Kathleen Murray's Family Faces over $300K Oil Leak Clean Up

On February 8, 2025, my dear friend Kat Murray and her family woke up to a nightmare—190 gallons of heating oil had leaked beneath their home. The cleanup will cost over $300,000.

Please read their full story below and consider donating to help them navigate this crisis. Your support can make all the difference during this incredibly difficult time. Thank you.

Kat’s Story:

On February 8, 2025, we woke up to a cold house. Despite having filled the tank just weeks earlier, it appeared to be empty. Confused, we called the oil company, expecting a simple explanation.

Instead, we got the kind of news that makes your stomach drop. Our tank had leaked—190 gallons of oil had seeped into the ground beneath our home. It spread into our French drain, pumped toward the street, and impacted the storm drain. Firefighters and environmental officials contained the spill, preventing it from reaching the river. But while the environmental emergency was stopped, the nightmare was just beginning.

We quickly learned some devastating truths:

• Cleanup costs can exceed $500,000

• Homeowners are fully responsible for the clean up

• Massachusetts homeowners’ insurance doesn’t cover oil spills unless you request a special rider—something our insurance company didn’t make us aware of.

After discovering the leak, we were required to hire an environmental cleanup company and a Licensed Service Professional (LSP) to oversee the process. It was obvious how bad things were these professionals looked at us—not with reassurance, but with pity. That look said everything. You have no idea what you’re in for.

At first, there was some indication that our oil company might bear some of the cost. After all, they filled our tank monthly for 20+ years. Surely, they had some responsibility to inspect it. But that was not the case, the DEP ruled they weren’t liable, and that small sliver of hope vanished.

We sought legal advice, only to be told what we already feared: in Massachusetts, the homeowner is on their own. No help. No shared responsibility. No legal recourse. Just a mountain of debt we never could have prepared for.

In just the first five weeks, we racked up estimates of $90,000 in cleanup costs—and it’s only the beginning. Since then, we’ve been told our clean up number will be close to $400,000. We were so close to paying off our home. Instead, we’re facing a second mortgage. The weight of it all—financially and emotionally—is crushing. And this is just the beginning of a very long road ahead of us.