Complaint Review: 4 Seasons Landscape and Lawn Care Inc.

A year ago I hired 4 Seasons Landscape & Lawncare, Inc., to apply landscaping gravel in my residential yard in suburban Twin Cities, Minnesota, just west of Minneapolis. I did not seek out any reviews, reports or ratings of this company. They were recommended by my builder, who I later found to have recieved a kickback for promoting this crooked company. I wish I knew back then what a dishonest company they were, did my research and checked the reviews on Ripoff Report and the Better Business Bureau. I do recall the company used to go by the name All Seasons Landscape and Design, and later found out they changed to 4 Seasons after some lawsuits generated bad publicity. Now I know why. What a bunch of scammers!

I contacted Steve Wadsworth and set up the deal. The crew came to my property, removed the sod and applied a subgrade of fine gravel, which was topped with decorative landscaping rock. They planted trees and shrubs, and some paver stones. It looked OK, and I had no reason to suspect that they had poisoned my land with dangerous chemicals. Fast-forward a year, and I discover that my well water contains exceedingly high levels of various volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Toluene, benzine, PFCs, arsenic, lead, PCBs, and other chemicals. I hired a water quality engineer, who traced the source back to the subgrade material applied by 4 Seasons Lawnscape & Lawncare of Hutchinson, Minnesota. The engineer thinks that the poisonous rock was crushed, reclaimed waste aggregate salvaged from an industrial site of some kind. I now have to spend thousands of dollars in remediation to have all the tainted rock removed, along with much of the soil in the area. I'm lucky that my yard hasn't been declared a federal Superfund site!

I contacted the owner, Steve Wadsworth, and told him of my problems with their faulty materials. He flat out denied that his materials were the cause of my polluted groundwater. He smugly said "sue me if you don't like it." I probably will and I have retained a personal injury attorney. Meanwhile, my family and I are getting medical tests to see if the dangerous water has caused any ill health effects.

Warning - stay clear of 4 Seasons Landscape & Lawncare of Hutchinson, Minnesota. Don't get burned like we did.