What Happened
Oil leak from Neighbour
A family in Portadown began to notice unexplained odours in their home that smelled like polish or paint thinners.
They couldn’t determine where the smells were coming from and we concerned about headaches and a sense of dizziness they were experiencing.
The family reached out to Gaea to quickly discovered that the family were experiencing an Oil leak from neighbour.
Investigation
Internal intrusive sampling into the fill materials below the floors revealed that home heating oil was migrating below the family home from their next door neighbour.
Gaea approached the neighbour who had no idea they had a leak. Gaea located the source which was a small hole in the below ground oil supply line. The spilled oil migrated away from the source property and into the foundations of the neighbour.
The source owner had no idea how much oil they had lost, but we worked with them to prevent it from getting any worse and containment trenches were installed.
This allowed some breathing room while the vapour issues at the receptor property were brought under control and thorough investigations undertaken at both properties.
what we found
At the source & receptor properties:
- An area of garden and patio was impacted, but the majority of the contamination migrated to the receptor.
- The gable of the receptor home was impacted and some oil had migrated below the dwelling.
- The spill also migrated around a part of the rear foundations and impacted those rooms also.
Remedial works
- Once approval was granted to carry out the works Gaea were on site within four days.
- The source property was excavated to clean clay so as to remove any on-going risk to the receptor ass quickly as possible.
- The receptor property was a little trickier and involved excavating along the foundations to remove any residual oil that was still in the fill material along the foundations and surrounding the service pipework.
- Contamination that had migrated below the dwelling footprint was addressed by drilling a large number of treatment holes in the exposed foundations.
- Remedial fluids consisting of combinations of different reagents are then carefully introduced into the stones below the floors of the home, then recovered again once the liquids flow back through recovery holes. The liquids are collected in sumps before being processed in an oil water separator and further cleaned using a granulated activated charcoal filter. The process continues until no further oil can be recovered and monitoring confirms that levels have returned to normal range.
Validation
- Eighteen soil samples across both properties were collected for analysis.
- Four water samples were also collected, including one from the kitchen tap and sent for analysis.
- Finally, two air quality samples were taken from different rooms in the receptor home to prove the odour issues were resolved.
Reinstatement
Both properties were reinstated to the highest standard with new patios, pathways and sections of lawn re-landscaped.
The boundary fence was rebuilt and painted.
Both properties were then thoroughly cleaned down with a power washer and any remaining equipment taken away.
Turn around - savings
- If the source had not been identified the size of the job would have been much larger.
- 12 skips of waste were removed, but instead of going to landfill the material was recycled.
- Treatment of the receptor property avoided huge costs for relocating the family to Alternative Accommodation.
- Additionally, substantial work and costs were avoided on the property interior.
- The families remained in their homes throughout
- The works took seven weeks including the treatment program.
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
