Lucky owner of few cubic yds of unidentified gunk

[jim_wilson]

While using the BX23 to excavate for my new driveway I ran into a pit ( I think there are more ) that is filled with what appears to be the remains of burned trash. There is also a sizable quantity - I estimate a couple of cubic yards - of some sort of substance that I cannot identify. This stuff is contained in trash bags and the remains of cardboard boxes and is battleship grey in color and has the consistency of bread dough or maybe play dough. It also smells pretty bad. My problem is that there is enough of this stuff to pose a serious disposal problem. I had dug up another pit full of this stuff a couple of years ago and managed to dispose of it by feeding it out in the weekly trash pickup a bag or two at a time. There is way to much in this haul to do that. My real question is - does anybody know of a place that will do substance analysis or something like that? I would like to find out what this stuff is before I go rent a dumpster. I would like to avoid getting fined because this is some sort of hazardous waste. I am not going to re-bury it on my property - I live in a suburban type neighborhood and only have a 1/2 acre lot so it would be pretty conspicuous if I dig a big pit and dump a bunch of stuff in it. If the original owner of the house had not passed away I would be tempted to rent a dump truck and load it all up and give it back to him.

 

[MikePA]

For the first 10 years we had horses, my wife dumped the stall cleanings (wood chips plus the usual stuff /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) into a low spot on our property. Someone reported us to the state DEP who said it was a threat to a local stream (read 'drainage ditch') and we had to clean it up.

We contacted the same people who we call to pump out our septic tank, who also install septic systems. They brought in a back hoe and hauled numerous tri-axle dump truck loads of 'stuff' out. Cost about $500. We could not have gone the dumpster route since (1) I didn't have a tractor with a FEL at the time and (2) This stuff was heavy and slimy. The Case 580 back hoe was even challenged. Filling a dumpster with this stuff would have exceeded the capability of the garbage truck to lift it. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[neilly2]

I hate to say this, but it sounds (and smells) like what I dug up out of a very old septic field. Only thing is why would someone bag it?

 

[johnday]

Never underestimate what that stuff may be. I know of people that still strip off asbestos with no containment and dump it the curbside trash.

I would suggest you contact your health dept. to find a place that may help you. Then again, if it is some sort of toxic waste, I wonder who would be held responsible? The possibilities are endless not only to what it is, and the legalities could really put a strain on how conscientious you want to be. Tread lightly until you find out what this stuff is.

 

[aardvark]

I wouldn't tell anyone in the government it's there until you know what it is. Hazardous waste sites are the responsibility of the land ower, and the govenrment will have alot of requirements on what you do with it, and how soon it should be done, and how much they are going to charge you to do it.

 

[johnday]

aardvark; Right you are, thats what I meant by tread lightly.

Isn't it wonderful how our tax dollars can be turned against the innocent or unsuspecting? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> This stuff is contained in trash bags and the remains of cardboard boxes and is battleship grey in color and has the consistency of bread dough or maybe play dough. It also smells pretty bad. </font>
Are you sure it couldn't be rock wool insulation? When it becomes soaked and then buried, I imagine it'd smell bad.

 

[jim_wilson]

I have wondered about all the options you guys mentioned - stuff from an old septic field, dog poop, etc. The thing is the first pit of this stuff we dug up a couple of years ago was right next to the house - right under one of the kitchen windows. And these other pits are very close to the house all on the end where the side door is. And there is random trash - soda cans, bottles etc. mixed in with this stuff. My first suspicion was that it was some sort of trash they burned in the fireplace. Thing is I thought that if they burned trash then it probably would not have any smell. So I wonder if maybe it is garbage that they burned. When I dig this stuff out it is somewhat moist - which I would think would be normal for something that is underground. If you leave it out in the sun it dries out to a lighter grey color and has a consistency that I guess could be ash. It also dissolves in water ( I left some in a tub at one point and it filled with water ). What I would really like to do is get the stuff tested so I know what it is but I don't really know who I would approach to do that - without potentially causing myself a problem if it is something bad. Like some of you guys said - I would like to tread lightly until i am sure this isn't going to bring me a fine or something. I would just put it in the regular trash a bit at a time like I did with the last pit I dug out but there is so much of it would be doing that for a year or more.

 

[MicroPilot]

Do you have or did the house have at one time a fireplace or woodburning stove? If so I would bet that its the ashes and they buried them for some reason. I've seen old firepits that had a bad, garbage like odor.

How old is the house? Has this area been suburban for a while?

 

[Cliff_Johns]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How old is the house? Has this area been suburban for a while? )</font>

I think this is a good question. Was there ever any industrial use of this land? Is this area close enough to an established road that it could be illegally dumped?

As remote as it is, it could be toxic in ways you can't imagine. I'd be careful playing around with it.

Cliff