Today was the first day the weather has been warm enough to have my windows open. I live in a trailer park and my living room and dining room windows are only 3 feet from my new neighbors driveway and one of those is where I put my AC unit. And his pickup leaks diesel leaving a rather large puddle soaking into the asphalt. My windows were open for only a couple hours today and now my entire house reeks of diesel. I have a headache,nausea and the inside of my mouth is coated with it.
It is now late afternoon and my trailer is quite warm and it’s only 67 degrees today. I will be having a talk with him when he gets home from work today about this and would like to be fore armed with some suggestions for him about cleanup before I would need to take this problem to park management as I don’t want to make an adversary.
They also have a 7 month old living in their home and I’m sure it won’t be healthy for him when the wind shifts. And I surely can not live through the summer with no open windows or AC.
Any ideas?
Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
One would hope he wants to be a good neighbor and will be responsive when you politely point out the quality-of-life problems he’s causing for you. Not sure what suggestions you’re looking for - I guess ideas for how he can fix his truck? No specific ideas here, other than for him to visit the nearest auto parts store and ask the staff what they’d recommend.
If he’s not terribly responsive, it may be worth pointing out that diesel fuel wrecks asphalt. I assume the park management paid for the pavement out of rental fees, so they will respond quickly if/when you choose to raise the issue to them. If your neighbor paid for his own asphalt, then that might motivate him to get his truck fixed ASAP after you speak with him. A large and/or ongoing leak may merit action by your village/town/city if none of the above works.
Check your rental contract (which I assume has the same terms his rental contract does). If there is any clause or relevant section in there about being a good neighbor or not causing environmental degradation, or some other such thing, you might use that as leverage with the park management.
If it’s leaking that much, hopefully he’s planning to get it fixed. Also, depending on where it’s leaking from, sometimes it just means parking it differently. A pick up I drive regularly had a fuel leak, but if it was parked uphill it was fine, but if it was pointed downhill it would pour gas out.
Anyway, I’d start by just making sure he’s aware of it. He may not even realize it’s happening. I also wouldn’t bring the health of his kid into it. Either he’s not concerned or the fumes aren’t making it into his house so your arguments about that likely won’t matter to him.
I think your best bet is to make sure he’s aware of it and if he’s not going to fix it, ask him to at least park it elsewhere since your AC (or open windows) draw in all the fumes.
If you do end up having to go to management, I imagine they’ll take care of it. Gas (and I assume diesel as well) eats away at asphalt pretty easily. After a few days of it dripping you’ll see a pretty noticeable stain and the tar/pitch dissolved away leaving just the aggregate behind.
He’s aware of it. It’s 3 feet by 2 feet. That area is black and the rest of the drive way is gray. I’m pretty sure he just don’t care.
If he really doesn’t care, then there may be nothing you can do to avoid friction. Your only option is to raise it with park management and hope this sorts it. If you haven’t spoken to him about it yet, raising it with management without doing so might mean he can’t ‘blame’ you for it. On the other hand, it could be that he intends to fix it but just hasn’t got around to it yet, and a friendly word with him could be the motivation he needs to get on with it. However, if that doesn’t work, then when you report it to the park he will likely know it was you that did so.
My natural inclination is to try option 2, but in this situation, that might be trying to be too nice for little benefit. You will need to weigh up the likely outcomes to make the best choice. Good luck!
If he doesn’t do anything about it, and park management doesn’t, then report it to your state’s Pollution Control Agency. Diesel fuel is a serious ground contaminant.
Diesel fuel is clear. However, diesel engine oil is coal black. Is the smell there when the truck isn’t there? Again, he may be nose blind to the fuel smell, and it doesn’t take much to smell up a place to someone who isn’t.
Cheap clay based kitty litter does a decent job of soaking up fuel leaks like that, we use it on car wrecks to soak up any petroleum products that may have spilled on the highway. It’s anecdotal, but I think it cuts down on the smell as well.