The New Duncan Hospital and Buried Oil Tanks

Upon ground breaking for the new Duncan Hospital owned by the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), a huge buried oil tank (UST) was discovered.

The construction started with a huge surprise - a 22,000 liter buried oil tank! Not only homeowners are saddled with this risk of sleeping time bombs. Governments are also struggling with undocumented buried oil tanks and are required to deal with them in the same ways.

Excavation for the new Duncan Hospital started with excitement from the government, contractors and the public but the discovery of an underground oil tank slammed on the brakes as quickly as a heart condition. This buried oil tank had been used many years earlier and because it was out of sight, it really was out of both mind and memory. Nonetheless, construction had to stop. Pacific Group Developments Inc. was called to deal with the unexpected buried oil tank. We had to empty and clean out the oil tank before it could be safely lifted out and transported to a facility for safe disposal.

The tank contents had to be taken to a provincially regulated facility with trucking manifests filed prior to leaving the site of the new Duncan Hospital.

After the oil tanks contents were safely removed, soil testing was performed to confirm that no leaking had occurred, and a full report outlining the procedures and findings was prepared and filed. This documentation process has all been completed and corresponds with the permits at City Hall.

Buried oil tanks have really become a forefront consideration when it comes to development and real estate transactions. Fortunately, this one ended well and was quickly addressed.

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Pacific Group Developments Reviews

Pacific Group Developments went above and beyond at every step of a large, lengthy and messy job involving new drain tiles, concrete retaining walls, concrete driveway, concrete sidewalks, landscaping, concrete removal, excavation and a new lawn that at no point seemed to want to go the way it should have due to weather.

Kelsey is very well connected which helped move things along quicker a few different times and he worked as a great middleman between myself (The seller) of the property and the purchaser of the property. I am planning on using Pacific Group Developments on future projects and I would highly recommend their services.

Thanks again Kelsey.

Matt Von Bauer

Pacific Group Developments was contracted to replace my aging, collapsing, concrete driveway. There were some challenges to this project as it is a steeply sloped concrete driveway of about 1000 square feet, with a couple of interesting grades hat had to be managed for water run-off and to accommodate a Telus basin and water main. There were also challenges to overcome when we saw the condition of the prep work done for the previous concrete driveway. They gave me a clear estimate and assessment of what was required and noted explicitly what he thought we might run into that would change the initial cost. As the project unfolded they kept me informed of what they were finding and what they planned to do about it. They kept us involved appropriately along the way and invited me to monitor their work. Although we had to wait for the right weather to do the concrete pour and concrete finishing, it was worth it. The team of concrete finishers were excellent, and we could not be happier with our new concrete driveway. The concrete driveway has never looked better,all of the grade challenges were addressed, and the job was hassle free. Everything was cleaned, and aside from the new concrete driveway, you would never know they were here. The staff was excellent to work with. They were patient with my questions and happy to give us whatever information we needed to understand what was going on with the project. They may not be the biggest contractor in town, but they did a great job and I am happy to recommend them.

Bob Downie

We hired Pacific Group Developments to decommission and remove a very large commercial fuel oil tank that was sitting above ground on our property. They did a first-rate job. Kelsey and his company are extremely professional, courteous, hard-working and knowledgeable. We appreciate being kept informed throughout the process. It was a real pleasure to do business with them and we highly recommend Pacific Group Developments.

In addition, they offered to rip out and clear over an acre of broom with their excavator, which was already on our property for the tank removal. This is something we have wanted to deal with since we moved here. With their usual dedication and follow-through, Kelsey even spent a good part of Sunday finishing the job. Most of the broom plants were taller than the excavator so we will be burning them for some time but we are thrilled to have this part of our property cleared of a very invasive plant.

Thanks again, Guys, for your wonderful work!

Stewart and Diana Jack

Pacific Group Developments saved a real estate sale for us by removing a large amount of oil contaminated soil in a very timely manner. It was caused by a buried oil tank which had leaked at our house in Victoria. We encountered some problems along the way, (the house foundation needed to be supported during excavation) but Kelsey was quick to solve them. His crew were great bunch of guys, all work was above and beyond our expectations and I highly recommend them.

Thanks Again

Alan Hill, Victoria BC

Pacific Group Developments went above and beyond my expectations. They took on much more responsibility than I ever expected them to and took a lot of the weight and stress off my shoulders. I can't explain how much of a help that was for me through this frustrating, and upsetting process. I bought my house from someone that concealed many defects and were not found during the home inspection. My house turned out to be a disaster every thing from a new concrete foundation, perimeter drains, re framing, new basement suite, tunneling under my house etc and never once did I feel anything but 100% confident that the job would get done, and get done to the highest standard.

Kelsey and his crew take pride in their work, and won't settle for anything less than perfection. I am so happy to have found such a reliable and professional company. I was kept in the loop from start to finish even when the information was way over my head.

Trust is a very important thing when it comes to people working on your home (especially when the budget spins out of control) and I can definitely say that I trusted Kelsey to make the right call in every situation that came up. I will be using Pacific Group Developments again and again, and I will recommend them to everyone I know. I feel a company like Pacific Group Developments is hard to find, and thank goodness I found them!

Celina Saari aka THRILLED customer :)