The view from inside our buried fuel tank looking out. You can see the sun shining through the holes.
The fuel tank rolled on it's side and contaminated soil in the background. We have clay soil, the back hoe dug down 14 feet before the soil did not smell like fuel. The fuel stained the outside of the tank to about 1/2 way up the side of the tank so it appears to have sat in a fuel pool for awhile.
We had the tank tested prior to buying this house and it passed. These photos were taken 18 months after we purchased the house. I spoke to the man who tested the tank. He told me the tank barely passed the leak test. I guess that is like barely being pregnant? He did not have a reply to that. The seller paid for the test, a lawyer told me there is no way to prove when the tank started to leak.
The tank was buried 20' from our well. There are a number of buried tanks in our development. I have seen another neighbor go through the same thing we did. It is hard to miss the smell of fuel oil coming from a big pile of dirt. With so many tanks buried around us I think it is impossible to say exactly which tank would be the one that contaminated the ground water.
One ex neighbor who is a Real Estate Agent asked me why we had a mound of dirt in our yard. I explained it to her. She had her house up for sale at that time. Her house has a buried fuel tank also. I told her that I would not buy another house with a tank buried in the yard. I told her that she has a leaking tank. She just looked at me with a blank stare. She sold her house leaking tank and all.
I agree that it is the real estate agent's responsibility to make it known that there is a buried tank on the property. They know about it and they write the listing. If they are withholding information then they should be held accountable.
