Tank Services

Full disclosure and investigation of an oil tank is necessary to ensure that it is known that the tank is or has not leaked.

When questions arise regarding did a house ever have oil heat, a professional inspection of the property can be necessary. Depending on the age of a home, oil heat may have been utilized. Many homes first started on coal and then progressed to oil and then to natural gas. Finding tanks is not always easy, but professionals can look for signs that a tank was or is present. Walking inspections of a property can be combined, with metal detector sweeps and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to locate BOTH buried tanks as well as graves or excavations where tanks were once located.

An oil tank sweep is one of the best way to locate buried oil tanks. Tank sweeps are also part of any buyers due diligence process. Undisclosed abandoned underground oil tanks (USTs) are a financial liability that can loom over a site. Buried oil tanks that have not been properly abandoned are a cause for concern. Not properly abandoned means, the piping has been cut (so that no evidence of the tank exists), the piping has been filled with foam or concrete however, the tank still contains oil, or a tank that has or is leaking but is undisclosed. These tanks are often well past their useful service life and have often leaked. Buying a contaminated property means that you are responsible for the cleanup costs even though you may have no prior knowledge of the contamination. These tank leaks are often excluded from insurance policies, so you the homeowners will not pay for the loss and you the homeowner wind up paying for someone else’s problem. There is a reimbursement program for residential homeowners in Maryland and Virginia for some cost recovery.

Do you have an oil tank that was removed? Were you told that the tank leaked? Were there no obvious sign of oil? Were there small pin holes in the tank? Were you told that the oil tank cleanup will cost $10,000.00 to $15,000.00? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need a professional second opinion about your leaking oil tank. 80% of the callers we get that answer yes to every question we have found do not need remediation.

The MDE allows a limited amount of oil to remain from a leaking tank if the levels are within the specified range and there is a reimbursement program for residential homeowners. (See Maryland State Residental Reimbursement Facesheet)

Based on the concentrations detected in the tank excavation a case can be presented that although petroleum levels are present in soils, the petroleum compounds will not leach out from the soils. The MDE will respond and the property owner will receive a No Further Action (NFA) letter for the tank leak, which closes the tank leak out as an issue as it provides approval from the MDE that the site is in compliance with the applicable environmental regulations. Most of the time this is all that real estate professionals and/or lending institutions need to continue property transactions.

1. As an oil tank removal company serving Maryland, DC, Virginia and Pennsylvania, we remove thousands of buried oil tanks every year and the data that we have collected indicates this one fact… that 50% of buried residential heating oil tanks leak.

2. There are no regulations requiring you to remove an in-service residential heating oil tank (in the State of Maryland, Commonwealth of Virginia, District of Columbia), unless there are indications that the tank is leaking.

3. Buyers of both commercial and residential properties are concerned that an underground tank may have or is leaking. Be selective about how you try to determine “leaking”. The only true way to know if a tank is leaking is to have it removed.

4. Buying or selling a property where an oil tank was removed or filled in place and no report with test results is available, does not provide legally defensible evidence that the tank did not lead. Whether you have a tank removed or abandoned-in-place, have a soil sample collected for the proper analysis.

5. In Maryland and Virginia, there are reimbursement programs for homeowners for leaking oil tanks. At this time, Pennsylvania’s program is not currently active.

6. Most insurance policies do not cover leaking tanks, unless there is a specific rider on the policy. There may be coverage for third party impacts that have resulted from a leaking tank.

7. Residential properties can be sold when a tank leaks, as long as the extent of the leak is evaluated, costs are developed to remediate the leak and both buyer and seller can agree on financial responsibility. However, as a general rule, most clean-up activities can be completed within 30 days. Although the sale may be help up for about one month, the back and forth negotiation for remediation escrow could take that long.

8. In Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, a Certified Tank Technician is required to conduct the removal.

9. Sometimes an additional permit is required by the County and/or locality, which may hold up the tank removal for up to two weeks.

10. The only true way to know if a tank is leaking is to have it removed.

If the tank is no longer in use, the buyer should not move forward until the tank is removed. If the tank is found to be leaking, the property owner at the time of the leak discovery is responsible. In addition, buyers should be sure to have the furnace inspected (even in the summer), to ensure that there is no problem with the tank. The only true way to know if a tank is leaking is to have it removed.

• Over 30 years experience in removing and decommissioning oil tanks
• Oil Tank Removal Services in and near the Mid-Atlantic, including Maryland, DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware
• Oil Tank Removal projects completed by company personnel and equipment
• MDE and DC Certified for Oil Tank Removal
• Tank Locating Services – Tank Sweeps – Tank Locating with GPR
• Tank Testing Services – For Real Estate Transactions
• Thousands of Successful Tank Removals Completed
• Oil Tank Remediation for Leaking Tanks
• For leaking tanks, complete all paperwork to get your money back through reimbursement programs as soon as possible