JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"zxcvbob" wrote in message
...
Sprayed broadleaf herbicide and who knows what else thru the chain link
fence from my neighbor's yard into my garden again. Killed my squash, and
the tomatillo closest to the fence looks stunted a bit.

Last time they did this they left a calling card. This time, I don't know
for /sure/ that it was them because there was no little sign left in the
yard. I'm gonna call the county Monday and find out who they sent out to
spray the fence line (the county owns the house) and then complain to the
EPA this time instead of complaining directly to Chemlawn.

I don't think the EPA will yank their applicator's license, but there
ought to be a stiff fine for applying pesticides without following the
label restrictions.

Bob


You're in luck. According to a former town justice here, what the chem-pigs
did falls under the heading of civil trespass. That law doesn't only apply
to people entering property without authorization, but also objects, animals
and substances. Once you find out who the chem-pigs were, call the town
office and find out what's involved in taking them to small claims court.

You may also want to tally up the hours you spent on the garden, multiply by
a reasonable number (say $175 per hour), and include that in the claim.
Finally, check with your state's environmental agency as to whether there's
a safe method for planting in that spot again. If it involves new topsoil
and hiring laborers, it gets lumped into the claim. Finally, some judges
will issue an injunction preventing any further spraying within a certain
distance of the fence line. The local judge did that for me. It
***REQUIRED*** the police to arrest my neighbor and her chem-pig applicator
if she repeated her crime. She never sprayed again.




In this case, the "neighbor" is Olmsted County, MN. The person living
in the house (rented from the county) is not a problem. The county
itself is sending people out to spray.

The county is most likely immune from any civil lawsuits, small claims
or otherwise. I have to go after the applicator, or find a criminal
statute violated by the county.

BTW, it got interesting a couple of years ago when the house was vacant
one winter, and I called the sheriff and told him if I was supposed to
keep *my* sidewalk cleared, he needed to come out and shovel *his*.
(There was a huge snowstorm and the sidewalk went unshoveled for a
couple of days, in violation of a local ordinance.) They sent someone
out a couple of hours later.

Bob