Does an open LUST cleanup near a North Carolina property affect a sale?

An open cleanup on or near a parcel is what a lender's Phase I environmental site assessment flags, usually weeks into a deal. The public record is available on day one: 6,065 of North Carolina's 23,600 recorded leak incidents are still open, and each one has a location, a status and a reporting date.

UST Check → leak sites → North Carolina

Leaking underground storage tanks in North Carolina

Name: North Carolina leaking underground storage tank (LUST) incidents (EPA UST Finder)
Creator: UST Check
License: https://ustcheck.com/tos/

Leak (LUST) incidents North Carolina's tank program has reported to EPA — what is still in cleanup, and what the state has closed. Data vintage 2024-12-04.

23,600leak incidents on record

6,065cleanups still open

17,535closed — No Further Action

25.7%share still open

2018most recent report

North Carolina cities with the most open cleanups

City	Leak incidents	Cleanups still open
CHARLOTTE	1,667	360
WINSTON-SALEM	777	193
GREENSBORO	1,061	164
KINSTON	233	99
RALEIGH	556	98
GOLDSBORO	260	98
GREENVILLE	276	97
WILMINGTON	465	94
BURLINGTON	276	86
DURHAM	447	83
FAYETTEVILLE	271	81
NEW BERN	177	77
LEXINGTON	233	67
WILSON	203	67
ROCKY MOUNT	232	64
HIGH POINT	395	59
WILLIAMSTON	96	56
GASTONIA	262	50
JACKSONVILLE	228	49
Raleigh	136	42
THOMASVILLE	156	40
ELIZABETH CITY	109	40
HICKORY	284	38
SANFORD	162	38
REIDSVILLE	155	35
ASHEVILLE	232	33
BOONE	93	33
ROXBORO	64	32
SALISBURY	250	31
CONCORD	192	31
Durham	118	31
Charlotte	121	29
STATESVILLE	253	28
HENDERSON	102	28
GRAHAM	81	28
MOUNT AIRY	193	27
NORTH WILKESBORO	113	26
AHOSKIE	62	25
LAURINBURG	57	25
ASHEBORO	152	24

North Carolina counties with the most open cleanups

EPA's county rollup. Each county page adds the tank inventory — registered facilities, open and closed tanks.

County	Leak incidents	Cleanups still open
Mecklenburg	1,944	426
Guilford	1,660	300
Wake	1,188	281
Forsyth	1,023	264
Pitt	456	176
Alamance	495	159
Davidson	525	148
Wayne	334	136
Lenoir	282	127
Gaston	526	125
Cumberland	388	120
Durham	588	119
Nash	336	119
Craven	293	114
New Hanover	532	113
Buncombe	566	107
Wilson	283	99
Catawba	570	98
Martin	162	90
Rockingham	368	85
Onslow	367	84
Randolph	347	72
Robeson	207	70
Rowan	423	68
Wilkes	266	68
Johnston	246	68
Surry	337	67
Iredell	399	65
Orange	220	65
Harnett	137	63
Carteret	212	60
Duplin	190	60
Cabarrus	314	58
Cleveland	300	57
Burke	275	56
Brunswick	202	55
Watauga	151	52
Hertford	125	52
Lee	183	50
Chatham	166	50

Most recently reported leaks in North Carolina

Reported	Site	City	Substance	Status
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2720386	Carrboro	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2720816	Cary	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2723302	Apex	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2720916	Raleigh	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2723488	Cary	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2723488	Raleigh	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Circle K Store # 2723098	Raleigh	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-20	Triplett Property	Ferguson	not reported	Open
2018-11-19	Duke Energy Progress	Hendersonville	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-19	Circle K Store #2723303	Raleigh	not reported	Open
2018-11-15	Johnson Property, Donald	Greensboro	not reported	Open
2018-11-15	SERVICE DISTRIBUTING	albemarle	not reported	Open
2018-11-14	5144 Hoover Hill Road	Trinity	not reported	Open
2018-11-13	Murphy Express No. 8506	Zebulon	not reported	No Further Action
2018-11-09	Circle K Store # 2723102	Chapel Hill	not reported	Open
2018-11-09	Circle K Store # 2720869	Raleigh	not reported	Open
2018-11-08	DUNBAR CENTER	EAST SPENCER	not reported	Open
2018-11-08	COMMUNITY STOP 1	LAURINBURG	not reported	Open
2018-11-08	Circle K Store # 2723303	Raleigh	not reported	Open
2018-11-07	Speedway No. 8228	Creedmoor	not reported	Open

Screen a specific North Carolina address

State counts set the context; a deal needs the record around one parcel — registered tanks on it, facilities within 500 and 1,500 feet, leak cleanups with status and distance, every line cited to the official record. Same data a Phase I environmental assessment starts from, in your hands before the offer.

Screen an address — $49

Tank inventory for North Carolina — registered facilities, open and closed tanks, county by county — is on the North Carolina county tables.

This is a screen of EPA-registered tank and leak records, not an environmental site assessment. State registries are incomplete by design: tanks removed before 1986 and most residential heating-oil tanks were never registered, so a clean screen cannot prove the absence of a tank. "Closed" means a tank was taken out of service per the registry — it does not certify that no contamination remains. EPA's LUST layer carries a county field for some states and not others, so city is the primary breakdown here; the county table is EPA's own county rollup.

source: EPA UST Finder EPA data vintage 2024-12-04