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Warning: don't dig near old landfill sites without checking first
I was on a dig near a former dump outside of Richmond, Virginia two weeks ago. We started finding old glass bottles and rusted cans about two feet down. Thought it was just some trash from the 1950s until my shovel hit something that smelled awful. Turns out we were in an unmarked landfill from the 1920s full of medical waste. Three guys got sick from handling old syringes and chemical vials. The county records showed nothing about this site on any map. Now I always check historical aerials before we break ground anywhere near old town edges. Has anyone else run into hidden garbage pits like this on their digs?
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king.aaron14d ago
Three guys got sick from handling old syringes" - yeah, I call bs on that. Medical waste from the 1920s is mostly glass and metal, not some biological time bomb waiting to go off. Soil and time break down most anything that was nasty back then. You probably just hit a pocket of swamp gas or rotting vegetation and scared yourselves. I've dug up plenty of old dump sites near farms and never had anyone get sick from old bottles or cans. Wear gloves if you're worried, but this sounds like you're trying to make a big deal out of nothing.
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wesley38513d ago
Three guys getting sick from 1920s syringes sounds more like they panicked over dirt smell than actual infection, lol. Unless you're saying those old chemical vials were still potent, which is a stretch.
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jordan_webb13d ago
Is it just me or does everyone panic over nothing these days without stopping to think?
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