Your Place: Call Expert to Remove Basement Oil Tank

(MCT)—Q: My husband and I are selling our home, and the buyer is requesting the removal of the oil tank in our basement. We switched to gas a few years ago. Do you have any advice for how we should go about having the tank removed? The oil was siphoned out when we switched to gas, but I don’t know if it is 100 percent clean and dry. In other words, I don’t know if it would be a big mess if we call a scrap metal guy to come cut it up.

A: The solution is much easier than if the tank were one of those buried in the yard, because all sorts of environmental regulations kick in, and for good reason, since having fuel oil leaking into the groundwater is very bad.

In your case, you should contact the nearest company that deals in removing basement tanks. The company will ensure that all the sludge is cleanly and safely removed before the tank is sliced up, and will carefully dispose of any remaining fuel and the tank as well. By the way, since the landscape is shifting to a seller’s market, and the removal of the tank is something that the buyer wants, talk to your agent about splitting the cost.

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