36 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

November 12, 2012 11:17 from Kelly Linehan

Despite months of trying, a fuel spill cleanup in Saanich has proved "unsatisfactory" according to BC Hazamt.

It says premises on the 2800 block of Adelaide will now have to be removed as the contaminated soil is excavated to remediate the property...

http://www.cfax1070....-not-cleaned-up

Hmmm, a few litres of fuel and then they have to tear the whole house down...

[sebberry]

Do we know which house?

[VicHockeyFan]

Do we know which house?

You could go to work on Google Maps:

http://www.saanichne.../140085213.html

EDIT: Here it is, Adelaide at Cowper other reports said, this seems to match.

https://maps.google....149.69,,1,14.75

[North Shore]

Holy Kryste! The poor bugger who has to pay for that! IIRC, his home insurance doesn't cover it?

[Bingo]

Many tanks have an accumulation of sludge in the bottom, that helps to plug the pin-holes that develop after a few decades. This can happen even if the tank is indoors. The insurance does not cover a leak if the tank hasn't been tested recently.

There are actually tanks still buried in peoples yards from 50 years ago, when that was what they did. Home owners could be unaware of this, or if they are, they are chosing to ignore it.

[sebberry]

Well the Saanich News article states this wasn't a tank leak - the tank wasn't even there.

On Feb. 3, an oil company mistakenly delivered and pumped oil into the wrong house on Adelaide Avenue – one that wasn’t even using oil as a heat source.



“What I understand is the oil delivery was made to a house that used to have an oil tank. And when (the home-owner) went to a different form of heating, they removed the tank and furnace, but there was still (an oil supply) pipe making a hole in the side of the house,” said Adriane Pollard, Saanich’s manager of environmental services

[Jill]

Holy Kryste! The poor bugger who has to pay for that! IIRC, his home insurance doesn't cover it?

The article cites a second property, one where the fuel line failed. That's the one with the reference to house insurance issues. I would hope that in the Adelaide case, the heating fuel company is responsible and not the homeowner or their insurance company.

[sebberry]

IMO, the contractor who left the pipe sticking out of the ground knowing it led to a tank he removed should be held responsible for this.

[VicHockeyFan]

IMO, the contractor who left the pipe sticking out of the ground knowing it led to a tank he removed should be held responsible for this.

Well, he SHOULD have removed it, but it's not his fault that a company filled the wrong house.

This has happened before, and I suppose will likely happen again.

[G-Man]

Wow I would like to see what the homeowner gets out of this.

IMO previous assessed value plus damages plus moving costs

[Bingo]

I hope it wasn't the same driver who totalled his rig out at Goldstream.

[Dimitrios]

Well, he SHOULD have removed it, but it's not his fault that a company filled the wrong house.

This has happened before, and I suppose will likely happen again.

Is that what happened? Then ya, I think all fault goes to the fuel company. There's no law against having a pipe sticking out of the ground in your yard.

[Robb]

CBC this morning reported that the fuel company's insurance policy will be covering the cleanup and rebuild costs for the house.

[VicHockeyFan]

CBC this morning reported that the fuel company's insurance policy will be covering the cleanup and rebuild costs for the house.

And the house owner is pretty calm about it all. He's happy with the settlement.

[sebberry]

The incident made the MSN website too.

Looks like he had recently bought it and was doing some renos.

If it was a home they had lived in for many years, I'm sure they'd be less pleased about the settlement.

I still think the pipe should have been either removed or marked "Not in service" or capped off so the mistake couldn't have been made.

Oh well, looks like the house is now gone.

[D.L.]

There is now talk of regulating home oil tanks and only allowing oil delivery to tank outlets which are flagged for use.

[VicHockeyFan]

Back in the olden days, the tank had a whistle in the air vent output. So the damn thing whistled as you filled it, then when the oil went up the vent, it hit the whistle, filled it with oil and that noise stopped, then the delivery person shut off the tap.

Is there a new system?

No need to regulate it, but you could have a passive tag/fob on the fill spout, when that customer cancels, you send the signal to the delivery device checker your drivers carry, then they don't get the "all-clear" signal before they try to fill that tank.

[Sparky]

wY7yywDtPys

[kenjh]

OK .. too much MIS-information or incomplete info ..the homeowner had removed his furnace ..CUT the oil lie at the outside wall ..did NOT close the valve on the tank . did NOT make the tank out of service ,DID NOT do anything that would make the empty tank not look out of service ..the oil delivery guy would have no way of knowing the TANK was not safe ..they only do a visual befor delivery ..yah the home owner got a great deal a new house for a mistake he is completely responsible ..it was an outside tank ..with the line lying in the dirt ..I went to the oil spill talk last night ...it was little more the a ***** session sannich counslers were there not much from them .several homeowners complained about no help no direction from any one ,even the HAZMAT group denied a oil spill a few houses UP THE HILL from a lady's house could be the same problem ...bull crap runs down hill ..I remove tanks and furnaces ..for 12 years now .. yah we have a problem ..yes there are solutions ..and it's time to stop kicking the homeowner and start cleaning up properly ...

[Bingo]

Once they dig down 50 feet to remove the contaminated soil and find out that the drain tiles were cracked and the oil has leaked under the neighbours house and now that property has to be demolished as well, and then they replace the contaminated soil with imported clay from China, and...