Oil Tank Property Inspections (locating underground tanks)

When questions arise regarding did a house ever have oil heat, a professional inspection of the property can be necessary.  Depending on the age of a home, oil heat may have been utilized.  Many homes first started on coal and then progressed to oil and then to natural gas.  Finding tanks is not always easy, butprofessionals can look for tell tale signs that a tank was or is present.  Walkinginspections of a property can be combined, with metal detector sweeps and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate BOTH buried tanks as well as graves or excavations where tanks were once located.

Buying or selling a home with a buried oil tank raises concerns on both sides of the table.  Full disclosure and investigation of an oil tank is necessary to ensure that it is known that the tank is or has not leaked.

 

How do I know if an oil tank is buried on the property I am buying (or selling?

Call Curren Environmental, Inc. we utilizes a 20 point inspection process to determine if a tank is present.  Our inspections involves both on site and off site research and is the most thorough in the industry. 

What is there are no visible signs that a tank was present, can you use electronic or x ray methods to locate a tank?

Metal detector scans are performed to evaluate for buried steel tanks.   Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can be used, which send a radar signal into the ground, buried tanks, pipes and former tank excavations can be located as the radar signal will reflect off these images.