Being near a paper mill might be just as bad!
Many years ago, while visiting Fort Ticonderoga, in upstate NY, there was an incredible stench in the air that I could only describe as “skunk-like”. When I asked the locals about the source of the smell, I was told, “Oh, that’s just the paper mill. It always smells like that around here”.
I haven’t been to the area since then, so I don’t know whether the smell was ever tamed, or even whether the paper mill is still in existence, but I vividly recall the stench from the paper mill that permeated the air for…maybe a 10 square mile area.
A number of years ago, my new boss, transferred form a major city moved, to our town of 40,000. He got a really good price for his city house and decided to build a large 2 story house in a secluded little development away from the main drag. There was a railroad passing through the forest, not far away, and the realter told him there was only one train a day.
The realter told the truth; it was one 130+ car freight train passing though between midnight and 3 am. So much for a quiet sleep.
You get used to the train noise, just like the smells.
In my town, a valid excuse for being late to work is getting caught by a train; there’s a hub for CSX here and trains are constantly switching tracks and stopping to wait.
Some day we will have to move, but for now, not being able to see our neighbor and having the only traffic going by be that of one neighbor going to and from work seems ideal. You guys are right about the smell and noise. There is an immediate sensation of being crowded for those reasons alone as you near civilization. EVs get my vote “when practical” for these two reasons alone ! Used to work in a paper mill in the summer while going to college. It was the best incentive I ever had to study !
I think asbestos is still used in SOME aftermarket clutches and brake linings, I have been exposed to it but I never smoked so maybe i will be ok.
There is a site in a nearby town by me that had a dry cleaners IN an old gas station. The cleaners closed and they tore it down, now theres an industrial sized pump that pumps air out of the soil and filters out the bad stuff. There is a house right next door to this site and they have a radon type remediation thing as well. Its been there for 5 years now.
If your smart enough to worry about it now, don’t buy it, it will always drive you nuts.
I got used to trains, not saying everyone would, to the point I would sleep thru them, and during the day I enjoyed them going by. At one time I had train tracks right in my backyard.
I know a guy who lives in a nice house across the road from a hog farm, it stinks at times, but it doesnt bother him because he got a good deal on the house. Its a really nice higher end house, and it was built there AFTER the hog operation by a farmer. Good thing if your outside and its smelling bad, no one will ever notice if you pass gas.
Although domestic automakers claim that asbestos materials are no longer used in friction products, foreign manufacturers of after-market brake pads are under no economic or regulatory pressure to cease using asbestos materials. In addition, there are no laws on the books that require such products that contain asbestos to be labeled as such.
@Bing : Your comment about lead contamination reminded me of a study I heard about that linked lead pollution to violent crime. I`ll see if I can find a link to it.
Asbestos is not banned, as mentioned earlier in this thread. C and C mentioned it in a question a while back and there’s an OSHA bulletin on it. This is from a 2006 OSHA notice:
“Many brakes and clutches used in new and recent model automobiles do not contain asbestos. However, it has not been totally eliminated. Some reports have indicated that many mechanics and employees in the automotive repair shops as well as do-it-yourselfers are unaware that asbestos may be present in both old and replacement brakes and clutches.”
Well there is still lots of asbestos around. Insulation on the old style furnace ducts, even floor tile. Actually you are pretty much ok if its not airborne and you keep it wet, but you still have to call in a licensed crew to deal with it. The little microscopic fibers have hooks in them like fish hooks and when you breath the fibers they stick into your lungs. Thats what makes it so bad. They don’t come out. I imagine we all were exposed at some point blowing on brake parts and so on.
Radon is a whole nother thing. It is an oderless colorless gas that is in the ground naturally. Certain soil types contain more. It can creep up through the basement floor through cracks etc. and it does cause lung problems too. Its mitigated by putting in vent fans in the floor to create a negative pressure under the basement and exhaust the gas.
Lead, yeah. I don’t like old houses that were painted in lead, inside and outside. Any of you also remember chewing on the window sills as a kid? Just no good way to deal with it for kids, except total removal which is impossible usually or sealer. Yeah and then the whole ground issue.
Then around here we had a factory dumping their solvents on the ground in the early 1900’s. Contaminated a couple wells to this day and is continually monitored. I’m sure there are tons of others that just haven’t been caught or identified.
Who knows what other dangers are lurking that no one knows about yet. Its not all man made but then we’re all going to go sooner or later. Lots of stuff out there to worry about but I like being in a smaller town in a newer house-just wish I would have sealed the floor when I had the chance.