Check your heating oil tank regularly

Date published: 23 November 2020

Plastic oil tanks can provide safe and sound storage for home heating oil. With the reduction in oil prices, people have been storing more oil than normal but owners may not be aware that these tanks have a finite lifespan.

As tanks get older, there is a risk of leaks from tanks and associated pipework and the danger these pose to the environment and wildlife must not be underestimated.

Kevin McGrady, Emergency Pollution Officer with Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) said: “The NIEA promotes responsible storage of oil through the ‘Tank Safe’ campaign which sets out some simple steps to ensure both secure storage and protection for the environment from spillages.

“As home owners, we are responsible for the oil that we store and we have to keep in mind that it is a hazardous substance with pollution from spillages of oil being very damaging to the environment, and to the aquatic environment in particular. The ‘clean-up’ costs of an oil spillage can be very high, even into tens of thousands, and these costs are not always covered by household insurance policies.

“To find out more about checking your oil tank or even dealing with a spillage, check out the following pages on the NI Direct website; ‘Check your oil tank’ and ‘Oil spills at home.”

Householders can take simple steps to prevent leaks or spills. These include:

• Regular visual inspection of your oil tanks.
• Annual servicing of oil tanks and associated related ancillary equipment by accredited professionals.

If you are unfortunate enough to have an oil spillage, please follow the advice on NI Direct and let us know as soon as possible by phoning the NIEA Incident Hotline on 0800 807060, as early reporting will help us to take action to minimise the impact on the environment.”