CALGARY — A homeowner in Douglas Glen Southeast has been waiting a week for the city to clean up an oil spill from one of its vehicles.
Teresa Trottman said on April 15, a City of Calgary waste truck had an oil leak while picking up a recycling cart on the curb, spraying hydraulic oil over her driveway and landscaping.
She said she called 311 and a city worker came out to inspect it and told them it would be cleaned up.
“He said he was putting in a work order, it was a different department, he would put in the work order and someone would be here with some heat machinery to clean it up. So we took that as it would happen sooner than later,” said Trottman.
She said nothing has been cleaned yet but they have had a call from the city’s claims department and told to get two quotes for how much it will cost to clean.
Trottman said they aren’t sure if they have to pay for the cleanup first and submit a bill to the city or if the city will still be cleaning it up at their expense.
“We haven’t got those answers and it’s been a week. Here it is our home, our land and nobody seems to want to help us.”
The manager of claims for the city said the fault isn’t in question and the city will pay the cost but it can’t do the cleanup on its own.
Phil Corbeil said the homeowner has to arrange the cleanup and then bill the city.
“The homeowner would actually contract with the contractor to get the work done and we would pay the homeowner back. If that’s an issue with the homeowner, we’ll certainly work with the homeowner to get that repaired as soon as possible,” said Corbeil.
He said it’s no different than if someone hits your car – you would get the repairs done and bill them. You wouldn’t let them to fix it.
Teresa isn’t happy with the process but they are working with the city to find a qualified contractor to do the work and hope the city covers all the costs.