Curious About New Law Requiring Oil Tank Upgrade

WBZ

The cost of heating oil may have decreased, but there's a little known law that could end up costing homeowners.

According to the Mass Oil Heat Council:

The law requires that residential property owners with heating oil tanks that have unprotected fuel supply/return line(s) in direct contact with a floor surface to either enclose the line with a continuous non-metallic sleeve, or install an oil safety valve on the fuel line.

There are tens of thousands of homes that are going to need this work," said Michael Ferrante, head of the Mass. Oil Heat Council. "We're talking about older systems."

Ferrante helped write the new state law which says old oil lines need to be upgraded. The reason? If a buried line leaks, you probably won't know it and the oil can seep into the soil and ground water.

While a lot of people are not aware of the law, oil companies are starting to send out notices.

The fix? Install a new line with a plastic sleeve or an oil safety valve.

How expensive are we talking?

"It can be as little as a hundred dollars depending on the work that needs to be done," said Ferrante.

Say you don't get the work done, and suddenly the oil leaks underneath the house, and into a neighbor's yard?

"It could be catastrophic, and that will cost you tens of thousands of dollars to clean up," said Ferrante.

So what's the best way to tell if you need to make a change?

Go down to your oil tank.

If you have some type of plastic covering on your line, it means you have a 'sleeved' line and you're probably ok.

If your system was installed after 1990, or if you had a major upgrade since then, you should be fine.

As for those suspicious of oil companies?

"I can say this is a classic example of industry working with state government to do something good for consumers," said Ferrante. "This is not a boondoggle for anyone."

This law is clearly tough to enforce. Keep this in mind, if you fail to upgrade your house will not pass inspection if you sell it.

The deadline for homeowners to have this work done is July 2010.

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