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How to Find Underground Oil Tanks - Visual Evidence of Buried Oil Tanks, Part 2
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• How to find buried oil tanks

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.

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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

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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ABANDONING OIL TANKS
BURIED OIL TANK ADVICE
BURIED OIL TANKS, FINDING
  OIL TANK SITE INITIAL INSPECTION
  SIGNS OF BURIED OIL TANKS
    INDOOR CLUES to BURIED OIL TANKS
    OUTDOOR CLUES to BURIED OIL TANKS
  OIL TANK HISTORY REVIEW
  BURIED OIL TANK REPORTS
FLOATING UP OIL STORAGE or SEPTIC TANKS

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]
• Above Ground Oil Tanks: Visual Inspection of Oil Storage Tanks for evidence of leaks, damage, improper piping - photos and text
• Above Ground Oil Tanks Checklist, an Oil Company's advice
• Above Ground Tanks UL Standards, UL Tank Listing Standards, guidance for home owners, buyers, and inspectors
• Buried Oil Tanks - Finding How to Find Buried Oil Tanks and "Nearly Hidden" and Leaky Oil Tanks - photos and text.
• Buried Fuel tank - Advice - Buried FUEL Tank - GAS or OIL advice for home buyers, inspection report language
• Environmental Issues & Regulations for Oil Tanks, Registration, Abandonment, Leak Reporting
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Buried Oil Tanks, Basic home buyer advice - home inspection report language suggestions
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Visible Defects in Oil Tank Installations, Tanks, and Heating Oil Piping
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Gas Fuel Piping or Tank Faults Basic advice - home inspection report language suggestions
• Home Inspection Report Language Library: Oil Tanks text file list © Oil and Other Storage Tank Leaks, Testing, Abandonment, Inspection - UST home inspection report language files - Reference List
• Indoor Environment Website Indoor Building Environmental Hazard Detection, Testing, Repair, & Prevention - Main Web Page
• Leaky Heating Oil Tanks - Advice for Home Owners or Buyers: caused of leaks in oil tanks, oil tank testing alternatives, what to do about leaky tanks: D.J. Friedman, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.2 No.1, Winter, 1992 p. 42-43 Illus
• Leak or Failure Rates for Home Heating Oil Tanks
• Legal Issues Regarding Buried Oil Storage Tanks K.S. Rea, Attorney, summary from ASHI Chapter Seminar.
• Primer on Petroleum Bulk Storage Tanks & Petroleum Contamination of Property Paul H. Ciminello, ASHI Tech. Journal, Vol.3 No.1 Spring 1993, p 35-39
• 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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