Privy
Pit
I used to think that a privy pit under someone's home was quite
common in older areas of cities. But over the years only a very
few people have emailed me about a similar problem.
On the other hand hydrogen sulfide poisoning results from many
common things and could easily be affecting you and your health.
Here is a short list of some of the common things: a missing
cleanout cap, water evaporating out of an unused sink trap, living
near oil or gas drilling or refining, or near sewage treatment plants.
If you have been wondering as I did while I lived in hydrogen
sulfide you may have cause to suspect a toxin in your air:
The one answer to all of the above questions could be hydrogen
sulfide. For me, I had no idea I was living over a privy pit. I had,
after all, purchased my home from a reputable Realtor who was
the developer and whom I believed to be honest. You might trust
that your home is safe and healthy and for different reasons than
those I encountered your home may not be.
My initial fear, caused by large holes that kept forming outside,
and then much smaller ones inside between my floor bricks (laid
on sand without a slab) was that I was living over some kind of
deep underground cavity that was just waiting to become a full
fledged sink hole that in time it would swallow my home,
everything in it, and possibly me.
This fear was fed by loud bangs which I interpreted as things
shifting in the underground cavity/would-be sink hole.
Because I knew my home was near the Santa Fe River, I thought
the holes could be related to an underground river or channel that
had once been a river.
Because my home is a condo, I ran the problem of the holes past
the owners of the other condos, emphasizing how the water from
the condo adjacent to mine torrented into my tiny patio. "Could
flooding cause subsidence?" I asked.
"Get a structural engineer. We'll share the cost," they replied.
(They've yet to pay their share or one single penny.)
After a structural engineer came and advised addressing the
water/drainage situation, I reported back to the other owners who
ignored the structural engineer's report and my pleas for help; so,
I stepped up my complaints on the "squeaky wheel" theory.
This resulted, after a really long time, in them contacting our
insurance company.
The insurance company, Ohio Casualty, sent Doug McLeod, a
structural engineer to thoroughly check the inside and outside of
my condo and take soil samples from the bottom of the hole.
Based on the soil tests, he concluded that there was a privy pit,
and warned that there was often more than one.
Mr. McLeod didn't mention hydrogen sulfide, though, so all I
knew was that the privy pit was causing the holes and I didn't
have to worry about a huge sink hole appearing and swallowing
me and my home. I was so happy and relieved!
Which I wouldn't have been if I hadn't been ignorant of hydrogen
sulfide and what a privy pit that near my house meant, (I didn't
yet know that part of it was under my bedroom!)
I didn't learn what it meant until after there was such a loud
BANG! one day that I thought someone had shot out my living
room window.
I ran to see if I could catch a glimpse of the gun wielding culprit,
but there wasn't a broken window, nor was there a car accident
outside, and Los Alamos up on the hill appeared intact.
At floor level, however, there was a cloud of dust which was not
reassuring.
I began calling around to find out what was going on. Mostly, it
turned out that no one had a job description that mentioned privy
pits, so EPA, New Mexico air quality, county health, city building
inspectors, and many more all said, "Gosh," and not much more.
Though, each of them told me to call one of the others.
One fellow, however, was of the opinion that the loud bang had
been an explosion of gases from the privy pit, possibly nitrates.
He said I should get the air tested because there was significant
risk of further explosions, possibly serious.
I made an appointment to have the air tested, closed up my
condo as I was asked to do in preparation for the tests, and went
to Colorado to stay with a friend, since I was told it wouldn't be
good to stay in the house with no fresh air.
Three days later I came back, met the air quality guy, Michael
Curtis from CERL, who immediately upon entering said he
smelled hydrogen sulfide, which I hadn't heard of. He said that if
I couldn't smell it, (and I couldn't) that it had deadened my sense
of smell, which it was known to do.
He did hydrogen sulfide tests in two areas and identified in his
report that hydrogen sulfide was coming up through the floor.
He said that when hydrogen sulfide is there, there are most likely
other toxic gases as well, but that to test for all of them would get
pricey. He said that since it was known that once you had
hydrogen sulfide the other gases were likely there also, hydrogen
sulfide was considered a "marker" for the other gases.
