Environmental regulations are simple and unfair. Own a property with an environmental problem and you own the problem, even if you just bought the property and didn't know or cause the environmental problem.
That is why you do a tank sweep before you purchase a property, to look for undisclosed buried oil tanks. Only one appropriate method should be used to perform a tank sweep, and that is Ground Penetrating Radar or GPR. GPR is used on commercial properties, so you are using a commercial technology or approach to finding tanks, which translates to a moreeffective tank sweep. GPR, in layperson's terms, sends radar signals into the ground which will reflect off of solid objects such as pipes, tanks, etc. You get a signal like in the photo, which represents an oil tank.
A tank sweep is due diligence, an evaluation to protect a buyer of a property. Unfortunately, people do not know what they are getting, and a metal detector is commonly misused to perform a tank sweep, with inaccurate results. Since metal detectors can only detect metal and provide no image, the data is open to misinterpretation.
The photo shows a small pile of metal pipes, which a tank sweep said was a tank. Curren got permits to address the alleged tank and found old sewer pipes. Thinking that perhaps the tank sweep mismarked the tank location, we performed further evaluation with the thought that there was indeed an oil tank.
Further evaluation found a buried object with a FLAT top, which is not a signal for an oil tank, the area was excavated, and we found an old cesspool. This rather large object apparently was missed by the metal detector, and we determined the presumed tank was actually the buried pipes.
GPR would have found the cesspool and determined the metallic signature was buried pipes, but since GPR was not used the owner had to spend time getting permitting and digging up his yard to not find an oil tank, but now they have an old cesspool to address as cesspools are a safety issue and are a disclosure when you list a home for sale.
If you want accurate tank sweep results, use GPR
If you need a professional to complete your tank sweep, call Curren
