With over 22 years in environmental contracting, underground oil tank scans at residential properties remains one of our most common jobs. When purchasing or selling a home in Suffolk County or Nassau County it is important to know if an underground storage tank (UST) is present. It is not uncommon for there to be no record of an oil tank on the property just to end up discovering one later on. It is highly recommended that if you do have underground storage tank on premise that you get it removed. Remediation for a leaky oil tank can often be time consuming, destructive, and costly. Oil leaking from a UST has the potential of getting in the groundwater and affecting everyone around you.
What Is an Underground Storage Tank Scan?
An underground storage tank (UST) scan is simply a scan of the underground portion of your property for the presence of an oil tank. UST scans are typically requested by home buyers or sellers that would like to prove if there is an underground storage tank on the property and that the surrounding soil hasn’t been contaminated.
UST scans are typically conducted using two different methods. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is one of the most accurate tools used to detect the presence of an oil tank on your property. The other common method is Electromagnetic Detection.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a nonintrusive method of surveying the subsurface to investigate for the presence of concrete, metals, pipes, cables etc. GPR emits microwave energy bands into the ground that can detect variations in composition of the ground material. When these pulses hit an object, they are reflected, refracted, and scattered. The GRP system is then able to create a map of the subsurface composition.
Electromagnetic Detection (EM) measures the electromagnetic waves that reflect off conductive metallic materials up to 100 feet below the ground. Electromagnetic Detection is typically done using a device that you hold and walk around with, much like a metal detector. While these devices can detect for the presence of metals, it isn’t able to give you a visual like Ground Penetrating Radar can.
What Happens When an Underground Storage Tank Is Found?
When an Underground Storage Tank (UST) is discovered, a soil test will then be completed to assure that there hasn’t been any soil contamination. To properly test the soil, we use one of our Geoprobe sonic drill rigs to collect soil borings from spots immediately surrounding the oil tank. These soil borings are then sent over to be tested in the lab with results coming back with 48 hours. Once the results are interpreted, we then will remediate the soil if necessary or move on to either abandon or remove the UST.
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