Slowinski Atkins, LLP recovers half million dollars in Spill Act case

Slowinski Atkins, LLP recovered $500,000 from a home heating oil company and an estate for cleanup costs related to a leak from a fuel oil line. The plaintiffs had purchased a new home in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey and just prior to the sale a 275 gallon above ground storage tank (AST) had been filled with no. 2 fuel oil. The new owners noticed that the tank was empty after they moved into the home and called the heating oil company for service or a delivery. The company serviced the AST which appeared to be in order and concluded that the oil must have been stolen. The AST was then filled again with 244 gallons of fuel oil but no pressure testing of the lines was performed. The leak occurred in a copper line leading from the tank to the burner. The case was pending in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, in Morris County.