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What are Phase I Site Assessments?
Environmental site assessments are a vital tool for corporate managers, investors, borrowers, and lenders to meet legal, financial and ethical needs for due diligence research on being developed and vacant properties before purchase, sale, development, refinancing, or foreclosure. The threat of litigation over damage to natural resources or human health and the potential and actual cost of remedial action are important considerations with every property transaction. Environmental site assessments evaluate existing environmental problems from past operations and potential environmental problems from current or proposed operations at a site. The ASTM provides standards for:
- Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
- Phase II Preliminary Contamination Assessments Involving Sample Collection and
Analysis
- Phase III Contamination Assessments and Remediation
Most environmental site assessments performed in Wyoming are Phase I assessments. A Phase I survey includes the following components:
- An inspection of the subject property.
- A review of pertinent records for evidence of present and historical use of the
subject and adjacent properties.
- Interviews with current owners and occupants as well as local government
officials.
- Evaluation of information gathered and development of a report.
- In some cases, samples are collected of building materials to determine if PCBs,
asbestos and/or lead are present. If contamination is detected or suspected additional sampling for soil or groundwater may be needed - this leads into a "Phase II" assessment.
Who Would Benefit From a Phase I Survey?
Environmental site assessments are often conducted on properties at the request of banks, insurance companies, real estate financing companies, industrial companies, law firms, public and government agencies. Landowners such as private companies and public institutions want to ensure that any property they acquire is either free of contamination, or that the contamination can be identified to determine the cost of remediation, and that cost factored into the selling price. Anyone considering purchasing commercial property, or property that may have been used commercially in the past, should consider a Phase 1 Site Assessment. Similarly. Property owners who wish to sell a property often have a Phase I conducted before they put the property on the market in order to correct any problems found, thus getting a better price.
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