Kerosene spill

I know this is an old thread but we have had a leak (drip) for god knows how long and the smell of kerosene in one bedroom of the house absolutely reeks and actually smells like it is getting stronger, the leak has seeped either under the house there or the wall has absorbed it up, no visible sign inside the house and there is no smell from the boiler (where the leak originated) anybody any idea how to get rid of the smell?, I don't think we can just wash around the area. The room is not used by any of us but would like to get rid of the stench if possible, Any ideas please.

Hi

I'm gonna piggyback this thread as it is similar to what I experienced so no point starting a new one.

Internal oil boiler to the rear of the house. house in a rural area on a 1/2 acre site.

Small smell of oil in the house, seemed strongest in the bathroom which is the other side of the boiler room. Got boiler serviced and checked for leaks, engineer fixed it all and it was grand after that. He did however spot that the pipe from the tank which is about 5m from the outside of the boiler room, (with about an other 2 meters internal to the boiler) was looking worse for wear and should be replaced.

He wanted a trench dug and footpath cut and then he'd come back to replace the pipe. So got that done and he was a bit delayed in coming back. in the meantime (just last week) there was a leak (sod's law) somewhere outside and maybe between 100 and 200 litres were lost. All fixed up now but don't know what to do next. Plumber said it would naturally go and not be a danger to the house.

Where we could see the kerosene seeping up through the trench (which was about a foot away parallel from the path of the old pipe) was about 2 metres long and about a metre from the tank so about 2 metres from the house.

Any ideas what to do next, also is there anything I could put down on the soil between the house and tank that would draw up the kerosene so that I could judge how close it actually got to the foundations as that's the last thing I want to happen.

Just don't want to be out of the house for too long if there's a major clean up operation.

yellowbelly wrote: »

Hi not sure if I can be of much help seemingly you don't want the kerosene to get near the foundations maybe look for advice from an oil spill company dig near the foundations and see you can smell oil. My spill was away from the house but oil can spread and my only option was to get it dug out.. Good luck.

Thanks, how long did the process take for you?

yellowbelly wrote: »

I think about two weeks to three weeks. when they dig it out they send samples away for testing they have to tested so the soil can be disposed of the delay can be getting the lab results back they check the levels of kerosene in the soil and when they are within certain range they can start reinstatement but I was lucky the oil was not near my foundations I think if that was the case it might take longer. I would not delay to long on making a decision on what way to do .

Does it need to be reported to the EPA, is it mandatory?

So got the experts in, going through process at the mo, very slow. Very high water table so oil never got a a chance to disperse. Got oil remediation company down from Dundalk, just finished their 2nd more extensive tests. Hopefully have a report in the next couple of weeks.

Most likely outcome I've been told is house will need to be gutted, some soil removed and some treated as they can't remove it all as that would undermine the structure of the house.

yellowbelly wrote: »

I didn't have my spill reported to the epa but I was not near any rivers and streams and the oil spill company dealt with the spill but if you contact an oil spill company I am sure they would be able to give you advice.

Thinking of moving boiler outside, any ideas for placement, added benefit would be everything external and can repurpose the "boilerhouse" room.

Wearb wrote: »

Thanks for the update. It may help people to be more proactive in looking after their oil storage, supply and boiler.

Sorry for delay but here's a schematic of the house layout, the oil tank is the pale blue dot at the top left and the boiler is the dark blue square. So I was thinking of getting an external boiler (one is available for free, it is in very good working condition) and putting it outside the house at the gable end of the house, so moving it about 5m at most. The existing boiler is about 15 to 20 years old.

I'm looking into this myself but in the meantime does anyone know if the the insurance company max payout wrt the claim for the oil spill is the max amount of the buildings cover on the policy?

I ask as the amount of work in the initial investigations is quite high and the cost of the initial clean up is higher again and if anything else crops up that hasn't been budgeted for then this total cost will end up being higher than sum insured on the policy. Just want to make sure we know of potential costs to ourselves before going into the next phase of work.

How did it end up.

We after having a major oil leak and looking at various site looks like we in for a long road.

Apologies for hijacking, but actually in process of buying a house at the mo that had an oil tank leak, Kerosene, didn't realise this was a big deal?! How much of a spill is something to worry about? No smell in the house, just in the immediate surrounds of the tank/the stoney area beside, which also has exposed electrical wiring.:eek: Clueless re: construction but now realising the earth/stoney area may need to be removed... or?