In article Pjv2i.17388$b67.1497@trnddc06, Robert Allison says...

mstrspy wrote:
I have one of those neighbors. Couple of weeks ago I posted here about
an old abandoned sepic tank caving in. I filled it with bolders,
stones and sand. It is solid so no one will fall in. My neighbor told
me that I should have called clean harbor an have it removed at a huge
cost. The truth is that there is nothing to remove. The steel tank has
disintegrated. There has been no sewage in this tank for over 60
years. Why is this considered a health hazzard? If I try to sell my
house my neighbor will probably mention it to any prospective buyer
(or the person who eventually buys it). I'm not sure how he found out
about it. By the way, I live in New Hampsire. Not sure what the laws
are regarding this.

M

You might call a septic company, tell them what you have and
have someone come out and give you some options. Otherwise,
there is not much you can do.

Since I am a contractor, I have to do things correctly or I
will be in a lot of trouble. Homeowners don't worry so much
about this, so they tend to get into expensive situations when
they could have done the right thing far less expensively.

A client had an old well. It had to be plugged because it was
within 500 feet of a new gas station. He didn't want to pay
the 1200 bucks to have it plugged, so he cut the pump line
loose and let it all fall into the well. When the inspector
found the well, due to excavation on the site, he called the
TNRCC and reported it. Well company came out and spent 2 days
fishing out the old pump, plugging the well and charged $5,000
for the privilege.

I don't know what will happen in your case. It may be that
the septic company will come out and do an inspection and
suggest filling with sand. OTOH, they may require the tank to
be excavated, pumped out and filled. Just call someone and
ask what they think should be done. They will not report you
to the authorities, regardless. At least you will know what
you are up against. Might be nothing.


Really good advice. If there is an issue - fix it. Not everyone subscribes to
the "I'll look the other way while you pull your **** and you'll look the other
way while I pull mine" ethic. On the other hand, you don't have to do it to the
nth degree and necessarily do what the neighbor says - you only need to meet
codes and regulations.

I'd check with the town or munincipality also to see what the requirements and
get a hardcopy of them. Keep records of any work you have done along with that
copy of the codes. Then you'll be protected against any ill intention on the
part of any neighbor, and you can inform this particular neighbor of the
legality of the (fixed) condition of your old septic.

But there's really no way around doing things right. So educate yourself, fix
it if necessary, then educate your neighbor.

Banty