Landlord alleges heating company pumped 300 gallons of oil into her home

132 Cleveland St.
132 Cleveland St.

There’s a bit of a sticky situation at a Cypress Hills rental home. The New York Post reported that the property’s landlord, Vera Bernier, has sued Reliable Heating Oil Inc. for $50,000 for accidentally pumping 300 gallons of oil onto the basement floor. The home is located at 132 Cleveland Street and is occupied by the principal of a Christian high school principal and his wife, who’s a teacher. The company apparently intended to deliver the oil to a nearby home, but instead pumped it into an old pipe leading into the home at 132 Cleveland.

Bernier alleges that Reliable was, well, reliable immediately after the spill, which took place in January, but then walked off once clean-up costs piled up. Jim Gochnauer, one of the home’s residents, said that Reliable owes him $200 to cover an increase in the electrical bill caused by the company’s decision to run fans to weaken the smell of oil.

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Vinny Burns, the owner of Reliable, admitted that mistakes were made and said that everyone would get their money back. He said the issues stem from the company buying an insurance police that doesn’t cover these types of incidents.

“It’s a big whole mess, obviously,” Burns told the Post. “It’s all going to get taken care of. It’s just taking a while because of the lawyers.” [NYP] –Zachary Kussin