Oil Tank Removal Cost In New York
Every published range we could find, named and attributed, and why they do not agree.
What matters before the work starts.
Most cost pages give you one confident range. This one gives you the ranges four Long Island companies actually publish, with their names on them, because the disagreement tells you more than any single number would.
| Work | Published range | Published by |
|---|---|---|
| Aboveground or basement tank removal | $500 to $1,500 | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
| Aboveground tank removal | $408 to $1,001 | Oil Tank Abandonment Long Island |
| Underground tank removal, nothing found | $2,500 to $5,000 | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
| Abandonment in place | $1,000 to $2,500 | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
| Tank sweep or inspection | $300 to $700 | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
| Work | Published range | Published by |
|---|---|---|
| Leak cleanup | $4,500 to $15,000 | Certified Oil Tank Services |
| Soil remediation | $8,000 to $10,000 | Oil Tank Abandonment Long Island |
| Removal with contamination | $10,000 to $50,000 and above | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
| Remediation and cleanup | $10,000 to $100,000 and above | Eastern Environmental Solutions |
The Ranges Long Island Companies Publish
Aboveground removal appears at $408 to $1,001 on one site and $500 to $1,500 on another. Underground removal with nothing found is quoted at $2,500 to $5,000, and abandonment in place at $1,000 to $2,500.
These are read from those companies' own pages and attributed in the table. They are not our prices and not a quote for your property.
The Remediation Numbers Nobody Can Agree On
Four Long Island companies publish four incompatible ranges for cleaning up after a leak: $4,500 to $15,000, $8,000 to $10,000, $10,000 and above, and $10,000 to $100,000 and above.
That is a twenty fold spread for the same event, and it is the strongest evidence available that nobody can price contamination before someone has looked at the ground. It is also the exposure your insurer is underwriting when it asks about the tank.
The Four Things That Move The Number
Access, which decides whether a machine can reach the tank or whether it comes out by hand. Tank size and what is still in it, since residual oil and sludge are disposal cost. Whether the ground is clean, which is the only item that can change the total by an order of magnitude. Reinstatement, meaning what the surface has to look like afterwards.
Ask for all four itemized on any quote you are given. A single figure with no breakdown is where the surprises live, and the work itself is the part that varies least.
The Islip Permit Fee
The Town of Islip residential fee schedule lists Oil Tank Demo, Abandonment, Replacement or Installation at $160 each, on the schedule effective May 1, 2024.
Worth knowing if you go looking yourself: Islip does not write fee amounts into its Town Code. Section 68-28.A delegates fee setting to the Commissioner, so anyone checking the code for a number will find nothing, and the published schedule is the operative document. Which permit you need at all depends on the Certificate of Occupancy test.
Town of Islip Schedule of Fees, Building Division, Residential Applications, effective May 1, 2024. Read August 13, 2026. Fees are stated by the Town to be subject to change without notice, so confirm before relying on it.
The Hundred Dollars Suffolk County Owes Some Owners
Suffolk County Code establishes a $100 incentive for closing a residential fuel oil storage tank of 1,100 gallons or less, on proof of satisfactory completion. It has been on the books for closures occurring on or after July 1, 2004.
The same code makes it subject to the availability of appropriations, and we could not confirm from the county that it is currently being paid. Treat it as worth asking about, not as money you have.
Suffolk County Code Chapter 1099, Article III, sections 1099-6 to 1099-9.
Grant Money For Oil Tank Removal In New York
There is none. No New York State grant program pays for residential oil tank removal, and the Suffolk County Water Quality Restoration Fund that people find while searching is wastewater money, not tank money.
The $100 county incentive above is the only tank specific money we could verify anywhere in the state.
Questions On This
- Why will nobody give me a price over the phone?
Because access and ground condition are two of the four cost drivers and neither can be assessed from a description. What you should get in writing before any work is an itemized figure covering all four, with the contamination position stated as a contingency rather than buried.
- Is abandonment cheaper than removal?
On published Long Island figures abandonment sits lower, at $1,000 to $2,500 against $2,500 to $5,000 for underground removal. In Suffolk County it is also conditional, because an in place fill needs county permission, proof of no leaks and an inspection at your expense.
- What does a tank sweep cost?
Only one Long Island company we could find publishes a sweep price at all, at $300 to $700. That silence across the rest of the market is itself worth knowing when you are comparing quotes.