Underground storage tanks are a concern because they are a potential source of contamination of the soil and groundwater. They also pose a fire and explosion hazard.

In BC, if you are out looking at older homes built in the 1970s or older, we highly recommend you look out for an underground oil tank. The costs of remediating contaminated soil and removal of the tank can cost upwards of up to $100,000 and you don’t want to be on hook for that.

Homes in the 1920's started to replace fireplace heating to furnace oil heating all the way into the 1970's. Then natural gas came into BC in the 1960s and homes started to move away from oil heating. Oil tanks were ugly and they were buried underground to hide their looks. There weren’t any rules or regulations in the 1970's and homeowners just left them in the ground and over time they rusted and start to leak into the soil, and as well as the neighbours. You have to be really careful if you are buying or selling a home and transferring the problem.

Having an underground oil tank reduced the value of the property, banks and lenders decline mortgages on them and insurance companies refuse to insure them.

So how do you determine if a house has an oil tank or not? There are several ways, you would put a subject in your offer of having a professional oil tank scan complete. There are several companies who can do a proper professional scan which costs roughly $150 to $400 depending on how high tech the scanner is. You will get a certificate after showing that the property has no oil tank. Other signs could be pipes sticking out of the ground as well as copper pipes in the furnace room coming from outside. However, if there is evidence of an oil tank then we got a problem.

So the next step is for the oil tank removal company will excavate the oil tank, but before removal they will cut and flush out the contents of the tank. Then the tank will be removed. The next step is the soil is sampled for any contaminations from a lab. This is where it can get expensive as digging and digging will cost tons of money. One the soil is cleanout, then you are looking at landscaping and putting it all back together with new soil.

The house I am in right now, is an unfortunate situation. The buyers bought this property 10 years ago and were never disclosed of an oil tank, now they are selling the house but they discovered it has an oil tank. They are already $50k in costs.

So for the future if you are in the market for a home in BC make sure your Realtor will include a clause or subject to oil tank scan. If you don’t have a Realtor , we can assist you on finding a great deal and making sure you are fully protected in BC.