Oil Tanks

It's a nightmare when the buyers' inspection reveals that the 3" diameter pipe that's been in the sellers' flower garden for 17 years is actually the fill pipe for an unused underground oil tank!  It's especially bad when the storage tank is buried under the cement driveway!

Oil as a heating fuel has become less common in St. Paul, but a few homes still do have an active oil storage tank on their property.  Sometimes the tank is in the basement and sometimes it is buried underground.  A potential buyer will often ask that an abandoned tank be removed or properly abandoned as condition of the sale. 

If your St. Paul house is one of the unlucky few to have a buried beast that is not in use, it is in your best interest to determine how large it is and  become familiar with the process needed to either remove the tank or "abandon" it in place.  Residential tanks with less than 1,100 gallon capacity have different regulations than those that are larger, however, any tank that has not been in use for a full year is supposed to be "abandoned" or removed. 

Oil storage tanks are something the home sellers need to approach proactively.  Even steel tanks will eventually corrode and collapse causing a sink hole or contamination of the soil from oil left in the tank.  Since oil storage tanks are regulated by the local fire marshal, the local fire department is the first place to call for regulations regarding whether the tank must be removed or can be left in place and how to abandon the tanks that are left buried. 

Comments

[Bonnie Erickson]

Carole, The oil tank in question was buried under my cement driveway. I had asked the city inspector about the fill pipe (not the fire marshal) and they had no clue what it was. I have no idea exactly how long it had been out of use prior to our ownership, but we had owned the house for 18 years and not used it. When the buyers' inspector told me it was an oil tank, I nearly had heart failure. Even though it was not a regulated size, had it leaked, it would have gone on our abstract permanently as a "spill". We also would have had to remove any contaminated soil and refill the hole, etc. This information came from the person who removed the tank which thankfully, was not leaking. Thankfully our buyer was a farm guy who knew about oil tanks and they didn't scare him at all. $2000 later, the tank was gone and we were issued a clean bill of health!

[Carole Cohen]

An oil tank buried in the middle of the city; not encountered THAT one yet here. I know when I was living in Maryland they found munititons buried and had to halt a Silver Spring town home project.....that one was interesting. You detailed really well what someone has to do and I bet I can even 'do' it here in Cleveland. Thanks!