HEATING OIL TANK FACTS AND INFORMATION

Underground tanks may be decommissioned in two ways: by removal, or by cleaning and filling with sand, rock or concrete (called decommissioning in place). Some municipalities, Eugene, Oregon for example, will not allow an underground storage tank to be decommissioned in place unless removal would undermine the foundation of a building or for some similarly prohibitive reason.

Most larger municipalities require a permit to decommission a tank. The requirements for inspection vary from city to city, but they usually want an experienced contractor who is familiar with hazardous materials handling that can insure safe decommissioning operations by monitoring the tank atmosphere with a combustible gas indicator.

Costs for tank removal and contaminated soil cleanup vary depending on the circumstance, such as access for equipment, resurfacing grass, concrete or asphalt, location, etc. As a general rule of thumb in 2006, a simple, accessible residential heating oil tank removal could be less than $2,000. Contaminated soil remediation costs depend entirely on the circumstances and cannot be estimated accurately without knowing the details. However, on the average, the typical residential underground heating oil tank contaminated soil cleanup may cost from $800 to $3,000 over and above the tank removal cost.

If you are concerned that your out-of-use heating oil tank may be a problem, at the very least, you should get the liquids pumped out to prevent whatever may still be in the tank from leaking into the environment. When you prepare to decommission your heating oil tank, by all means, get several bids, and verify the contractor's integrity by references and questions to your local DEQ underground storage tank officials.