Disposal of underground tanks

Disused underground tanks become waste, as defined in the Legislative Decree. 152/2006; their removal is therefore always necessary unless there are proven technical elements that make it impossible. Any impediments that make removal impossible must be adequately documented from a technical point of view, with a report presented in the form of a sworn appraisal signed by a qualified professional. In any case, it is still necessary to carry out a careful investigation of the soil and subsoil and the subsequent tasks described above.

The current municipal Building Regulations, in art. 10 paragraph 6 provides that "In case of the presence of abandoned or to be abandoned underground tanks of any type, they must be removed as a preliminary to the aforementioned investigation, except in cases of proven technical impossibility of removal".

The management of decommissioned underground tanks, including all related plant parts, is therefore linked to the topic of waste disposal (tank and other plant elements) and preliminary environmental investigations.

The person responsible must 

  • communicate it to the Municipality - Reclamation Area, pursuant to and for the purposes of the art. 2.2.7 of the Hygiene Regulation, also transmitting it to the Metropolitan City of Milan and, for information, to ARPA;
  • proceed with the removal and disposal of the decommissioned tank and related plant parts;
  • carry out the necessary prevention measures (as defined by art. 240 paragraph 1 letter i) - Legislative Decree. 152/06) and carry out emergency or urgent safety interventions (MISE/MISU), where there is no need based on the evidence found during construction;
  • carry out the environmental investigation required by art. 242 paragraph 2 and make the results in the form of a declaration in lieu of an affidavit, also reporting on the prevention, emergency or urgency measures adopted. 

If the outcome of the investigation shows full compliance with the CSC, the intervention can be considered concluded, without prejudice to the potential controls that may be arranged pursuant to the aforementioned paragraph 2. 

If the outcome of the investigation shows potential contamination, the Municipal Administration will communicate the start of the remediation process with a simultaneous request for a proposal for the continuation of the process (pursuant to the ordinary procedure pursuant to art. 242 or the procedures simplified pursuant to articles 242bis or 249 or of Ministerial Decree 31/2015).

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Updated: 17/10/2023