Underground Oil Tanks

YOU MAY BE POLLUTING OUR GROUNDWATER!

If you use fuel oil to heat your house or for hot water and if you store that oil in an underground tank you should consider the following facts:

• Fuel oil contains chemicals which can pollute drinking water and has been found in shallow wells.
• This oil has not YET reached our drinking water supply.
• We know that the movement of groundwater is such that we are currently drinking water which was recharged into the ground many years ago. Fuel oil that is leaking now may reach our drinking water wells in future years.
• If your oil tank is 30 years old or older it may be about ready to fail. DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN! A TANK THAT HAS LEAKED CAN BE VERY COSTLY!!

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO ABOUT THIS?

If you store 1100 gallons or less of heating oil in an underground tank, you should consider replacing it with a new tank although you are not required to. Homeowners and other small facilities may abandon or remove their non-leaking tanks by taking the following steps:

• Obtain the services of a contractor to abandon in place or remove the old tank. Very often your oil company will do this work or recommend a contractor. You may do this work yourself if you conform to the requirements described below.
• Using the attached forms notify the Health Department, in writing, seven days in advance of the abandonment or removal. If the tank is not leaking, to the best of your knowledge, include with the notification a statement attesting to that effect. Additional forms for this purpose may be obtained from the Health Department by calling (516) 227-9691 or from your contractor or oil supplier.
• Submit along with the paperwork a check for $50.00 for each tank payable to the Nassau County Department of Health.

WHAT DOES THIS INVOLVE?

• The contractor completely empties the old tank. All lines to the tank are cut below grade and plugged. If the tank is to be abandoned in place a hole is cut in the tank and sand, concrete slurry or foam is used to fill the tank.
• If you continue to heat with oil the contractor installs a new fiberglass underground tank or a steel aboveground tank. The new tank is then connected to your heating system using all new materials.

ABANDONMENT OF NON-LEAKING UNDERGROUND TANKS:

The following abandonment procedure is for those facilities with a petroleum storage tank of a capacity of 1100 gallons or less use solely for on-site heating and/or hot water.

• You are required by the terms of Article XI of the Nassau County Public Health Ordinance to notify the Department, in writing, seven (7) days prior to abandoning any underground fuel oil tank. In addition, you must attach a separate notarized * statement attesting that to the best of your knowledge your underground tank is not leaking. Along with this paperwork you must include a check made payable to the Nassau County Department of Health for $50.00 for each tank to be abandoned.
• The tank and all underground lines, including the vent, suction, return and remote fill ports must be emptied of fuel oil.
• The vent, direct fill and remote fill lines must be cut or removed to a point below grade. The lines must be permanently capped or filled with an approved inert material to prevent any possibility of an accidental delivery after abandonment.
• The tank must be completely filled with an inert material such as sand, concrete or an approved foam product. Since the Department wishes to prevent the flotation of abandoned tanks, only sand or concrete may be used where water conditions are likely to be encountered.

* Please Note : original Affirmation Form must be notarized. Completed forms with appropriate fee must be mailed or delivered in person to the Bureau of Environmental Protection, Nassau County Department of Health, 106 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Mineola, New York, 11553.