Can any one tell me if it is legal to bury stumps in NY state?
As far as I know stumps, brush, rocks, concrete, etc. is ok. Demo debris IE: roofing, lumber, insulation etc. is NOT. Although I have seen burnt out houses , barns buried onsite as long as the debris doesn't leave the site. jr
It will come down to the town that you are working in for the most part and the intended (zoned) use of the land.The building department more or less controls it.Of course you will have to obey the state and federal statutes on hazmat.Ron G
That is really a loaded question Bigdan.I know for a fact it's done every day.It really depends on who you ask.I happened to ask the highway dep't.last week in a town where the job I was bidding if they knew of any brush/stump recycling close by.His answer was no,why don't you just bury them like we do? Now I'm sure if you ask the DEC or the EPA,you will get a much different answer.The way I look at it is this---unless you know for sure that the area where you're burying the stumps will never be used for nothing more than a possible lawned area AND any other means of disposal is either cost prohibitive and/or logistics for off-site removal is extremely difficult,with the land owner understanding that in the future those stumps will rot,settle,and sink holes will develop,then you have no choice.Personally,my take is that stumps are made of wood,that stump came from a tree,also made of wood that grew out of the ground.What possible harm to the environment would it be if that stump went back into the ground?Basically the same thing if you just left the stump alone to rot where the tree used to stand.But what do I know-------:beatsme