Getting ready to sign the papers to get your dream home? Before you dot the i’s and cross the t’s, there’s one question you have to ask yourself:
What should I look for when purchasing a home with an abandoned oil tank?
This question is an important one not only for home buyers but also for real estate agents and home inspectors. What’s more, the responsibility isn’t just on the buying side. This is good information to know for the home seller and listing agent, too.
What Exactly Is An Abandoned Oil Tank?
First let’s clarify “abandoned” oil tanks. We are talking about a buried heating oil tank, AKA an Underground Storage Tank or UST.
This topic will not discuss aboveground tanks – we have covered that in other blogs.
The term “abandoned” gets used loosely in the home sale process. Technically this term refers to a “properly, legally, filled in place, abandoned in place UST.”
However, what most people mean when they call about an “abandoned” oil tank is a tank that was just forgotten about after it was taken out-of-service.
That means the tank is:
- Still below ground
- Still has sludge in the bottom of the tank
- Likely still has oil in it, could have water in it, and
- At least one or both pipes from the buried tank are still sticking out of the ground.
Here at GreenTrax, our goal is to take the “forgotten about” oil tank and permanently take it out-of-service, or decommission the tank properly. This can be done by either A) removing it from the ground, or B) legally abandoning the tank in place.
Let’s dive into both so you know what to do.
Why An Out-of-Use Oil Tank Must Be Dealt With
It is Maryland state law that any buried oil tank that is not hooked up to the heat for the house and the tank is no longer in use MUST be properly removed or abandoned in place within 180 days or 6 months.
Because this is a code issue, this usually falls to the home SELLER to deal with prior to settlement on the house.
The biggest reason this tank should be dealt with BEFORE the settlement process is that the bank/lender/mortgage company for the buyer could have rules AGAINST old below ground heating oil tanks, and could prevent the buyer from going to closing.
Some of you may be thinking “Oh, this is a cash sale so I’m good. I don’t have to worry about this”.
You would be incorrect. We have been in the oil tank industry for 30 years and work all over the state of Maryland, and guess what? Your home insurance company could also refuse to supply you a new home policy which would also prevent you from closing on the property.
*(A side not for all you readers who are not currently involved in a home sale)* We have done a number of tank removals and abandonments for clients who lived in their house for a number of years and had the same home insurance company for a long time. Then at some point they were told by the insurance company that they would NOT renew their policy until the underground tank was removed.*
I know there may still be a few readers who say “I’m not dealing with this oil tank before closing.”
Let’s think about the tank in a different way. I guarantee in most circumstances that the buried tank will be as old as the house is, or at least 30, 40, or 50+ years old.
The lifespan of an oil tank is 20 years! Let’s take your roof for example. What if your shingles were original to the house? Let’s say 40 years old.
But the shingles were only rated for 20 years. Everyone involved in the transaction–the seller’s agent, buyer’s agent, buyer, lender, insurance company, home inspector, heck, even the home inspector’s dog! (ok maybe not)–would be telling you that you cannot sell (or buy) the house without the roof being replaced.
The tank is the exact same thing. The main difference? You can see when a roof leaks, but a homeowner will not know when their buried tank is leaking in 99% of cases (trust me, you won’t).
The two or three ways that the 1% of tank owners will know their tank is leaking are all very bad circumstances and you don’t want that.
Knowing you need to remove the tank is one thing. But what can you do if you don’t know that there was an oil tank used for heat in the first place? We’ve got some signs to look for.
Outside Indications & Signs Of A House With A Heating Oil Tank
- There is a fill pipe sticking out of the ground from the buried tank.
The pipe diameter is usually about 1 ½ inches – 2 inches in size, about the size of your wrist or smaller.
If you see a pipe that is softball size or larger, that is not an oil tank. That is related to sewer or septic. The tank fill pipe could be flush with the ground or sticking one to two feet out of the dirt.
- All tanks have a vent pipe that allows the air to come out when the tank is being filled.
This pipe will be the same size or smaller than the tank fill pipe. Typically it has a cap on this pipe that looks like a mushroom.
One or both of the above pipes could be coming straight out of the buried tank and are typically less than 10 feet away from the house (though it could be farther away, the most common is less than 10 feet).
One or both pipes could be what we call “remote” and they are not sticking straight up out of the tank, as the pipe could have a 90- degree bend on it and may be located only inches away from the house foundation.
Inside Indications & Signs Of A House With A Heating Oil Tank
- There is an oil-fired furnace or water heater
If there is an aboveground tank in use, it is possible that that aboveground tank is original, or a replacement tank. If it’s a replacement tank, the first tank that supplied oil could have been underground.
- There are two small copper oil lines.
All buried oil tanks used to have two copper lines coming from the tank. These copper lines are about the size of your finger. They run together, and could be coming through the basement wall, coming up through the concrete floor, running along the bottom of the wall on the floor, or running through the overhead joists.
The lines may or may not be connected to the furnace or water heater.
Now, once you have determined you have a UST and need to deal with it, the most important thing to remember is time is of the essence!
It takes time to get everything done, Miss Utility takes their time to mark the property, and the job has to be scheduled. With all that, the work onsite only takes a day if your tank is not leaking. After that work, we have to allow time for the lab test and the closure report package which is the paperwork & soil sample to show your soil is clean. Allow 1-2 weeks for that process.
If the tank is leaking, this process takes additional time. It could be 2-3 weeks for that process.
Although everything can be rushed, that adds unnecessary cost.
Want to avoid that extra cost? Have the oil tank dealt with by GreenTrax as soon as you find out you have an abandoned oil tank.
We are here to help. Call us today at (410) 439-1085 or send a message to our website.
