A homeowner said yesterday that he was "happy" with the progress Belco is making to clear up 600 gallons of oil from the company's plant which spewed into his garden.

On July 31, a mix of oil and water spilled into the Pembroke property, next to the Belco plant, after days of downpours caused the overflow of a tank containing waste oil.

After the incident, absorbent pads, similar to the inside of a diaper, were placed on the garden to sop up the mess which had covered the majority of the homeowner's lawn

Yesterday, the man said: "What they've done is remove the obvious liquid and excavated the top soil and grass and have gone down about a foot into the yard and removed the contaminated soil. The Environmental Department is working with them as far as testing. They're doing testing on the soil. They have samples that they sent away to a lab. Work is suspended in the garden until results come back.

"Samples were sent away about five days ago. There are various phases that they're going through."

Asked if he was pleased with the progress, the homeowner said: "Yes, I am happy. I might not have a big smile on my face but I am satisfied so far."

A spokeswoman for Belco, Susan McGrath-Smith said: "We are waiting for lab results to proceed with restoration work. In accordance with our own policies and Ministry of the Environment guidelines, we must be sure that soil and groundwater are OK before completing soil and plant restoration."