How can I tell if there is a problem?
In most cases, there are no indications of trouble with your underground tank. Most leaks are not big enough to notice an increase in oil consumption. For example, you would not notice if your tank leaks 10 gallons a year. However, that large of a discharge can cause significant contamination.
If you are having trouble with your tank and have noticed that you need to call for service, you may have a leaking oil tank. Indicators of a leaking tank are water or excessive sludge in the tank. If you live in a development with houses all built at around the same time and you notice remediation activities in your area, it would be advisable to investigate your tank.
What happens if my tank leaks?
After the tank is removed and it has been determined the tank has leaked, the following steps are taken:
- The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is notified and a case number is assigned to your property
- Your homeowners insurance should be notified of a possible claim.
In many cases homeowners insurance is liable for third party liability claims. The third party in the case of a homeowner can be either your neighbor’s property or the State of New Jersey if the
ground water is contaminated. - Moore’s Tank Services will check the soil directly under the tank and a minimum of three feet below the bottom of the tank to make a preliminary determination about the extent of contamination and if groundwater is contaminated can be conducted at the time of the tank removal for no additional cost.
- The open excavation will then be fill to grade.
We will help you through this process and talk to your homeowners insurance company on your behalf and answer all your questions about the process.
What are the steps for a clean up?
Your Homeowners Insurance should hire an environmental contractor to test the ground water to determine if there is coverage for cleanup costs.
If you have coverage, Moore’s Tank services will work with and for your insurance company to design and execute a plan to remove the contamination from your property and file the reports necessary to obtain a No Further Action Letter from the NJDEP.
What if I don’t have insurance coverage?
The NJDEP has a fund for cleaning up contamination from leaking oil tanks. The fund ran out of money in April of 2011. The leaking fund is accepting applications and logging them in. They will not review these applications until there is funding. Moore’s Tank Services will help get the paperwork in place to get funding for you when the fund has money again, The NJDEP is projecting projects applying for funding today will be reviewed for funding in 2016.
How much does a cleanup cost?
Remediation can be quite expensive. The most costly cleanups involve groundwater. In most cases groundwater contamination is covered by insurance. To provide an accurate estimate of cleanup costs a soil delineation is conducted. This is accomplished by advancing soil borings around the perimeter of the former underground tank location. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the contamination plume is identified. Once this is accomplished a remediation plan with a cost estimate can be prepared.
What is the state’s role?
The NJDEP has a fund for the removal of non leaking oil tanks and a separate fund for cleaning up contamination from leaking oil tanks. Both Fund s ran out of money in April of 2011. The leaking fund is still accepting applications and logging them in. they will not review these applications until there is funding. The non leaking fund will not accept applications. They may process application for tanks removed after April 2011 when they get funding again. The NJDEP is projecting projects applying for funding today will be reviewed for funding in 2016. Before the fund was exhausted Moore’s Tank Services secured funding from the NJDEP for remediation from leaking underground tank for many homeowners and has filed paperwork for more then a dozen homeowners waiting for the funding to be re established. The paperwork for this funding is extensive and Moore’s Tank Services will fill out and furnish the application for your review.
