Information for Buyers

Key Points

  • For older homes, always assume the past use of heating oil.
  • Current owners are often unaware of existence of underground tanks.
  • Know that if you buy the property you will become responsible for any soil contamination on the property.
  • Above and under ground tanks both present potential liability.
  • Don't assume that undocumented or poorly documented tank closure/removal work adequately addresses UST/AST concerns.
  • Request a site inspection for USTs and possible soil contamination at least one month prior to closing.
  • Cedar Rock can normally do an inspection within 24 hours.
  • Soil contamination must be cleaned up to applicable standards to allow sale to proceed.

Most houses built prior to the mid-1960's used a heating oil system involving an above ground (AST) or underground (UST) storage tank. For sale sign It is common for the current property owners to be unaware of the existence of an underground storage tanks as they may never have used the tank. Over time, it is extremely common for oil to leak from these systems, impacting the underlying soil and the ground water. When leakage is discovered State law requires immediate action to assess and cleanup the impacted soils. The presence of soil contamination is not always obvious and can go undetected for years.

Once soil contamination is discovered, the affected property cannot be sold until the contamination has been cleaned up to State standards and properly assessed. This typically requires at least one month to complete. In some cases, site conditions prevent the complete removal of contaminated soils. In such case, a Notice of Residual Petroleum must be filed with the applicable county register of deeds office prior to conveyance of the property. This Notice will remain on the Deed and be visible to the next purchaser of the property.

Cedar Rock highly recommends that you have the Seller of the property deal with any soil contamination prior to closing on the property.

If a tank has been previously removed from the property but no assessment of possible soil contamination has been performed then a liability for cleanup of soil contamination may exist on the property and you as the new owner may be wholly or partly responsible for its cleanup. Likewise, if a tank is said to have been abandoned by filling with sand, foam etc., and there is no little or no proper documentation of the work that was done then you should assume that a liability for contamination might still exist on the property.

Leakage from above ground storage tanks must also be dealt with by the property owner or responsible party, as defined under NC State Regulations. Leakage from an above ground tank can pose more serious difficulty in complying with State cleanup and assessment standards.

Your attention to the environmental issues relating to past heating oil use and its potential impacts to a property can save you from becoming liable for a mandatory and expensive cleanup. Cedar Rock can usually inspect a property within 24 hours of request. Although not necessary, Cedar Rock prefers to perform the inspection in the presence of a realtor, seller, and/or buyer. An inspection typically lasts from about 30 minutes to an hour and costs $200.00. Contact Cedar Rock or have your agent arrange a site inspection to give you peace of mind about your prospective purchase.