How to Inspect the Grounds of a Property to Find Evidence of Buried Oil Tanks
OilTankAPedia ©
- How to find buried oil tanks
Our site offers impartial, unbiased advice without conflicts of interest.
We will block advertisements which we discover or readers inform us are associated with bad business practices,
false-advertising, or junk science. Our contact info is at
inspect-ny.com/appointment.htm.
This is a photo guide to finding buried oil storage tanks by visual inspection of the grounds around a home. This article assists property buyers, owners, and inspectors in the location of buried oil tanks or the detection of
evidence that an underground (or even an above ground) oil tank is or was in use at a property.
The article and photographs used to show the reader ways to find buried oil tanks include examples of clues leading to the discovery of
"nearly hidden" buried or underground oil tanks which were found at residential properties and which avoided very costly surprises later for the new owner.
Underground oil storage tanks, or UST's, whether still present or previously removed, involve a
risk of costly oil leaks and soil contamination which may need to be addressed.
Here are investigation methods that any home buyer, owner, or home inspector can apply to
reduce these risks by looking for evidence that a buried oil tank is or was at a property.
Also see Above Ground Oil Tanks: Visual Inspection.
© Copyright 2008 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use the links at page left to navigate this document or to go to Other Website Topics. Green links at left show where you are in our document & website.
INSPECT THE GROUNDS - How to Inspect the Grounds of Properties Where There are Known or Suspected Abandoned or Removed Oil Storage Tanks
 Have all abandoned tank fill pipes been completely removed from the building to
prevent mistaken delivery and spill into the building? Have old indoor tanks
been removed or marked clearly as "Abandoned, DO NOT FILL" ?
At this property in Rhinebeck, NY we had spotted oil filler and vent pipes inside the dense thicket along the creek.
A decade later during a period of local flooding the tank to which the oil pipes had been connected floated up out of the ground as shown in this photo. The owner no longer had an easy option of "hiding" the abandoned oil tank. Like a spring corpse it had floated to the surface.
If an outdoor buried oil tank has been properly abandoned at a property, the tank should have been excavated at its top, opened, emptied, cleaned, inspected
for evidence of leaks, and then filled with an approved material (perhaps sand or a special foam) both to prevent re-use of the tank and to prevent a possibly dangerous future collapse of
the old tank.
This procedure should have been performed by a qualified tank abandonment company, and documentation should be provided showing who did the work, when it was done,
what inspections or tests were performed to assure that there was no evidence of oil tank leakage into the surrounding soil, and how the tank was filled-in.
If this documentation is not available for a property being purchased then the minimum prudent step would be to order a site inspection and soil testing for evidence of leakage.
Surface soil tests are not as important, in our opinion, as soil borings taken from the approximate depth of the bottom of the tank since that's where more problematic leakage
would have occurred.
If a property seller will not permit site inspection and testing for oil leakage we would be concerned that the owner knows or suspects that a costly contamination issue
is present. One of our clients was told that she would not be permitted to perform any tests or inspections for oil tank leakage prior to purchase of the property - a
sufficiently ominous warning that she did not complete the purchase. We learned that a significant oil spill had occurred and that the owner had herself had removed the
tank fill and vent piping, leaving a costly problem in-ground for the next owner.
More Reading:
More details and advice about oil storage tank leak testing are discussed at TANK TESTING
SIGNS OF BURIED "How to Find Evidence of Buried Oil Tanks at a Property",
summarizes steps that a home buyer or home inspector can perform first in addressing the question about whether or not there is or
was a buried tank at a property.
Use links just below at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
BURIED TANKS, FIND
SITE INSPECTION
SIGNS OF BURIED OIL TANKS
Outdoor Clues to Buried Tanks
Indoor Clues to Buried Tanks
INSPECT THE GROUNDS
REVIEW TANK HISTORY
More Reading::
ABOVE GROUND OIL TANK INSPECTIONS - "Visual Inspection of Above Ground Residential Heating Oil Storage Tanks - ASTs"
Advanced Home Inspection Methodology - Developing your X-Ray Vision
A Promotion Theory for Forensic Observation of Residential Construction. Discussion of methods to accumulate clues to enable
the detection of hard-to-find defects on buildings or other complex systems.
Technical Reviewers
Particular thanks are due to experts and also consumers who read these articles and suggest corrections, changes, and additions to
the material. Content suggestions, technical corrections and content critique are invited for any of the content at our website.
- Daniel Friedman - principal author/editor of the InspectAPedia © Website
- Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution
|
Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, Repair, & Problem Prevention Advice 
Directory of Professionals to Inspect or Test a Building 
InspectAPedia TM Home & Site Map
The Mold Information Center:
Home Inspection Construction Consulting Services
Contact Daniel Friedman