Community Relations – Information for the Homeowner/Buyer

NOTICE: Please be advised, the Office of Community Relations is currently updating this web page. For more current information, please call 609-984-3081,  ext. 5.

Home Heating Oil Tank What should you do when a tank leaks? This question and more will be answered below.

  • Why Yank That Tank?: A Message from the NJDEP About Home Heating Oil Tanks

    Older storage tanks for home heating oil – whether underground, above-ground, or in the basement – can rust and leak over time and contaminate soil or ground water. This poses a number of environmental/health risks and New Jersey law requires homeowners to take prompt action to minimize those risks.

    Signs that a home heating oil tank is leaking can include an unexplained increase in fuel oil consumption, water in your underground storage tank, constant problems with your oil burner, staining on basement walls or floor, oil sheen in basement sump or French drain, and fuel oil odors in areas other than around the oil burner.

    If you have any of the signs that a heating oil tank is leaking, contact your heating system service company to rule out maintenance problems. To determine if the problems are caused by a leaking fuel oil storage tank, contact a DEP certified environmental professional. For more information regarding the Underground Heating Oil Tank program, please visit Homeowner’s Guide to the Unregulated Heating Oil Tank Program (UHOT).

    State grant and loan programs are available to provide financial assistance for removal and cleanup costs. For more information about the non-leaking tank fund program, please visit Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Program, or contact the NJEDA Customer Support Administrator at 609-777-4898. For more information about funding for cleanup costs for a leaking tank, please contact DEP Contract and Fund Management at 609-777-0101, or visit The Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Remediation, Upgrade and Closure Fund.

    For more information, visit Community Relations or call the DEP Office of Community Relations at 1-800-253-5647.

  • Unregulated Heating Oil Tanks Program (UHOT)
  • Underground Storage Tank Fund FAQs
Private Potable Well Regular water testing is important for private well owners to ensure that their water supply is safe to drink. Private well owners are responsible for monitoring the quality of their well water and for maintaining their well.

The Private Well Testing Act (PWTA) is a law that requires sellers or buyers of properties with wells in NJ to test the untreated ground water for contamination, before a home can be sold.
How to Detect Sites Within a ½ Mile Radius NJ-GeoWeb is an environmental mapping tool designed to provide information about your neighborhood, county, or state. With this unique application, homeowners can find out what’s in their backyard; and environmental organizations, planners, and builders can identify open space, various regulatory boundaries, sensitive lands, watersheds, and more.

To find contaminated sites within a half-mile radius of your home, please follow the instructions using NJ-GeoWeb. Do you need to speak to someone for more information? For every site of interest, note the ‘Preferred ID’ and use Data Miner to identify the Licensed Site Remediation Professional or DEP case manager. For most cases, the Licensed Site Remediation Professional will have the most up-to-date information about the status of the remediation.
Data Miner Data Miner is designed to provide up to the minute environmental listings of NJDEP activities in individual communities. This includes a list of all site remediation activities in a particular area and any spills or other findings of contamination reported to the DEP’s hotline within a specified date range.
KCS-NJ The Known Contaminated Sites in New Jersey can be used to search for contaminated sites by county and municipality.

For every site of interest, note the ‘Preferred ID’. Once you have identified the site of interest, please use the instructions on how to find site details [pdf]. Using Data Miner, you will be able to identify the Licensed Site Remediation Professional or the assigned DEP case manager. For most cases, the Licensed Site Remediation Professional will have the most up-to-date information about the status of the remediation.
Site-Specific Remediation Reports Looking for copies of reports? OPRA may be able to help you! The Open Public Records Act (OPRA) simplifies the process of accessing NJDEP site files. To view and/or copy site related files, fill out a request form and submit it to the OPRA office.
Financial Assistance Information This website provides information on what financial assistance is available through the state.
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