Oil Spill Ruins House

Delivery to wrong house drives family out
BY TONIA N. CIMINO
Nancy Lowery and her family have been staying at the Holiday Inn JFK for the past two-and-a-half months, but not because they are taking a vacation. Their four-bedroom St. Albans house was literally reeking of oil.
On November 8th last year, while Lowery and her husband Clayton were at work, Padco, Inc., a heating fuel oil company based in Glendale, deposited 215 gallons of home heating oil into the home’s old, walled-off storage tank by mistake.
The problem was that “the house has been heated by propane gas for many years,” Lowery told The Queens Courier. The oil, in fact was meant to be delivered to a home in Springfield Gardens (according to the receipt). It spilled out into the Lowery’s finished basement, saturating the home’s foundation, and oozing into the surrounding soil.
“When I arrived at our home I was horrified at what I saw,” said Lowery. “Although the deliveryman was long gone, he had left a bill at the front door.”
When The Queens Courier contacted the company, Padco, we were directed to speak to a manager, only identified as John (no last name given), who did not return any of our repeated phone calls.
After notifying the oil company and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the family of six, unable to bear the stench of the spilled oil, evacuated that evening and moved into the hotel.
“Because of the oil spill, the air in our house was made toxic, and most of the furnishings were permeated with the stench of oil,” Lowery said. “Our lives have been disrupted, including missed school days for our children and missed work days for my husband and myself, to say nothing of the emotional stress and anxiety…”
She added that, because of the incident, her home has now been devalued from $400,000 to approximately $270,000. Their insurance carrier, Murdock Claim Management, has reimbursed the family for their hotel stay.
When The Queens Courier called Murdock Claim Management, an insurance company representative, Tim Tressey, declined comment.
In early December, Response Environmental, Inc., a clean-up crew, determined that the oil-soaked soil under the home was not removable. Instead they installed a soil vapor extraction (SVE) system in the basement to remove the fumes. It now runs 24 hours a day (and Murdock has paid for the electricity costs). In addition, a vapor barrier was also installed to prevent fumes from entering the basement.
The family and their insurer were notified by the clean-up company that they could safely occupy the house on January 14th.
“Once remediation efforts were complete, Indoor Air Quality samples were collected in accordance with New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) guidelines, by Response Environmental,” said DEC spokesman Thomas Panzone. “Results came back that the living space was habitable. Response Environmental instructed the homeowner and insurance company that it would be safe for them to move back on January 14th.”
However, Panzone went on to say, “Once the sampling was done, an Engineering Geologist from The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) made a site visit. He smelled petroleum vapors and recommended that the insurance company continue providing alternate accommodations to the family until additional work and samples were collected and reviewed by NYSDOH (who is responsible for determining the public safety of indoor air quality).”
Last week, the Lowerys signed a lease on an apartment, because the family is unsure about how long they will be displaced.
“This is a financial burden,” she said. “We have to pay the mortgage on the house, other bills, and now pay rent. We have asked the insurance company to purchase our home, but they refuse.”
Murdock Claim Management has informed the Lowery family that they will pay for repairs to the home, particularly the basement, but that it is their responsibility to find a contractor.
“It’s been very hard on the kids,” Lowery said. “It’s hard for them to get to school. My 20-year-old daughter can’t start looking for a job or for daycare for her 5-month-old son because we don’t know what’s going on.”
(Editor’s Note: The Queens Courier will stay in touch with the Lowery family throughout their ordeal.)