Underground tank leak

[bdhsfz6]

I am looking at a property that has an old fuel oil tank for the furnace. I know the property has a tank in the ground and one above ground. The property also has a well for drinking water. If I move forward Ior the seller will have an environmental engineer verify the tank does not leak.

Have any of you had experience with an old abandoned tank and what did you do?

As others have said, get an inspection of both the oil tank AND the well. If both come back clean and you purchase the property, have the in ground tank removed immediately before it becomes an issue.

Back in 1989, a coworker friend bought a cheap fixer. The price was too good to be true and he soon found out why. The 1000 gal in ground tank had been leaking for years and had contaminated the soil in the front yard as well as the neighbors. The cleanup cost almost twice what he paid for the house.

The oil company, who normally filled the tank, had reported the leak to the EPA as required by law. The seller, fully aware of the problem, quickly sold the house cheap and then disappeared. AFAIK, they are still looking for the guy. In the mean time, my friend was left holding the bag.

This nightmare caused me to remove my own in ground tank. I installed two 550 gal tanks in my basement, filled them with the oil from the in ground tank and dug it up when no one was around. Sure enough, it did have a leak but it was fairly small. I cut the tank in half, burned out the oily residue and buried it elsewhere on the property.

 

[MossRoad]

Chip and seal is not the same as oil spraying. It's liquid asphalt and generally stays where it's put. Liquid oil leaches/moves.

 

[dodge man]

Yes, what Mossroad said is correct.

 

[Williy]

You also can have it in the deed stating
seller is responsible for any contamination
and have a lawyer make out the paper work
and have it notarized so you will be in the
clear.

willy

 

[Rockbadchild]

Can someone explain how strategically spilling millions of gallons of oil is legal on public property, but accidentally leaking on private property is illegal? Is it a scientific fact that oil on private land destroys the environment and oil on public land does no damage at all? If so, how do all the shopping centers get away with contaminating the top soil.
Please note the amount of oil being sprayed (3:28).

When I was a kid I remember the road going to Salt Lake City (I-80) was all concrete. Why change what was more environmentally friendly? The old highway was good for many businesses. Cars could rarely exceed 70mph without ending up on the shoulder. Shocks, tires and suspension components would wear quickly. Tow companies, tire, auto parts and of course, new car sales had great benefit from the old highway.
Where I live now, all the concrete is over passes above ground level. The Technology for concrete roads has come a long way over time.

This is just my observation that forms my uneducated opinion.

The stuff that is sprayed is describe and act as glue in the road construction business ... it is only used between layer of asphalt... like asphalt it is a petroleum product like plastic or like any other 6000 petroleum products made every day. Concrete roads are very, very expensive pretty much unaffordable, the base required for concrete roads is astronomical never mind the labor and time required to build them...

 

[4570Man]

I’m not looking to start debate, but I still don’t understand the logic. If it’s a void at the top of the tank that is the concern, pour in the last quarter, over filling, in loose mud. Level out when dry. A fraction of the cost?
There are about 200 gal in a yard of concrete. A train car holds about 9,000 gal. That would require about 45 yards of concrete? That’s 4 and 1/2 truck loads. Even a light grout mix seems expensive.

I wasn’t there when they did it but how are you going to get 45 yards of dirt or sand through a fairly small hole in the top? Writing the check for runny concrete sounds like a cheaper option than trying to deal with that. The runny concrete got the job done fast and with minimal manual labor. They also want the tank ridged so it can’t collapse when something drives over it. It would be hard to ever get dirt packed in tight even if you did spread it by hand.

 

[crashz]

As Rock mentioned, cost of concrete is one item, practicality is another. And moreover, the production of portland cement is not very environmentally friendly either.

As Moss said, liquid oil will not only saturate a column of soil, but will spread when it reaches groundwater. It will also flow with groundwater. When that happens, it's not just the immediate landowner that is affected. Those with wells within the aquifer are and even worse, some of the more dangerous chemicals in the oil are more miscible in water.

 

[crashz]

I wasn’t there when they did it but how are you going to get 45 yards of dirt or sand through a fairly small hole in the top? Writing the check for runny concrete sounds like a cheaper option than trying to deal with that. The runny concrete got the job done fast and with minimal manual labor. They also want the tank ridged so it can’t collapse when something drives over it. It would be hard to ever get dirt packed in tight even if you did spread it by hand.

Right, the "runny concrete" is a Controlled Density Fill or Flow Fill. Once cured, it is an excavatable material that provides structural integrity as equivalent to stiff compacted earth fill. As Moss mentioned, the tanker was located in a an alley with heavy truck traffic. The soil there was supporting that traffic as well as the buildings to each side (assuming that the alley had larger buildings nearby). To ensure that there would be no structural damage to the surrounding buildings, the landowner needed to backfill the tanker in a manner that would not cause any voids in the soil. Filling with CDF is much cheaper than removing the tanker. Pulling it would likely require significant effort and engineered shoring.

 

[MossRoad]

Speaking of the angle of repose... this reminded me of the first time I was introduced to the concept by one of my sisters showing me ant lions in the yard. It's the reverse of a cone of dirt being dumped into a tank, but it's the same concept.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

My brother is a geologist and working with the EPA had a leaking oil tank removed 20 years ago at my parents home at no charge to them. They have a well also.
Me...I'd buy the property with that stipulation, the tank would be properly removed making sure no cost to you or seller would pay for removal.
My brother said federal funds are available for that. I'd want tanks removed before purchase. EPA will test well water, they do it all the time, hauling off any contaminated soil they process (burn). It's no big deal doing it correctly.