Free Government Funds Available to Remove and Clean Up Unused Buried Home Heating Oil Tanks
- by Katy O'Kennedy
Most homes built before 1975 used an underground tank for storing home heating oil. Even if your home does not use home heating oil now, you still may have a tank buried underground. These tanks have been slowly corroding underground for years past their intended 15-20 year life expectancy. In addition to tank corrosion, decades of drips, spills and overfill during tank filling may have caused soil contamination.
As your neighbor in Washington Park, I want to create awareness about this issue. We lived in our home on 129 Cascade Ave. for 7 years before we realized we had 2 large buried oil tanks. Luckily there is a state fund to cover the cost of tank excavation and soil clean up. We did not have to pay anything to remove the tanks and contaminated soil. Yes, they had to dig a big hole in our yard, but it was filled with clean soil and grass was planted on the area.
Most people may not know that they have a buried oil tank or that there is a fund available to cover the cost of removal of the buried tank and soil clean up. You can tell if you have a buried tank if you find 1-2 steel pipes measuring approx 2” in diameter sticking out of the ground.
There are basically three reasons for tank removal:
1) Most tanks leak or have had some oil spilled around the filling point which results in soil contamination — obviously not good for the environment. Even if the tank is empty, has been filled with foam or sand, or has been removed, soil contamination may exist at the property.
2) Many mortgage companies now require the tank to be removed upon the sale or refinancing of a home as they consider it a liability.
3) The fund has finite dollars, so the time to act is now, while the fund is available.
If you would like to know more about this program and how you are eligible to have your heating oil tank removed at no cost to you, please call me, Katy O’Kennedy at 409-6877.