A crew started to remove remnants of a landslide from John Trost’s backyard Wednesday, 10 days after part of a Camas hillside peeled off and rolled through his fence.
The Jan. 18 landslide left several cubic yards of dirt slumped up against the rear of Trost’s Prune Hill Park home.
An excavator operator was able to access the backyard Wednesday and start scooping away the dirt, which was transferred to a dump truck in front of the house. Creating a path along the east side of the house meant pulling up a wooden patio deck along the side yard.
A tarp now covers the hillside, keeping future rainfall off the exposed slope. Progress in other aspects of the cleanup isn’t as apparent, Trost said Wednesday.
He still doesn’t know what caused the slide. Trost, who is not the original owner, doesn’t know what happened during the city permitting process that would leave his property vulnerable.
“I am not saying the slope was incorrect,” Trost said. “But if it was, do they sign off and walk away?”
As far as the permitting and inspection process goes, “What does their own mission statement say?” Trost wondered.
Bob Cunningham, the Camas building official, said the city is waiting for more information on some of the questions. A geotechnical engineer hired by the city “was out and made some mitigation measures — recommending getting the exposed slope covered and rerouting rain drains off the hill,” Cunningham said.
He is waiting to learn more details about the event because the geotechnical report has not been submitted yet.
Cunningham said the city is continuing to look through old files for documents on the subdivision.
“When we have them all collected, we will have a little better idea of what went on,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham said he was been out to see the property, and “I was just glad to see they were able to move some dirt; and the forecast is in their favor.”
Pete Capell, Camas city administrator, said a week ago that there is no city responsibility for an incident that happens on private property. Cunningham made the same point Wednesday.
Trost would like to see more city buy-in than that, he said, and he recapped things from his perspective: An inspector signs off on a project; there is an incident that involves property damage and potential loss of life; and then, “they accept no responsibility,” Trost said.
When it comes to something like a house purchase, Trost said, “I don’t think the government gets to say ‘buyer beware.’ “
A house shopper can check out a place by turning on the hot water and flushing the toilets and seeing if the heating system works.
But he can’t get a backhoe and ground-penetrating radar to see if storm drains are connected to a drainage system, Trost said.