It is important to know the previous uses of a property before buying it.
Phase I, II, III Environmental Site Assessments
A Phase I ESA is for the purpose of determining whether a properly has the potential for unknown contamination. Banks require Phase 1s before making loans on nearly any commercial property. ECI’s goal is to save you money. For example, if your site was originally an old gas station, there is no need to do a Phase I just to tell the bank that the site was an old gas station and, as such, may be contaminated.
In such an instance, ECI recommends to the bank that the Phase I be skipped and that we proceed to a Phase II. A Phase II involves sampling and intrusive testing to determine whether contamination is present. Intrusive testing includes such things as drilling soil borings and installing groundwater monitoring. This can be costly.
So, when it is necessary to do Phase II or III work, ECI makes the effort to do this work in conjunction with the DEQ. If contamination is found that involves regulated petroleum storage tanks, ECI will report this immediately to the DEQ. By doing so, the subsequent work can often be accomplished via a VPSTF-reimbursable Site Characterization Report (SCR), which is the DEQ’s equivalent of a Phase II.
If contamination is found and cleanup is necessary, this cleanup is part of a Phase III. However, the DEQ’s equivalent of the Phase III is a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and, if the contamination is from regulated petroleum storage tanks, then this work may also be reimbursable.
