Soil remediation fund for your leaking gas oil tank
The soil remediation fund is expected to be operational in the spring of 2022. This fund would cover costs of up to €200,000 to help people carry out soil remediation at leaking gas oil tanks. Although necessary, a leak in the gas oil tank is often not reported due to the expensive cost of soil remediation
Gasoil
An estimated 10,000 Belgians have an oil tank that is said to be leaking. More than 25 million liters of heating oil are said to have already leaked into Belgian soil. When a leak occurs, soil remediation is necessary, but this costs an average of €50,000 and in some cases can even rise to €250,000 and even more if the groundwater is also contaminated. Therefore, not all leaks are reported.
That is why the government decided, in consultation with the gas oil sector, to set up a soil remediation fund. With this fund, Belgians with a leaking gas oil tank can request a refund of the remediation costs. The fund covers costs up to €200,000. More than 6,000 people who have already had remediation carried out in the past can also appeal to the soil remediation fund to have the costs reimbursed.
More measures from the government
The government and the gas oil sector have agreed that the price of gas oil will be increased to fuel the fund. In total, 512 million euros would be needed for a period of 20 years. When that amount is reached, the collection stops immediately. The upper limit is monitored and in the meantime evaluated in function of the regional gas oil policy.
There is no concrete start date yet, but it’s expected that the fund will be operational in the spring of 2022, from which time cases can be filed and payments can be made. It is hoped that with this fund, more people will report a leak and then remediate. In this way, this fund helps the affected people and it is also positive for our nature.
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