Oil tanks can fail and sprout costly oil leaks for homeowners. Major causes include improper oil fill, venting, supply piping errors, corrosive soil conditions, manufacturing defects, weather conditions and delivery of bad oil that is contaminated with water. If an underground tank at a property is 15-20 years old, the chances of a leak are high and you should have the tank tested. Even if the tank has not leaked or your indoor tank looks fine, you should consider replacing it. Indoor tanks are equally prone to failure. Once you discover a leaking oil tank, it will be too late.
I awoke to a noxious odor one Sunday morning only to discover that my indoor oil tank had sprung a leak. After corking the hole and contacting my oil company, I came to learn about the procedures that would be required to clean up the spill. The Department of Environmental Conservation in my state has specific protocol for cleaning up oil spills. Failure to comply is not an option. I also discovered the unpleasant reality that damges cuased by leaking oil tanks were not covered under my homeowners insurance policy.
I then hired a licensed contractor approved by the D.E.C. to clean up the spill as well as a general contractor to repair my basement. I also decided to convert to gas in the restoration process since there is no way of ever knowing how close your tank might be to leaking. This can occur with new oil tanks as well.
While the clean-up and restoration cost a bundle, it could have been worse. Had I been on vacation and the oil seeped into the ground, massive digging would have been required to remove the oil. If it had leaked onto our neighbors' or town's properties, this would have been our responsibility as well.
Why would anyone carry such a risk? Even if your insurer covers such damages today, they have the right to exclude this from coverage in the future. My advice is to convert to gas sooner rather than later. A leaking oil tank could sink you financially.
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