Oil Tank Removal

Mark_in_IN · Sep 27, 2004

Here was the weekend project.
About 12 years ago we switched to propane from heating oil. Since then the tank has been in the ground unused until yesterday.
Pictures of tank Removal
It only took about 4 hours (2 people) to dig it out by hand.
We then set up scaffolding across the hole. Put an I beam on the scaffolding and then used a 1 ton chain wench to lift it out of the ground.

I now have a 250 gallon tank out of the ground.

Anybody got any suggestion what to do with it?
I first thought to put it in the barn for fuel storage but it would take YEARS to go through that much fuel.

Anyone in INDIANA want a tank?

Mark

beenthere · Sep 27, 2004

How long was it in the ground before you quit using it 12 years ago?
Does it have fuel oil in it now? Dimensions? Length, diameter?

Clever rig to remove it. Thanks for sharing the pics.

LarryRB · Sep 27, 2004

cut out each end of the tank, now you have an instant "culvert" to place somewhere where you want to cross a ditch.. Little gravel over it and walla,, instant bridge

Junkman · Sep 27, 2004

That tank looks to be in very good condition. It also appears to be a 550 gallon tank, not a 250 as you suggested. I would put it in the shed or outside the shed and use it for diesel fuel. You would be surprised how fast you could go through a couple hundred gallons without trying.

QueBota · Sep 27, 2004

Looks like a good project.

If you remove a tank in this area and follow "code" you need about 52 permits and site visits from everyone from the building inspector, fire department and Dept. of Environment. God forbid they find fuel spilled in the soil, they would like to turn you place into a Super Fund cleanup site. Fellow down the road from me did it the right way, permits and everything, ended up costing him around $10K, contaminated soil had to be removed and hauled away to a suitable site.

Dave

MFChief · Sep 27, 2004

Don't know if you have a need or not, but some folks cut the tank in half lenth-wise and make a small dump trailer out of it.
Terry

beenthere · Sep 27, 2004

Junkman
That is what I was thinking too. If the tank is around 4' diam, and 6' long, then it is close to 550 gal.

A round 250 gal tank would (could) be about 3' diam, and 5' long.

Some make hog cookers out of them 550 gal tanks.

Junkman · Sep 27, 2004

If you are going to cut it up, you should put about 50 pounds of dry ice in it. When the tank has frosted up, it is safe to cut it apart. I would use a saws all to get a hole into it and then cut the rest with the cutting torch. I was told that 10% of the gallonage is the correct amount of dry ice. The dry ice expels all the oxygen so the tank cant explode. Once cut up, then it is just scrap iron. There will be some sludge at the bottom, so put that into 5 gallon pails and mix with some diesel fuel.. take to the dump and dispose of in the oil recycling tank and you are done..

rambler · Sep 27, 2004

Yea, I would not advertise this too much, $10,000+ is not at all uncommon for an underground tank removal, & what you did is not to code, so you broke several laws over the weekend. I'd hide that tank in the barn pronto, and figure out a way to use or dispose of it without alerting folks to how you got it....

Doesn't bother me any I think you did a great job, but just a word to the wise.

--->Paul

Archdean · Sep 27, 2004

Ingenious to say the least and a hell of a lot of work, I know. Having said that I agree with Rambler in totality... If you do nothing else get a soil sample analyzed ... you will have to disclose this info on any future sale or lie and if discovered after the sale the liabilities can be horrendous!!!
Dean

Mark4510 · Sep 28, 2004

Cant agree more! Great job in getting that out. But.....

My parents got stuck with a tank in the ground that had, according to one expert never leaked anything but had fuel in the ground from spills while filling. I will say they were put on the SuperFund list, it was NOT even close to $10k, almost 8 years worth of work and probably $100,000 in the value of the house when they sold. I am not telling you what to do but if it becomes known that the tank was yanked out, without, what I guess to be all the appropriate permits, I would be ready to become BEST friends with many people from the EPA.

To me....it looks like you were digging a hole to put a plastic liner in, fill with water and add gold fish....but thats just me.
Mark

Mark_in_IN · Sep 28, 2004

Dementions of tank are 3'2" diameter and 5'2" long.
The tank is around 30 years old and was emptied last year.

I checked in the the regulations reguarding tank removal with the county and state offices and found on one who knew anything about it. the only thing i found was for large gas station size tanks.

actually when We were digging it I asked my mother if she wanted another gold fish pond since we already had a hole. but two is enough.

mark

thcri · Sep 28, 2004

Ten years or so ago we changed out a lot of furnaces from oil to propane or natural gas. A lot of tanks around. For the most part we stayed away from removing the underground tanks but at one time depending on the size of tank you had you could leave the tank in the ground and fill it with sand. Now I don't know if you can do that anymore as we haven't changed one out in a long time.

murph

Junkman · Sep 28, 2004

Tank regulations keep changing and each state has its own rules and regulations. For the most part, it depends more on the town officials than anything else. The states don't have the money to monitor the situations and most have given this over to the fire department and the health departments to enforce the laws. The interesting thing about fuel oil, is that after a few years it is "eaten" by the microbes in the soil. It is gasoline that is the real problem with underground tanks. It isn't effected by the soil microbes and it will travel and contaminate the ground water. Now that it is out, just fill in the hole, cut up the tank, and forget about it. Next summer you will be cutting grass where the tank was and it will all be over with. Just make sure to remove any remnants of the lines going through the foundation and cover up their tell tale signs. That way, no one will ever think about an outside tank and will assume that it has always been inside.. I have heard and read all the horror stories, but they are the exception, not the rule. There are 100's of thousands of underground storage tanks in this country and yours is just one of them. 99 % are never a problem, but when that 1% is a problem, everyone holds it out as the example. I wouldn't loose any sleep over it...

Mark_in_IN · Sep 29, 2004

I didn't realize fuel oil broke down like that in the ground.

As a member of the local volunteer fire department I know they don't do anything with undergound tanks and the health department didn't seem to care what happened.

Mark

PineRidge · Sep 29, 2004

Cut it in two lengthwise and fasten a hinge on one side so it makes one big gigantic rib smoker. Put it out at the road with a sign on it FREE RIB SMOKER and it will be gone overnight. You'll then see it some weekend on the corner cooking ribs for sale...... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Junkman · Sep 29, 2004

I didn't either until I was speaking with a representative of the state EPA. If the oil is on top of the aquifer, then it is a problem, but not in the soil. Large spills are where the problems come into play. Small spills such as the little that spills when filling the tank are of no consequence. I believe that the threshold of reporting is somewhere about 2 or 3 gallons in MA..... that is going by memory...

Mark4510 · Sep 30, 2004

“Small spills such as the little that spills when filling the tank are of no consequence.”

I wish that were the case in CA. My parents spent much closer to $100,000 to clean up the fuel from their in ground tank. When the county got involved, along with the EPA, my parents had a couple of choices: keep the contaminated dirt on their property, turn it periodically, keep certain microbes in the soil, and cover it when it rained for, as I recall, about 2 years. OR They could pay to have it hauled off by a toxic clean up service for huge amounts of money.

There were no holes in the tank according the inspector and, according one of the geologists, the contaminant can travel a long way with water flow and the right soil. The amount of fuel that one of the geologists expected was spilled over 15 years was no more than 5-10 gallons. In fact, if it were not for this same geologist, I suspect my parents would have been required to install monitoring wells.

I agree with Junkman that the odds are good that no one will find out but I can tell you from first hand experience that, in CA, if the regulatory agencies find out that the soil is contaminated you will be in for a rough ride.
Mark