No one wants to discover after purchasing a building that it sits on a polluted site.\u00a0 An Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) will reduce the risk of encountering this nightmare, along with the all too real legal and financial liabilities it would create. The need for an ESA depends on two factors:\u00a0 The likelihood that pollution may be discovered and the risk tolerance of the investor.\u00a0 If a gas station or a dry-cleaning facility sits on the site, an ESA will be essential.\u00a0 Even if the buyer is willing to forego the assessment, a lender financing the transaction will almost certainly insist on it.\u00a0 Where environmental risks appear minimal, an ESA can still provide peace of mind, which some investors will prize more highly than others.<\/p>\n
Like every service Criterium-McWilliams Engineers provides, our Phase I (initial) Environmental Site Assessment is comprehensive and professional.\u00a0 It is conducted according to national (ASTM) standards and performed by highly qualified, experienced engineers.\u00a0 The assessment includes both a visual inspection of the site and research into past or current uses that might have created environmental hazards.\u00a0 The physical inspection will examine or look for evidence of:<\/p>\n
The research component of our Environmental Site Assessment will include a review of relevant public records (local, state and federal) and interviews with occupants, owners, neighbors and selected local officials.\u00a0 This research helps to identify current and prior uses of the property itself and surrounding properties that might affect the property\u2019s environmental risk profile.\u00a0 If a Phase I ESA analysis does not definitively confirm or eliminate suspected pollution concerns, we will recommend a more invasive Phase II inspection. While Criterium-McWilliam Engineers does not perform these inspections, we can coordinate them for our clients.<\/p>\n
At Criterium-McWilliam Engineers, we are exceedingly budget-conscious on behalf of our clients.\u00a0 We won\u2019t recommend services we don\u2019t think you need.\u00a0 But we take seriously our obligation to alert clients to existing or potential environmental risks, so they can make informed investment decisions and implement necessary or prudent risk mitigation measures.<\/p>\n