Did I want to try to identify other gases, he asked, saying he
didn't think it was necessary because of the marker quality of
hydrogen sulfide. He added ominously that the pit had to be dug
out right away: I couldn't go on living with the hydrogen sulfide.
The other owners still would do nothing, so I got started and
came face to face with excavation that produced a really really
big, deep hole -- ten feet deep. (Most ceilings are only eight feet
high.) And, it wasn't exactly where the holes had been, it was
partially, directly under the corner of my bedroom.
Once the location of the pit became apparent, I had to get a pier
to support the house to eliminate any danger that the house would
fall on the men while they were digging. (The installed pier wasn't
up to the task, but I believed it was when it was installed. See
sidebar.) Until I got it the men were reluctant to continue digging.
The Developer/Owner/Realtor/Broker, Wally Sargent, from
whom I purchased the property, which he also financed, about a
dozen years ago, has the prestigious Santa Fe Properties, which
makes me wonder, "Why was my home constructed in so shoddy
a manner that it is actually dangerous?"
When I called Wally Sargent after I learned of the problem he
said he would take care of it, to send him the bills. But when I did
he said his lawyer had said not to "become involved." When I
wrote to his lawyer, his lawyer sent me a threatening letter as if I
was at fault.
Not having money to complete the job, because the other
owners refused to pay their share, I had to stay in a hotel while
the hole was under my bedroom: there's no slab, just bricks on
sand which at that point were balanced over the hole.
Now, I'm in foreclosure because of how much the remedial work
cost and the fact that the condo association refuses to pay what
they owe on the common element (the ground under our
respective condos is a common element). The Third Party
Complaint I filed, naming Dorie Deal, Rob Hunt, E.W. Sargent,
etc. is made clear by means of the exhibits.
One of the condo owners, Dorie Deal, spent tens of thousands on
common element landscaping near her unit, while refusing to pay
anything toward remedying the common element health hazard
that was also affecting neighbors.
I mention this only because it reminds me of the mindset that
allows food to be stolen in countries where there is famine, so
that profit can be made.
I see this is as far as I got, telling the story.
|
INCIDENTALLY, when I went to Wells Fargo, across the street
from Federal Place, to withdraw money to pay Miguel and Felix
for digging, the drive up window was closed. This is three blocks
from the Plaza. Conversationally I asked why it was closed. The
teller said that the sewer had exploded and there was a big hole in
the floor. I had no idea that sewers exploded, so the information
made me take the privy pit more seriously.
Sadly, the City officials were not helpful. The building inspector
and the plumbing inspector didn't even tell me that hydrogen
sulfide from the main city sewer lines was being released from the
sewer pipe that had broken when the outhouse pit subsided under
it, and was now exposed.
WARNING: That last dose of hydrogen sulfide caused my
mouth to swell so severely that my gums bled; my forehead
swelled; the soft tissue in my chest swelled causing considerable
pain when the doctor pushed on my sternum; and my feet and
ankles mimicked those of an elephant, so that what had been
loose, slip-on sandals, became tight, foot constricting shoes
around the tops of which my swollen feet bulged.
In actual fact when I say "That last dose of hydrogen sulfide," I
am forgetting that there may be a second outhouse pit in line with
the first, the second being more or less under my bedroom
doorway, where bricks have begun to sink. (Yes, if you are
thinking it sounds like I don't have a slab, you are right. My brick
floor is laid right on top of the sand. In terms of the hydrogen
sulfide, I think no slab may be a good thing, since if there were a
slab it would be harder to detect where the hydrogen sulfide was
coming from, if and when the slab cracked, which it inevitably
would do.)
If you are exhibiting any of these symptoms: you wheeze in the
early a.m.; your chest hurts (because your mucous
membranes are swollen, but you don't
know that and fear it's your heart and lungs); your memory
becomes much worse; you have a hard time finishing sentences;
your balance becomes much worse; you bump into doorways;
you weave when you want to walk a straight line, and you live in
an old part of your town, you may want to have a hydrogen
sulfide test done in your home. Your home will need to be closed
up for a few days, during which time it's best if you are not there.
