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S&S Seeds, Inc.
P.O. Box 1275
Carpinteria, CA
93014-1275

(805) 684-0436
(805) 684-2798 fax

Erosion Takes Top Soil, Leaves Liability

© 1997, 1998 Streamline Publications

Eroded soil has become a large enough problem to attract the attention of the Environmental Protection Agency which considers the wind or water-borne soil a pollutant.
The economics of the situation are as shocking as they are straightforward. Studies have shown that it costs some thirty-five times as much to fix an erosion problem as it does to prevent it. And that is just the cost of fixing it. Never mind possible penalties that the government might impose.
The EPA has a case when you consider how erosion can affect the folks downstream. The loss of viable top soil equals a loss of vegetation. Without vegetation the loss of more top soil and underlying soils goes on unabated. The soil itself ends up as silt that plugs storm drains and natural drainage systems, leading to flooding, loss of wildlife habitat and poor water quality.
The problem extends to loss of crop production and the air purification and the cooling effect of a well vegetated environment.
At still another level, liability crops up in urban settings when mud from an eroding hillside washes across sidewalks and streets creating slip and fall hazards. Liability is easily traced to a particular property. The only question a court is likely to decide, other than the amount of the judgment, is whether the property owner, the landscape architect, the landscape maintainer or the original construction company will have to find the money for the plaintiff. It could be all of them.
The best answer is to prevent the problem, especially when you consider the enormous cost of fixing it.

Check with Albright for erosion-control answers that make sense for your clients.

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S&S Seeds, Inc.
P.O. Box 1275
Carpinteria, CA 93014-1275

(805) 684-0436
(805) 684-2798 fax

International Erosion Control Association

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