One of the many duties of your district health officer is the investigation of environmental complaints.

Examples include overflowing cesspits, excessive smoke from commercial boilers and unclean animal pens. The legal term for such problems is "nuisances'', and how to deal with these will be discussed in this article.

In the early days, nuisances were afforded a high priority in public health because they were blamed for the cause of disease. Over the years, as the mechanism of disease transmission became better understood, the status of nuisances changed. Today we deal with them largely because they may interfere with the enjoyment and rights of one's life and property.

Everyone must endure minor annoyances from their neighbours from time to time and vice versa. This is a fact of daily life. It is only when such activity becomes unreasonable that it may be unlawful.

Legally there are two types of nuisances: statutory and common law. The health department deals with statutory nuisances as defined in the Public Health Act, 1949.

If the officer finds that a complaint meets conditions of a statutory nuisance, then an abatement order can be served on the person causing the nuisance. This notice will specify what is required to stop it from recurring within a reasonable time. Failure to comply with the order may then result in court action.

By far the largest number of nuisance complaints are over the unsatisfactory keeping of animals. A large accumulation of animal excrement on a property which breeds flies and creates foul odours can be classified as a statutory nuisance if it affects neighbours. The owner of any animal creating such a nuisance has a responsibility to prevent its occurrence or recurrence.

Effective preventive measures include: Putting the animal as far away from the neighbour's property as possible.

Daily cleaning and burying of excrement.

Using disinfectant to neutralise odours, laying of fly bait to reduce the number of flies.

Another area of nuisances is defined in the "common law'' category. The health officer does not have the power to deal with those in this area. An example this is the crowing of caged roosters or other fowl. The only recourse a person has in this case would be to initiate civil action through the courts. A magistrate could then decide what action can be taken.

Before calling the Health Department, it is best to try resolving the matter with the offending party. It is possible that the creator of the nuisance is unaware that it is affecting you. If all else fails, consult the health department for further details.

ANDREW KENNEDY Environmental Health Officer Department of Health.

HEALTH AND SOCIAL ISSUES HTH