It was common practice to install an oil tank underground to save space as well as the aesthetics of not having a tank aboveground. The real estate market is dealing with the legacy of these tanks.
Homes built prior to 1980 are likely to have had an oil tank as a fuel source at some time in the past (natural gas really only became popular in the 1970’s during deregulation), which means near 90% of housing stock had the potential for oil usage.
When the oil tank was no longer needed, conversion to gas or other fuel source the tank was typically dealt with in the least expensive option. If you are buying a home you need to consider prior oil heat use and what legacy oil heat has on the property. In short if you don’t have clear documentation that the tank was cleaned and laboratory testing was performed, you are lacking what is needed to remove the tank as an issue. Here are couple of approaches people used to address an oil tank.
Oil Tank Removal: There is the risk that upon removal of the tank you observe holes in the tank and thus discover the tank leaked. Oil tank removal solves all the environmental issues that the oil tank could have possibly caused, because you determine that the tank did or did not leak. See how the soils are all one color in the photo of the tank being removed? Oil can stain soils, not all soil will discolor but stained soil are a definite indicator of a tank leak.
Removing a tank is not always followed due to the fact that the tank owner has some motivation to not want to find a problem. You see when you remove a tank you can inspect the ground where the tank was located as well as physically inspect the tank aboveground for holes. The following photo shows a removed tank and the holes are visible, sunlight is shining through the holes.
If you have a property where a tank was removed and you have a report, you are fine. If you don’t have a report with testing, you now must test the area of the removed tank.
Oil Tank Abandoned: Just as the name sound, the tank was abandoned. The lines from the tank to the heater were disconnected and the tank was stopped being used. Sometimes the homeowner filled the tank fill pipe with concrete or foam to prevent future filling. These tanks are a concern as the vessel still will have oil that can leak. This is clearly the least expensive option. Clearly if you have this situation, the tank must be removed and tested.
This tank had the fill pipe capped with foam, its orange.
Oil Tank Abandonment: This option still leaves the oil tank on the property. Even though all the necessary steps should have been taken to secure the tank and remove the oil, there is no guarantees with this process. Meaning unless you have documentation that the tank was entered and cleaned, the tank likely still has oil in it that can leak. In this process, there is typically no sampling of soil so the tank could have caused contamination before it was abandoned which could cause problems in the future. In this situation if you lack testing at time of closure, you must reverse engineer the tank abandonment, meaning excavate the tank remove the fill, remove the tank and obtain your soil samples.
This tank was filled with foam. The black you see is the oil that was left in the tank before filling with foam.
Tanks Previously Abandoned in Place. have some of the Highest Risk Factors. Did this tank leak?
This is what you see before you abandon a tank in place, a cut open clean tank. Do you see any holes?
Now that the tank is removed the holes in the bottom of the tank are visible.
Once the tank is removed you can see the stained soils. You can see the color differential of where the was below grade and the soils above the tank. The difference in color is due to both geology and oil in the soil where the tank was buried. You would never see this if the tank was abandoned in place.
The best course of action regarding any oil tank is to have the tank removed, testing performed and an actual report of the work activities detailing that the tank did not leak. Clearly when a tank is removed you can see holes and physically assess the excavation where the tank was located. This is not the gold standard it is the standard that says yes or no the tank did not leak. A verbal discussion that the owner’s father in law filled the tank with sand is not something you can rely upon. Even if you have paperwork stating the tank was cleaned, oil removed and filled with fill, foam or sand, you lack any testing data at time of closure which would provide a sense of assurance that the tank did not leak. In the absence of a written narrative from the tank, Closure Company and associated laboratory analysis that would have been performed during the closure activities; You cannot say that the tank does not represent an environmental issue. I would amend this opinion if an actual report of the work were provided. You see without documentation stating the tank did not leak, you cannot infer that the tank did or did not leak. Often time’s tanks are closed in place to avoid finding a problem, when in reality the majority of tanks do not leak. You can only be sure that the tank followed the construction code if you obtain a copy of the construction permit.
Environmental codes are separate from construction and unless that abandoned oil tank has documentation regarding any soil sampling, you have no data to rely upon regarding the tank not leaking. Some people closed their tanks (filled with sand or foam) to avoid finding a problem, in the hope that in the future a buyer will accept the construction inspection as being sufficient. Many people bought homes with tank filled in place over the past 20 years only to find todays buyers want the tank removed and tested. Mortgage companies, homeowner insurance carriers and attorneys representing buyers red flag these untested tanks and require their removal. These parties realize that construction inspections are not environmental inspections and only verify that physical work was performed. By not sampling, you avoid confirming that the tank did not leak.
Lets sum this up. If you have a property that is being sold, if an oil tank was on the property and you have a REPORT with testing of the tank removal you should be good.
If the same property has an abandoned oil tank, either filled with sand, stone or foam and you have NO REPORT, well that is a huge problem. The tank will need to be removed and tested.
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Licensed in NJ, DE &PA for Tank Removal and proper Abandonment
