John Fitch & Oil
 

My wife Deb's Uncle Richie sent me this article from the Thursday January 3, 2008 Lakeville Journal newspaper authored by Terry Cowgill and titled "Mountains of soil, and bills, for man trying to do the right thing".
  
 

 
  Just a few month's ago we were on John Fitch's street on a visit to Uncle Richie. I can emphathize with John Fitch's predicament. In 2003 I had my 275 gallon in ground oil tank removed and it cost me over XX,XXX for the clean up.  
 

 
  This is one of the biggest scams. My tank had about 6-10 holes smaller than a pin hole and was still so sturdy it required an acetylene torch to dismantle. It was not rusty at all inside and practically empty. I kept asking the guys where was all the oil soaked in the soils. They said you couldn't see it, so it had to be sent next day air to a laboratory to test it. That is how they knew when to stop digging. It was about $75 bux each day for this test, excluding the next day air fee. I'm not making this up. You could not see it, feel it, smell it or even light it with a torch. Our well water was oil free also. We did not get a dime of government assistance. As the article stated, that state program was abused and fraught with corruption. Many contractors make small fortunes enforcing the "laws". Our nightmare was nowhere as bad as John Fitch's sounds. But if you have any assets, the pollution enforcement remediation "police", will bleed you out. It's legal rape.  
   
 

 
 

 
 

When our contractor said they trucked the "oil contaminated" soil to Waterbury, CT and burned it to "cleanse" it, I laughed because he said there was no special recovery. Apparently the same place John Fitch was told. We paid more per ton trucking it there, as he is closer to Waterbury than we are. Then you had to pay for new clean dirt to re-fill the big hole in your yard. Why? Because the dirt sent to Waterbury, CT was used by the state to spread on the highway shoulders. What a load of DUNG. I thought Yosarrian from Catch 22 had been revived. The dirt being trucked in did not look any different than the dirt trucked out, but you would need a scientist to prove otherwise. I have my doubts how many tons ever made the roundtrip by merely sitting in a donut shop parking lot.

For a week, I had two dump trucks carting tons away. The hole got huge. My poured foundation cracked in one spot. When I started taking pictures, they did not like it and finally I told the guy the hole was getting so big he was about to dig up my wife's old dog PeeDee and I said if call her and tell her that, your in deep trouble. She is a better marksmen than some police. You're not digging here dog up and they stopped.

  
     
 

Below: was my backyard oil tank removal May 23, 2003
  
 

 
 

In one job you could pay for a new John Deere.
  

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