I don't know for sure, but the township might have records of these kinds of things. And there are other clues... if there is a newer tank in the basement, where was the old one, for example. I think he had a small patch in the driveway where they worked on the tank, so that probably gave it away.
Plus, its common to do a tank scan now with a special metal detector. We just sold our house and the buyer requested one. Our house was heated by natural gas, but was built in 1937. There was no evidence of oil having been used, or not used, so a scan was the final call. It was quite a relief when we passed the test! Jaime On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 11:30 AM, Brian Toscano <brian.tosc...@gmail.com>wrote: > Jaime, > > How did they discover the tank and the leak? Disclosure - has there ever > been an underground oil tank? > > I am wondering because I will one day be dealing with a tank that pumped > and filled with sand. That tank is under a concrete slab/front porch. The > house was converted to natural gas 20 years ago. > > On Tuesday, January 29, 2013, Jaime Kopchinski wrote: > > > Underground heating oil tanks are very common here in northern New Jersey > > where many houses were built from the 1920s-50s. In many cases, there > was > > no natural gas service available and oil was the best solution. Slowly, > > all these houses have had their tanks removed. Lucky ones remove them > > without any event. Unlucky ones have a leaking tank that turns into an > > environmental disaster. Its enough of a problem here that you can get an > > insurance policy to protect yourself. > > > > We are house shopping now and any house with an underground tank is a big > > red flag. To buy such a house, its common to request the tank to be > > removed as a condition of sale. > > > > My neighbor in my old neighborhood got really screwed. He had the tank > > pumped and filled with sand, as was the common practice 10-15 years ago. > > He passed away and the family tried to sell the house. They can't find > any > > documentation about what was done to the tank. An inspection showed the > > soil around the tank was contaminated. The sale fell threw, and now the > > house is in foreclosure because the family just can't deal with the > bills. > > The tank is under the driveway and on the properly line of the neighbors. > > The property is probably 60 ft wide... extracting the contaminated soil > > involves pulling up two driveways, working against the foundation of > > houses, etc. Its a real shame, the house is just beautiful. But its > been > > vacant for two years now and its deteriorating fast. > > > > Jaime > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 29, 2013 at 10:36 AM, Curt Raymond <curtlud...@yahoo.com > <javascript:;>> > > wrote: > > > > > No basements in Alaska? > > > > > > In New England most oil tanks live in the basement, no problems with > fuel > > > gelling. The folks who have their tanks outside generally live in > > > trailers... > > > > > > > > > -Curt > > > > > > Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:21:04 -0800 > > > From: clay monroe <redgh...@comcast.net <javascript:;>> > > > To: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com <javascript:;>> > > > Subject: Re: [MBZ] OT Cold weather issues > > > Message-ID: <832b9524-ae4a-4ebc-87d0-85196c15f...@comcast.net > <javascript:;> > > > > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii > > > > > > A proportion of the NE heats with Citgo and that is underwritten by our > > > buddy Hugo Chavez. When he dies, that subsidy goes away. > > > > > > There is no great use of heating oil in Alaska that I am aware of. Too > > > much freeze to allow it to flow and severe enviro-weenie regulations > that > > > do not allow it to be stored under ground anyway. > > > > > > clay > > > > > > On Jan 26, 2013, at 5:51 AM, Curt Raymond wrote: > > > > > > > You forget oil. Much of the northeast heats with oil. > > > > > > > > In older houses here hydronic is pretty common, usually in the form > of > > > baseboard hot water though theres still a fair amount of steam around. > > Its > > > much easier to add (like in my house) baseboard than to run ducts for > hot > > > air. > > > > > > > > -Curt > > > > > > _______________________________________ > > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Jaime Kopchinski > > http://www.jaimekop.com/ > > _______________________________________ > > http://www.okiebenz.com > > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > -- Jaime Kopchinski http://www.jaimekop.com/ _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
