Tyne Valley Presbyterian, just west of Summerside, P.E.I., faced near-bankruptcy in March when cleanup costs for an oil spill on the church’s property hit $20,000 and kept climbing.
A slow leak on the bottom of an uninsured exterior oil tank was discovered on Feb. 3; about 400 litres of oil had already seeped into the ground. A dozen truckloads of contaminated soil were removed from the site, but work halted in early March when funds ran dry. Local churches and individuals chipped in to help finish the job, but further digging on March 17 exposed a second, older oil spill requiring the removal of an additional 10 truckloads of soil. At press time, the church was awaiting the results of Environment Canada’s latest soil sample analysis, which appeared promising.
The 750-litre tank was installed outside the 140-year-old church in 2001 and, following a professional inspection in 2007, had been tagged until 2021.
Church Treasurer Irene MacLean told P.E.I.’s The Guardian that total cleanup costs could be in the range of $40,000, leaving the small church with a shortfall of $14,000. — C.Purvis with files from the Journal Pioneer and The Guardian
