Anco Environmental Services Inc Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, especially if municipal site remediation documentation can be provided proving the tank was properly cleaned, inspected, and closed. However, that may not satisfy a future buyer’s funding source or the future insurance company. Half the tanks we are removing today were previously sand-filled, discovered just a few weeks before the planned real estate closing. Deals falling through at the last minute is a real problem for realtors, and many won’t even list a house that has a previously sand-filled underground oil tank. 

Yes, it can, but there are many influencing factors that can elongate this process for decades. Soil chemistry, contamination concentration, groundwater influence, soil density, soil porosity, and proximity to certain flora are some of the determining factors. Oil also characteristically finds its way to disturbed soils where it can travel vertically or horizontally to zones less conducive to natural attenuation. We use the best technologically advanced equipment for site remediation.

Site remediation costs can be minimized by detecting oil leaks early and probing for leaks. You can also buy a leaking oil tank endorsement from your homeowner's insurance company. Stick with the same insurance company as opposed to jumping around, but if you switch carriers keep paperwork on the old policy showing the policy holder’s name, address, and policy number. When buying a house that may have been oil heated, obtain the previous owner’s insurance information. When selling a home with a buried tank, don't wait until the last minute for site remediation, and have the work performed during a dry season. Try to piggyback oil tank removals with other surface enhancement or restoration projects such as driveway paving, major landscape or hardscape installations, or construction of an addition. 

There are two primary funding sources for site remediation: The NJDEP leaking oil tank remediation fund and homeowner insurance companies. The fund is a hardship fund that reimburses most of the costs, and you must commit to completing the cleanup. It can take over 2 years for an application to be accepted, and you must have tried first to get insurance coverage for the cleanup. You also must be living at the time the financial award is made, but you don’t have to be the current homeowner. You do, however, have to have a certifying statement from the environmental contractor that the tank leaked, and that contractor must have a UHOT license from NJDEP. 

Homeowner's insurance companies won't usually pay for site remediation, but sometimes they do. The better carriers (not usually “mutual” insurance companies) will often provide partial coverage to customers who have been loyal for over 10 years. However, they may make coverage determination contingent on an age dating analysis. This can pinpoint when the leak occurred. If the oil affects groundwater or is off-site affecting your neighbor’s property, then there may be partial or even full coverage. You do not need to have an active policy to make a claim. Homeowner's policies are occurrence-based, meaning if there was a policy in place during the time that the tank was leaking, they must consider the claim. The challenge often is locating historic insurance carriers’ names and policy numbers, especially policy information dating from a time prior to your owning the house.  

According to the Groundwater Foundation, 50% of the United States population depends on groundwater for drinking water. However, groundwater can be impacted by pollutants. Site remediation depends on the quantity, duration, depth to groundwater, and soil characteristics. Larger, recent leaks with shallow groundwater and clay-based soils can be easier to clean up than small, long-term leaks in porous soils. The free product can easily be absorbed or vacuumed off the water table surface after shallow, impacted soils have been removed. Residual amounts can be continuously extracted through a monitor well set in the backfill. Two groundwater samples separated by a 30-day period are required to prove efficacy. Once that groundwater has been proven to be impacted, plan a minimum 6-week project duration extension. Note there is a requirement to inspect groundwater for impact if the water table is found to lie less than 2 feet deeper than the soil remediation dig depth. If not visually impacted, sampling is still required. However, if lab results are non-actionable, then project delays are minimal. If the oil has been leaking for a long time, it will have started to partially dissolve into the groundwater. Oil solubility is surprisingly possible. Extraction can sometimes be achieved by applying a strong vacuum through the monitor well (Enhanced Fluid Recovery) or by injecting oxygenation reagents (In-Situ Chemical Oxidation or ISCO) that neutralize the oil. ISCO requires a permit, taking about 4 weeks for the DEP to issue. Sometimes multiple rounds of ISCO application are needed. Dissolved oil remediation projects take at least 3 months to remedy and can take over a year. 

This is often a critical factor when qualifying for insurance coverage for site remediation. Before 2006, all homeowner insurance companies covered pollution liability claims if the oil affected a third party, like your neighbor’s land or groundwater. By 2012 most carriers phased out this coverage. However, if there has been a third-party impact, determining when the leak started is important. Interestingly the chemical mixture we call fuel oil has a class of compounds called Terpenes that occur in two isometric forms. One form decomposes constantly over time while the other does not. The ratio of the 2 provides a fairly accurate date of when the forms were of the same concentration.

This type of site remediation will require a measure of care that may include structurally supporting the foundation. If the foundation is well constructed, dig depth is shallow, soils are well-graded (i.e., not loose sand), and no more than a 5-foot-wide section of the foundation is undermined, then it may be possible to avoid a full-blown structural support plan. Such plans are designed by a structural engineer and require a building permit. Structural support methods vary and depend on accessibility, depth to bedrock, house construction, and penetration depth beneath the structure. Methods include grade beams, helical piers, cribbing, jack post and/or sono-tube piles, and drilled mini piles. Afterward, there is usually a significant amount of reconstruction work needed. 

Sometimes, yes. LSRPs are absolutely required by the DEP if the tank was a non-residential regulated petroleum tank. However, even if not required, LSRPs have decades of site remediation experience, knowledge of uncommon remedies, a reputation that adds accountability, and the unique capability of making judgment calls on the behalf of the DEP. Such judgment calls include de-minimis impact, technical impracticability, groundwater classification exemption, remedial action permitting, and the design of presumptive remedy plans with engineering controls. Applicability of such options is often not known until a project is well underway.

Licensure, capability, experience, reputation, responsiveness, and in-house resources are paramount. Accountability to a third party can also be helpful. Not relying on outside vendors to provide vacuum trucks, drill rigs, chemical injection equipment, structural support gear, excavation, and earth moving equipment provide smoother project progression with less finger-pointing if there are problems. DEP licenses are mandatory and proper insurance is a must. Be sure your site remediation contractor has both professional and pollution liability insurance coverage.