Arizona buyers left in the dark on nearby hazards

A family says they bought property next to a hazardous site and weren't told. The site has orange dirt containing high levels of arsenic and lead.

[armageddonready]

Real estate agents can be completely unscrupulous.

[squishsquall]

The company that polluted should clean it up. Not taxpayers

[ronwade]

Every AZ real estate agent knows where mines used to be. It's on all the maps.

[janofb]

If it wasn't disclosed, you have a lawsuit against your agent, the seller's agent, and the owners. They have E&O insurance, and the state has a fund to compensate you.

[realitycheck]

Whenever a home, or property has a significant defect, failure to disclose the information to the potential buyer is illegal.

[paulbruney]

Realtors dont care about the findings of the soil, natural hazards or anything except getting the money for selling the property.

[Leo-zv]

That is plain criminal what they did to that family. Can’t trust no one any where in America. Country is full of scammers

[MS-tyeq]

Did they do a walk around before they bought the land? Theres no way they didnt see the mine. Caveat emptor

[LMPatriot]

If you want to avoid this, when looking at buying property, pay for what is called an "environmental site assessment" with historical analysis and lab testing for soil samples.

[theresekirkpatrick]

I’m having trouble sharing. Imagine that. I know this poor family. 😢 😡 should be illegal for them to sell without a soil test they knew and didn’t expose its toxic.

[SuperMassman]

, ,, who the frig would want to live in an area that looks like an atomic bomb testing site?

[cardinal]

Reminds me of a neighborhood whose buyers purchased residential lots adjacent to a landfill and later were SHOCKED there was toxic leaching into their water wells!

[Me]

That real estate agent is a HUGE part of the problem.

[ssplayer]

According to an Arizona Dept. of Health study:
"• The rates for lung and bladder cancer are elevated for the Prescott Valley and Black Canyon
City PCA areas compared to the Yavapai County and State rate but Dewey-Humboldt only
comprises 5.7% of those cases, making it difficult to attribute higher rates specifically to
Dewey-Humboldt.
• The Arizona Department of Health Services is unable to reach any conclusions regarding the
presence of an elevated cancer risk in the Dewey-Humboldt area."
If it were me I'd wear a mask or avoid going outside when it was windy enough to blow that dust around.

[hunter]

I feel bad for them, but, if something is cheap, especially real estate, raw land or actual house, walk away. There's a reason. Seeing the mountain of tailings, I would have gotten back in the truck and looked for something else. Plenty of areas in rural Arizona away from any mines are available. Messed up situation. Shame on the real estate company. They knew.

[josephlalock]

the mine was in sight. the pile of dirt was in sight. the site was listed as a cleanup site for 16 years. can you dress yourself or do you need your hand held for that as well?

[lesliegaskill]

Ok duh! Any mining area is contaminated!!
Douglas
Sierra vista
Tombstone
And the list goes on!!
Clifton
Globe………

[WolfRoss]

When I bought land I asked if there was any mining in the area or known mine or mill sites. He told me at lower elevations in the area had some sites. We have uranium, mercury, silver, copper, etc. Look at the state seal. There was land in Nevada near Carson City where they wanted a subdivision it had asbestos. These western states have had lots of mining.

[theresehopkins]

Wait.... wait.... wait just one second. People are actually buying land in the middle of a desert??? How is that "perfect"???? It's not country... it's a desert!!! There is a difference. 😳🙏

[billkraemer]

Well yes it is an old mine. If you sometime studying in school you might know that mines do tend to have issues with metals, after all, mines are dug for the minerals. And the buyers have a period of due diligence on their part to do research to understand and uncover problems with the deal or they can walk.