We get this request weekly. Someone wants to buy a house that has a buried oil tank. Sometimes the tank is being used, other times the tank is no longer in service. Let me cut to the chase, NO, you cannot accurately inspect the tank, it’s buried and is rusting, which no one can see, but you know it's true. Every buried tank will fail. When you fill up your vehicle at the gas station, those tanks have corrosion protection and very expensive monitoring and leak detection systems.
If you have a buried tank that is being used and it’s older than 20 years, remove and replace it. If you are buying the property, negotiate with the seller to remove and replace the tank and offer monies to perform this work, payable at settlement. While you may not want to open your wallet any further, you did ask about paying for an inspection of the tank, so use that money for removal and replacement.
If you have a buried tank that is not being used on a property you are buying, request that it be removed and soil sampling be completed during removal. The tank is a financial liability that someone ignored and wants to pass the problem to you. For a matter of reference, a small tank leak can cost $10,000 to $15,0000. Removing an oil tank, maybe around $20,000.00
We just had someone call asking about inspecting an out-of-service buried tank on a property they want to buy. Turns out there is a new oil tank in the basement, which they installed to replace the perfectly functioning buried tank. Good money was wasted installing a new tank because the buried tank is fine. Excuse my sarcasm, the new tank 99% of the time was installed because the buried tank was having issues and the owner didn’t dig up the tank because they don’t want to find a problem. They would rather ignore the issue and pass it along to the next person.
Truth be told, we do test buried tanks, and we remove them in three states. But time and time again, testing is a waste of money, and the better financial approach is to remove and test the tank this 100% removing the liability of the tank in the future and is 100% accurate.
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