What should I recommend to a home owner with an abandoned oil storage tank in the yard. This is in Tennessee and they are selling the house.
If it’s underground this may help.
http://tennessee.gov/environment/ust/pdf/TUST_OwnerCompManual.pdf
One or more underground fuel storage tanks likely exist on the property, as we noticed a fill pipe in the yard. As mentioned in our contract, we do not inspect underground storage tanks. We offer this information as a courtesy and you may want to further investigate the tank, its contents, and the potential environmental ramifications associated with its presence.
Check with your County Ecology or Environmental office. If it is abandoned, they may require removal or at least de-certification. The choice out here is to remove or clean out and fill with either a concrete slurry or expanding polyethylene foam. Once that is completed it can be left in place. I don’t recommend the concrete slurry since it is so heavy. Someone might want to remove it at a later date. I can’t imagine what a 500 gallon tank full of concrete would weigh.
Of course regulations in your area of the country might be wildly different. Good luck.
Thank you