, we’ll see where state the takes this as far as telling what the FIX is. Property lines show this is on our property, the other development has a townhouse 10 ft from dump. Some of this looks like it is on their property too. Looks like this owner wanted to make it look pretty and has stirred up sh!t storm!!!!! This section was never going to be developed, it’s also ~20 ft from Creek!!!!!!!!!

[eytonxav]

I am not sure about the asbestos remediation, but you certainly have a right to sue them for removing trees from your property.

[f35phixer]

For now i'll just say this location at one time was a DoD site going back to WW2. Not sure where the HOA is right now, i'll let you all know what hapens next. but some of this stuff is definitely on their side...

[Lakewood90712]

So, of course , the HOA Legal Council is handling this, right ?

The only thing more expensive than hiring an atty. , is not having one when you really need one. This is about as far from a D.I.Y. legal situation as I can imagine.

[f35phixer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakewood90712 So, of course , the HOA Legal Council is handling this, right ? The only thing more expensive than hiring an atty. , is not having one when you really need one. This is about as far from a D.I.Y. legal situation as I can imagine.

Yes of course!!!!!