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lesliew_gw

YEAH!! Next to last chapter (?) on neighbor's oil tank on my prop

lesliew
18 years ago

For those who have been cooling their heels for months waiting for the upshot of the neighbor's oil tank on my property and his easement for access, I have spent months on the phone with the Nassau County DOH, who has been pushing this guy to get the tank out. The DOH has been my intermediary and the source of my information. As of today, it seems he has decided NOT to convert to gas, but to put in another tank ( on his own property, at this point). He has asked for permission to abandon it, rather than remove it, but since it is 1500 gallons, the DOH has told him that the only way he can do that is to go through extensive, expensive, testing, and if it passes, he can abandon it. Problem is, whether testing or abandoning, there is going to be massive disruption to my property, and possibly the loss of trees and plants. The DOH says that they have to dig down and uncover it and take the top off, at the very least.

He is responsible for all costs and for restoring everything (right, like he can replace a forty year old Japanese Maple which probably has all its roots wrapped around this tank). However, today I received a call from his oil company, basically feeling me out as to whether I would absorb some of the cost, or whether I am aware that according to the 1963 agreement, I AM repsonsible for some costs, which my neighbor seems to have inferred from reading the agreement. I politely told the guy we have no responsibility at all fiscally, and that the agreement is quite clear about that. I explained that the only time we would have needed to lay out money for this is if we had decided at any time that we wanted it off our property, in which case we would have had to pay for everything. We were saved from that by the Nassau County ordinance which requires its removal. Actually, according to the DOH schedule, which required even the newest tanks to be removed by August 1, 2005, his should have been removed almost fifteen years ago. I was told that the neighbor plans on taking a copy to his lawyer. So....I guess this guy isn't planning on taking care of this without somewhat of a battle. Should be interesting.

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