By STEPHANIE BARISH wpix.com

6:00 p.m. EST, January 27, 2010
FREEPORT, N.Y. (WPIX)—
A homeowner on Long Island, who switched to gas heat a year ago, was shocked to find not only an oil bill in his mailbox, but nearly 75 gallons of oil spilled all over his basement floor.

"I looked in my mailbox and I have a slip saying they delivered 75 gallons of oil," Lance Leach, of Freeport, told PIX News.

When he walked inside his home located at 16 Lessings Ave., Leach said he was overcome by the smell of oil. Completely shocked, Leach ran downstairs to find his newly renovated basement completely destroyed and covered in oil.

"I'm mad! I spent all this money getting this basement fixed," said Leach.

The oil was pumped into the basement from an old pipe that was cut off when the oil tank was removed from his basement. A Hazmat crew responded and were forced to rip out the basement's bathroom, walls and flooring. All the furniture, also completely covered in oil, is now out in the backyard.

"It's terrible ... my whole house smells like oil," said Leach.

It turned out that O'Connor Brothers was the company that made the big blunder. PIX News wanted to know why oil would be pumped into a home without the owners permission or knowledge. However, the company would not return our calls.

Lance said the oil company is paying for the cleanup, however he hopes it'll also pick up the hotel bill where he has been staying until the oil stench goes away.

"I even asked about my hotel and they just ignored me," he said.

Additional reporting by Long Island reporter Rob Hoell

Leach isn't sure when he'll be able to move back in, but said the first thing he's going to do is cap the old oil pipe.