Oil Tank Removal in Delaware
Nothing lasts forever. A new oil tank today can come with a 10 or 20 year warranty, longer than a car warranty, but not a lifetime warranty. Meaning older tanks, tanks pre 2000, have aged out of any warranty in Delaware and are at risk of leaking.
The issue with oil tanks is tanks are out of site out of mind. Unless water gets into the tank and the furnace shuts off, people do not think about oil tanks, but they should.
Go and sell a home with an oil tank that has no warranty, and a buyer will want it removed, just as you would want if you were buying a house with an oil tank.
Why is an oil tank an issue?
There are environmental regulations and standards for soil and water quality, typically when an oil tank leaks, you exceed these standards, which mandates remediation. A small remediation in our world can average between $8,000 and $15,000.00.
Tanks from the 1950’, 60 & 70’s, well pretty much any tank before the year 2000 was a single wall steel tank, not high tech. Numerous major upgrades in tank design, including double wall and polyethylene materials, have been implemented over the past 50 years, which extends the life expectancy of new oil tanks, some up to a 40 year lifespan. Not to get your hopes up but these better made tanks are few and far between and likely not tank you have on your property or on the property you want to buy.
In Delaware like other states, oil tanks typically start to deteriorate from the inside out due to the moisture and sediment that gets trapped inside the tank over the years. This doesn’t take into account the corrosive nature of low sulfur heating oil and moisture corroding the outside shell of the tank. Hey metal rusts and rust never sleeps.
The photo below is from an aboveground oil tank Curren removed. Note the rust on the inside of the tank.
Best Oil Tank Advice
If you are selling a house with an old oil tank, expect it to be an issue (really don't be surprised) and the buyers will want it removed and tested for leaks. Lets face it, it is what you would want if you were buying the home.
Buying a home with an oil tank? Well be aware that any leaks and cleanup from the leaks in the responsibility of owner. So if you are the new owner, you own the problem. In short don't buy a house with an old oil tank. You need to have the tank removed and tested. And no you can't just test the tank in the ground and buy the house because:
1 Testing is only good the day of the test.
2. Testing cannot test under the tank, so you can miss an issue
3. Test an old tank and you do not find a leak, you will still get the recommendation to remove the tank as it will leak at some point. So the money spent to test is better spent on removal. Not counting the headache and time to coordinate replacing the oil tank as a fuel source.
Abandoned in place oil tanks in Delaware
Many people took an oil tank out of service when the property owners switched from oil heat to gas or electric for home use, their underground storage tanks are left in the ground, many times with fuel oil still inside them. Over time, these tanks rust and begin leaking their contents into the soil. Some people actually did do something with the oil tank, which primarily consisted of filling the tank with sand, which was and is legal in Delaware. The rub here is the tank was never tested when it was abandoned or filled with sand.
Fast forward to today. It is widely understood that oil leaking from a tank into the ground is bad and can require removal of soils impacted by oil. Cleanup of oil leaks is called remediation and can cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. With that knowledge how desirable is a house with a buried oil tank?
Home inspectors are also getting more savvy and will point out in the reports that there is evidence of prior oil heat and a hidden tank maybe present on the property. What does a buyer do if a hidden tank is brought up as an issue in a home inspection? Well you are either going to perform a geophysical survey (tank sweep) to verify if the tank is present and/or if the tank is confirmed, you are going to remove and test the tank. More info on oil tank sweeps can be found by clicking the following link.
Oil Tank Sweeps
