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July 19, 2015

Why Oil Tank Removal in Vancouver?

If you are new to Vancouver, or to the property market in the city then you might not realize what all the fuss about oil tank removal is about. It is possible you might not have even heard of it before, especially if you have moved here from a different country or have never owned a property before.

Unfortunately oil tanks exist and the unpleasant fact of the matter is that they need to be removed. You might be thinking “What oil tank? I haven’t seen an oil tank on my property.” And you are right. It is unlikely that you would be able to see the oil tank in question.

The reason for this is that most oil tanks in Vancouver and British Columbia are buried underground. It’s hard to believe why something this large would be buried underground but it was done when the oil tanks were not in use anymore.

Oil was a common fossil fuel in Vancouver and British Columbia before the 1950s. Then the city and province discovered natural gas. While still a fossil fuel, there are higher levels of it available and it is not as environmentally damaging and is said to be more cost effective. Once everybody switched over to natural gas from oil, something had to be done about the oil tanks.

The solution was to bury them. This doesn’t really make sense now but back then there were not as many options for disposal of large and somewhat dangerous items as there are today. This means that many backyards, especially those of older homes, may have an oil tank buried in them.

To find out if this is the case in your property you can have an oil tank removal Vancouver-based firm, like West Coast Tank Recovery, to come out and inspect your property using special equipment that can detect an oil tank without disrupting the ground.

If you do have an oil tank then it is vital that you avail yourself of oil tank removal. In fact, it is the law that you have it removed, as the property owner, in order not to further damage the environment. This, while it sounds tedious, is easy with the right firm. At West Coast Tank Recovery, we will take away the oil tank and recycle it and your property will finally be free from the risk of oil contamination.