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Hello, my boyfriend and I found a really nice place but it has an old underground oil tank. He wants to still buy it but I'm paranoid about the problems I've heard about associated with the EPA requirements and soil testing. Is anyone familar with this?
Worry about the Department of Environmental Conservation (aka ENCON) more than the EPA. I think that New York's regs are more stringent than the feds'.
I'd look up your regional DEC office on the New York State website and give them a call to find out what hoops you'll have to go through to remove the gas tank. I don't believe you can leave it. You'll have to hire somebody (ie, a firm that knows what it's doing) to empty the tank, dig it out, and then dispose it. If any oil has leaked out of the tank, the soil will have to be removed and the soil replaced. I think you are talking several thousand, maybe a lot more if there's been contamination.
You should get some estimates.
Personally, I think this is on the seller. If you sell a rural property, the seller has to guarantee that the septic is working properly, but you can test a septic system without digging it up while you don't know if that tank is leaking. If he/she/they won't take care of it, then they should at least lower the price of the house to reflect what it will cost you to remove it. Otherwise, you should walk away.
Furthermore, if you don't remove it, the metal will eventually rot and it will collapse on itself, potentially injuring somebody. The cost to remove it isn't going to go down, either.
Have the sellers remove it. If they refuse, don't buy the house. Its that simple. There's no EPA involvement, and contamination can bankrupt you. Trust me on this.
If its a rural property, I'd also have an environmental company do a record search and magnetometer scan on the property to search for additional tanks. Many old property owners in rural areas simply left the old leaking tank in the ground and just installed a new one nearby and ran new lines to it. The fill and vent were simply cut off at the surface, in many cases.
Last edited by VintageSunlight; 07-24-2013 at 10:30 AM..
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