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July 19, 2007
TESTING A BURIED OIL TANK!
Question:
Anyone know of the RIGHT person to call to check for leaks in a buried oil tank?? I'm looking to purchase a house w. one - but want to check it out first -
THANKS!
Comments
Anon, I would consider this very carefully. Buried oil tanks can be an EPA regulation nightmare. Not sure what kind of flexibility you have with the transaction (wouldn't want you to lose your place) but I would ask the seller to remove the tank from the ground. Sooner or later it WILL leak and you do not ( I cannot stress this enough) want to be responsible for it when it does. Or, if he wont remove it, ask the seller to drain it and fill it with sand at the very least.
If you're fine with buying it I would call the city of NY, ask them the regulations around it and ask them to send a city inspector or recommend who might do it. You could also have your lawyer handle all this. When we purchased our upstate house, we had this same issue and it ended up being taken care of by the seller.
Good luck.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 19, 2007 6:16 PM
All the above is true. I bought a house in Brooklyn with a buried tank. We had it removed 2 years ago for $3,000.00. We tried all kinds of phone calls to the city to find out regulations....well all I can say is good luck on that one. The ones we did find were vague. But one thing we did learn is that testing the tank for leaks could possibly cause a leak. NYC will not send an inspector...unless you have a leak and then the fines can be astonomical. So again, $3,000.00 to remove oil, clean tank, fill tank with inert foam and a new tank in the basement. Good luck.
Posted by: Anonymous at July 20, 2007 9:40 AM
It's no big deal. Call AST environmental to test. If the tank is leaking, seller should be required to decommission the tank and buyer has right to cancel. Assuming it's not leaking, make sure that seller procures tank insurance immediately once it passes the test, or insist that seller decommission and install an above ground tank as a condition of the sale.
Posted by: monkey at July 24, 2007 8:29 PM
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