• More Stories About Tanks – Part 1

  • It was about ten years ago that I wrote my 4th and 5th Instructor’s Blog for AESAC, about underground storage tanks (USTs). These fuel storage tanks can be problematic, especially when they leak. Determining the presence or absence of historical USTs can be extremely difficult when conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA), as visible clues or site records may be limited. The next few case studies illustrate some of the lengths you may have to go when completing this type of ESA research. In such cases, more detailed research can yield valuable nuggets of information.

    The City Church
    The subject Site was a century old urban church with several additions, that was proposed to be repurposed for non-profit housing. Due to the age of the church it was suspected that the original building was likely heated by coal, and later possibly by furnace oil, prior to the current natural gas fired boiler system.   Luckily, the Church kept an extensive collection of old building plans and construction documents. A detailed review of these Site records revealed the following interesting documents (and the conclusions drawn from them):

    • a 1952 fuel oil contract for supply of heating oil for the Church (confirming the building was in fact historically heated by furnace oil);
    • 1962 construction tender documents which referenced the presence of a 1000-gallon capacity underground storage tank (UST) for furnace oil located outside the exterior wall of the boiler room (confirming the historical presence, capacity, contents and location of the furnace oil UST); and,
    • The 1962 construction documents and building plans also described the planned removal of the above noted UST as part of the construction of the addition to the front of the Church (confirming the former location and historical removal of the furnace oil UST).

    The Village Church
    The subject Site was a century old village church that was being converted for residential housing. No heating system was present at the time of the ESA as the prior furnace had been removed for the installation of a radiant floor heating system. The new owner had retained several boxes of historical church records, which indicated the building was heated by a natural gas furnace from approximately the 1950’s (when natural gas service first became available in the Village) to the time the church was closed in 2012. Prior to natural gas service the building was historically heated by a coal-fired furnace and wood stoves. As with many older buildings there is a strong possibility that furnace oil was often used for heating between the time of coal heat and when natural gas service became available. A more in depth review of daily diary entries by church members revealed a few interesting tidbits of data, including: recollections from the early 1900’s of the church caretaker stoking the coal furnace prior to Sunday services; notes from the 1940’s of the many cold mornings when parishioners assisted Father Murphy in stocking and maintaining the two large wood stoves used to heat the building; news of a fund raising drive in the mid-1950’s to raise money for a new natural gas fired furnace to replace the old wood stoves; and some comments from the church committee how much warmer the building was with the new furnace compared to the old, smoky wood stoves, and coal furnace.

    Next month, I will share a few more stories about the detective work often needed to investigate these old tanks.

    Bill Leedham, P. Geo., CESA
    Bill is the Head Instructor and Course Developer for the Associated Environmental Site Assessors of Canada (www.aesac.ca); and the founder and President of Down 2 Earth Environmental Services Inc. You can contact Bill at info@down2earthenvironmental.ca