patrick.net

Call the city. Then the county. Then vector control.

Total state supremacy would be the police instantly responding to your complaint, beating the elderly residents and dragging them off to the Gulag in their own trash bags. Also dragging you away for bothering them. What you've got here is laissez-faire.

Incidentally it's pretty unlikely that your neighbors are "Spaniards". Unless you live in the UK rather than Kent WA.

So today I go back to the apartment manager and of course no action had been taken.

This time I brought photographic evidence of the garbage and chemicals:

Here's one that at close range smells simply like rotting food in a trash bag...how can a human being live next to this themselves...and why would they?!

John Bailo says

Seriously, it's incidents like this that make me turn thumbs down to the DREAM
act.

Because of course, your 75yo neighbors represent the children of every immigrant to the USA, everywhere, forever.

Sounds like a grouchy old man rant with a 5th grader's understanding of civics.
Why don't you PM the Captain, you two could spend several pleasant afternoons a week together, lamenting the way things are today.

the children of every immigrant to the USA, everywhere, forever

There are many children in these apartments.

Breathing the miasma.

You do nothing except deflect blame.

DREAM is clearly an act that has not been well thought out.

You cannot inject uncivil people into a civilized society unless your intent is to destroy it.

Hey.....wait a minute....

So did you call the city? Did you leave a Yelp review with pics? Don't just complain. Do something that can actually resolve your issue.

So here's the update...the stench and stink of my toxic neighbor has continued all last week.

Yesterday I went back to the Manager's office to get a status update.

She said that on Monday, they had notified the tenant. However, the law here (King County/Washington State) gives the tenant 10 days in which to comply. Until then they can take no action.

Looking for other resources, I called the police non-emergency line. I had a very long talk about it with the officer but basically, and I agreed, his hands were tied. He did suggest talking to the Fire Department hazardous materials. After my call, they knocked on the neighbor's door but did not inspect the back. They gave him notice, but could do nothing more.

The smells continued to last night and a little bit this morning.

What a situation...everyone is acting according to their requirements, yet problems persist. Is this a system problem...

John, is this a rental or an owned property where the stench is coming from?

John Bailo says

What a situation...everyone is acting according to their requirements, yet problems persist. Is this a system problem...

Sounds like you have a very weak code enforcement office there. I called in Oakland, CA and they were there within a couple of days and had put in a notice to vacate and repair to my landlord. And there was no stench, just some minor fire hazards with insulation.

What about health and human services? This could be an elder care issue. Their are hotlines in CA to call if you suspect an older person is being abused or is a danger to themselves or others.

rufita11 says

Sounds like you have a very weak code enforcement office there.

Code? What's that?

Seriously the attitude in this state is primarily "you're on your own".

Which is surprising because it presents itself as a Socialist paradise. However, some close up experience shows that most of it is driven by money, to get people to buy in to a fantasy and make the highest return.

If you should actually ask any of these agencies to do what you might expect of them, prepare to have your heat, light and water cut off, or suddenly a package of yours goes missing, your rent goes up or any number of retaliatory actions are taken including general societal browbeating.

Normally I would do nothing in this situation -- however, I still need to breathe air, hence ...

John Bailo says

Seriously the attitude in this state is primarily "you're on your own".

Well you are a renter after all. Meaning you can pick up and take your business elsewhere. Tell them you expect to terminate your lease with no penalty considering current livability, and see if this motivates them to pressure the other tenant to clean it up.

Vicente says

expect to terminate your lease with no penalty

You are kidding right?

The problem for me this is the only apartment complex which has any where need affordable rents. I was willing to put up with the dicey neighborhood, and the crime rate, and other sordid things. But an inescapable chemical smell?

I am now looking at moving to another area.

John Bailo says

You are kidding right?

Nope. Had a neighbor who did exactly this. His landlord said no way. He said well I'll file in small claims court and we'll see what a judge thinks about you holding me to the letter of a lease in an unlivable environment. In that case it was sewage and maintenance issues. Landlord caved. No idea how it would have played out in court actually, but it worked. Lots of things in life are like that, sometimes bluff is enough.

IANAL but noxious fumes might actually be toxic. Garbage not properly disposed of, is a public health hazard. You've got plenty of room there to lodge complaints, between Civil Codes and Health & Safety Codes, which could bring unwelcome inspections and perhaps citations/fines. Not that I would open discussion that way, but you can certainly walk into their office with the feeling you are holding a baseball bat behind your back.

I'm just going to come out and say it.
Why don't you move the smelly items to the community dumpster? The trash will take it away. Why wait and smell the bad smells, contacting everyone you can think of to come and do it for you when you could get off your ass and do it yourself!
You're contemplating moving rather than taking direct action?
I have kids. If my neighbors did this kind of shit, I'd have their toxic garbage bagged and gone that very fucking day.
If they complained, I'd tell them to watch their ass because any further provocation on their part is going to have severe consequences.

Wow Quigly. Just a wee bit of vituperation there.

In any case, my neighbor sometimes leaves their AC on ALL night and it's right outside the bedroom window, vibrating the whole room. I just looked up a Youtube vid on how to turn it off from the outside--I got up at 3:30 AM and tried out my new skills--took 2 seconds. Lift lid, pull some sort of handle--peace and quiet.

Well, in a spate of desperation, I went on an overnight trip to a nearby city (over the mountains from Seattle to the Inland region, which resembles Arizona more than Cascadia) and found some nice homes.

When I returned (just now) I am finding the smells completely gone. No explanation given. No questions asked. I am sitting on my patio, drinking a Pilsner.

That's all I wanted to begin with.