Frequently Asked Questions

  • How does my property become rendered free of contamination?

    If contaminated soil or groundwater is encountered, it is required by law, in most states, that the acting state environmental agency is notified. The remediation process begins by excavating contaminated soil and/or contaminated liquids be pumped and removed from the site. Long term remediation may be necessary by means of such methodologies, but not limited to: pumping and treating contaminated ground water and/or soil vapor extraction of volatile organic compounds.

  • Why is my estimate higher than the others I received?

    We are aware that our pricing is not the cheapest in the industry.


    The quality of our workmanship and the years of experience of our entire staff does come at a premium. On a side note, please make sure that you are comparing the estimates received apples to apples.


    Our estimates are generally all inclusive, apart from permit fees and liquid disposal. Many tank removal (or replacement) customers that went with other companies have returned to us for their soil remediation stating that the initial tank estimate ended up costing more with a competitor. In other instances, there are competitors in the industry that are small one or two crew operations that don’t perform the caliber of work that we do and we simply cannot compete.

  • What is a "UST"?

    UST stands for Underground Storage Tank. A UST may contain petroleum products or certain hazardous substances. A UST is defined as a tank and any of its associated piping that has at least 10% of its combined volume underground.

  • What does "AST" stand for?

    AST stands for Aboveground Storage Tank

  • What is the EPA Petroleum Bulk Storage (PBS) Law?

    The EPA requires that all USTs 1,100-gallon or greater storing petroleum or certain hazardous substances conform to EPA regulations after December 22, 1998. Regulations require owners of USTs to upgrade their sites as to prevent releases, detect releases and correct problems created by prior releases from their USTs.

  • What if I do not upgrade my site to conform to EPA PBS requirements?

    If owners and operators of PBS sites do no comply, fines may be significant. State and Local municipality fines may also occur.

  • What does a UST removal consist of?
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  • What does a UST abandonment consist of?

    The UST is uncovered, rendered free of ignitable vapors, cut open and cleaned of all product and product residue. The tank is then entered by a technician and visually inspects the tank for breaches. Soil may also be extracted from the perimeter of the UST by means of drilling through the UST and extracting soil samples or by "geoprobing" around the UST from the surface. If any contaminated soil is detected or breaches in the tank are observed, the tank must be removed from the ground and the site remediated. If no problems are observed with the UST, the tank may be filled with sand or concrete slurry, depending on local municipality regulations.

  • What happens to the contamination once it has left my site?

    Northeast Environmental, Inc. transports all waste to fully licensed facilities. Liquids are treated be separating petroleum products from water. The petroleum is then recycled for industrial use. Soils are treated by burning all volatile compounds leaving clean fill as the end result.

  • Can Northeast certify my site as free of contaminates at the conclusion of the site remediation?

    Northeast can provide its clients with tank abandonment certifications, tank removal certification, PBS closure reports, and site remediation reports.

  • Can Northeast provide services for hazardous materials?

    Northeast employees are trained for the handling of hazardous materials for the proper clean up, classification, packing and transportation to certified disposal facilities.

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