Blog

January 21, 2020

Oil Tank Removal for a Clean Vancouver

Oil tanks are the hidden dark environmental secrets of the lower mainland suburbs. They are out of sight and therefore they are pretty much out of mind for most homeowners. Luckily the municipal governments and insurance and mortgage companies have started to take notice of these hidden horrors and have made it mandatory that current homeowners are responsible for any oil tank removal that needs to happen on their property. This could be seen as a terrible chore, or it can be seen as something you can do to help keep this corner of the earth healthy and clean.

Heating oil tanks were not always a terrible thing. Like most types of derelict pieces of equipment, they once had a revolutionary purpose. A heating oil tank could better distribute heat through the home than anything that came before it. It could also be controlled by a thermostat. This made it almost futuristic back in the 1950s. Then, when electric heating panels started coming into common use, heating oil tanks lost their purpose. They lay forgotten in the ground of suburban homes everywhere. This was not a problem for the first few years, but as all dormant things will do, these tanks started to decay.

A rusty and decaying tank on its own is a problem, but that is not the half of it. When these tanks stopped being used to heat homes, irresponsible homeowners found other uses for these large underground containers. Some people would use these tanks as dumping vessels for all sorts of chemicals that were not safe to dispose of in a drain. Instead of taking the sludge to a safe dumping facility, they just used the tank on their property. This means that the tank on your property might be host to a swirling mixture of toxic chemicals and old heating oil.

As a responsible homeowner and a citizen of the planet, it is your duty to get this tank removed from the earth. If the tank rusts through and that slurry of sludge seeps into the ground, it can destroy the soil and even poison the groundwater in some places. Getting West Coast Tank Recovery to come and see if you need an oil tank removal is the best thing you will do this year for the earth. Keep Vancouver clean and healthy by removing the old heating oil tank that is on your property.