Forum----www. burningissues.org
Joel
BurningIssues.org Forum Index -> Smoke Stories
I am a resident of Illinois, and to the masses here whether they are pro/con OWBs I am in current litigation with my neighbor and his OWB. Anyone who wishes to correspond with me feel free to send me a pm. My story is listed below:
To start I will give my background. I am an MPA, which for some if you don't know what that is, means that I received my education with a Masters Degree in Public Administration and policy analysis. I have worked with a U.S. Congressmen, and currently work with a city government. And before you all say "Oh you're one of them" I assure you I am not a typical bureaucrat. I do not live in the city I work in, but instead live in a rural community of about 900 in Southern Illinois.
Last October after my wife and I moved in our first home for some peaceful 8 months my neighbor decided to place a OWB (in which he installed) about 30-40 feet from my property and about 40-60 feet from my house itself. The OWB has become a horror to us penetrating our home with smoke on a daily basis. It has created smoke soot discoloration of my home, damaging the siding and my front door, it has killed some of the plant life on my property, and has made us have bouts with nausea on many occasions.
As a normal calm individual my wife and I approached our neighbor about our concerns. He refused to appropriately solve our problems (raising the stack above the roof, burning dry seasoned wood) and basically told us to go to hell. I in turn began my own investigation on this individual and dually contacted every person possible who would listen to me at the federal/state/county/local levels of government. The reason I began this investigation was that prior to returning to college and finishing my education I was a private investigator.
My investigation found that not only does he burn wood, but just so happens to work for a pallet business his father owns. Well you can only guess what he was burning in his OWB then.... I in turn recorded at least 30 mins of video of this OWB crossing property lines and took some 200 pictures of my home, his OWB, and showed the gradual damage being done to my residence.
The long treacherous journey of contacting all of these government entities led them to all advising me to get my own attorney. My neighbor of course has strong ties to our community being a firefighter and Jaycee, so "he is such a great individual." So you can almost guess the approach that my local government took on handling this issue. In other words being I have only lived in this community for a year or so, my rights really don't exist in their eyes.
This led me to hire what is probably one of the best Environmental Lawyers in Southern Illinois. After 8 months of asking my government leaders for support I have given up faith in the federalism and bureaucracy that is taking place. Everyone locally takes the NIMBY "Not in my Backyard" approach to my problem. My attorney is filing three counts based on nuisance protected under my state constitutional laws and tort laws. We are basically fighting for our "entitlement to quiet enjoyment" which I guarantee that all of you who have a similar problem as mine will have these case laws or state laws in your respective areas. It might take a little work on your end to find these laws, as I as an MPA have the experience to look for this type of law, or hire an environmental lawyer to do it for you.
In closing after seeing some comments about some people talking about others throughout the country who are taking legal action I am one. And I will be happy to share the results of what is going with my case. This is a current situation and I will not stop fighting this until the day comes that his OWB is out of the ground. Also I want it to be clear I do not have a problem with people refining OWBs and making them positive useful alternatives to heating their homes, but I do have a problem with individuals encroaching on others rights. I am an advocate for freedom of choice, if you want to choose to use an OWB, all power to you, but I do not agree with individualistic rights that take away the rights of others. If you have the rural setting and the means of nobody who minds around you who cares, I don't, it is your choice to expose yourself to the effects of OWBs. Just like if you want to drink, use drugs, smoke it is your body not mine.
And the quote you ask from my neighbor's OWB manufacturer? "It is recommended you do not place any of our products within your neighbor if it is less than 100 feet from the property line"
Joel
Check this out at---BurningIssues.org Forum Index -> Smoke Stories
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment