Gasoline poured on our flower beds

Tuesday 8 July 2025 02:09:59 AM

Location: 15822 Screaming Eagle Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93314, USA

Categorie: Toxic Substances

Description:

After asking our neighbor to tell his son to stop throwing rocks and dirt clods at our home and into our pool, we noticed a mature rose bush on our property, which was planted between our home and this neighbor's home, nearest his garage, was dying from the top down. Upon closer inspection of the rose bush, the leaves and flowers appeared burnt and the stalks were dying from the top down. This was about 4-6 weeks ago. On 07/05/25, after clipping the burnt remnants of the bush down to remove it altogether, and digging up the root ball, I was overwhelmed by the distinct odor of gasoline as soon as I lifted the root ball out of the ground. I immediately took a substantial sample of the soil, placed it in an uncovered bucket, and the gasoline smell is still overwhelming. Our neighbor works on an automobile in his garage and we are highly concerned that he is disposing of a toxic substance (gasoline) directly onto our once healthy soil. One rose bush is already dead and we are concerned that all the soil is now compromised. This area is up grade from a berry plant from which we eat. The gasoline smell remains strong in the affected area to this day. The soil also appears to be wet. We believe this is a public safety hazard. Additionally, on the 4th of July he was lighting fireworks directly in the area of said gasoline exposure. The flower bed is now highly combustable and we feel this hazard must be addressed ASAP for the safety of the neighborhood as well as the integrity of our home/structure and other plants in the area. I feel compelled to note that he lights off fireworks year-round in the area adjacent to where we believe he poured the gas over the top of our rose bush.