fuel oil leak/smell

a couple weeks ago my fuel oil lines leaked into my crawlspace. I could smell it powerfully in my house. When I got into the crawlspace I discovered thousands of gallons of water (the wtare table is very high, so some water isnt unusual) with the oil spread out on the surface.

I sopped up as much as I could with oil-absorbent pads from my oil company, and pumped out as much of the water as I could. Now here's the bad news. I want to sell my house in the next 2 months and I'm sure that some smell remains, and that I cant even smell it anymore. Any ideas for ridding the crawlspace and house of the smell?

Reply to
Joe
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I will suggest contracting one of the fire/flood recovery contractors. They have equipment designed to remove odors and have experience with these kind of problems. I wonder if your home owner's policy might cover the cost?

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

I can't help get rid of the smell, but can suggest you invite people over to tell you if they house still smells.

You're absolutely right that few if any people can smell the same smell after a day or less of smelling it.

Maybe when you are close to done, a fan will make a difference, although I'm sure the guys Joe suggests will have better fans.

Reply to
mm

Interesting problem. You need to find the source of the leak and fix it if you haven't already. You also need to be careful about WHO you invite into your house and also talk to about this. The EPA just LOVES to come to houses when you have leaks associated with hazardous material. Clean-up cost could run you alot of dollars.

-paul

Reply to
Paul Flansburg

The leak got fixed right away. This was a small leak, it just spread wide because of the water in the crawl space. It dripped slowly for maybe 2 days. Probably no more than several gallons leaked and most of that was recovered. Its hard to say how much leaked, it may have been no more than a gallon. But it doesnt take much to stink.

You'll love this. A personal friend who works at the EPA loaned me his sump pump to pump the water and residual oil out of my crawlspace. :)

Reply to
Joe

LOL, I guess it's true about who you know!!

Reply to
Paul Flansburg

Well the problem was bigger than I thought. Much bigger. I needed to get it cleaned up by professionals, and they wouldn't touch it without the proper authorities being notified. But that wasnt EPA, it was a state agency.

Warning to anyone who uses fuel oil: Check with your state to find out if they will clean up a spill if you have one like mine. Then get rid of fuel oil ASAP! No home insurance policy will cover pollution or chemical contamination. So if oil leaks and ruins your house interior or the soil underneath it, you are screwed. It could render your property worthless. I am lucky, my state is going to pay for most or all of the cleanup and its going to be very expensive-well over $10,000. Hopefully most states will do likewise, but I would check if I were you. Even after cleanup you could be left with property that nobody will buy.

I will never use fuel oil again!

Reply to
Joe

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