repair request

as i predicted in an earlier post, i did in fact get the buyer's repair request on my last day of work. i met with my realtor on sunday to discuss, and we agreed to all four of their requests. they're asking that i add a small drop-girder to a specific location in the crawlspace and asking i correct a couple of very minor electrical issues. they want me to repair a garage door fault, which i've already done. and finally, they want me to produce a letter from an environmental testing company stating that the soil around an abandoned underground fuel tank is not contaminated. it's that last issue i've been dealing with today.

when i bought the house, my inspector mentioned the existence of an underground oil tank but nobody bothered to explain to me its legal and environmental implications... i could have had the seller take care of this in *my* repair request and avoided all of this headache now. alas. i was a dumb first-time homebuyer, and my realtor was apparently not on the ball, either.

anyway, those underground storage tanks (USTs) were only designed to last 20 years or so. if mine was installed when the house was built it is now 57 years old. most of these thinks corrode and leak petroleum into the soil, which can be an environmental hazard. ground water contamination and such.

the state has set up a trust fund to pay for cleanups like this, but several criteria have to be met. (if you find this fascinating, bless you. here's more information. if not, i'll be done soon.) i think i meet the criteria to have the state pay, should my soil be contaminated. but i'm getting ahead of myself.

first i needed to have the soil tested, which i did. cohesion, inc. just left my house a few minutes ago, having augered a couple of six-foot holes around the tank to see if they could see or smell any petroleum in the soil around the tank. the tester's verdict: no scent, and no visible evidence of contamination. which is good! but they're taking a sample back to the lab to double-check, and the results will be back in about 5 business days. if the tests show contamination, that leaves me just a few days before closing on the house to arrange to get everything cleaned up. i cannot imagine that headache, so i will choose not to think about it for the time being.

after talking to the geologist on staff at cohesion, i think i've come to the conclusion that i need to remove the tank regardless of what the soil sample shows. the buyers have requested that i merely fill the tank with sand, but the geologist says that the verdict is still out on how effective that method is in preventing future issues with the tank. for everyone's happiness i think i should just have the tank removed. it'll be about $1200 to do so. which sucks.

so that's how i've spent my tuesday. a good way to put off packing a little longer, yes?