Home heating oil/diesel dripped on lawn

[Green]

Two days ago after some heating hardware replacement, I noticed the contractors had accidentally let a few small drips of the heating oil to get on the lawn near the patio. I was like, what are these gray spots? I touched it and noticed it was slimey. Sniffed my fingers and sure enough...oil. Btw, soap doesn't take it off the skin, but I found citrus based fruit and veggie cleaner does the trick.

Anyway, I stopped and thought before doing anything. I remembered a few months ago the same happened in my grandfather's yard, and the grass died in a few spots. I didn't want that. Thought of kitty litter, sawdust, that stuff mechanics use to absorb spills, etc.

Got a roll of paper towels and wiped as much up as possible, wiping in toward the center to avoid spreading it too much. Then, got the hose out and soaked the area with way too much water...about 100-150 gallons on a 4x5 foot area...that's like 20 minutes with the hose. It was also raining off and on in between.

The next step I was iffy about because I read soap could spread it around more and cause more damage, but decided to go for it because the patio was nearby and I could rinse everything downhill toward it. So I got about a half ounce of non-antibacterial dish soap with SLS and SLES in it, and sprayed down the area with it. Then rinsed with more water, toward the hardscape.

Then I broke out the humic acid and sprayed some to try to support the microbes that degrade oil. I read in a study that it takes 120 days for 90% of the oil to be broken down.

So far so good. 2 days, and some minor blade damage in a couple areas where the oil was on the grass a few hours, and that's it. I am considering repeating the humic at the the end of the week before the next rain chance, and maybe some Milo and molasses as well.

Anything else I should maybe consider doing to increase the chance of the grass not dying and the soil not becoming messed up for 4-6 months? I would rather prevent damage than have to fix it. I thought of gypsum too, but I don't think it would do anything, right? Because it works on sodium ions, and not large organic molecules, right?

[fun4me2]

Green
IMO the contractor should have been responsible for the damage.
Why didn't you just have the contractors be liable for removall?
Besides,
Isn't that an EPA issue?

I always thought you had to dig out an oil spill.

[HoosierLawnGnome]

Just a couple drips? Don't worry about it. It will fill in with some feeding I bet this fall. I did that with some gasoline filling up a mower once. Dig it up if you want. I didn't, but it wasn't a big spill.

Now, if a 50 gallon drum spilled out, or I lived in a beach house and a tanker ran aground off shore.....

[Green]

Yes, a couple of drips, and I think only in that one area, but am not totally sure. Unfortunately, it seems to be a common occurrence with this type of work...no one is perfect.

So far so good... 4 days and miniscule damage.

HLG, gypsum likely would not do anything good, right?

[andy10917]

Sorry, Andy instead. Gypsum has no effect upon petroleum products at all. There is a chemical reaction using GYpsum with Sodium that allows Sodium to be displaced, but it is limited to Sodium.

You "could" try to use shampoos or BLSC - the surfactants/detergents lower the surface tension and allow oils to be removed/lifted. However, I doubt the amounts that would be OK to use would lift a heavier oil like heating oil away and still be safe for the lawn. I would think the effect would be disappointing.

[Green]

You "could" try to use shampoos or BLSC - the surfactants/detergents lower the surface tension and allow oils to be removed/lifted. However, I doubt the amounts that would be OK to use would lift a heavier oil like heating oil away and still be safe for the lawn. I would think the effect would be disappointing.

Andy, as you know, I did that a few hours after the spill, using the dish soap after wiping up what could. It appears to have worked. 4 days now and very minimal damage...

It was a high rate of Palmolive pure and clear soap...at least half an ounce over a very small area less than 100 square feet, along with at least 100 gallons of water from the hose...not counting the downpours in between.

Do you think I need an extra app of K and P after that due to potential leaching? Or just N?

[Green]

Update...

Everything I did (plus the rain) apparently limited the damage to nearly nothing, and it all recovered 100% visually by a few weeks ago...roughly a minth after the incident.

In contrast, there is still a brown spot in my gradfather's lawn (where nothing was done, and the oil was spilled like 5 months ago!).