Originally Posted by kamikaze

Sounds like I should nip over to yours and give you some $$$ for this house ?
$10000 a day to dig !!!! let me tell you I / we are at the cheap end of the market and when it comes to waste disposal we can charge what ever we like., thats why you never see a poor garbage man !!! as I said before we, as an industry operate in a climate of fear and ignorance, I dont make the rules I just play the game like all the other licensed contractors, Its just that some of us tell it like it is and others try and scare the sh** out of you. but at the end of the day we all drive range rovers because we no the system and you dont ! So first things first get on the phone and keep hunting until you find someone who talks reasonable money, thats why I said find a farmer, most farmers are long in the tooth and have been dealing with enviroment Canada all there lifes, Do you have any quarrys near bye ? they always have problems with splills and leaks !!!!! they will have found the answer by now or they would be bust ! just remember what ever happens to the stuff you will need a waste disposal cert to keep safe.

Originally Posted by kamikaze

Sounds like I should nip over to yours and give you some $$$ for this house ?
$10000 a day to dig !!!! let me tell you I / we are at the cheap end of the market and when it comes to waste disposal we can charge what ever we like., thats why you never see a poor garbage man !!! as I said before we, as an industry operate in a climate of fear and ignorance, I dont make the rules I just play the game like all the other licensed contractors, Its just that some of us tell it like it is and others try and scare the sh** out of you. but at the end of the day we all drive range rovers because we no the system and you dont ! So first things first get on the phone and keep hunting until you find someone who talks reasonable money, thats why I said find a farmer, most farmers are long in the tooth and have been dealing with enviroment Canada all there lifes, Do you have any quarrys near bye ? they always have problems with splills and leaks !!!!! they will have found the answer by now or they would be bust ! just remember what ever happens to the stuff you will need a waste disposal cert to keep safe.

Originally Posted by siouxie

In NS you are required to use a certified clean up contractor or a certified site professional for clean up of oil spills (unless it is less than 22 litres).

She has no choice but to go through one on the list.

Originally Posted by siouxie

Is there any chance that the spill was caused by the delivery company when they filled the tank last time?

There was a case in law where this happened and the courts awarded some of the costs to the plaintiff. (sorry, having just read the whole thing, the plaintiffs were found 70% liable as they hadn't secured their tank room ... but this wouldn't apply to you).

Your PR status is safe, by the way.

Originally Posted by chumley

thanks so much
i have thought about some kind of legal action but i do not qualify for legal aid in canada because last tax year I transfered my uk pension here so my income for the last tax year is to high. I cannot acess my pension by the way for another 5 and a half years so that is not available to me now to help save my home.

Originally Posted by chumley

I thank you all so much some really good info here and support.

Im working again today and tommorow whcih is probably a good thing as I cannot do anything until Tuesday ( bank hol here tommorow)

Just a few more facts
I had no choice but to report to environmenetal health its the law in Nova Scotia and its the right thing to do when anyones health is at risk etc eg tenant with a baby

my insurance policy having now read the very fine print does say pollution is excluded and much as I would like to murder the stupid insurance broker I cannot argue with this fact
Still believe I was bady advised in the extreme though but that aint gonna get me anyhwere I fear
particularly as the insurance broker inspected the house and told me to get a new oil line straightaway whcih I did and also replace the tank this year which I was in the process of doing when the smell of oil was discovered. Any reasonable person would believe that I was asked to do these two things because I would not be covered for oil spills if I did not and once done I would be covered.
the bottom line is I have no idea how much has been spilled.
$300 worth was delivered to the tank in March, the property has been heated since March, there is still 1 x8th of a tank left.
There is still a smell of oil in the basemenet of the house , the tank is outside.
I dont have any pics I dont think there are any visible signs or if there is only a small amount of a drip. However this might be because it has been a very slow leak over several weeks and the oil has gone deep into the soil.
I havent even seen the leak as the house is over a 4 hour drive away and I am not mobile and no family no husband now.
I have an excellent tenant and that is something to be thankful for.

How does the envirnmental health department determine how much has been spilled, it sure isnt a full $300 worth but it might be over 100 litres I just dont know. Do they just keep on digging until its all gone.
Do I have to sit here climbing the walls and lsoing my mind while endless soil testing is done.

Anyone any idea how far a leak of say 200 litres would spread over say 6 weeks

The house is not near a river or a lake or wells as its on town water and so is the neighbours house.
The oil tank is on the side of the house and there is a neigbour that side but a good distance away probaly at least 400 metres
the neighbour on the other side is close though but still the width of the house away plus a few more metres maybe 5 metres.
no property directly opposite.

The smell of oil is still in the basement but no visible signs of oil the basement floor and walls are concrete, there are windows in the basement which look onot the oil tank.

The tank is under 10 years old and that particular tank is no longer made, I do not know who installed the tank or who made it. I bough the property form a very old lady who might not even still be alive as she was going inot a nursing home so havent a hope in hell of finding any tank info from her.

I suspect trying for any come back fromn the tank installer or maker is a no go as I read of a case of a 6 year old tank failing and the home owner lost the case.

Can anyone just reassure me that under my particualar circs if the worst happens and I do end up bankrupt over this I am not going tom lose my PR, cannot help but be worried sick about everything at the moment.
I have looked at some canadain bankrupcy sites and the news is not good, unlike the US you are not allowed to keep a dime of equity in your home ie you lose it full stop.
Once again thanks all
x

Originally Posted by nldfc

Have you tried giving all tech environmental in NS a call and explaining your situation to them ? The manager Terry is a very helpfull guy and not prone to a lot of the bullshit that some of them .

We used them in our company yard (in newf though but the environmental laws are pretty much the same )after we spilled a load of diesel in the gravel (around 200 gallons was the estimated spillage over an area of about 200 square feet)

They keep digging and testing until they get a clean test result - Total cost was just shy of $17,000

Originally Posted by chumley

Up since 4am trying to think of solutions to save my home
wondering if I could register the rental as a business and seperate any debt that will be incurred with the clena up from my personal finances
in the uk for example if you had say a small farm or a restaurant with a risk of being sued for poisoning a customer you would register as a limited company therefore the business would be sued but you would not be at risk of personal bankruptcy eg you would keep your own home and lose any business assets
anyone own a small business in Canada anyone know if you can do whatever the canadian equivalant is to registering as a limited company

Originally Posted by The Aviator

It would have to be incorporated, not just registered as a business. That may have worked before the event, but moving assets to avoid a law suit or liability after an event won't work or be allowed by a court if it went that far. Additionally it is doubtful anyone would do the work for a new company without personal guarantees of the owners or prepayment. This is not a way out of it.