The Stewarts moved into a neighborhood near the previously established Los Lobos Landfill (“Landfill”). However, the Stewarts noticed an increasingly offensive odor from Landfill supported by the filing of over a thousand odor complaints in 1992. These complaints resulted in City ordering a halt to Landfill’s composting activities in March 1993. This order resulted in Landfill’s composting permits to be withheld until the California Waste Board resolved the issue. Citizens United for Responsible Environmentalism (CURE), begun by the Stewarts, conducted a study that correlated health issues, composting, and Aspergillus fumigatus (fungus) concentration increases. City convened an Advisory Panel (Panel) that determined that Landfill’s composting …show more content…
The CA Civil Code §3479 defines a nuisance as anything but not limited to, that which is indecent or offensive to the senses. The Los Lobos Landfill operations have resulted in thousands of community complaints. Additionally, there are odors that are produced from the composting. This odor is offensive to the local community's sense of smell.
Further, a public nuisance under CA Civil Code §3480 is a nuisance that affects simultaneously a considerable number of persons (i.e. community or neighborhood). A private nuisance under CA Civil Code 3481 is a nuisance not defined as a public nuisance.
The odor emitted from composting by Landfill is experienced and filed by multiple individuals as “a thousand complaints” in 1992. Since the odor affects the community and not just the Stewart's, it would be a public nuisance.
Discussion
What was the Panel's charge?
The County Health Department called for a Panel of experts to "evaluate existing scientific literature on potential health effects from green yard waste composting facilities." This occurred by determining "the expected risk Fungus if composting was reinstated at Landfill, and developing recommendations to ensure the safety of the community if composting was
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The Panel concluded that Fungus exists in the environment and "no risk to human health existed from background exposure levels." This did not answer the question of what the expected risk of Fungus would be if composting was reinstated at the Landfill.
The panel did recommend that composting facilities could be operated safely if good management practices were implemented (like air monitoring), which kind of answers the second charge to the panel. The panel did recommend that composting was safe if given activities occur. It did not provide recommendations for keeping the community safe specifically if composting resumed only general conclusions that composting can be safe.
Additionally, the Panel did not account for the discrepancy between the NYDHS report and the Composting Council’s conclusion (which CURE claims is the result of improper equipment use). Further, the Panel did not address the local’s specific symptoms.
Composting Permits
The possible Fungus spores could pose a health risk based upon data from the NYDHS study, Harry Dobin’s autopsy, and experts in the field. Additionally, the Fungus, presumably, is the cause of the public nuisance (i.e. the odor) and the Fungus spores are the result of Landfill’s
In “Waste Land” Magna talks about people reacting to the way she smells when she takes the bus home from working at the landfill. She says “it’s better than turning tricks in Copacabana…It’s more dignified. I may stink now, but when I get home I’ll take a shower and I’ll be fine.” Although choices were limited, people like Magna at the landfill are proud of their choice to work at the landfill. They describe it as “honest work.” Before he started his project, Vik described what he thought life at the landfill was like. He said, “This is where everything that is not good goes, inc...
Starting in 1965, the city of Denver operated Lowry landfill as a combination municipal and industrial waste dump site. Local businesses and residences from the Denver metro area deposited their solid and liquid wastes in the ...
Writers have always drawn inspiration from real events for their stories. Joyce Carol Oates is now being criticized as unethical for just that. The critics claim that it was not ethical for Oates to use the events that befell John Fiocco Jr. in her story "Landfill", and also for including many similarities between Fiocco and her main character Hector Campos Jr.. Though there are some similarities between the two, the differences were great enough that only some who knew of the Fiocco case. Because of this, Joyce Carol Oates' decision to use Fioccos' death as a fictional basis was ethical.
A person cannot have a reasonable expectation of privacy if they leave their anything on the curbside of their home. The person gives up control of the items by putting it out for collection. They leave it for a public employee, who is also a stranger, to pick it up and dispose of it. The trash is now in public view and can be accessed by any member of the general public. If anything is in plain view of the public, there can be no expectation of
You are probably right. This was not the act of one person but instead started by one and grew too many until the entire side of the road was littered with trash that could have otherwise found its way to a salvage yard or landfill. A single act by one person granted others the permission to do the same. The old dryer lying in the ditch somehow suggested to everyone that drove by, this was now accepted as a dumpsite for the items they didn’t want anymore although the law strongly states otherwise. It did not happen in one swift moment rather that as the pile grew larger, the power of suggestion did as well until people were dumping there at an exponential rate. Why would one add to the problem rather than correct it?
