Filco (Seattle Tank) removed the oil tank on
September 3rd and immediately reported that they had found evidence of a leak. A small leak, but one that needed to be investigated further. Because I'm insured against oil leaks by the state's PLIA agency, this is a mere inconvenience to me.
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| 18 man-hours of work drilling for oil on October 28 |
One could conclude: a) Filco, knowing how the game works, always "finds" leaks when they remove a tank and then gets money from the state for the "fix." Or, b) the 67-year-old tank really did have a few pinholes that contaminated the soil under the tank. They pulled the tank out and filled in the hole without calling me out to see the holes or the oil-stained dirt so I would bet it's the former explanation, but the latter is plausible, I suppose.
I filed the forms with PLIA and Filco came out "immediately" 8 weeks later, on October 28. Three men spent six hours, starting at 8 a.m., drilling test holes at the tank site, closer to the street, and around in the backyard. We discovered that the rectangle with the string in the backyard is actually 2" of red cement--there's probably a patio slab out there.
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| They asked permission before punching through the 2" concrete slab they found |
Today, November 3, they just showed up at 12:15 and knocked on the door. A geologist-type named Richard Simpson came with two of the guys insisting that they needed to drill deeper at the oil tank site than they did last week. He mentioned a stratum of bentonite clay when he thought I wasn't listening. I suggested that he should see the Zipper Geo soils report if he wants to understand my strata. Zipper used an auger drill, Filco has a rented hammer-type drill.
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| The guys re-drill on November 3. Mr. Simpson is in his car, presumably perusing the Zipper report. |
Nate Montgomery, Gen. Mgr., Filco Company (nate@filcoenviro.com) (206) 547-8347
Richard Simpson, , LG, LHg, Filco Company. (Richard@filcoenviro.com)
