Oil, Soil and Turmoil - An Environmental Story

"Unfortunately, the oil tank was leaking."

As part of the sale of a house in the state of CT there is a mandate to remove any in-ground tanks and have them installed in the garage/basement (garage in our case). This is all to be paid by the seller prior to closing. If the tank is found to be leaking then it needs to be reported to the state and a specialty company hired to continue the excavation and removal of any contaminated soil. The caused a HUGE problem for the purchase of the house. So many risks for the homeowner involved with oil released into the soil around a residential home. For example, well water contamination, nearby stream water contamination and the dreaded neighbor's well water contamination that could end in a lawsuit.

HOME TIP: If you are dealing with an in-ground oil tank during the sale or purchase of a home make sure to DO YOUR RESEARCH on what needs to be done in your state to remove and dispose of the tank and/or contaminated soil.

I did the research and found that a Licensed Environmental Professional (LEP) should be present during the removal of contaminated soil as well as the digging of test pits around the property to see if the oil had spread far on the property. At the end of this, I received a 30+ page document with the field tests, description of the remediation steps and statements from the LEP stating the remediation was a success. This can be used to protect me against any future issues as well as the sale of the home if we ever sell in the future.

The remediation included the removal and incineration of 94 tons of soil, a huge pit dug into the ground, a totally destroyed lawn (foreshadowing for upcoming blog entry), a broken septic pipe and damage to the deck and the railroad ties around the driveway from the large equipment running over them. This all needed to be fixed in an acceptable manner prior to closing. New top soil and seed, new railroad ties, new deck joist, etc and all at the expense of the seller.

HOME TIP: If you have an old oil tank in the ground at your current home. GET IT OUT OF THERE NOW BEFORE IT LEAKS AND COSTS YOU TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!!

Everything was fixed except for the septic pipe and I was not going to let that go. I spoke to the seller and told him I would not buy the house unless that was dug up and fixed as well. He stated that he was told that is was a septic overflow pipe and useless. I insisted that it be fixed and after some conversation it was fixed. I then got the septic tank checked and was told that the pipe that was cut was the main pipe that ran to the leach field. Meaning, if it was not fixed the tank would have filled with nowhere for the waste to go but back into the house.

HOME TIP: If they break something while fixing something else, MAKE SURE THEY FIX WHAT THEY BROKE!!! It may just keep human waste from backing up into your house.

Once all was fixed and the property was given a clean bill of health we were ready to move on.

Here are the pictures of the remediation.