The danger you face isn’t from the environment but from the government. Nothing that guy did to the yard is likely to harm you or anyone else. People pour worse stuff in their yards all of the time. Things leak or someone changes their oil. Most people I know just dump the old oil in their backyards. This is normal behavior everywhere… regardless of what the laws say. I bet you get more “toxic” run-off from the street in front of your house than what is in that car.
But what the government may do to you is an entirely different story. They can harm you in ways you can’t begin to imagine if some busybody decides to tell on you and your jurisdiction is a restrictive one. Your neighbors obviously know and they are obviously busybodies if they are still minding the last guy’s business even after he is gone. So… dump the dump.
Yes, and it was normal behavior in the past to dump human waste out of windows. It doesn’t make it right, nor is it good for the environment or human health.
Actually, you’re not too far off here. I actually wrote my master’s thesis on the environmental effects of roadway runoff.
And rightly so, IMHO. Despite my otherwise conservative tendencies (particularly in fiscal matters), environmental regulation is one of those areas in which I think that government need to be involved in, because those who pollute (individuals and companies) are so insulated from the consequences of their actions.
People like you and your neighbors dump oil or other hazardous waste in your backyards, but your other neighbors with drinking water wells downgradient from you deal with the consequences. Oh, and hopefully nobody lets their child play in your backyard for the next few decades. I trust that you will inform any potential buyers of your property know about the pollution in your backyard? :rolleyes: