Steps To Take When Removing Underground Tanks
When underground storage tanks buried near houses and other properties are cleared of the sludge that accumulates within them over time, it is common for them not to have all of the sludge removed. Such tanks are supposed to be fully cleared of their contents when they become "retired" from use, but in many cases they are left abandoned to sit underground for years rather than get removed from the ground right away. Therefore, they can physically degrade to the point that their contents can seep out into the surrounding environment, and this is obviously very harmful to any natural groundwater reserves located nearby.
There is both a need for antiquated storage tanks to be removed before they start leaking and a need for the actual removal process of a given tank to avoid accidentally causing one of these leaks. Because of how dangerous the contents of an abandoned septic tank can be to the outside world, the Environmental Protection Agency and other programs run on a state level have sets of regulations in place that govern the extraction and disposal process of tanks so that accidents do not happen during those processes.
Obviously, you cannot hope to bring out and dispose of an underground tank by yourself, so you will need to hire the services of a specialized contractor with the credentials necessary to fulfill your resident state's licensing requirements for the job. In turn, this will also increase the value of your home by removing this outdated piece of equipment. While you are searching for a service, the state government itself needs to be notified of your intent to have an underground tank removed, and the procedure cannot happen any sooner than a full month after the state government is made aware of the situation.
Before the extraction process of the tank can begin, the tank must have all lingering and harmful substances cleared out by the contractor's hired labor in a safe manner. What is currently inside the tank may ignite under the wrong circumstances, so the contractor will have to apply an inerting system and flood the tank with a non-reactive chemical gas to minimize the risk of this happening. The tank can then be safely excavated from under the ground if the surrounding soil can be cleared away to allow this. In cases where the tank is located directly underneath a property, however, it will instead be kept underground and filled up with a harmless and solid substance such as concrete.
The specialists handling the underground tank will also look into evaluating whether any of the soil near the tank or any of the pipes it was connected to has been contaminated, and any soil and concentrations of groundwater with hazardous components in them will also be removed in accordance with state law. State law also dictates how exactly the tank itself is to be disposed of, and the closure report sent to the state government after a completed removal procedure is also structured in a way that is unique to that state.
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