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November 24, 2015

Planning to Buy Property in BC? Check for Oil Tanks first!

British Columbia is a fine mix of the best of nature and the urban world. It is one of the most preferred places to live in Canada and even the world. It has easy access to quality life, education, night life, cultural diversity, beautiful landscape and just about everything that you need for you and your loved ones. People from different provinces and countries migrate to British Columbia and make it a home. So, are you among the many people who are planning to settle in this part of the world?

If you are planning to buy property in Vancouver and its adjoining regions or may be some other countryside or city in British Columbia, you need to be aware of the underground oil tanks. You have most certainly made a wise choice in buying a property in British Columbia; you just need to know that there is a really strong legislation regarding a hidden or above ground oil tank on the property that needs to be immediately removed.

British Columbia has a history, much like the rest of Canada and US, of underground and above ground oil tanks or storage tanks. They were used in the recent past; however, they have been reduced to no-use with better alternatives and due to their risks of easy soil contamination and damaging their immediate environment.

Whether you have an empty oil tank or one that is redundant on your property, there would be some amount of oil that can easily get spilled on the land. It is time and again discussed that oil leakage and spills are extremely dangerous to the surroundings and land of your property and neighboring properties.

Underground storage tanks (USTs) are the buried oil tanks on the property that over a period of time become redundant and remain hidden without much notice. In the early twentieth century, almost every other household in British Columbia used oil as a fuel that was made available through these USTs. Oil was easily replaced by natural gas in the following years and the oil tanks become obsolete and remain buried.

To stress on the need of oil tank removal for environment reasons, British Columbia has a legal requirement for every property owner to remove an oil tank on their property. It is always a safe idea to scan the property and detect any hidden oil tank on it. If there is an existing oil tank, then the present owner needs to seek the professional assistance of an oil tank removal company for its safe and easy disposal.

Oil tank removal is a necessary one-time investment that ensures that your property is fit for purchase. You have the peace of mind and assurance that there are no oil tanks on the property and you have no legal obligation towards them anymore. You also add more value to your property with the addition of an oil tank free status or certificate for it.