A property owner in Dartmouth has learned the hard way to be very clear about what kind of coverage insurance provides after furnace oil spills.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court decision that found Portage La Prairie Mutual Insurance did not break its contract by refusing to pay for soil remediation after a furnace leaked onto a rental property owned by Garden View Restaurant Ltd. in Dartmouth.

Justice David Farrar also awarded costs of $8,800 to the insurance company.

"There's really nothing more I can do," said Greg Fong, who owns Garden View Restaurant.

The rental property where the oil leaked is a two-unit building behind the Garden View at 114 Tacoma Dr. and is registered to the restaurant.

The Bedford office of Portage La Prairie declined to comment Thursday, saying the issue was before the courts, even though the appeal court heard the case in October and released its decision this week.

Vandals cut copper line

In late January 2011, vandals cut copper line that connected an outdoor fuel tank to a furnace outside the rental property. About 300 litres of fuel leaked out, Fong said.

Greg Fong said he spent more than $150,000 fixing the mess caused by the fuel leak. (CBC)

"If you discover a leak, you clean it up," Fong said.

He said immediately contacted the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and made arrangements to have the contaminated soil removed.

Work began the day after the leak, which Fong estimated cost him more than $150,000.

But his insurer, Portage La Prairie Mutual Insurance, refused his insurance claim. The company paid him $10,000 for cleaning the residence inside, but not to remove the contaminated soil.

'I've actually created a worse situation'

Fong took the matter to Nova Scotia Supreme Court, which sided with the Portage La Prairie.

The court found that, according to the insurance policy, the company was not required to pay for the soil cleanup, just damage to the building itself.

Fong also argued the building's damage would have been worse had he not cleaned the site so quickly.

"I feel horrible because, by standing up for what appears to be the right thing to do, I've actually created a worse situation," Fong said.

Fong has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help pay some of his legal fees. He's raised $4,000 as of Thursday.

'This has been crushing'

Fong said this is bad news for commercial property owners.

"No one will have any leg to stand on if they have an oil leak," Fong said.

The site has since been fully cleaned up and tenants are now living in the Tacoma Drive property, he said.

The fuel tank has also been moved from outside to the basement, he said.

"This has been crushing," Fong said.

Read the full Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision: