Underground Oil Tank - Connecticut

[Melanie King]

I am under contract for a single family house in Stamford, CT. There is an underground oil tank in the front of the house. The previous owners used a company called, "Technical Environmental Construction, Inc." to abandon the oil tank in place in 2001. There is also a letter explaining that the company:

1. Filed all state and local notifications/permit was made with the office of the fire marshal

2. All oil and sludge was properly removed and disposed of.

3. The UST was scrubbed dry and cuts were made to collect bedding materials.

4. Soil was analyzed and did not exceed CT''s limit of 500ppm.

The seller has already refused to remove the oil tank. Is this a deal-breaker if I am planning on doing a live-in-flip and then renting out in a couple of years? Or is this only a concern for when I go to sell in the future?

Thanks in advance!

[Michael Noto]

@Melanie King While it is great they have some info regarding the tank, 19 years is a long time ago.  

I would get a quote from a tank removal company (I have a referral in CT if you need one) so you know what you are dealing with cost wise for when you have to get it removed. From my limited knowledge this could be a huge issue or just a matter of removing the tank depending on the specifics of what is going on in the ground with the tank. 

Given the big swing in potential cost I would want to have a clear picture going in of what it is going to ballpark cost me when the repair needs to be made since the seller has made it clear they will not be contributing to the repair. Is it a deal breaker? I think you will only know that once you start to put specific numbers to the cost of everything involved with inheriting the situation. 

Also as far as a timeline goes, if the cost is not prohibitive and/or the issue isn't wide scale then I do not see the issue in leaving the tank until you are ready to sell like you mentioned.