This is the view looking across the street from my friend's home. The owners of the house on the left took out their oil tank and unfortuantely it had been leaking for 25 years and so the site needs remediation.

In my state, homeowners are responsible for leaky tanks in/on their property even if they bought their homes before the regulations went in to place. Homeowners cannot sell their homes if there is a tank on the property. That is not a law, it is just that buyers do not want the responsibility.

Theoretically the state provides funding to homeowners if they have had to pay for removal/remediation of a leaking tank, but money is very hard to come by- most people have waited years, and yet still no check.

The house in the photo had a big leaker. It leaked under the side porch (torn off from the right of the house) so that they can dig down...

20 feet below the footings of the house!

They still have a ways to go on the digging- looks like they are only down about 8 feet on the side of the house.

"Luckily" for the homeowner the oil has leaked into the ground water, so Home Insurance will pay 75% of the cost. The total cost is going to be, easily, $400,000+/- This is a travesty.

I understand we need regulations, and I am an environmentalist, but to screw the homeowner when we've got huge corporate negligence is just mind-blowing to me. The project across the street won't be finished for a month.

The oil will be cleaned up, but the homeowners will be under water.