The reason of lack of opposition is due to the fact that these facilities can bring potential benefits to communities in jobs and revenues (Kevin 1997). In some cases, not only has there been a lack of local opposition to waste facilities sitting, but community leaders have actively sought out or welcomed such sittings (Kevin 1997). For example, the Campo Band of Mission Indians supported the construction of a solid waste landfill on reservation land in San Diego County, California (Austin 1991). The landfill brought great economic benefits to the Campo Band. Tribal sources estimated that “the landfill directly created at least fifty- five permanent jobs for at least thirty-five members of the Campo Band, almost eliminating tribal unemployment” (Austin 1991). This factor also explains why poor minority communities may be living near waste facilities at a disproportionate
For our group community assessment, we assessed the neighbourhood of Moss Park. Throughout our assessment at Moss Park, we noted many of the community’s characteristics including physical environment, resources available, strengths and weaknesses etc… Moss Park is a neighbourhood located in downtown Toronto, the area is mainly comprised of worn-out buildings and houses with a satisfactory number of resources including a public library, school, health care centers, pharmacies etc… During the assessment of this neighbourhood we noticed that the physical environment was contaminated with the presence of garbage on the streets and in residential areas. As we were walking through this area during our assessment, we noticed a strong smell of cigarette smoke in many areas on the streets and in some residential areas. We also observed many people smoking in the area which creates a harmful environment of second-hand smoke. Lastly, we noted th...
To implement a recycling program requires a collection process that includes the containers to gather the materials, the trucks to transport them to the processing site, and the manpower to manage the program. Unfortunately, recycling is more of a business than an attempt to save the environment. The value of the material being recycled overshadows the negative impact of dumping items into the landfill. At a point in time, the demand for recycled paper declined, so recyclers stored the material in hopes that values would increase. “The hope is that eventually the markets turn around and that the materials is sold, but I have heard of instances where it gets landfilled, because a community doesn’t have the demand or the space or the company to deal with it, “ says Gene Jones, the executive director of Southern Waste Information Exchange (Westervelt,
If a firm reports to the Commission it does not necessarily mean there is a substantial product hazard.
In Mr. Kohtz article it was quoted that “The reason we pay for curbside recycling isn’t because it makes economic sense or even environmental sense. It’s because it is convenient and it makes us feel better about the environment”. More importantly is a society where the community follows mandatory recycling programs, are less susceptible to diseases caused by an unclean environment. For example cancer, which is a disease where abnormal cells divide uncontrollably. In addition to the statistics shown in the American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures for 2014 it was estimated that 585,720 Americans were expected to die from cancer.
... Studies have shown that the presence of pathogens in a final compost may contaminate the food chain with the incomplete compost product provoking the growth of pathogenic microbes or keeping them alive and vigorous. Most notably, human pathogens like Aeromonas, Aspergillus fumigatus, A. terreus, Cryptosporidium and Giardia cysts, Enterococcus faecalis, Geotrichum candidum, GeoBacillus stearothermophilus, G. thermoglucosidasi, Klebsiella, Listeria monocytogenes, Pseudomonas, Saccharomonospora and Saccharopolyspora, Salmonella typhimurium, Shigella, Thermoactinomyces, Thermobifida, and Bacillus sp. being thermophilic and sporulating species still persist in a variety of compost. Studies are going on to give a better and ultimate solution view on the parameters for the eradication of various pathogenic strains activated or evolved during the process of composting.
Violators may be punished by a criminal sentence, a fine, or both. A defendant may also be required to remove a nuisance or to pay the costs of removal. For example, a manufacturer who has polluted a stream might be fined and might also be ordered to pay the cost of cleanup. Public nuisances may interfere with public health, such as in the keeping of diseased animals or a malarial pond. Public safety nuisances include shooting fireworks in the streets, storing explosives, practicing medicine without a license, or harboring a vicious dog. Brothels, illegal liquor establishments are examples of nuisances that interfere with public morals. Obstructing a highway or creating a condition to make travel unsafe or highly disagreeable are examples of nuisances threatening the public
The United States produces “about 8.25 billion tons of solid wastes each year” (Russell 1). People do not realize the impact they have on our planet and environment. When people throw anything in the trashcan, they are contributing to the destruction of our planet. The number landfills in the United States are decreasing, but the amount and volume of waste being thrown into the new landfills is increasing (Russell 4). Because of this escalating amount of garbage, Methane which contributes to global warming is an outcome of these landfills (Russell 7). As a result, our planet is suffering because of this epidemic. The garbage being put in the landfills could be recycled, but not enough businesses, ...
...or lakes (Weber 2). When people just dump waste products instead of recycling, it is a misuse of the soil and can contribute to serious health conditions in animals, plants and humans.