There is an unused oil tank at a house I just bought. What should I do?

I just put an offer down on a house and was told there is an unused oil tank underground. To make matters worse, there is an addition over it. If I love the house and If I go through and buy it I would be liable for any leaks,etc. Not to mention the resale when I go and sell it. Aside from backing out of the sale, what could I do legally?? And what could i have the seller do??There is an unused oil tank at a house I just bought. What should I do?
Either make the sellers fix it, or find out what it costs to have this fixed and make the sellers pay the cost (funds for the fix are held by the closing company in escrow and released to you after you make the repairs).





Also, get it inspected if you haven't already (by a really good inspector) and they should tell you what you need to do to get this remediated. Then, call around to some companies and see what getting this fixed would cost, it may not be much (then you can decide on whether to ask the seller to fix it before closing, or make the sellers pay the costs at closing or just do it yourself if its easy).





In my area the standard ';fix'; for this is to drain the tank and then fill it will concrete, so the fact thats its under an addition would not be important, but this can't always be done (depends on the condition of the tank), and the laws in your area may be different.There is an unused oil tank at a house I just bought. What should I do?
Oil tanks can be a huge liability, if it leaks you could be required to dig it up plus all the soil surrounding the tank, and disposed as toxic waste very expensive





Also most likely the next buyer may require testing before they buy if the test show oil in soil big problem, even if they would not buy it once the hazard had been disclosed you will have to disclose the hazard to all future buyers





what to do if you want the place have test, or get an estimate if possible to fill the tank, but you can only do that if the tank does not leak and the surrounding soil is OK
Contact a local oil servicing company and see what they recommend. You may check in or around the tank for old service records...if you can find out what company used to fill the tank and/or service it maybe they can help you.