Removing old fuel tanks ......

Is not fun . The Fed forms you feel out are very hard to answer . I bought my building in November with the understanding that I was not responible for the fuel tanks if they had been leaking . The building has not been a gas station in 4 years . No gas in the tanks or deliverys made in years .

Sometimes I wish I had just pulled the tanks and told no one . Does it pay to be honest ?

Hopefully all will go well and this will be over on the 2nd of August when the tanks are removed from the ground .

Buried tanks are a bad thing!

I bought a property AFTER the tanks were removed. The company pulling the tanks didn't prove there were no leaks and filled in the hole with sand. The EPA made him remove all the sand, treat it as if it was contaminated, haul it to a special waste site that handled contaminated soil, and then test the ground under the sand. The ground test showed there were NO LEAKS. The process cost the former own an extra $20,000.00 to prove there were no leaks.

Bob stated the problem clearly Al. If the EPA becomes involved, it's going to cost you money, big money.

Our local Exxon distributer had a small fire started by his walk behind mower when he was cutting the grass. His office and a small storage shed were burned down before the fire was brought under control. The EPA became involved and after testing the whole site told the owner that he had to remove the top 18" of soil over the site and have it disposed of at a licensed disposal site. He couldn't afford to do that so he just shut everything up and went home. That site will probably sit there forever now because nobody is going to buy it with all those up front removal and disposal costs. I've lost the place where I could get 100% gas, no ethanol, and my red diesel. I haven't found another distibuter closer than 35 miles.

Give them all the paper work that they want, properly filled out and maybe the EPA will stay the hell out of it.

did you get the release of liability in writing in the real estate contract? if not, you may still be liable for any leakage.

EastTexFrank said:

Give them all the paper work that they want, properly filled out and maybe the EPA will stay the hell out of it.

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Not a hope in hell. The EPA's sole purpose is harassment.

in the state of alaska once the tank has shown it's not leaked it is acceptable to fill it with cement to decommission it and leave it in the ground in most cases this is the thing to do. becuse once you start digging who knows what other problems you will run in to.

Al, my heart goes out to you for trying to do the right thing! Having had to deal with those agencies, now days I would tend to just dig up the tanks and ask for forgiveness if someone asked about them years down the road! if nobody asks, then I don't tell!

Hope your doing well! Down to about 270!

The fuel tanks are out , Cut up and ready for the scrap pile !!!!!. The dig went super well ! The lady from EPA was great to work with . I was a nervous wreck thinking about all the possible problems we could have . We did not have to haul even one load to the toxic fill dump which is 200 miles from here .
I am going to relax now !!!!

Good to hear. Now get it filled and covered before they change their minds.