Because, here's the thing, I doubt anyone else thinks their
dwelling is built over an outhouse pit any more than I did.
But, it could be, and that is not good for the dweller's health.
Note: since I did this page I haven't found anyone else with this
problem, but I have learned that if you have several bathrooms
and don't use the sink or tub in one, the water in the trap dries
out and that allows hydrogen sulfide from the city sewer to come
into your home, as does a toilet if there's been a particular thing
installed that creates a suction. I forget the name of it, but a
plumber found one at my townhouse and explained the danger to
me. The toilet should just be sitting on the wax ring without any
plastic or rubber device to supposedly keep out sewer gas,
because the device has a tendency to do exactly what it's
supposed to stop from happening.
2/13/06 I'm Devastated -- But, curiously hopeful --
Because I paid to have as much corrected with the privy pit as I
had money, and because I didn't want to rent my unit to someone
who could be hurt by toxins from another privy pit, if there is
one, I am in a desperate situation with my property being
foreclosed. And not only that I didn't have the money to go to a
doctor when I got a darning needle in my toe, and I got tetanus
and have been drastically sick and in bed for five months. Then,
about a month ago, the City turned off the water at my rental
while the gas was on, and that burned the boiler out, so now
(2/13/05) I don't have a source of income until the boiler is
replaced at a cost of $3,400, and I don't qualify for any sort of
federal safety net program because I guess none exist for people
like me.
I worked 16 hour days as a Realtor to have my condo, and then
when my son wanted to come from England I got a larger home
so he could live here, but then he didn't want to stay in Santa Fe
and went back to London, so I cried and cried and I decided to
get a smaller hoe that wouldn't remind me of my dream of being
reunited with my son. That's how I got three properties.
Now I'm without any income because, basically, of the privy pit
and I'm as scared as I was when the tetanus was making my back
muscles contract and pull me backwards.
I don't know why there's no law to protect people like me.
Is it right that I'm losing everything because of this?
If I'd sold my properties without fighting, I'd only have gotten a
small portion of what they are worth because of the desperate
situation I've been forced into. And once I don't have my
properties I don't have my income source.
So, I fought, except I got tetanus... But now, if the default
judgment "works" thing could still turn around.
I'm praying. I hope you pray for me. And I hope Sargent gives
me the money for the default judgment to pay the foreclosure
plaintiffs -- in time.
SiteBuilder from Yahoo is SOOOO easy to use!!!!
I feel that the opposing attorneys and possibly some of the judges
may come to this page and then look at other parts of my site and
decide that I'm not really disabled if I can do this. They may
think this is hard to do, maybe they think that to do this I had to
know html or other demanding things. But, what SiteBuilder does
is make it possible to just write what you want, and choose colors
and click to add pictures or make links. Plus, over time the pages
can be edited and redited until they look really good. Or, I think
they look really good.
Something that I've failed to mention is that after I moved into
my condo in 2001, in the early spring when it was still cold I kept
the windows closed; I couldn't feel a cord around my leg and I
fell - I think the hydrogen sulfide had already begun to cause
numbness.
I hit my head hard on the brick floor - I'm 6 feet tall, so my head
went that far at speed.
When I found x-rays in my medical file, I had the strangest
feeling, as if someone had faked records to mislead me: I had no
memory of getting x-rays. I have no memory of it today, either.
That is the traumatic brain injury that I now have.
What I had thought caused the numbness before I knew about
the hydrogen sulfide, was stress from Dorrie Deal not paying the
Refuse charges from the City, and them all coming out of my
refinance closing, when I needed the money to pay my Chapter
11 creditors.
Because I couldn't live in my condo I moved into one of my
two rentals, which undid my income. Now that home is
foreclosed: the home where I am sick in bed with what I hope is
getting to be the end of tetanus. Sale on the Courthouse steps was
set for 3/22/05 and I didn't get to appear and the court wouldn't
accommodate my disability.
7/12/06 - The recent New Mexican articles don't make the fact
of the privy pit clear. I can't help but wonder if that is because the
New Mexican published a story in 2003 written by Christopher
Alba which said that "the real culprit" was the broken sewer pipe.
