Among other nightmares, a deep oily pit without a barrier stayed open for months, and her renter's cat fell into it. A neighbor pulled out a 20-foot ladder and rescued the coated feline. (The cat is fine.)
The consequences of Seeman's project were almost financially devastating: She said she thought she might face having a valueless house and all of her savings wiped out.
Fortunately, Seeman had PLIA (Pollution Liability Insurance Agency) reinsurance, and hired a real-estate lawyer who, she said, persuaded her homeowner's insurance company to cover the pollution as it had entered groundwater and crossed her property boundaries.
The final cost and coverage are still unknown as the project passes its 18-month mark with close to $200,000 in costs racked up.
Seeman tripped over a provision of using PLIA reinsurance that other homeowners may encounter: After receiving funds from PLIA, you must continue to heat your home with oil for 12 months.
Because remediation typically happens when a tank is being removed, this might seem counterintuitive.
However, several companies can rent you an aboveground tank for 12 months to comply with this provision.
Matthew Veeder, an environmental attorney who co-founded Budget Tank Removal and Environmental Services (www.budgettank.com), said an ongoing part of his job is prodding insurance companies to waive the third-party liability limitation for pollution that started appearing in most Washington policies in the 1990s, except for those underwritten by State Farm.
Veeder offered some additional advice in dealing with PLIA insurance.
Because the insurance covers only active home heating-oil tanks, a homeowner should always have a tank removed before having a new form of heating, such as natural gas, hooked up. Otherwise, the PLIA coverage terminates automatically, and any subsequent remediation wouldn't be covered.
He also advised that if homeowners are looking to purchase a home with an active oil tank, that they contact the PLIA to find out about current coverage, and to arrange for a handoff of the insurance. The insurance is given to an individual, not a home.
PLIA is a state-run agency that provides up to $60,000 in remediation reinsurance beyond what a homeowner's policy pays out, as well as up to $1,500 in landscape restoration.
Information about its Heating Oil Pollution Liability Insurance Program is at www.plia.wa.gov/heating/ insurance.htm along with a downloadable form. PLIA can be reached at 800-822-3905 or 1015 10th Ave. S.E., P.O. Box 40930, Olympia, WA 98504.
Reporting and notifying
If a homeowner wants to pursue previous owners and their insurance companies for part of the cost of the cleanup for a leak (their "contribution"), Veeder pointed out that the state's Model Toxic Control Act requires a long list of notifications to previous owners and state and local health and environmental agencies.
The law requires that unless the cleanup is an emergency as defined by the state's Department of Ecology — such as oil appearing in a stream or lake — these notifications have to be made before work is begun, Veeder said. Work can begin typically 15 days after all of the notifications are made, even if there is no response from any of the parties.
Another point: The Department of Ecology, in a follow-up interview, wanted to make sure that homeowners didn't feel compelled to report small, limited spills or contamination.
Annette Ademasu, a manager at the department, said that the majority of residential projects were just a few tons of soil, or what might fit into a pickup, and didn't require a DOE report.
She added that homeowners might consider hiring an independent site assessor to work with the contractor hired to remediate an oil leak to get a more objective reaction to the methods, costs and extent of work performed, as well as to evaluate the work and write a report.
The PLIA can refer homeowners to assessors who can monitor the status of a job for a fee through the Heating Oil Technical Assistance Program.
Veeder clarified a point in the original article: Although a contractor has to be a licensed tank commissioner to close down or remove a tank, any contractor can legally handle the remediation.
Buying and selling a house
Several readers were in the process of buying a house when "Money Pits" appeared.
One buyer noted that several sellers had stated on the real-estate disclosure form that there was no oil tank on the premises when, in fact, a tank-locator service hired by the buyer found tanks. Other readers reported similar experiences.
Don Lawn, owner of the inspection firm Home Report, said, "Every inspection I do I try to track down the tank."
He said he does this regardless of what the seller has indicated in the disclosure.
A good rule: Ask your inspector upfront if he or she does this kind of tank sleuthing. |
