What Happened
A customer recently discovered what appeared to be a small oil leak at boiler in Newry. It is suspected that the small drip of home heating oil had been on-going for some time.
The boiler house floor was stained and wet with oil and the brick work of the boiler house was stained with oil which was climbing up the brick work.
A small vessel was placed below the drip and the volume collected was measured over time. We estimate that if the leak was on-going for one month then 175 litres could have been lost.
Investigation
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A Gaea investigative team arrived at the property and stopped the oil leak.
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Some of the surrounding patio flags were carefully lifted and set aside.
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A motorised auger was used to create several boreholes down to 0.8m depth.
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Soil samples were collected from various depths in each borehole so that a 3-D profile of contamination could be generated.
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The risk of impact to neighbours, groundwater, surface waters, human health and buildings were all assessed.
what we found
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We determined that the oil spill had descended into the fills below the boiler and had migrated along the rear foundations of the dwelling in both directions.
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The oil leak had impacted around 6.4 linear metres to a depth of 0.8mbgl, equating to 5.12M3 of spoils that required work.
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We found only minimal impact to the below ground masonry and no impact below the dwelling itself.
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A detailed report was compiled and submitted to the home owners insurers.
Remedial works
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Once authority was granted by insurers for Gaea to proceed gave began works within five days.
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The boiler was relocated outside the work area and was reconnected inside a per-fab boiler house. The home owner was only without heat for approximately three hours.
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The brick boiler house was demolished and the concrete base broken out.
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The surrounding patio flags were carefully lifted, cleaned of cement and set aside.
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The area identified as contaminated was carefully excavated and placed into lined skips.
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The block work below ground was retested and confirmed to be only moderately impacted. A short but intensive treatment program was carried out on the blockwork which soon returned to normal levels.
Validation
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Four soil samples were taken from the base and sides of the excavation and two bulk samples were taken from the masonry.
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The collected samples were processed and sent to a UKAS accredited laboratory for independent analysis.
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As no odours were reported in the kitchen an air sample could not be justified in this instance, instead an ambient air screening survey was used to show that no VOC’s were present int he home.
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A detailed validation report was compiled and supplied to both the home owner and their insurers.
Reinstatement
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The services in the area were all checked for leaks and any issues repaired. The excavation was then backfilled and the hardfill compacted in layers.
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A new concrete base was constructed for the tank base and allowed to set.
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Meanwhile the lifted sections of patio were re-laid on a bed of paving sand. The joints were then filled with a specialty jointing compound.
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A new boiler house was constructed with red brick and was roofed with slates.
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The boiler was then relocated back to its original location within the new boiler house where it was fully commissioned and tested.
Turn around - savings
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On site to conduct a survey within 24 hours
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Report submitted to Insurance company within one week.
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Following approval of the works by the Insurance company Gaea started work within three days.
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The work took a total of five days to complete.
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Customer & Insurance company were delighted.
If you suspect that you have an oil spill or are at risk of one please get in contact ASAP.
The sooner you can get the leak stopped, contained and assessed the smaller job it will be. Contact Gaea directly on 08000 541 361 or 012330222 for ROI
