Date: Fri 01-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

council-oil-tanks-Lockwood

Full Text:

Leaking Oil Tanks Present Unseen Hazards For Homeowners, Fire Marshal Says

BY STEVE BIGHAM

They may be out of sight, but they aren't out of Fire Marshal George

Lockwood's mind. This week, he watched as two more leaking oil tanks came out

of the ground in Newtown.

Mr Lockwood has always believed that the town needs a law mandating residents

to remove underground tanks over 20 years old. This week, he found out that an

ordinance regulating tanks was in fact in the works, but to his surprise, the

proposed statute says nothing about removing tanks.

"This ordinance doesn't amount to a hill of beans" he said Wednesday.

As ordinance committee chairman Bill Brimmer pointed out, the proposed

ordinance is designed to prevent underground contamination in the future as

opposed to what has happened in the past. But the fire marshal believes the

town needs to take steps to curtail the current leaking.

Mr Lockwood estimated that there could be as many as 800-900 underground tanks

in Newtown that are currently leaking. Several houses on Ridge Road and Saw

Mill Ridge Road have had tank leaks in recent years. Homes on those roads were

built during the 1970s, when cheap metal was used for the tanks.

"We're going to have a real problem in the next couple of years if we don't do

something about it," he said.

Mr Lockwood showed up at Wednesday night's meeting of the ordinance committee

to help with the drafting of the ordinance. He said he had been left out of

the loop during the ordinance work.

"I wish I had gotten a copy of this draft so that I could give some input,

seeing that I'm the one taking care of all the oil tanks in town," he said.

No work was done on the ordinance this week because Pierre Rochman, who had

led the underground oil tank ordinance work, was unable to attend.

Under the proposed ordinance, the Legislative Council is given the authority

to establish standards defining criteria for installation, replacement and

operation of oil tanks of 1,100 gallons or less capacity. The state prohibits

the installation of any new underground oil tanks. The proposed ordinance also

requires owners of new or existing oil tanks to obtain a building permit to

install, repair, or abandon residential oil tanks, pipes or transmission

lines.

According to Mr Rochman, the ordinance committee opted not to mandate

underground oil tank removal simply because of the economic impact it would

impose on residents.

"We felt it would have put an unfair and large financial burden on people. We

had reservations because of that," he said.

Mr Rochman said the problem may still be taken care of economically, as more

and more banks and insurance companies are considering the underground oil

tank issue before handing out mortgages.

Mr Lockwood said it is almost impossible to determine if an underground tank

is leaking. Most residents find out after they dig it up. They bring them up,

according to the fire marshal, because they know they can't sell their house

unless they do. Some tanks are abandoned by homeowners, illegally. Often,

water seeps into the porous tanks, eventually backing up furnaces.

Since 1993, one quarter of all underground oil tanks dug up in Newtown have

had leaks, contaminating the surrounding soil, and sometimes nearby water

supplies, according to Mr Lockwood.