Oil Tank Overview

This video gives you a quick overview about underground oil tanks, tank concerns, and liabilities. It also gives some background and professional qualifications for Kirk McDonald and Practical Environmental Solutions.

Oil Tank Removal Process

Practical Environmental Solutions has removed hundreds of oil tanks since 2001, more than any other company in southeastern North Carolina. Removing hundreds and hundreds of oil tanks has taught us well.

Here is our method for removing a buried oil tank. Great care is taken during proper tank removal to avoid slops and spills and to protect your yard while conducting the necessary steps to satisfy the State.

Yahoo companies may not even pump the tank at all before they yank it out of the ground and dump out in the country somewhere. When I worked for the State of North Carolina, I saw all kind of irresponsible / illegal actions by many companies removing heating oil tanks.

At Practical Environmental Solutions, we do it right the first time by following all the State rules and requirements and by applying our experience and knowledge to every unique project. Satisfaction guaranteed! Check out our Google reviews.

Don’t Fill a Tank with Sand!

What do you accomplish by filling a tank with Sand? Nothing! It just makes a bigger mess.

This video explains why filling a tank with sand is a waste of time and money and doesn’t officially close the tank or end the owners liability. Included are some excellent video clips and photos to illustrate the importance of cutting the tank top and completely washing out the petroleum sludge that has solidified on the sides and bottom of the tank.

In North Carolina, filling a tank with sand doesn’t officially close the tank or end the owners liability.

Because you have to uncover the tank and cut it open to wash it out, removing the tank only takes us about another 10 minutes.

If a tank is under a house foundation, you still need to clean out the petroleum sludge and pump the tank empty. Once cleaned and emptied, the tank should be filled with concrete to prevent it from collapsing later and undermining the foundation. This closure procedure costs considerably more than simply removing the tank.

Closing a tank in-place requires prior permission from the State of North Carolina’s Underground Storage Tank Section.

Removing Contaminated Soil – Smooth Operator

Practical Environmental Solutions owns our own equipment that are perfectly suited for removing tanks and excavating contaminated soil at residential properties. We operate these machines ourselves so that we can closely control every detail of the tank removal and excavation process.

Other tank consultants “commute” to your area and try to avoid a complete disaster by supervising an inexperienced backhoe company who is yanking your tank out of the ground. Oh, and did they wash the tank interior and pump it empty before they moved it? Moving a tank before it’s pumped completely empty can cause spills during the removal process that weren’t there before the inexperienced backhoe company caused it to leak.

Our expertise and quality control ensures a proper tank removal with minimal yard damage and the best end result with the State.

This video was taken at a site where the older house had been demolished, hence the wide open bare ground allowing the dump truck to get close to the excavation. As you can see, Kevin is a very efficient and smooth operator.