Mothball Neighbors Making Me Miserable

[Happyinwonerland]

Just another neighbor complaint thread:

We have new next door nieghbors and they seem to have covered their yard in mothballs. The smell is so awful and overwhelming that I can't enjoy being outdoors. We have had awesome neighbors for the 12 years we have been in this house, but these people have been here 1 week and I want to put a for sale sign up.

I miss our good neighbors.

Any tips on things I could plant to overcome the smell?

 

[CarolAnn856]

Just another neighbor complaint thread:

We have new next door nieghbors and they seem to have covered their yard in mothballs. The smell is so awful and overwhelming that I can't enjoy being outdoors. We have had awesome neighbors for the 12 years we have been in this house, but these people have been here 1 week and I want to put a for sale sign up.

I miss our good neighbors.

Any tips on things I could plant to overcome the smell?

I'd never heard of anyone putting them in their yard, so I looked it up. It turns out it may be illegal for them to do what they're doing:
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/mothball/regulation.html

 

[cabanafrau]

Sounds like they're trying to discourage some critters. Mothballs can be toxic, so be careful of any pets. Maybe try and help everyone out by planting some lavender strategically. Some critters don't like mint either, so maybe set out a pot or two.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I'd never heard of anyone putting them in their yard, so I looked it up. It turns out it may be illegal for them to do what they're doing:
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/mothball/regulation.html

I had no idea! That is so helpful.

Now, how to approach this?

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I took photos of the mothballs that were out in plain sight. I'm not even sure who I would report this to. I didn't know they were toxic, but now i'm even more worried because we have a kid and pets. I wonder if the fumes I'm smelling are harmful too?

 

[cabanafrau]

I think it's more the potential impact on groundwater and soil. Bear in mind mothballs had been a relatively common household item for decades.

 

[larissawbb]

I feel for you, my husband has an elderly aunt that I take shopping and she overwhelmingly smells like mothballs. I can’t even breath in the truck. I do the passive aggressive WiFi thing. Naming our WiFi “ please stop mowing at 6 am, it’s not burn season, and your dog was almost ran over this morning “. It surprisingly works. One neighbor has been too lazy to walk her dog and just throws him out the door. The poor thing was hit last fall and limps. She was at it again and he was almost hit the other day. Either she saw the message or someone talked to her because the dog hasn’t been running loose. Or you could call your city clerk if there is an ordinance.

 

[cabanafrau]

I feel for you, my husband has an elderly aunt that I take shopping and she overwhelmingly smells like mothballs. I can’t even breath in the truck. I do the passive aggressive WiFi thing. Naming our WiFi “ please stop mowing at 6 am, it’s not burn season, and your dog was almost ran over this morning “. It surprisingly works. One neighbor has been too lazy to walk her dog and just throws him out the door. The poor thing was hit last fall and limps. She was at it again and he was almost hit the other day. Either she saw the message or someone talked to her because the dog hasn’t been running loose. Or you could call your city clerk if there is an ordinance.

What does your husband's elderly aunt have to do with passive aggressive WiFi thing and your neighbor's dog?

 

[Kitty 34]

With my lung disease I would so be discouraged like you OP. Hopefully you can do something about it. Keep us updated.

 

[larissawbb]

What does your husband's elderly aunt have to do with passive aggressive WiFi thing and your neighbor's dog?

Sorry. Two sentences got lost somehow. My husbands aunt was completely unaware that she smelled so strong. Some of my neighbors were unaware that some of the stuff that they were doing wasn’t legal. For example the guy who would burn stuff from his business was burning outside of burn season and you even need a permit during burn season. Maybe her neighbor is oblivious to the overwhelming smell.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Have you tried asking them why they put the mothball out? They may have a serious critter problem or some other reason for doing so.

 

[easyas123]

I think it's more the potential impact on groundwater and soil. Bear in mind mothballs had been a relatively common household item for decades.

OP - if there is any impact to the groundwater then the place you need to call is your County (or possibly Township/Municipality or if large enough, City) Dept. of Environmental Health. Report that you are concerned over the possible contamination on a neighboring property, as well as potential health concerns for pets, wildlife & children. You should be able to make this complaint anonymously or at least in a way where your neighbor is not informed who made the complaint.

