02/28/02 photojournal launched
01/18/03 update: oil spill

2019 The house was evacuated after the oil spill.

The spill was only partially cleaned up.

The residence is still contaminated and several neighboring wells have had issues with water quality.

The home was abandoned and resold. The new owner did not know about the spill. When he found out, he stopped sinking money into the house and it

is in a state of neglect and disrepair. The roof had major holes in it, broken windows etc. Someone painted skull and bones on it, possibly as a warning of the toxicity.

The previous owner received no compensation for the loss of the home. It is unknown what has happened to the current owner.

Also noted, since the occurance there have been other oil spills in the area by farmers and a second pipeline was built running east and west a few miles from the site.

The area is currently being targeted by DTE and ATWELL who want to use the land for wind farms. The locals are voicing concerns and a citizens group has started to demand

set backs to protect homeowners and property values.

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Farm Bureau Oil Spill destroys Family Home and Land
The photos to the right show the oil spill created when Farm Bureau Oil Company, of Michigan, pumped oil into a tank, bursting the seam and flooding the basement with 300 gallons of fuel oil, and possibly other materials. There was a perceptible gas odor which would indicate the presence of more than just fuel oil and would explain why the seam in the tank burst open. Farm Bureau told the homeowner to haul the oil out in buckets and they would come back for it. The homeowner, a single Mother with eight children at home, tried and slipped in the oily mess, then the fumes made her so ill she and her children evacuated the home. It is believed after the family left, that the Oil Company pumped oil out onto the surrounding land....there was no cleanup for two months, despite contacting the Public Health Department, who condemned the home, and the Department of Environmental Quality, Insurance Companies, the Mortgage holder, Congressmen, the Attorney General of Michigan, and the press....Finally a clean up began, hauling out more that 500 tons of contaminated soil at an expense of over 50,000.00. The Insurance Company has said the home will not be habitable, and will have to be demolished. Farm Bureau Oil denies any responsibility or negligence for the spill...

Photos show contaminated basement, condemned sign from the Public Health Department, and seepage into the foundation. The oil spill was months seeping into the ground and eventually contaminated neighboring wells and the groundwater. Some oil spills are never cleaned up and it is to the credit of the homeowner at the time that the oil spill was cleaned up, but not fast enough to stop environmental contamination. To do an adequate complete clean up the foundation and under the house should have been excavated. That did not happen. Only the oil remaining in the basement was siphoned out and the plume running to the side of the house was dug up. There is a small pond like hollow left behind with the smell of oil.