By Rich Pollack

    Peggy Gossett-Seidman was out of town when a Highland Beach neighbor called one early September afternoon with frightening news.
    Fire trucks, Gossett-Seidman heard him say, were parked in front of her home and the road was filled with other crews responding to a leak from a propane gas tank buried about four yards from two of her home’s bedroom windows.
    It took three hours before Gossett-Seidman’s husband, Barry — who rushed home after learning that a contractor grading a construction site next door accidentally struck the buried tank and caused the leak — was allowed back in the home. It took another three hours to air it out.
    What concerned Gossett-Seidman wasn’t so much the inconvenience; it was what she didn’t know.
    “People on our street were surprised, if not shocked, to find out that many of our homes may have propane tanks buried on their property and no one knows it,” she said. “We don’t know what we’re sitting on, and apparently no one in the area knows.”
    Gossett-Seidman quickly learned that no central database lists where abandoned or active buried propane gas tanks can be found. Even fire departments are unaware of which homes in their communities might have tanks buried on their lots.
    Gossett-Seidman, a former journalist, discovered that it is possible in Highland Beach to determine whether there’s an abandoned propane tank on a property. Getting that information isn’t easy, though, and can take a lot of legwork.
    Highland Beach officials say permits are required when tanks are installed. A problem, said the town’s building official, Mike Desorcy, is that municipalities are required to keep records on single-family homes for only 10 years.
    “You can look it up for the past 10 years, but what about 20 or 30 years ago?” Gossett-Seidman said. Propane has long been a popular choice for cooking and heating hot water for homes and pools.
    There is also the possibility that some tanks might have been installed by homeowners illegally without a permit.
    “The only time we would know if there’s a gas tank on a property is if there was a permit,” Desorcy said.

7960631875?profile=originalNo one knows how long this tank was buried underground. Photo provided


    What Gossett-Seidman found out is that most propane providers in South Florida do keep records of where their tanks are. Since there are several companies that serve the area, however, a homeowner would have to check with many companies in order to know if a tank is on his or her property.
    A spokesperson for Florida Public Utilities, one of South Florida’s largest providers, said the company maintains records of all tanks it installs or fills.
    While it does not keep records of tanks installed by other companies, Florida Public Utilities would most likely have an idea of what companies saturated a particular geographic area and often shares that information with inquiring homeowners.   
    The spokesperson said the company pulls permits and makes sure to comply with all codes and will not fill any tanks if it sees evidence of a safety issue or if the tank is not code complaint. The company also makes it a point to fill abandoned tanks with water or sand after removing all the gas to render the tanks useless — and safe.  
    While abandoned tanks can remain underground for years without any problems, those who have dealt with the issue recommend that homeowners who discover a tank no longer in use have it removed.
    “If you discover an abandoned tank on your property, have it come out,” says Kevin Green, assistant chief at Delray Beach Fire-Rescue.
    Green said underground tanks are generally safe but are susceptible to deterioration.
    “There isn’t usually a problem as long as the tank is in the ground and the valves don’t get damaged,” he said.
    Green said that one of the problems with propane gas, when it does leak, is that it is heavier than air and does not dissipate like natural gas does. Danger comes when the lingering gas comes in contact with an ignition source, such as a spark from a lawn mower.
    In Florida, steps are taken to minimize the chance of tanks being damaged by construction crews or others working on a property. State law requires that contractors call 811 to determine what utilities are buried on a property before any excavation can begin.
    In Florida, Sunshine 811 receives calls and uses a database to determine what utilities are likely to be under a property. 811 then notifies the provider of the utility, which arranges for a visual inspection. The utilities then are marked with color-coded flags or paint.
    According to an 811 spokesperson, however, providers of propane tanks are not required to register with the system. If companies do register and have overlapping service areas, 811 would notify each of the companies if there is a dig scheduled in their area.
    Gossett-Seidman said she was told that an inspection was done on the property next to hers but that the tank — which she suspects had been underground for decades — was not discovered.
    In the end, both the gas and the tank were removed. Still, she said, it is the unknown that remains a concern.
    “People don’t know what’s under their property,” she said. 

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