We actually had to do this for a similar (not moth balls though) situation and it worked out for us - as in it got resolved & neighbor wasn't fuming that we turned them in cause they didn't know, thus making life easier.

Hope this help-

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I called the National Pesticide Information Center. who directed me to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The Dept. of Ag. stated they can't do anything, and were surprised to hear that it is illegal. They recommended I call our county's health dept.

I don't know these neighbors and wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about it. We live in the middle of a very developed area, I can't imagine they have much of a snake /critter problem. I've been here 12 years and have never seen anything beyond a garage mouse in the winter. No snakes or anything.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I called the National Pesticide Information Center. who directed me to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The Dept. of Ag. stated they can't do anything, and were surprised to hear that it is illegal. They recommended I call our county's health dept.

I don't know these neighbors and wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about it. We live in the middle of a very developed area, I can't imagine they have much of a snake /critter problem. I've been here 12 years and have never seen anything beyond a garage mouse in the winter. No snakes or anything.

Just because you personally haven't seen anything doesn't mean it's not there.

We used to live in a very developed neighborhood too. The only time I've ever put out mothballs was when we chased an anaconda sized rat snake out of our attic. I wanted to discourage him from coming back.

 

[cabanafrau]

I called the National Pesticide Information Center. who directed me to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The Dept. of Ag. stated they can't do anything, and were surprised to hear that it is illegal. They recommended I call our county's health dept.

I don't know these neighbors and wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about it. We live in the middle of a very developed area, I can't imagine they have much of a snake /critter problem. I've been here 12 years and have never seen anything beyond a garage mouse in the winter. No snakes or anything.

We live in a very long-term, established suburban neighborhood. We've had raccoons, groundhogs, skunks, coyotes and more in our yard and neighborhood. Neighbor's dog just got skunked a couple weeks ago.

 

[Imzadi]

OP - if there is any impact to the groundwater then the place you need to call is your County (or possibly Township/Municipality or if large enough, City) Dept. of Environmental Health. Report that you are concerned over the possible contamination on a neighboring property, as well as potential health concerns for pets, wildlife & children. You should be able to make this complaint anonymously or at least in a way where your neighbor is not informed who made the complaint.

Call the County Health Dept if there's no Environmental Health Dept. I had to do this when I had a rat problem. My landlady was from the "dainty women" generation, who let men do all the hard work & make all the decisions. She was a widow by the time I rented from her and had to make decisions. And she just couldn't even handle how to get rid of one rat. So I had to file a complaint with the County Health Dept. who sent an inspector. I don't know if they only deal with inside homes. But, a yard is someone's property, so it may apply.

 

[Imzadi]

I'd never heard of anyone putting them in their yard, so I looked it up. It turns out it may be illegal for them to do what they're doing:
http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/ptype/mothball/regulation.html

I don't know these neighbors and wouldn't feel comfortable talking to them about it. We live in the middle of a very developed area, I can't imagine they have much of a snake /critter problem. I've been here 12 years and have never seen anything beyond a garage mouse in the winter. No snakes or anything.

As a last resort, print out the info on that web page and mail it to the new neighbors. Since you live in such a developed area, they won't know who sent it. If you don't know their names, just put: Resident, Their address, etc. Make sure it's in an official looking, long business envelope. Heck, I'd even put the National Pesticide Information Center & their address down as the return address, so they don't think it;s junk mail and not open it.

If you want to find out your neighbors' names to address them directly, and they are the owners, not renters, you can go down to City Hall and look up the name on the deed. That's public info.

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

Suck it up, go next door and introduce yourself. Welcome them to the neighborhood and then ask them politely why they are putting mothballs in the yard, and let them know that the smell is permeating everywhere, along with the risks of groundwater/soil contamination.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Heck, I'd even put the National Pesticide Information Center & their address down as the return address, so they don't think it;s junk mail and not open it.

I would definitely think that was junk mail!

 

[cvjw]

Could be trying to get rid of bats in their house. It is one of the solutions that came up when we were trying to evict a bat family in our attic. Didn’t work. Had to call in a professional