If you have an underground oil tank in New Jersey, sooner or later you’re going to have to confront getting it removed.

Having an underground oil tank can be a roadblock to finalizing a real estate deal. For many prospective buyers, the existence of an underground oil tank on a property can throw up red flags. People do not want to invest in a property that they think might have hidden costs, and because many people are under the impression that New Jersey oil tank removal is a costly process, potential buyers balk. With the real estate market still trying to regain traction, this can be a problem for property owners.

Deborah Graske of Abbott & Caserta Realtors in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ told an online Bergen County newspaper in 2011, “Many buyers will say right up front, ‘I want gas, I don’t want to look at oil,’ because of the perception that these tanks are a problem.”

Sometimes a seller does not even know an oil tank is on the property due to a previous own abandoning their tank. In those instances, grappling with oil tank removal in New Jersey can be an unexpected expense.

The New Jersey Fuel Merchants Association estimates there are some 120,000 residential oil tanks buried in New Jersey. While the number is shrinking as residents replace them with aboveground tanks or switch to natural gas, removing their existing tank in the process, that is still a LOT of underground oil tanks.

At issue is what happens with these tanks after many years in the ground. Underground Storage Tanks do not last forever. They can corrode. When they do, that can be a problem for the property owner, who may be responsible for any environmental contamination caused as a result of the oil leak. That is why oil tank removal in New Jersey is so important.

The process of removal, thankfully, is easy, especially if you have retained the services of an oil tank removal expert.

New Jersey oil tank removal involves several steps. The first step includes determining the location of the oil tank. On older properties and/or properties for which the paperwork is incomplete, the exact location may not be known! Next is determining how the tank must be removed. Backhoe removal can be relatively quick and easy, but the tank’s location may necessitate manual digging, which can take longer. Then, before work begins, the necessary permits must be approved by your municipality. The length of time that takes can vary. Finally, there is the actual removal itself. This can take just a few hours and is often completed in a single afternoon!

Other issues you may encounter when removing an underground oil tank includes Forensic Age Dating to determine, in the case of contamination, how old the spill is, and securing New Jersey UST Grants (Underground Storage Tank).

So the process is easy, and it’s probably not as expensive as you think. If you have an underground oil tank in New Jersey, it’s best not to wait and run the risk of corrosion and contamination. The sooner your tank is removed by an expert, the better.