Alba was paid over $1600 by the Condo Association, and the
only thing I know of that he did, was write the article which said
false things, ridiculed me and damaged my reputation.
The privy pit is a matter of fact. The sewer pipe broke because it
was laid over the privy pit.
I filed a defamation case against the New Mexican and Alba, but
Judge Hall would not let me produce evidence. Judge Hall
seemed to strongly favor the newspaper or be seriously
prejudiced against me. He refused to accommodate my disability
and he dismissed the case without looking at the facts.
The Newspaper goes out to thousands of people and they all
believe, most likely, that I'm pretending about the pit. The stories
make me sound awful. I did a search for my name on Yahoo and
found a story that ran on the KIVA site in El Paso based on this
latest New Mexican story, and it made me sound horrible.
If not for the privy pit I would not have gone into arrears on my
mortgages. If not for my feet being so numb from the hydrogen
sulfide I would have felt the broken bit of needle in my toe that
gave me tetanus.
I wish a thousand people would write to Wally Sargent and tell
him what a despicable thing it was to build a condo over part of
an old privy pit and then sell it to someone to live in. Wally
Sargent himself sold it to me.
At first, in 2003, Sargent said he would take care of the costs, but
then he hired a lawyer instead.
When the foreclosures started I filed a Third Party Complaint in
each and had Wally Sargent served. He never answered. So I got
a Certificate as to the State of the Record, showing that he was in
default, and filed for a Default Judgment.
Judge Garcia refused to act on it. Contrast that with how my
condo was foreclosed with a Default Judgment after I answered,
with no hearing, and I wasn't even notified of the judgment or the
sale.
Would your court and newspaper treat you like Wally Sargent, or
like me? Think about that.
The bottle part of it was fun.
The workers were really nice
about being careful so as not to
break them. See the little one on
the rock?
Why am I wheezing so much in the early morning?
Why does my chest hurt?
Why am I spilling things so often?
Why don't strawberries smell good any more?
Why can't I walk straight?
Why do I bump into things so much?
Why do I say the wrong word so much?
Why is my kitty throwing up?
Why is it so hard to breathe when I exercise?
Why do I get confused with simple directions?
Why is my throat irritated, it's not hay fever season?
Why do my fingernails have valleys in them?
Felix is wearing a yellow cap,
Miguel is on this side of the
wisteria roots which they
carefully protected as they dug
out the privy pit. (On the right is
the outside of my bedroom wall.)
A strip of old carpet sticks to the
rough and bulgy footing over the
privy pit. Past the pit, Miguel's
foot is on smooth, sharp cornered
footing poured into real earth.
The difference between the hard,
natural earth and the blackish
organic matter and garbage in the
pit is/was obvious. But Wally
Sargent, broker of Santa Fe
Properties, had a home built over
that excrement, sold it to me, and
has taken no responsibility.
My desk was over the privy pit.
The brick floor was laid without
a slab. My hard drive tower sat
on the bricks, and I went through
five hard drives in two years.
My kitty liked to sit in one of my
filing bags of papers. It wasn't
until she was so sick she was
dragging herself, that I finally left.
This is where I sat when I started
my site, my Fingernails and B12
Malabsorption pages.
A helical pier put in by Crocker
Ltd. held up the corner of the
condo during digging. It goes
down 35 feet to solid ground.
When digging exposed it Felix
and Miguel were worried but Ed
Crocker said it was fine. Later he
said, No, its gauge was too small
to be exposed and it may have
been "compromised".
When he was selling me the
helical pier he didn't say there
were different sizes; he didn't
give me a choice.
I was upset that the helical pier
was not the safety precaution he
had led me to believe.
Mr. Crocker has several articles
on the Internet about helical
anchors. One talks about "false
confidence." He means it to be a
reason to put in one of his helical
piers, so you can have "true"
confidence. But, from my
experience, the pier appears to
have been false confidence.
Mario measured the depth of the
excavation when it had reached
the bottom of the privy material.
It was 10 feet deep.
This shows the stepped nature
of the excavation.
Recent pictures:
taken just before the
Sotheby's real estate agent
bought my condo at the
foreclosure sale I didn't
know about.
Health Boundaries Bite
