Your residential underground tank is not regulated by the State or Federal government and you are not required to remove a tank either active or not in use. However it has become a regular requirement, (driven by the fear of law suits), and imposed by the real-estate companies who are selling houses in this day and age, to require a written statement declaring no buried tank exist on the property being sold.

You as a seller, can have a dead tank filled with foam or concrete, but this doesn't get by the question on the paperwork as to whether there is a tank on the property. If there is a buried tank on the property the buyer can and probably will, ask for an examination of the soil under the tank by a certified engineer at the sellers expense. And this can be big bucks as well as opening a can of worms.

It is not our intent to advise you to do a cover-up of any contamination, but to advise you on the least expensive manner of taking care of this over-regulated, but probably will get worst, situation. At this time any contamination found at the time of digging is taken care of by a state fund which eliminates almost all the cost of clean-up.

If you have an under-ground tank older than 25 years whether used or not, you should get it out while the current rules are in place.