Buying or Selling A Home With An Underground Heating Oil Tank
You’ve found your perfect house and fallen in love with it. It’s got the white picket fence, close to the right schools, and the big yard you’ve always dreamed of. There’s just one catch. Buried underneath that yard is a big ol’ heating oil tank. The State of Oregon gives them an average life of […]
How Much Does it Cost to Decommission an Oil Tank?
Oregon alone is home to over 27,000 decommissioned heating oil tanks. Decommissioning an oil tank can be quite an expensive process, with some costs running into the millions of dollars. Oil tank decommission costs often depend on the size of the tank and the level of contamination found in the soil around it. Get a […]
The Dangers and Hazards of Heating Oil Tanks
If your home was built prior to 1985, it’s possible that there’s an old heating oil tank buried somewhere in your yard. While that may not sound like a big deal, you could be cited for multiple environmental violations, even if you weren’t the one who installed or used it. This is especially true if […]
When a Heating Oil Tank Should Be Decommissioned
While the majority of the U.S. – especially the West – relies on natural gas or electricity to heat its homes, some residences still use a heating oil system. Heating oil systems work through the following steps. Oil is stored in an underground heating oil tank (HOT). Oil is pumped from the heating oil tank […]
How Long Does Heating Oil Stay in Soil?
Roughly 4% of U.S. homes use heating oil systems as their primary fuel for space heating, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). While this number is small compared to the amount of households that use electricity or natural gas for heat, residential heating oil sales surpassed 3 billion gallons in 2020, and another […]
Things to Know About Homes With Oil Heating Systems in Portland, OR
The last thing you want in the middle of a Portland winter is to be caught without heat in your home. But not all home heating systems are created equal, which is why it’s important to factor in the type of heating system that’s in place when buying a home. While most of the U.S. […]
What Does An Environmental Consulting Company Do?
What Does an Environmental Consulting Company Do? The Environmental Protection Agency was established by President Nixon in 1970, due to growing concerns about our impact on the environment. The EPA is in charge of creating and maintaining national standards that involve using laws and regulations to protect human and environmental health. Okay, so, how does […]
How to Tell If Your Heating Oil Tank is Leaking
As with almost everything, the technology used to heat homes and buildings evolves constantly. More efficient or environmentally-friendly methods of heating replace outdated methods that don’t meet the new standards. Unfortunately, adoption is not always universal. Older homes and buildings can be slow to make the switch. In Portland, we see this with underground oil […]
The Problem With Heating Oil Tanks
What Are Heating Oil Tanks & Why Are They An Issue? An estimated 100,000 properties in Oregon contain heating oil tanks, according to Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Heating oil tanks, which hold oil used to heat homes or buildings, have been found to be a potential source of contamination of soil and groundwater, […]
