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How to Find Underground Oil Tanks - Visual Evidence of Buried Oil Tanks, Part 2
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InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.
Photo guide to clues of buried or abandoned 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.
Green links show where you are. © Copyright 2013 InspectAPedia.com, All Rights Reserved. Author Daniel Friedman.
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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about finding buried oil storage tanks
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Questions & answers or comments about procedurs for locating buried or abandoned-in-place heating oil storage tanks or USTs.
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Technical Reviewers & References
Related Topics, found near the top of this page suggest articles closely related to this one.
- [1] Fuel Storage] Tank Corrosion Study, U.S. EPA report on gasoline and oil tank corrosion, James H. Pim, P.E., John M. Searing, Suffolk County DOHS, 15 Horseblock Place, Farmingville Long Island, NY 11728, November 1988, for the Office of Underground Storage Tanks, U.S. EPA. ATTN: David O'Brien. The report presents a study of 500 underground storage tanks spanning 24 February 1987 and September 1 1988 and summarizes earlier reports on this same study. Tank sizes ranged from 175 gallons to 50,000 gallons, and oil tank ages ranged from two years to 70 years old. All 500 oil storage tanks were constructed of welded steel, and 12 other tanks that were other than plain steel were also examined. Summary [with minor edits for clarity by DJF]
- [2] Thanks to Arlene Puentes for for technical edits on oil tank leak advice- 12/2005. Arlene Puentes is a licensed home inspector, educator, and building failures researcher in Kingston, NY.
- [3] "A Case Study of a Large Scale Precision [oil or fuel] Tank Testing Program", Diane H. Heck, Tetra Tech Richardson, Newark, Delaware, web search 4/27/12, original source: http://info.ngwa.org/GWOL/pdf/870143411.PDF, copy on file as /heating/OIl Tanks UST/Tank_Test_Heck_870143411.pdf
- [4] Fuel Oil and Oil Heat Magazine, August 1985 p.18. Fuel Oil & Oil Heating Magazine, 3621 Hill Rd., Parsippany, NJ 07054, 973-331-9545
- [5] Standards of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, as referenced by "Domestic and Commercial Oil Burners,", Charles H. Burkhardt, 1961, 3rd Ed., McGraw Hill Book Company, p. 172
- [6] NFPA - the National Fire Protection Association can be found online at www.nfpa.org
- [7] "The Interim Prohibition Guidance for Design and Installation of Underground Oil Storage Tanks", U.S. EPA, EPA/530-SW-85203, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Washington D.C.
 Carson, Dunlop & Associates Ltd., 120 Carlton Street Suite 407, Toronto ON M5A 4K2. (416) 964-9415 1-800-268-7070 info@carsondunlop.com. The firm provides professional home inspection services & home inspection education & publications. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors. Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, for permission for InspectAPedia to use text excerpts from The Home Reference Book & illustrations from The Illustrated Home. Carson Dunlop Associates' provides:
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Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
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Special Offer: For a 5% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference eBook purchased as a single order. Enter inspectaehrb in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space.
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- The Horizon Software System manages business operations,scheduling, & inspection report writing using Carson Dunlop's knowledge base & color images. The Horizon system runs on always-available cloud-based software for office computers, laptops, tablets, iPad, Android, & other smartphones.
- [9] US EPA "How do you Properly Close a UST?" is summarized at epa.gov/OUST/fsprevnt.htm These details for temporary and permanent closing of underground oil storage tanks are provided by the US EPA as well.
- [10] "How do you choose the right tank testing method?", Cynthia Johnson, Fuel Oil & Oil Heat Magazine, November 1995
- [11] National Association of Oil Heat Service Managers, PO Box 380, Elmwood Park, NJ 07407
- [12] "Homeowners Guide to Fuel Storage," Agway Energy Products, Verbank, NY, November 1990
- [13] "Causes of Underground Corrosion", Harco Corporation, Paper HC-36, Median OH
- OIL TANK INDOOR INSPECTION - "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.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
 The Home Reference Book - the Encyclopedia of Homes, Carson Dunlop & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, 25th Ed., 2012, is a bound volume of more than 450 illustrated pages that assist home inspectors and home owners in the inspection and detection of problems on buildings. The text is intended as a reference guide to help building owners operate and maintain their home effectively. Field inspection worksheets are included at the back of the volume. Special Offer: For a 10% discount on any number of copies of the Home Reference Book purchased as a single order. Enter INSPECTAHRB in the order payment page "Promo/Redemption" space. InspectAPedia.com editor Daniel Friedman is a contributing author.
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