The latest decision in the Horvath saga has upheld the
"smell test" in delineating home furnace oil
contamination for remediation.
The B.C. Supreme Court decided A Speedy Solutions Oil Tank Removal Inc. v. Horvath
Estate, one of a series of cases triggered by a leaking home
oil tank which interfered with the sale of the home.
Ms. Savage, the executrix of her mother's estate, received
quotes from two contractors for removal of the tank. One company
insisted on an environmental consultant. The other, Speedy
Solutions, told her that an environmental consultant was only
needed if contamination was found.
The estate contracted with Speedy to remove the tank. When the
soil surrounding the tank did prove to be contaminated, the estate
entered into a second contract with Speedy to remove the
contaminated soil at a cost of $4900 for the first 10 tons and $450
per ton thereafter, plus $2000 for an "environmentalist"
(environmental consultant), and the cost of labour and
