By Michael Howell
Gary Cargile’s level of frustration reached extreme proportions last week when he was told by the Ravalli County Board of Health that it could do nothing about the household garbage piling up on his neighbor’s property.
Cargile told the Board that his neighbor had amassed a huge pile of household garbage in black plastic bags in his yard and then his goats got into the pile tearing up the bags and spreading the garbage around the yard. Cargile said that his property values were being diminished by the garbage and that it would not be easy to find a renter who has to look at that kind of trash daily. Or if he does find a renter, he said, they may think that that kind of activity is permissible and acceptable in the neighborhood.
John Palacio, Director of Environmental Health, explained that the Board of Health does not have any ordinances or regulations concerning solid waste and that the only laws dealing with solid waste were under the authority of the Department of Environmental Quality. He said his office did serve as the on the ground contact for DEQ and that a complaint, filed by Cargile last month, had been forwarded to him for inspection. He said he visited the site and took photographs and sent a report to DEQ.
Unfortunately, according to Palacio, DEQ does have authority over solid waste disposal, but there were no regulations governing the keeping or storing of household garbage. He said DEQ had sent a letter to the property owner explaining that it would be illegal to burn the garbage on the property.
Cargile said that was probably the plan since he had done it before.
Palacio said that the letter from DEQ warned against burning the garbage but that nothing could be done about it until the fire was started.
“Household waste is hard to regulate,” said Palacio, “and as far as the burning goes, until it’s lit, DEQ cannot respond.”
“I’m only here because I’m desperate,” said Cargile. “I just can’t grasp the fact that this is allowed. It’s bad enough that someone wants to live in his own filth, but to make the rest of us live in it is crossing the line.”
Board member Dr. Mick Turner said, “I’m sorry sir, but we don’t deal with solid waste. The state has that authority. It’s not that we don’t understand or don’t sympathize, it’s that we don’t do that.”
“I think that’s pretty uncivilized, don’t you think?” said Cargile.
Board Chairman and County Commissioner Jeff Burrows said, “It’s not as cut and dry as you think.” He asked how garbage would be defined. Is one trash can OK? Are two boxes of trash OK? Where do you draw the line. He called it a slippery slope to go down trying to define acceptable and not-acceptable garbage.
“This private property thing is not that simple,” he said.
“I’m pretty disappointed,” said Cargile. “This is ridiculous and shameful on your part letting this happen.” His frustration was palpable as he walked out of the meeting room.
Several people at the meeting expressed continuing concerns about an issue that is under the Board of Health’s jurisdiction, a failed septic system at 875 Bowman Road that took an extraordinary amount of time for the board to address. The case was finally taken to the County Attorney’s office only to be turned over to the Beaverhead County Attorney’s office due to a conflict of interest. That case is scheduled to go to court on October 23. The county is seeking an order allowing the condemnation of the property.
Residents in the area told the board members that wells in the immediate area were testing positive for coliform bacteria and that with more rain possible between now and October 23 they wanted assurances that the septic was being monitored in the meantime. Some neighbors stated that it was more than a sanitation problem, that there were other safety hazards on the place such as used freezers, refrigerators and other appliances, trash laying around and five horses confined near an overflowing septic.
The Board assured them that the place was being monitored and that pumping would be done if it was needed.
“We would be very grateful for a speedy resolution to all this,” said one homeowner.