Dan Espen wrote:
t writes:

Dan Espen wrote:

(...)

Legal problem?

He's complaining that someone left something that costs money on his
property. Landscapers don't dump gravel that they have to pay for
on random lots.

Only on those lots with 'unimproved' soil.
They figure, apparently that the owner won't be able to tell
the difference.

Uh no.

A contractor doesn't just find extra soil on his truck.

It becomes 'extra' when the job is complete and there is no
requirement for the remainder. It is now a very expensive
liability. The contractor is not about to load it on his
truck and find a safe, legal, moral way to dispose of it if
he can merely litter a neighbor's lot with it. It's just
faster and cheaper to litter, especially at $200 a yard to
toss it.

He buys it at a yard. Not where I live anyway.
I don't know where you are but I don't think contractors get
free soil anywhere. Even if they got free soil it's not free
to put it in your yard.

Let's do some arithmetic. Half a yard of soil to dispose on
a neighbor's unimproved lot:

A quarter hour of labor to break on to the property, wheel the
soil in, distribute it evenly: About 5 bucks.

Done properly, it is more expensive.
An hour of labor: $20
10 miles of gas: $4
Entrance fee to a proper disposal site: $100

I figure $124 is more than $5 even ignoring the 'opportunity
cost' of tying up a laborer to move the soil to the proper
site.

The story makes no sense.

Lots of true things make no sense.

But you're telling a story about a problem you have and claim
to want useful answers.

Yes. Here are more examples:

* Tell me how to make it *more* expensive to dump this stuff
on my lot than to dispose of it properly (without endangering
me or my family).

* Tell me who will vacuum this stuff up for free and use it for
some noble purpose for the benefit of mankind, monthly.

* Tell me how to cheaply convert this stuff into a valuable commodity
that I can sell for huge bucks on eBay.

Now you are agreeing that your story doesn't make sense...

Yes. While you're at it, here are some other true things
that make no sense:

* Why are people buying photovoltaics at more than say 4c per
peak watt when the buyback period is much longer than the
owner's remaining life expectancy?

* Why are people burning diesel to convert corn into alcohol
that causes car mileage to decrease?

* Why am I expected to drive my car to do practically *anything*.

* Why are we so focused on politics when there
is not a shred of evidence it makes any difference?

There are lots of things like that.

Beats me what's going on.

Check under your ground cover some time.
The castoff chunks of concrete debris are courtesy of your
local building contractor. Please thank them for their
valuable contribution to your savings.


--Winston