The PanTerra Group
environmental consultants
Environmental Site Assessments
As a direct result of the past inadequate management of hazardous
and toxic materials, the potential presence of contamination in soil,
groundwater and buildings has become a major concern in real estate
transactions. In order to minimize future risk to the buyer, seller, financial
institutions, and other involved parties, an assessment of the property is made
to determine if it has been environmentally impaired. The PanTerra Group follows
the standard phased approach to perform an assessment for a given site, with
each successive phase serving to further reduce the innate uncertainties in the
evaluation process.
Since site characteristics, client needs, and local regulations vary greatly,
we adjust the specific scope of work to address the situation and meet our
clients’ needs. To properly differentiate between the various levels of
environmental site assessments and remediation activities, one may need to
understand the considerations behind the necessity of conducting environmental
site assessments. Requiring an ESA is not only advantageous for the purchaser, but also has
positive implications for the seller as well. Primarily, the seller may wish to
define site conditions so as to protect against future joint and several
liability claims. In addition, a property which has been shown to have a low
likelihood of environmental impairment may command a higher price and can even
used as a bargaining tool. The performance of each phase is not necessarily required for every property
transaction. Thus, if a Phase I ESA is conducted and there is no significant
evidence of prior contamination or violation of environmental regulations, there
is no need to proceed to Phase II. However, certain real estate transactions
will inherently require a Phase II ESA, especially when the likelihood of
contamination is high, where one or more parties are environmentally
sophisticated, or where past activities on the site are not normally considered
environmentally benign. The generalized scope of work for each phase is briefly
discussed below. Click on the following links to view explanations of ESAs.
