Buried Oil Storage Tank (tanks, leaking, concrete, remove)

[gobblegobble]

I am purchasing a home in New York State with a buried oil tank. At our request it has been opened, all remaining oil removed, and filled with concrete. The soil has not be tested surrounding the tank but the engineer did note that the top soil showed no signs of leak and an inspection of the inside walls showed no evidence of holes. My question is: I read the sellers are now liable for any leak as we are purchasing the home with two concrete filled tanks and so the accident was obviously theirs(there has only been one owner). Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks.

Here is where I got my info:
Realty Times - Make Sure Your Homeowners Policy Covers Leaking Tanks

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by gobblegobble

I am purchasing a home in New York State with a buried oil tank. At our request it has been opened, all remaining oil removed, and filled with concrete. The soil has not be tested surrounding the tank but the engineer did note that the top soil showed no signs of leak and an inspection of the inside walls showed no evidence of holes. My question is: I read the sellers are now liable for any leak as we are purchasing the home with two concrete filled tanks and so the accident was obviously theirs(there has only been one owner). Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks.

Here is where I got my info:
Realty Times - Make Sure Your Homeowners Policy Covers Leaking Tanks

Talk to your county heath department.
Also, if you look back in some older threads, there where some excellent links posted on this forum.

[amylauren]

We just went through our own questions with the buried oil tank issue. We are buying a home on LI in Suffolk County. Their rules and reg are pretty lenient. We had the soil tested-came back fine and plan to abandon in once we close. For Suffolk, once it becomes legally abandoned-which sounds like the owners took care of , you should be done with it. No testing is required. It is true though, that once you close, any problems with the tank, even if they happened before you owned the house, are yours. Try and do a search on this website for buried oil tanks-I got a lot of sound advice. I had listed quite a few q's on the NY LI forum. Good luck!