How to Find Underground Oil Tanks - Visual Evidence of Buried Oil Tanks, Part 2 InspectAPedia® -
How to find buried oil tanks
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This is a photo guide to visual clues spotted indoors or outdoors which can assist in the location of abandoned or buried oil tanks or the detection of
evidence that an underground (or even an above ground) oil tank is or was in use at a property.
The article and photographs used to show the reader ways to find buried oil tanks include examples of clues leading to the discovery of
"nearly hidden" buried or underground oil tanks which were found at residential properties and which avoided very costly surprises later for the new owner.
Underground oil storage tanks, or UST's, whether still present or previously removed, involve a
risk of costly oil leaks and soil contamination which may need to be addressed.
Here are some investigation methods that any home buyer, owner, or home inspector can apply to
reduce these risks by looking for evidence that a buried oil tank is or was at a property.
Also see Above Ground Oil Tanks: Visual Inspection.
SIGNS OF BURIED OIL TANKS- A Photo Guide to Visual Clues for Finding Buried Oil Storage Tanks - Part 2, Indoor Clues
How to find buried oil tanks: Evidence that a buried fuel storage tank exists at a property may be direct and visually obvious,
or the evidence may be subtle.
Often a series of small observations, individually not apparently very important, can add up to an increased probability that a buried fuel storage tank is or was at a property.
While environmental investigators and oil tank test companies may use magnetic scanners or even ground
scanning radar to locate buried steel tanks, an astute visual inspection can often discover the presence or probable presence of a buried fuel storage tank at a property, thus suggesting that
further testing is definitely in order. Here are some clues to the possible current or past presence of a buried tank at a property.
Photographs of Indoor Clues for Detecting Buried Oil Tanks
Unexplained oil stains on building foundation walls at any location might indicate that a leaky oil tank is or was outside the building near that location.
At the home where we saw this oil stain on the foundation wall of a crawl space, further investigation found that an oil tank had been leaking and had been abandoned just outside this wall.
Abandoned heating oil lines in floors in a building may be present at or near existing oil-fired equipment, or may be at or near the previous location of such equipment.
Look for a pair of flexible copper fuel lines protruding into the basement or crawl space wall, perhaps cut off, bent-over, and crimped. The oil pipes shown in our photo at left were smashed flat and left in place on a basement floor.
Abandoned heating oil lines at foundation walls Here is an easy to spot pair of oil lines abandoned at a basement wall. Sometimes they're not nearly so obvious.
Evidence of under-slab oil piping now abandoned: Even where no oil pipes themselves are visible, look patches or cuts in a basement or crawl space floor slab where oil lines may have been routed under the slab, or look for a small patch in the upper or even lower portion of a basement or crawl space wall in a location where logically one might have expected to see fuel lines entering the building.
Our photo at left shows a basement slab cut in an older home in Portland Maine. The slab was poured, then later opened to route lines from an oil tank under the floor over to a heating boiler. At the time of our inspection the old boiler had been removed and a new boiler and oil tank were found in the basement. New oil lines from the oil tank to boiler passed nowhere near this floor cut. But further exploration found remains of abandoned oil supply piping.
Presence of antiquated oil storage tank fuel-level gauges such as we show at above-left can also indicate that oil tanks have been in use at a property for a long time. An old fuel level gauge mounted on a basement wall is a sure indicator that an oil storage tank has been buried outside of the building. You may also find abandoned heating oil filters and less commonly you may find that an indoor lift pump (above right) was added to bring oil from an outdoor buried tank into the building's oil-fired heating equipment. The right hand photo shows a Teesdale automatic oil pump which was used for this purpose.
Footprints of old heating equipment and even oil stains on a basement or crawl space floor may indicate that previously oil-fired equipment was present even if it is no longer at the site.
Records at local oil delivery companies who serve the neighborhood may indicate a history of deliveries to the site. Records of previous building inspections may also indicate this possibility.
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ABOVE GROUND OIL TANK INSPECTIONS - "Visual Inspection of Above Ground Residential Heating Oil Storage Tanks - ASTs" Advanced Home Inspection Methodology - Developing your X-Ray Vision
A Promotion Theory for Forensic Observation of Residential Construction. Discussion of methods to accumulate clues to enable
the detection of hard-to-find defects on buildings or other complex systems.
More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs
Oil Tanks - The Oil Storage Tank Information Website: Buried or Above Ground Oil Tank Inspection, Testing, Cleanup, Abandonment of Oil Tanks
Abandon a Buried Oil Tank, How To - Abandoning Commercial Underground Tanks, Russ Brauksieck, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.3 No.1 Spring 1993, P. 40-41 [Reprint]
Petroleum Bulk Storage J. Sibblies, NY State DEC, Advice to Home Owners and Home Inspectors about Oil Storage Tanks - summary from ASHI Chapter Seminar.
Septic Tank inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair
OIL TANK FAILURE CAUSES - Oil Tank Failure Causes - oil tank leaks are caused by corrosion, damage, soil conditions, other factors
TANK FAILURE RATES - Oil Tank Failure Rates - Oil Tank Leak Probability as a Function of Tank Age, Location, Condition, Soil Conditions and Other Factors
OIL TANK TESTING - - How Oil Tanks are Tested for Evidence Leaks, of Current or Previous Oil Spills
National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, PO Box 380, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
"Homeowners Guide to Fuel Storage," Agway Energy Products, Verbank, NY, November 1990
Web Link Exchange: Contact Us to list your website or contact information for oil tank testing, tank corrosion research, oil industry experts
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Home Inspection Report Language Library: Buried Oil Tanks, Basic home buyer advice - home inspection report language suggestions
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