Eight thousand dollars and 25 tons later, SE Uplift, mindful of our responsibility to be an environmentally responsible neighbor, is partway done removing our old, leaky oil tank.
 
On Monday, October 9, Soil Solutions arrived on site to dig out this rusty, unused container.  First they removed the clean topsoil to save to backfill the hole.  When they reached the oil tank they removed the final 3 to 4 inches remaining in the tank, which we were interested to learn they will reuse to run their equipment.  The oil tank was then lifted out of the ground and dusted off so the metal can be reused, as well.  Then the real excavation began.  The first few scoops revealed a significant amount of oil the tank had leaked into the ground.  Over the next several hours they scooped out 25 tons of dirt leaving a hole 11 feet deep, six feet wide and 10 feet long behind the building.  Soil samples were sent to DEQ to test the remaining soil around the tank.
 
The results arrived on October 11 and the news is not great.  There is still too much oil remaining for  DEQ to approve the cleanup.  SE Uplift is now facing an additional $3,000 to $9,000 cost to complete clean up the area.  Being a non-profit with an extremely tight budget this news of additional un-budgeted expenses is even more daunting.  But SE Uplift, recognizing the importance of protecting our ground water and striving to be a better caretaker of our environment, is committed to getting it done.

However, this project comes right on the heels of our furnace replacement, which cost us $13,000, of which $4,000 was not budgeted. Back in December of 2008 we made the decision to convert our aging, broken oil furnace to natural gas.  Like many “improvements” ours was not without its snags. Along the way we discovered converting was not an option so we replaced our old furnace with a much more efficient one.  The gas lines were then brought in and the new boiler was tested mid-summer. We're happy to have reliable heat in place as we head into the winter, and pleased we've reduced our energy waste -- but the double-whammy our budget took from these two necessary and important projects cannot be denied.
 
If you have ever considered donating to SE Uplift now is the time we could really use some help.  Your tax-deductible donation will make a significant difference in our budget while helping us achieve our goal of cleaning up our act.