Underground Oil Tank Leak

A typical leaking underground storage tank lust scenario involves the release of a fuel product from an underground storage tank ust that can contaminate surrounding soil groundwater or surface waters or affect indoor air spaces.

Underground oil tank leak.

Outdoor oil tank leak. The selection of a remedial solution is optimized to consider the oil and hazardous materials present. Approximately 542 000 underground storage tanks usts nationwide store petroleum or hazardous substances. First if your oil tank sprouts a leak the cost of cleaning the contaminated soil and water can stretch into thousands of dollars.

An oil tank leak usually refers to the escape of petroleum from a buried tank. It is relatively easy to detect an indoor oil tank leak. While possible the odds are that an underground tank 10 or 15 years old probably is not leaking. Oil tank leaks are concerning because they could be hazardous to people animals property and the environment.

If you smell oil and you see it on the floor near or beneath the tank during a visual inspection you know you have a leak. The cost of cleaning up a leak from an underground oil tank ranges from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how much contamination has occurred and the worst part is there s a good chance your homeowner s insurance won t cover any of the costs. Indoor oil tank leak. Underground tanks are designed to hold 250 to 1 000 gallons of heating oil based on the tank size.

Risks of buried oil tanks. However the likelihood of a leak increases as the tank gets older. The risks of an underground oil tank range from environmental and legal to financial and health related. Typical residential oil tank sizes range from 275 290 to 500 or 1000 gallons in capacity.

Oil tank leaks usually start out as a very small hole in the tank structure which causes the tank s contents to leach into the surrounding soil sometimes at depths. In some cases water may leak into the tank or the leak may occur only when the tank is full thus hiding the problem from the homeowner. The greatest potential threat from a leaking ust is contamination of groundwater the source of drinking water for nearly half of all americans. When an oil tank leaks it normally starts with a pinhole size opening which allows oil to escape and impact the soils around the tank.

Insurance may only cover a portion of these costs further increasing your risk. If your neighbor s well or water supply becomes contaminated there is an oil tank leak affecting the water table. Unfortunately there is no way to know for absolute certain if you have a leak without digging up your oil tank and inspecting it.