Does this BC property have an underground oil tank, and what if it does?

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Many BC homes built before about 1970 were heated by oil from a buried tank, often left in the ground when the house switched to gas or electric; a leaking one is the owner's to clean up, a new owner included. An underground heating oil tank is a steel tank buried in the yard that fed a furnace or boiler. Tanks last about 15 to 25 years before they corrode, and a leak contaminates the soil and can reach the groundwater and the neighbours. No open map shows where tanks are, so a report can't say whether this lot has one. Look up the address or PID on PlaceDossier to see the record for that lot. Signs of a tank: A fill cap or a vent pipe in the yard or along the house, cut-off copper lines near the furnace, or a sunken patch of lawn. A buried tank leaves no trace on the title, and a scan with a metal detector or ground-penetrating radar finds most but can miss one under a deck, driveway or addition (our reading). The Fire Code: The BC Fire Code says the removal, abandonment in place or taking out of service of an underground storage tank must follow good engineering practice, such as the CCME code of practice (2018 edition, Division B 4.3.16.1 and its note). Whether that part reaches a tank feeding a furnace is unclear: the Code's note says tanks supplying oil-burning equipment fall under CSA B139 instead, while the Province's fact sheet and councils such as Victoria read the rule as applying. No provincial rule sets a deadline to remove an unused tank. Council bylaws: Some councils set their own rules. Saanich's oil burning bylaw makes the owner remove an underground tank once it is out of service for 2 years or retired for good, tell the Fire Chief, have a certified environmental engineer test the soil, and replace contaminated soil with clean fill; filling the tank in place is considered only where removal would harm a foundation (Bylaw No. 9265 as amended by No. 9700, ss. 4, 6, 7). Victoria's fire department inspects the open hole before it is backfilled. Others, Peachland among them, need no permit at all. Vancouver has its own fire bylaw: ask its fire department. Who pays for a leak: Under the Environmental Management Act a current owner of a contaminated site is responsible for cleaning it up, as is a previous owner, and the liability is absolute, retroactive and shared, including for contamination that has spread onto a neighbour's land (ss. 45, 47). A buyer can escape it only by showing they had no reason to suspect contamination and made all the inquiries usual at the time (s. 46 (1) (d)): a scan and the seller's answers are part of that (our reading). A spill: A leak or spill over 100 litres, or one reaching a drain, road or waterway, is reported to the Province's Environmental Emergency Program at 1-800-663-3456, as Victoria's fire department advises. Tanks filled in place: Pumping a tank out and filling it with sand or foam lowers the risk but leaves the tank and any soil it leaked into, which can still bother a lender, an insurer or the next buyer (Peachland's bulletin). What it means for a buyer: On a house built before about 1970, make a tank scan and the seller's answer a condition of the offer, and ask the insurer and lender what they need. A removal report from a qualified contractor, with soil test results, is what later buyers ask for.

Does this BC property have an underground oil tank, and what if it does?

What the answer means

For one lot