[pianotech] Oil spill fumes?

[Tom Driscoll]

Roy,    
I was just informed --off list--of a similar incident. A home had been changed to gas heat ,the oil tank removed ,but the outside fill pipe was not. Oil co. came to fill the tank and filled the basement with oil. End of story was that the house had to be  removed along with contaminated soil to a hazardous waste site and a new home built. If this was less than a million dollar event I'd be surprised. 
    Anyway ,Thanks to all who responded both on and off list. 
Report to follow,
Tom D.
 
   
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Oil spill fumes?


  A few years ago I inspected a piano which had been the victim of something similar.  This was on the outside of Cincinnati.  A waterproofing company had disconnected the oil tank in the basement of a house.  While it was disconnected, the oil company stopped by on a regularly scheduled order, and dumped a couple hundred gallons of heating oil into the basement.  Both parties blamed the other, and it was tied up in court.  Attempts were made to clean  up the mess, with limited success.  Months had passed since the incident, and the house was still unlivable.  The people were renting an apartment somewhere.  The piano was upstairs, and didn't seem to be hurt on a functional level.  It did absorb the ordor, and was bad enough that it probably would have been impossible to sell.  The house had a very bad odor, so it was sort of hard to seperate.  It was a Baldwin console, and wasn't a very expensive piano to start with.  In this case I didn't think that it was worth trying to replace anything, based on the value of the piano.  I didn't hear what happened with it. 

  Roy Peters, RPT


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