Home Heating Oil Storage....The What If's

[niemeyjt]

Do you not have to install bunds? Over here they are mandatory for all but smallest domestic installs (and that will be coming). They also need to be metal / fireproof if close to a flammable building to reinforce what grnspot110 said.

Compared to the costs quoted above, they are cheap!

Bunding does not have to be dual skinned tanks (though often it is) - a liquid-tight block wall around the tank to 110% capacity will suffice.

Similar bunded pallets are available for 200L / 45 Gallon drums.

J

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Do you not have to install bunds? Over here they are mandatory for all but smallest domestic installs (and that will be coming). They also need to be metal / fireproof if close to a flammable building to reinforce what grnspot110 said.

Compared to the costs quoted above, they are cheap!

Bunding does not have to be dual skinned tanks (though often it is) - a liquid-tight block wall around the tank to 110% capacity will suffice.

Similar bunded pallets are available for 200L / 45 Gallon drums.

J

Yes, they are required in the USA, but there are many 50-year-old tanks still in use that should be replaced. Buried tanks require an impermeable membrane, drain rock catchment reservoir and leak sensors connected to an alarm. The containment curb around an above ground tank means it has to be inside a building, or rain water will fill up the curb and make it useless.

 

[robs660]

I built a large shower style pan and curb around my tank just in case. I am sure it would overflow the curb if the full tank leaked but I wanted to minimize the possible damage. No sump pump to worry about, just have a nice 1/2 finished basement. I can hold about 90 gallons of flood if it happened.

 

[Shazbat]

Happened to a friend of mine, oil company refused liability, EPA swept in, house insurance didn't cover it, he was out a huge bundle of money and ended up leaving the state because he was so torn up by the whole thing.

 

[FastPauly]

This looks like it was copy and pasted from some other website, consumer organization or insurance agency.

No copy/paste on my part nor am I associated with any organization or agency. Just someone who witnessed the aftermath of a ruptured fuel tank that happened at a friends home last week. I helped the owners salvage what could be saved from the basement and provided a couple of electric heaters to help keep the home from a freeze up due to the disabled heating system.
As the rapid-response cleanup team arrived and started their work (they came from nearly 75 miles away...on a Friday night no less)...it clearly became obvious that the cost of just that phase of the incident was going to be very expensive. Then there is the cost of replacing everything that was torn out (carpet, floor tile, wall board, etc) that was contaminated.

The owners are a retired couple...they were obviously devastated and worried about the financial end of it. It turned out that their HO insurance did NOT cover for this so they really felt sunk at that point. After a few days of negotiations, the fuel supplier agreed to take on the cost....they went above and beyond IMO because nothing points to where they did anything wrong.

The incident was just a bit of a wake up call on my part...as I have a tank in my cellar....complete with floor drains and sump pump. I made the call to my HO insurance provider to find out if I would be covered. Their response was "I don't know...we will check and get back to you". They called me back yesterday and reported that my particular policy would cover this. They also stated that most boilerplate policies do not cover.

So...I am not here trying to sell fuel oil or Insurance policies....but rather just passing along a scenario that you could suddenly be standing in the middle of. And let me tell you....It really Stinks!!

 

[Egon]

Will your homeowners insurance pick up this cost for damage/cleanup?

There was a similar case on the news here in the last few days. In this case the six year old tank had rusted through on the bottom.

Insurance did not cover any of the costs on the homeowners property. They did cover the costs for any damage and clean up outside of the property.

 

[Chilly807]

One of the problems we've had here is thieves stealing the copper line from the tank, they simply cut the pipe off and let the oil run. Happened to the community center near us last summer. Excavator and clean-up crew on site for two months. Tell me that was cheap.

Sean

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Can't imagine a 6 yo tank rusting thru, I would think there was some other kind of damage. I moved my tank, was originally in my basement, now it is in a small concrete basement located outside of the original basement, almost a concrete vault.

 

[grnspot110]

Can't imagine a 6 yo tank rusting thru, I would think there was some other kind of damage. I moved my tank, was originally in my basement, now it is in a small concrete basement located outside of the original basement, almost a concrete vault.

Much safer! ~~ grnspot110

 

[Chilly807]

Most insurance companies insist on maximum 10 years between replacements here.

The preferred location has gone full circle from inside to outside to back inside, due to problems with vandalism and copper theft. My personal preference is to dangle the thieves by their ba**s using the very copper tube they were trying to steal. But, I may be a trifle harsh in that respect.