Toxic mess house still sticky business

The family of six forced from their St. Albans home in early November due to a mistaken delivery of 215 gallons of heating oil is trying to return their lives to normal.
“It’s going very slowly,” said Nancy Lowery, who told The Queens Courier that the family left the Holiday Inn JFK (where they had been staying since the incident) on February 9 and has moved into an apartment.
“We signed a six-month lease,” said Lowery. “Construction work has not yet begun on the house, and until it is completed, I won’t bring the children back [into the house].”
According to Lowery, the delay in reconstruction is due to the fact that she must find a company willing to do the job for the amount her insurance company, Murdock Claim Management, has quoted her – $8,329.15. This number includes the replacement of carpeting, fixing hairline cracks in certain walls, replacing other walls, and painting.
But Lowery said that most bids she has received are upwards of $9,000 or $10,000, and that the amount she has to work with is too low.
“The $8,000 means that whole walls won’t be replaced, just parts of them,” said Lowery.
A representative for Murdock, Tim Tressy, was unavailable for comment.
As for the safety of the home’s air quality, Lowery said that the Department of Health cleared the family to move back in on January 4.
However, the soil foundation has yet to be tested, and the soil vapor extraction (SVE) system is still running.
The family hopes to be able to move back into their home once the construction is completed, and soon after, they will put the house up for sale.
“The insurance company is still telling us that they won’t buy the house,” said Lowery. “In the end, they are being cooperative, but they put us through so much to get there.”