Why would anyone want an underground tank for fuel?
Well once upon a time it was very modern. No more getting up in the middle of a cold night to toss coal or shovel sawdust into a burner, to heat your home.
Homeowners loved the convenience of a heat regulating dial in their hall, that they could preset for night time comfort. It was also so clean and efficient, no more dusty coal or wood byproducts stacked in the basement.
Out of sight and out of mind the buried oil tank was a wonderful innovation. Most new homes in this era had an oil tank installed during construction.What a wonderful selling feature they were, filled by a fuel service with seemingly no maintenance required.
However domestic oil tanks were not designed to last forever. Most homeowners did not consider the potential consequences of an aging and derelict oil tank.
Currently thousands of UST’s grace homes, apartment blocks and commercial properties in Greater Vancouver.
Many oil tanks are still sound but potentially fragile and dangerous to the environment.