The names in this story are changed to protect the innocent, the dimwitted, and the spiteful devious jerks.
A few years ago, the father of a member here, lets call him Bob Sr. (therefore the TBN member that you all know and love is called Bob Jr.) had an excavating business. Bob Sr. is a good man, but collected a lot of old trucks and junk to supplement his fleet. His 1 acre yard, next to the Poopville city airport, looked like a junk yard, and was very much an eyesore. However Bob Sr. was always very careful to prevent any leaking or draining of fluids, as Bob's property, neighbors and family were supplied with water from the aquifer beneath his land.
The city of Poopville was interested in expanding the airport to attract new business. In no spoken words, they saw Bob's yard as a detracting eyesore that needed to be removed. Bob was reported to the DEP (Department of Environmantal Protection) by an anonymous person or entity. Bob was required to have 5 soil samples at random locations and elevations within the property, as well as a pump test and aquifer test perfomed. Tests were for typical petroleum impacts and heavy metals found in contaminated junkyards. The site was also required to be visually inspected by an LSP (lisenced site professional) and potential hazards were to be listed.
Bob was required to pay for all site investigations and any remediation that would be required. AKA - Guilty until YOU prove that you are innocent. Entirely on YOUR dime.
Fortunately, Bob was very careful for the 25 years that he was on the property. Soil and water tests indicated no detections for metals or petroleum signatures. The results were well below DEP limits and even below the reference. Bob did get a minor slap on the wrist for fire code issues, but only minor upgrades were needed and no penalty.
Bob was also lucky. He worked with a company that does these inspections and had a LSP on staff. He was able to get it all done and completed with DEP approval for under $20K. On a clean site like his, it can be much more expensive. If issues are found... watch out!
Bob later sold the property through eminant domain, with a clean bill of health, to the City of Poopville and was able to re-coup some of the loss he took for the environmental investigation.
Lesson learned though. All it takes it to ruffle some feathers and their quick call to the DEP or EPA and you are on the hook for thousands of dollars before they even start combing your property for violations. God help you if you have any.
Ironically, Bob Jr. now works as a civil engineer for a company that is involved with these types of investigations, reporting to DEP / EPA, permitting and design/build of the clean up efforts.
Even though I tried to spare you the long winded story, I hope "Bob's" story is helpful in the decision with what to do with your drain oil from now on.