In July of 2006 we had a landscaper prepare our property for sidewalks and hydro-seeding while we were on vacation.
During the work he snagged the underground fuel oil line from the tank to the house and did not notice the broken line or the leaking fuel oil. That area was prepped for sidewalks, which were then poured.
A few days later the neighbor watching our house, noticed that we were out of fuel oil. There had been approximately 250 - 300 gallons in the tank prior to the work. When we called to check on the property and the work being done he told us the tank was empty. Thinking the fuel oil had been siphoned out of the tank, we asked him to have it filled, so the furnace could be restarted. Later that day we called the neighbor back and asked that he shut off the fuel line and check for leaks, since the landscaper worked with a small bobcat and could have possibly damaged the line.
We had a small leak of fuel oil in our crawl space which confirmed damage to the line. We reported the fuel spill to the D.E.C. and cut our vacation short. I flew back to Alaska to start coordinating the clean up while my husband drove the RV back up the Alaska Highway.
The new sidewalk had to be cut out, the ground was execuvated down to about 10 feet to where the D.E.C. inspector could detect no more contaminates in the soil. The soil had to be trucked 180 miles to a remediation service in Anchorage. We had the water tested to make sure none of the contaminates had gotten into the ground water. This area is all serviced by individual wells.
The landscaper never questioned if there were any buried lines. My husband dug up the ground to expose the electrical lines prior to our vacation since they were not buried very deep.
We have clean-up costs of over $6,000 and I think he should be responible to the full amount. He contends that since we did tell him about the buried fuel line, we should take some responsibility. He did not want to report it to his insurance company and wants to settle it himself.
How much should we expect him to pay for the costs? What is his obligation since we contracted with him to do the work?
During the work he snagged the underground fuel oil line from the tank to the house and did not notice the broken line or the leaking fuel oil. That area was prepped for sidewalks, which were then poured.
A few days later the neighbor watching our house, noticed that we were out of fuel oil. There had been approximately 250 - 300 gallons in the tank prior to the work. When we called to check on the property and the work being done he told us the tank was empty. Thinking the fuel oil had been siphoned out of the tank, we asked him to have it filled, so the furnace could be restarted. Later that day we called the neighbor back and asked that he shut off the fuel line and check for leaks, since the landscaper worked with a small bobcat and could have possibly damaged the line.
We had a small leak of fuel oil in our crawl space which confirmed damage to the line. We reported the fuel spill to the D.E.C. and cut our vacation short. I flew back to Alaska to start coordinating the clean up while my husband drove the RV back up the Alaska Highway.
The new sidewalk had to be cut out, the ground was execuvated down to about 10 feet to where the D.E.C. inspector could detect no more contaminates in the soil. The soil had to be trucked 180 miles to a remediation service in Anchorage. We had the water tested to make sure none of the contaminates had gotten into the ground water. This area is all serviced by individual wells.
The landscaper never questioned if there were any buried lines. My husband dug up the ground to expose the electrical lines prior to our vacation since they were not buried very deep.
We have clean-up costs of over $6,000 and I think he should be responible to the full amount. He contends that since we did tell him about the buried fuel line, we should take some responsibility. He did not want to report it to his insurance company and wants to settle it himself.
How much should we expect him to pay for the costs? What is his obligation since we contracted with him to do the work?
