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Listed below are simple solutions to common environmental problems
realtors may encounter with real estate transactions.
Problem: Home does not
have a valid tank insurance policy:
What do you do
when there is an "in-use" oil tank used to heat the home and the
homeowner does not have a valid tank insurance policy? Realtors usually
inform their clients to immediately buy a policy. However, when
homeowners contact their heating oil companies to purchase insurance,
they are surprised to learn about the 60-90 day "waiting period" before
the policy takes effect. In many instances, this delay may
jeopardize the real estate transfer.
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Solution: A tank test will reduce the tank insurance waiting period to
less than 7 days! If homeowner has a tank test performed on
the tank and the tank passes the evaluation, the heating oil company can
issue the insurance in less than one week.
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Problem: Home has an abandoned buried tank & no official documentation
proving the tank was properly decommissioned.
Should the buyer accept the seller's
assurances that the tank does not present an environmental hazard?
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Solution: The buyer should
evaluate the soil surrounding the tank for petroleum contamination.
Many homeowners decommissioned their buried oil tanks prior to 1990
before most towns had "official" regulations regarding underground
tanks. If your buyer is purchasing a home under these
circumstances, the buyer should hire a testing contractor to evaluate
the soil surrounding the buried tank for contamination. If the
samples do not contain petroleum contamination exceeding state action
levels, the underground tank does not present an environmental hazard.
In the event significant contamination exists, the tank must be properly
decommissioned by a certified environmental contractor.
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In these cases, ATS will extract soil
(usually in 4 separate locations for most residential tanks) and
transport the samples to a state certified laboratory for analysis.
The laboratory will identify whether the samples contain petroleum and
determine the extent of contamination present in the samples.
Based on the laboratory analysis ATS will recommend a course of action.
(See our soil testing page for more
information.)
Problem: How do I choose the best testing contractor for my client?
Did you know
that many states do not require testing contractors to have licenses to
test residential oil tanks? Most states have rigorous license and
certification procedures for testing commercial tanks. However,
homeowners underground tanks are not regulated by most states (New York
regulates all tanks larger than 1100 gallons). This means there
are no certification or licensing procedures required to test homeowners
tanks. This has the effect of allowing "fly by night" operations
with no tank expertise to go into the business of evaluating tanks
without ever obtaining any state licenses.
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Solution: You should only recommend
testing contractors that hold valid licenses and certifications for your
jurisdiction. Protect your client! Testing contractors
that carry licenses to test underground tanks have met extensive state
quality assurance guidelines and satisfied all rigorous state
requirements for testing including sufficient errors and omissions
insurance. If the testing contractor's company is not
licensed by the state, chances are the company is not an expert in this
field and does not have errors and omissions insurance.
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ATS carries all necessary licenses and
necessary insurance for your area. Copies are always available
upon request.
Problem: There's a complex tank environmental issue affecting my real
estate transaction.
Where can I find
additional resources to answer my questions?
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Solution: Contact ATS at 1-800-440-8265! ATS employs a
large staff of expert environmental personnel that have the
training and experience to answer all your complex questions.
We can provide valuable advice even in cases where our company did not
provide services for your client. If you have an environmental problem
or suspect an environmental issue on the horizon, do not hesitate to
contact us!
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 Advanced Tank
Services Co.
ATS Environmental
1-800-440-TANK
1-800-440-8265
Our operating region includes: New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY),
Pennsylvania (PA),
Connecticut (CT), Maryland (MD), Delaware (DE) & Massachusetts
(MA)
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Realtor
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