(800) 825-3269

If your furnace runs on oil, and your tank is buried underground, you should strongly consider having it removed for the following reasons:

Property Value
Your property value is adversely affected by the existence of an underground oil tank. If you intend to sell your property, there is a strong liklihood that either the buyer or the mortgage provider will require that the tank be removed. They may also try to force you to prove the tank hasn't leaked, a process which costs money.

Insurability
Some insurance companies have stopped writing new homeowners policies for properties with underground tanks or added exclusions to their policies to make it more difficult for homeowners to force them to pay for clean-ups. If your policy does not contain such an exclusion, now is the time to remove your tank.

Regulations
Currently, residential heating oil tanks are not regulated by either the EPA , NJDEP or PADEP. This means that you are not required to sample the soil or groundwater for possible leaks. If either agency begins regulating these tanks, the cost to remove them can only go up.

Enviromental Clean-up Costs
If your tank leaks, it will cost money to clean it up. While some of these costs may be covered by homeowners insurance, there are likely to be out of pocket costs ranging from $1,000.00- $4000.00 for items such as sampling, ground water monitoring and soil disposal. These costs may be avoided by being proactive.

There are options to underground tanks:

• Horizontal basement tanks
• Vertical basement tanks (for finished basements)
• Horizontal aboveground tanks

You can call R.J. Walsh Associates at (800) 825-3269 for an estimate on tank removal or replacement or simply to ask us questions about your specific situation. If you prefer you can e-mail us at:
Questions@rjwalsh.com or fill out this form to receive an estimate.
Please include your name, return email address and a phone number where you can be reached. All e-mails will be responded to promptly.

Click here to go to the NJDEP-SRP Homeowners Guide to Cleaning Up Discharges
Click here to go to R.J. Walsh's Commercial Customers Page
Click here to see a summary of New Jersey Underground Tank Regulations