Underground storage conjures up a range of impressions: old gasoline and oil tanks may invoke thoughts of underground storage-tank leaks; the concept of below-ground petroleum reserves for times of low availability seems positive; and the notion of subterranean nuclear-waste storage may bring prudence to mind.

Of course, below-ground storage goes way back: pioneers and some of our ancestors stored vegetables in root cellars; and some of today's back-to-the-land folk install culverts underground and then store items or even live in them.

In our corporate era, businesses can also benefit from underground storage.

If your business needs to store records, such as movie reels, paper records, data tapes, microfilms, computer hardware, food or other objects, going underground may work well, as Progressive Engineering's Julie Buzbee has pointed out.

There are old mines throughout various regions of the country. Former limestone mines serve especially well for conversion from "no use" to "good use." The fact that limestone is structurally stronger than concrete — three times stronger, to be exact — makes former limestone mines attractive.

Regions already discovered for the "old mine resource" include Kansas City, Mo., Pittsburgh, Pa., Louisville, Ky., Wilmore, Ky., near Nashville, Tenn. and various towns in the United Kingdom and other locales. Hutchinson, Kan.-based Underground Vaults and Storage, Inc. advertises a salt mine 650 feet underground as a good place for records in which privacy is needed.

Underground developments are considered apt for a variety of uses — particularly warehouses and distribution centers, light industry such as printing, records storage and offices.

If you think about these underground resources, certain advantages come to mind. The temperature is constant, heating/AC bills may be minimal, the humidity can be controlled, they're easily upgraded for ensuring security to preserve millions of movie reels, paper records, data tapes and microforms in cool, dry underground environments. Further, the air quality can be monitored just as with above-ground interiors, and you probably don't need a building permit.

The downside: there is no natural light. However, very little natural light is needed for storage unless people must frequently spend time working underground. Another requirement may be installation of some air circulation systems. Also, as with above-ground storage, some precautions to prevent and contain fires are essential to successfully storing items underground. Devices to achieve this include smoke detectors and sprinklers as a minimum.

In some cases, it may be necessary to install a concrete floor and set up a "roof" structural integrity system. You may even want to ensure that no digging, building or drilling is allowed above ground over your underground storage areas. This can be achieved simply by providing plenty of signage. Similarly, it should be noted, if you anticipate deliveries or pick-ups involving truck drivers — who are accustomed to seeing above-ground buildings with numbers on them — be sure to give precise instructions regarding the entry or exit location.

If extra underground excavations are needed, you might wonder what you can do with the waste rock. If it's limestone, there is in fact a market for it, as it is used for making glass, paint, paper and toothpastes, as well as for neutralizing acidic soils, lakes, rivers and gases from industrial processes.

The Kansas City area ranks as "the leader in subsurface development with over 20 million square feet of commercial and industrial space, more than 10 percent of the total," according to Progressive Engineering's "Business Goes Underground" this time last year, going on to note:

Some 30 underground business parks populate the area, housing over 400 businesses. To give an idea of scale, SubTropolis covers 913 acres and has 6.5 miles of roads and 2.1 miles of rail corridors. It is owned and operated by Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development, which gets its name from noted industrialist Lamar Hunt, owner of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL team.

Seven years ago, about 400 businesses had operations in underground parks in and around Kansas City, employing about 4,000 people, according to The New York Times.

As for business insurance, Meritex senior vice president Bill Seymour last year estimated that the cost for insurance would be less than for above-ground storage. Progressive Engineering said that Seymour believes the insurance rates ought to be lower because the risk is lower underground.

The most recent use for underground storage is sequestration of a gas, carbon dioxide. In a project with the University of Texas-Austin, the U.S. Department of Energy injected the CO2 into a test well near Dayton, Texas, about 40 miles northeast of Houston.

If enough carbon dioxide could be stored underground to make a significant difference in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, such subterranean real estate could become scarce.

Resources

Business Goes Underground
by Julie Buzbee
Progressive Engineer, January-March 2006

Droughts & Reservoirs: Finding Storage Space Underground
Geological Society of America (via ScienceDaily), Sept. 18, 2006

In Kansas City Area, Up to Date Is Down to Earth
by Shirley Christian
The New York Times, Aug. 20, 2000

U.S. tests CO2 underground storage options
United Press International (via PhysOrg), Oct. 12, 2006

In a Test of Capturing Carbon Dioxide, Perhaps a Way to Temper Global Warming
by Matthew L. Wald
The New York Times, March 15, 2007