An Island family has been handed a $345,915 environmental cleanup bill from the P.E.I. government, more than a year after a full tank of home heating oil leaked into their clay basement and seeped into the soil on their property.
Betty and Kenny Waite, both in their late 60s, say they’re unable to pay the huge bill. So the government has placed a lien on their home in Sherbrooke, just outside Summerside.
It means if the Waites sold their home, the proceeds would potentially go to the province.
“Just devastated,” said Betty Waite. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I guess we’ll die in this house, because we won’t be able to afford to sell it. Hopefully we’ll be healthy enough to stay here.
“But it’s a big house for two people. I’d love to downsize, but that’s not going to happen now.”
The Waites discovered the leak in September 2023, the morning after their 1,100-litre tank was filled. They believe a hole had developed in the oil filter leading into the tank, which caused the entire tank to empty before it was caught.
“The first thought is the environment. You have to clean that up,” said their son, Todd Waite, who has helped his parents in the aftermath of the spill.
“And they have a well on the property. So we want to make sure we’re not drinking dirty water. And, you know, we have kids and grand kids around here. So… it was a big concern.”
After 1,100 litres of oil leaked into the Waite family’s clay basement, they assumed they had insurance coverage. They didn’t. Now they’re on the hook for the cleanup, which the provincial government arranged.
The Waites reached out to their home insurance provider, assuming they’d be covered for the cost of the cleanup. But their provider informed them they had no coverage.
“I figured it would be mandatory to have insurance for something like this,” said Todd Waite. “Why else would you have insurance other than for something you couldn’t afford to clean up on your own?”
As required by law, the Waites reported the spill to P.E.I.’s environment department. Officials with the department informed them they were required to hire a consultant and arrange for the oil to be cleaned up.
Province issued environmental protection order
Without any insurance coverage, the Waites told the department they couldn’t afford to do that. In February, the province issued the Waites an environmental protection order. After they failed to comply, the department took over and hired its own consultant.
“Once they said ‘we’re not able to do it, or can’t do it, or won’t do it,’ then we had to step in and take over the process,” said Greg Wilson, director of the department’s regulatory services division.
“It’s one thing for you to have an oil spill on your property. But it really gets complicated if there are others in the area and this oil spill is going to affect them… We didn’t want that oil contamination to go onto a third-party premises.”
The Waites said they asked various department officials on multiple occasions whether they’d be on the hook for any of the cleanup costs, but were never given a clear answer.
“It seemed like nobody really knew. And I spoke to many people. I emailed [the minister]. I emailed my MLA,” said Todd Waite.
“It was very stressful, not knowing what was going to happen,” added Betty Waite.
It may as well have been $10 million. It’s an unpayable amount of money.— Todd Waite
Green Party MLA Karla Bernard, a relative of the Waites, inquired with the department about whether the couple would have to pay for the cleanup.
In an emailed response, deputy environment minister Norbert Carpenter wrote: “The invoices will come directly to us here. There is a process after that.”
“That’s where I thought, ‘It’s not going to cost us anything,'” said Betty Waite.
Cleanup completed last summer
The cleanup finally took place in June and July 2024, nine months after the spill. Contractors hired by the province dug up and replaced 660 metric tonnes of soil underneath and around a section of the Waites’ home.
Then in November the family received a bill from the department for $345,915.64.
“I was almost numb,” said Todd Waite. “The amount of money, it may as well have been $10 million. It’s an unpayable amount of money.”
The Waites question whether the department did its due diligence to keep costs down, and why it took so long to start the cleanup.
“The steps should’ve been made… to get it cleaned up as quickly as possible before it becomes a major job,” said Betty Waite.
“It wouldn’t have had the whole winter of water and snow melting and spreading that oil further.”
Department defends size of cleanup bill
Wilson said the department had to follow a legislative process, which takes time.
“The majority of that cost is the tippage fee at [the Wellington disposal site] where all that soil has to go,” he said. “Then you have the cost for supporting the building — when you have to have a company come in, put in supports, dig out that material underneath the foundation. There’s all that time, all that effort to do that.”
The lien on the Waite’s property will be in effect for 10 years, with the option for government to renew it for another 10 years after that.
Todd Waite said he spoke to P.E.I. Environment Minister Gilles Arsenault, who told him there may be an opportunity to negotiate the amount owed to the province if his parents decide to sell their home — but the family’s been given no guarantees.
A ‘tragic’ and rare situation
The province said the number of residential oil spills has dropped over the last decade as oil tank regulations have been tightened up and more Islanders have moved away from oil heat.
There are typically between 10 and 20 spills reported each year. Few lead to Islanders having to pay a lot of money out of pocket.
“This is a tragic situation. We haven’t had to deal with this in over a decade,” Wilson said.
“This is not something that happens all the time where you have somebody who can’t pay for the cleanup or their insurance company doesn’t cover it.”
However, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, many insurance companies don’t provide coverage for oil spill cleanups under their standard policies.
Amanda Dean, the bureau’s Atlantic vice-president, said some providers may offer add-on coverage, while others offer nothing at all.
“So it’s really good to know your policy and what is covered and what is not, and to take a look at those oil tanks as well,” Dean said.
“Have them inspected, if possible on an annual basis, by a professional.”
The Waites think the P.E.I. government and insurance providers should do a better job educating Islanders about the insurance requirements, and how to avoid running into a similar situation.
“If they were a bit more proactive in making sure people had coverage — and I don’t know if that would be a law or if that would be like a a promotional campaign. But a bit of prevention would go a long, long way,” said Todd Waite.
“This never should have happened. It never should have been like this.”