What happens if my oil tank leaks in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania like many states have both permissible and not permissible levels of oil that can remain in the ground when an oil tank leaks.

Residential heating oil tanks are tanks that store fuel oil (# 2 to be technical) to provide space heating or to heat hot water. Heating oil tanks may be located aboveground (outside or in the basement) or underground (buried) on a property. Whether a heating oil tank is aboveground or underground, rust happens, and spills or leaks of heating oil can occur. When an oil leak occurs indoors, damage can occur to both the home and its contents, and the vapors can cause health problems. When released to the environment (think soil or groundwater) heating oil can contaminate soils, pollute drinking water supplies, and expose the tank owner to liability if neighboring properties are affected by the release. Heating oil releases can also be expensive to clean up. 

Be aware everything has a life expectancy, a new tank built today can have a 20-year warranty.  People replace televisions not oil tanks.   Your oil tank should be addressed before to many decades have passed and before you start having problems with the tank.

Every tank removal should be approached with the idea that the tank could have leaked and thus you are prepared for the next step (hopefully you don't need it, but preparation is wise).  Being prepared means have a project manager involved with the tank removal who will be taking soil samples.   If your tank removal contract doesn't include this then  you can assume the tank company wants to find a leaking tank and a bigger project for themselves.

Know this:

        Not every tank leaks

        Not every tank that leaks require remediation

Soil testing for heating consist of Pennsylvania Short List – Diesel Fuel / Fuel Oil No. 2 by EPA Method 8260C per Table IV-9 of the PADEP Storage Tank Program Guidance Section IV (PADEP 253-0300-100).  You have to exceed any of the eight compounds to be in excess of PADEP residential soil standards. 

Prop Tip

Samples average $200.00 each, then there is project manager time involved both on site and office time for reporting (reports don't write themselves), so when pricing out an oi tank removal, several hundred-dollar differences is what will denote that your interest is being best served.  Bottom line cheapest price is not always best.

Now to be fair, some oil tanks leak to the extent that remediation is necessary.  Like the tank in the photos. The typical tank leak remedy is excavation of the soils contaminated with oil and then taking 5 soil samples from the resulting excavation.

This tank leaked and cleanup was necessary.  Cleanup was around $9,000. so not cheap, but not $20,000.00 either.   

You can see that people don't want to buy a home with a heating oil tank and have to be stuck with an oil tank cleanup.

The specific standards are as follows:

Benzene:– (PADEP Standard is 0.5 ppm)

Ethylbenzene: (PADEP Standard is 70 ppm)

Isopropylbenzene (Cumene) : (PADEP Standard is 600 ppm)

MTBE: (PADEP Standard is 2 ppm)

Naphthalene: (PADEP Standard is 25 ppm)

Toluene: (PADEP Standard is 100 ppm)

1,2,4- Trimethylbenzene: (PADEP Standard is 73 ppm)

1,3,5- Trimethylbenzene: (PADEP Standard is 23 ppm)

When you cleanup a tank leak, you can submit a report to PADEP regional office for their review and comment. Of course any competent environmental company should be able to state in writing if your remediation was successful or not.  PADEP review and comment is always a good idea, as PADEP does not charge for the review and they can issue a No Further Action (NFA) letter which is the gold standard.

THE GOLD STANDARD.

What about PA ACT 2 and my oil tank leak?

Act 2 is geared for industrial sites that want to be redeveloped, like a steel mill or factory.   Commercial tanks like gas stations (diesel, gasoline) have their own department in the PADEP to manage them.

 Heating oil tanks are unregulated in PA and as such they don’t have a direct department to oversee and close out like they do in New Jersey.  That said the most common response you will get from PADEP is to have them review a report of tank removal and remediation if performed and receive a letter that basically says the data provided shows compliance, but it is not a release of liability that would be granted under ACT2.

 ACT 2 requires public notification and a lot of steps that just are not commonly followed for residential oil tanks and can add thousands of dollars to a  site that could very well be in compliance with applicable PADEP soil and groundwater standards. ACT2 is a beefy program and not commonly followed for residential site so asking a homeowner to provide an ACT2 clearance is more uncommon than common.

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