Commercial Underground Storage Tank

Project Description

The Problem

For due diligence purposes, the owner of an older low-rise apartment building wanted to remove an underground storage tank from the rear parking area of their property. The underground storage tank was unused for several decades and situated in a high use area. A site visit identified the close proximity of the storage tank to the foundation of the building and the presence of approximately 4600L of bunker oil within the tank.

The Solution

Ambleside bid out and scheduled contractors from geotechnical engineering firms, the City of Vancouver, vacuum truck contractors, and excavation companies in order to complete the job on a short timeline. Permits, manifests, and inspections were obtained and scheduled by Ambleside in order to complete the work in a diligent, by-the-book manner. The scheduling was conveyed to the resident manager at the Client’s building in order to ensure that the activities satisfied all involved parties.

After the work area had been vacated, the concrete overlying the underground storage tank was demolished and disposed of at an appropriate facility, and the underground storage tank was drained and cleaned by a vacuum truck. The excavation area was sampled by Ambleside personnel and determined to meet the applicable British Columbia Contaminated Sites Regulation criteria. The work area was excavated, sampled, and backfilled within 24 hours of initial site activities, and asphalted shortly after the samples returned and indicated compliance with regulatory criteria.

Once the excavation and sampling portion of the project was completed, an engineering report was submitted to the client for future liability purposes and recommendations. Ambleside submitted an Underground Storage Tank Removal/Decommissioning Report to the City of Vancouver as per standard municipal by-law and regulatory practice.

The Benefits

Ambleside’s project managers demonstrated accurate planning and management of the project components in order to reduce the amount of time onsite and overall cost. This allowed the Client’s tenants to return to the rear building area and resume standard parking, entry, and exit procedures. The oil removed from the storage tank was taken to an oil processing facility instead of a waste plant so that it could be recycled and sold back into the market. This practice, whenever possible, is used by Ambleside in order adhere to our core value of pursuing sustainable environmental practices.