Environmental Engineering Services

Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments:

Our environmental engineering services include Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs).

We provide ESAs in accordance with ASTM E1527 and E1528. The ASTM Phase I ESA process is the national industry standard for real estate transactions and/or development.

The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986 changed portions of the previous legislation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, especially with respect to real property transactions. SARA recognized the fact that a landowner who had no connection with the release of hazardous substances at a property would still be liable under CERCLA. To remedy this problem, SARA provided an important defense, known as the "innocent landowner defense," which is contingent upon a defendant having had no reason to know a property was contaminated prior to holding title. To establish an innocent landowner defense, SARA states that "the defendant must have undertaken, at the time of aquisition, an all appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and uses of the property consistent with good commercial or customary practice in an effort to minimize liability." The Phase I ESA is the accepted means to establish the SARA innocent landowner defense requirement, and thus limit the liability exposure to the recipient of property or to those developing property.

If a Phase I ESA indicates a probability of property contamination, a more problem-specific study, usually requiring subsurface investigation and testing, called a Phase II ESA is performed.

Wetland Delineation:

Our environmental professionals perform wetland studies. Such studies can include physically identifying wetland locations, types and sizes on properties, as well as delineating the wetland areas via outlining boundaries based on aerial photography, digital imagery, other graphical representations of a site, or directly on the land.