Environmental Site Clean Up
Kandy Van Meeteren

What would a buyer looking at commercial property want to know when purchasing? The knowledge of knowing who owned the property before, hazardous sites are not just for industrial or abandoned buildings anymore. The buyer needs to be aware of what could be on the site that may be detrimental to development of that property.
Understanding the procedures of a Phase I ESA is the buyer responsibility in knowing what is being purchased on that parcel of land. With the current federal laws the owner is responsible for all contaminations on the property even if the owner did not create the problem. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or the Superfund Law makes the owner responsible for clean up if contamination is found. Clean up for a spill or hazard can cost in the millions of dollars and time some business do not have or can afford.
According to Western States Environmental, INC., the cost of a Phase I assessment could cost a small retail parcel from $1,000 to $2,000. An industrial site could cost up to $10,000 or more. This would be used to determine who the liability and the cost associate with the cleanup of the site if there were a hazard found. This report does not guarantee that the property has no hazards or contamination because this is merely an assessment from trained inspectors what they observed on the property.
References
www.spillcleanup.com/Environmental%20Site%20Assessments.htm
Fundamentals of Site Remediation John Pichtel 2nd edition, Government Institutes. 2007. pgs: 105-142.