Tank possibilities

My son has decided to make some extra money (next year) by cutting fire wood.  He bought 8 tanks.  He is going to use the metal cages to store the wood until next year when he can sell it.  He said I could have the plastic tanks.  The problem is I think there is something really nasty in those tanks.  I tried looking it up on the internet, but can't find any info.  There is a phone # on the tank, maybe I will call them.
1) Is anyone familiar with the chemicals in these tanks ( I'm told it was used as a wood primer)?
2) If you know, is there a way to safely clean the tanks out?  (I'm not talking about getting inside, I will just cut one end off. I'm talking about removing the chemical from the tank, and making the tank safe to repurpose.)
3) If I can get them clean what would you do with them?
If I'm being honest I wish he wouldn't have bought them.  Especially since there's stuff in the tanks.  But he did.  I hate to send them to the dump, but I don't want to poison my family, or the ground.   My thoughts for using them were raised bed, a container to store the pallet wood until I need it.
Thanks I look forward to hearing what you think.

In Canada, we have a policy that chemicals have to have an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). That would give you a much better idea of how toxic the contents were, and how many "forever" chemicals might have been in there.

That said, you also need to know if the company that used the chemical has a policy of "cleaning" the tanks out, in which case, the tank may have a mixture of leftover product *plus* leftover cleaner.

One option if you can get a bunch of sawdust or wood chips is to take a page out of Paul Stamets' work and grow oyster mushrooms in the tank. They seem to be really good at breaking down nasty stuff into its component parts. For example, diesel oil spilled on your dirt is "bad", but it's 75% C10H20–C15H28 - mushrooms can break it down into those H's and C's. However it has other stuff as well - like Benzene (C6H6 - more C's and H's) and Styrene (C8H8 - more again). They're nasty the way they are, but if mushrooms can break them down, they become harmless. However, other chemicals may have things like lead in them. Those I'd want to grow sunflowers in and then send the sunflowers to the dump.

I am reading it as an automotive primer.   The question I have is that if it is allowed to dry, how safe it will be?   I am reading it as nasty until proven otherwise.

You could try giving them back...

Safety Data Sheets are part of my day job, and the fact that their website doesn't have one for this particular product is a big NO-NO. They are required to have SDS for materials dating back many years, publicly available and easy to find. That said, I did find one for another of their primer products: https://www.axalta.com/content/dam/NA/US/Public/Cromax/Document/English_SDS/A-4220S-SDS-EN.pdf

Lots of acetone and benzine in there. IF it came already washed out, I would still use it, but only for utility purposes. No food or water. The biggest risks here are inhalation related. If it has product residue, beware.

Thank you so much Matt.  I try to reuse, repurpose, or up cycle as much as I can. That being said I'm tempted to tell my son he has to get rid of them.  I just don't know.  We have well water, so it's extra important I don't spill chemicals on the ground.  I appreciate the information. It definitely gives me something to think about.

I have read a lot of Material Data Sheets. I wouldn't want those to be anywhere around anything edible. Maybe cut their tops open, and plant flowers in them at the street end of the driveway. Save the metal parts for better uses :D

Jen,
Given that the tanks are plastic, they will most likely eventually degrade and have to be disposed of regardless as to their potential use. And that the contents are unknown and probably a health hazard, I would opt for keeping the tanks sealed and disposing of them in whatever manner is proper and legal.
Regarding unknowns, better safe than sorry might be the best option.

Every time I think of something, I end up rejecting it. So I told my son he would have to get rid of them.  I hate adding to the landfill.
Sometimes you just have to accept defeat.

Accepting something that would have been troublesome and worrying, I think that would have been defeat.
Doing what your conscience told you was the right thing to do,  while not being a "win"  is definitely a move in the right direction.
A neighbor of ours got some of those tanks at his work for free, they had machine shop cutting solvent in them, he cleaned them out with soap and a garden hose and uses them to store his maple sap in prior to boiling it down. I still shake my head at the thought of that!

Matt Todd wrote:IF it came already washed out, I would still use it, but only for utility purposes. No food or water.  

Late to the party, but I agree with Matt.

EDIT: I notice that you sent them for disposal. Probably the best choice.

If it was a powder product, it would be less likely to soak into the pores of the poly. If it was a liquid with nasty components, it's hard to get rid of those trace chemicals.

FWIW, some ideas for reusing non-food totes:
- wind barriers
- road or trail barriers
- crude shingles
- crude shed for firewood
- emergency firewater reserve
- patio lanterns visible from space