Kerosene Leak

Ginger83

Hi, sorry couldnt get pics in other thread

This is the current situation regarding my oil leak. Its coming from the garden behind me, the tank above mine.

The EPA dont want to know, the county council enviroment department never got back to me.
And the person living behind me refuses to answer although I knocked numerous times and dropped in a note.

Any advice?
Would this be an enviromental issue?
Thanks

macadam

Notify your insurance company they wont be long following up the source of the leak and notifying all relevant parties, and you could be in for a long stay else where.

Ginger83

Thanks for the reply.

Would it not be up to my neighbours insurance to sort the problem?

beazee

I am surprised EPA is not interested.
Once we found out a leak coming from neighboring business there were all three investigating within 3 hours: EPA, City Council and IDA.

Where an incident occurs outside business hours, licensees should contact us at 1890 33 55 99. This line is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Details regarding reporting of environmental incidents are contained in Guidance to Licensees on the Notification, Management and Communication of Environmental Incidents

I would send the photos by email to the environmental section of your local council.

Ginger83

Hi Beazee, thanks for your reply.
The EPA told me it was nothing to do with them and that it was a civil matter between me and my neighbour.

During winter 2010 an enviromental officer came out, took photos and said because its not entering the local water supply it wasnt their problem.

At the moment I have spoken to a reporter for the local newspaper to highlight the issue, in the meantime another enviromental officer from the local council came out to take pics and assures me that she has contacted the neighbour responsible for the leak and will be sorting it out.

I will believe this when I see it because the oil/water has spread on the path around the house and we can smell it in our bathroom through the vents.

beazee

Might sound stupid but in that case I would set this on fire and call firefighters do put it down. It then becomes serious issue to be dealt with immediately.

The flash point of kerosene is between 37 and 65 °C (100 and 150 °F)

Billy Bunting

If this is your house i would really think twice about getting insurers involved.
Your pics are a little confusing. How do you know this leak come from next door ??
Looking at 0178.JPG it appears to be a radiator valve fitted on qualpex pipe ?? and i can't see a filter, who has investigated the leak, not the plumber you had a few months back i hope.
There seems to be 3 seperate installations in these pictures.

sullzz

The problem boiler/oiltank leak appears to be the 3rd pic attachment.jpeg
but as billybunting said its hard to make any sense of the pics , which is your garden , either way it needs to be sorted sooner rather than later , oil leaks can cause huge amounts of damage , and can get very expensive to sort out if let go too far

Billy Bunting

sullzz wrote: »

The problem boiler/oiltank leak appears to be the 3rd pic attachment.jpeg

And its that picture that seems to show a radiator valve attached to pex pipework, God only knows whats connected in the boilerbox.

sullzz

Billy Bunting wrote: »

And its that picture that seems to show a radiator valve attached to pex pipework, God only knows whats connected in the boilerbox.

Your right i does look like pex , i thought it was wicu but looking at it a bit closer it does look like pex , i dont know how anyone can get away with fitting a rad valve to an oil tank and its so commonly done

Ginger83

Hi.
Sorry if theres any confusion but i'll explain the pics as best i can as they appear on the list above.

1. This pic was taken looking down the side of the burner in the garden behind me where the leaking seems to be ongoing.

2. This pic is a pic of the burner in the garden behind me again, my house is in the background, see the upstairs window open.

3. Another pic of the burner in the garden behind me where the leak seems to be coming from.

4. On the left of this pic shows my garden and on the right shows my neighbour next door where i thought the leak was originally coming from but their systm was tested to prove this wasnt the case.

5. The last pic shows the state of my garden since the leak started in winter 2010, note the oil/water mix alongside my decking and along my path finding its way into the shores. If you look closely you will also see a pure red pool of oil along the wall that divides me and next door.

I hope this clears up the confusion.

Billy Bunting

Do you own your home ??

I'm very suprised that Cavan county council dont want to know seeing the amount of buming their at on tv about their septic tank policy and protection of their water coarses.

If i was the guy stood in picture3 i would simply lean over the fence and turn off the gate valve, once the boiler runs out of oil, and hopefully airlocks, you lovely neighbour will need to get help to get it going again, keep doing that and he'll need to complain to the landloed, a couple of gallon of water poured into the tank will also help get their attention.