The Homeowner’s attorney sat beside him.
The Agent opened a folder.
“Do you know a company called GreenRock Environmental Services?”
The Homeowner shook his head.
“No.”
“Ever seen their trucks?”
The Agent showed photographs.
White tanker truck.
Green logo.
Something looked familiar.
The Homeowner leaned closer.
“I’ve seen that.”
“Where?”
“Service road behind the subdivision.”
“When?”
“Night.”
“How often?”
“Maybe three times.”
The Agent looked toward his partner.
The Homeowner continued.
“I thought they were doing storm-drain maintenance.”
“Who told you that?”
“HOA President.”
The room became quiet.
“When?”
“May.”
The Homeowner remembered.
He had gone outside at 11:20 p.m. because machinery was running beyond the rear fence.
The HOA President happened to be standing near the service road wearing a reflective vest.
He asked what was happening.
She said drainage maintenance.
Emergency work.
The Homeowner complained about the noise.
She told him it would protect homes from flooding.
He believed her.
The Agent asked:
“Did you see what the truck was doing?”
“Not clearly.”
“Any hoses?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Toward the drainage ditch.”
The Agent made a note.
The Homeowner stared.
“You think they were dumping something.”
“We’re investigating.”
His attorney asked:
“Is GreenRock licensed?”
The Agent answered:
“Yes.”
“For certain waste transport.”
“But?”
The Agent looked toward her.
“Records suggest material picked up from industrial clients did not always reach the disposal facilities listed on manifests.”
The Homeowner understood.
Illegal dumping.
Avoid disposal costs.
Charge clients full price.
Dump elsewhere.
His backyard sat downslope from the service road.
The strange smell after rain.
The dying grass.
The HOA President dismissing his complaints.
His stomach turned.
“Was she involved?”
The Agent did not answer directly.
“We have communications between her and GreenRock personnel.”
The Homeowner stared.
“How many?”
“Enough that we’re asking questions.”
The attorney leaned forward.
“What was the intended search before Saturday?”
The Agent considered whether he could answer.
Then:
“The HOA storage property and several contractor records.”
The Homeowner looked away.
She had dumped evidence on him minutes before investigators arrived to search the place where she apparently got it.
It was almost absurd.
His attorney asked the obvious question.
“Why would she carry a bucket of the material into his yard on the morning federal agents were coming?”
The Agent closed the folder.
“That’s one of the questions we’re trying to answer.”
The Homeowner thought he knew.