Oil tank safety

    You’ve heard it from us before, but ‘tis the season to hear it again. It’s time to pay attention to your lonely and faithful oil tank hidden away in your basement or behind your house. Keep it faithful by making sure it is not going to leak.
    The Maine Department of Environmental Protection responds to more than one spill a day on average from home heating oil tanks. Listed below are the top three causes of releases, and if not prevented, releases could cause the following problems – contaminating your drinking well water, degrading the air quality you breathe in your home, and losing your expensive heating oil.
    The number one cause of releases (22%) is from internal corrosion in your tank due to water and sludge build-up. Have your licensed oil technician perform an ultrasonic thickness test on your tank to determine if it’s getting too thin. Or better yet, replace that old steel tank with double-wall tank or a non-metallic, corrosion-resistant tank.
    The second leading cause of spills (18%) is from physical damage. If your tank is outside, snow and ice falling from your roof may damage your fuel filter, leaking all your expensive heating oil on the ground and possibly contaminating your drinking water well. Ask your licensed oil technician to install a filter protector to prevent this from happening to you.
    Finally, the third leading cause of releases is from overfills (15%). Ask your licensed oil technician to check that you have a vent whistle, which stops whistling when the tank is full. This will alert the fuel truck driver to stop delivering oil and prevent oil from spraying out through the vent and onto the side of your house and onto the ground.
    Fuel oil spills can cause environmental damage, and they’re also a waste of resources. So do your part to preserve our precious groundwater, protect your family’s health, and prevent losing your heating oil dollars.
    For more information, watch for our TV ads this November or go to www.MaineDEP.com and click on Tom Talks about Tank Safety or call 1-800-452-1942.
    This column was submitted by David McCaskill, a senior environmental engineer with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and a regular contributor to In Our Back Yard on environmental, health and safety issues. E-mail your questions to infodep@maine.gov or send them to In Our Back Yard, Maine DEP, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.