Oil Tanks In The Basements Of Office and Apartment Buildings Can Be Ticking Time Bombs
Thousands of apartment and office buildings throughout the United States have old steel heating oil storage tanks in or below their basements or sub-basements. Many of these oil tanks were installed at the time the buildings were built in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's and they are much larger than doors, stairs and hallways connecting their location to the outside. With age these tanks can deteriorate and leak fuel oil into the ground. New technologies now make it easy and cost efficient to refurbish these tanks in place, saving thousands of dollars in replacement costs and virtually eliminating potential pollution problems.
(PRWEB) June 21, 2005 -- The building manager showed his concern in the tone
of his voice when he called. The 10,000 gallon heating oil tank in the basement
of the Federal building his company managed for the GSA was emitting a strong
odor of fuel oil throughout the building basement and some parts of the upper
floors. The concern was that the tank, situated in a walled off area and
installed when the building was built decades ago, may be leaking
oil.
This call was one of hundreds of calls received yearly by AmTech
Tank Lining and Tank Repair, a company that specializes in providing services to
tank owners from coast to coast. Their customer list includes major oil
companies such as ExxonMobil, Sunoco, Shell and Hess as well as national
companies such as Procter and Gamble and Navistar.
Jeff Colner, VP of
operations for AmTech, reports, “Many of these older fuel oil tanks are
partially or fully buried or sealed and releases of oil can’t be detected by
odor. Many times it’s not until ground contamination is discovered or a minor
permeation grows into a major leak, that the problem is detected.”
Colner
continued, "Most of these oil tanks were installed at the time the buildings
were built in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's and they are much larger than doors,
stairs and hallways connecting their location to the outside, making it almost
impossible to remove and replace them intact. With age these tanks can prevent
serious problems. New technologies now make it easy and cost efficient to
refurbish these tanks in place, saving thousands of dollars in replacement costs
and virtually eliminating potential pollution problems.”
Colner is a
veteran with steel tanks and their problems. Amtech Tank Lining and Tank Repair
deals with the problems inherent to older gasoline, fuel oil and chemical
storage tanks. With state of the art equipment and materials, he and his
associates go right inside steel tanks, abrasive blasting, repairing and then
virtually making a fiberglass and plastic tank on the interior of the older
steel tank.
He added, “Corrosion is a funny animal, and the overall
structural integrity of most of the steel tanks we examine is almost as good as
the day it was installed. The problems come from isolated corrosion cells making
minute permeations through the steel shell of the tank. Allowed to grow, these
corrosion permeations can go from a minor weeping to a quarter inch hole if not
addressed. A lot of oil can escape from a small hole, and it doesn’t take a
tanker load to cause a pollution problem.”
Colner explained, “The
refurbishing is sort of like a tank in a tank approach. The fiberglass and
plastic lining we fabricate inside the steel tank adds an additional structural
wall and is not subject to corrosion. The abrasive blasting process conditions
the interior steel tank wall before we add the fiberglass and plastic. This
helps guard against future internal corrosion problems.”
When asked about
what the long-term effect of a leaking tank and the environmental cleanup
process, he responded, “We don’t do environmental studies or cleanups, so I
wouldn’t comment about that. It’s our job to find minor problems, or situations
before they become problems, and remedy them, before you get to the point of
needing environmental services.” He continued, “What we do isn’t rocket science,
it’s just good, sound engineering process.”
AmTech Tank Lining and Tank
Repair operates across the country, and is a member of the Armor Shield Lining
network of a dozen nationwide applicator locations. The network has lined and
repaired over 100,000 tanks since 1967. Call the AmTech Hotline at (888)
839-0373 for immediate information or visit the Amtech Tank Lining website at www.amtechtanklining.com.
Contact:
Jeff
Colner
888 839-0373
e-mail protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/6/prweb253038.htm