Real Estate Due Diligence

Prior to acquiring a building or land, it is critical to identify potential environmental concerns. The cost of owning an impacted property can be significant, and an unsuspecting buyer may suddenly become the financially responsible party for an environmental problem caused by others.

A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I) provides you and your financial institution with the information needed to make informed business decisions. If you already own the property, a Phase I will identify liabilities that you may need to address prior to sale. If the Phase I reveals recognized environmental concerns, most buyers want additional concrete information. Within the escrow period, EnvApps can provide quick turnaround soil, soil vapor, or groundwater assessments and even vapor intrusion evaluations.

Our reports meet or exceed ASTM Standard E-1527 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments, and offer the degree of detail required to legally meet your due diligence obligations. EnvApps also conducts exit audits, for situations where a tenant is leaving, and the owner or property manager suspects contamination may be left by the tenant.

Example Projects:

Property Redevelopment - A city wanted to purchase a property important to the redevelopment of the area. The site had once been occupied by a gas station. EnvApps quickly performed the Phase I, recommended soil and soil vapor sampling, implemented the work, and conducted a human health risk screening evaluation. Although the site was impacted, the city acquired the property, as EnvApps obtained a letter of commitment from the California UST Cleanup Fund for reimbursement of future environmental costs.

Potential Purchase Evaluation - EnvApps performed a Phase I for a vacant property previously used as a service station. Review of local agency files indicated that more than one station occupied different locations on the site, without agency closure for either station. EnvApps conducted a geophysical survey to see if USTs were still in-place, and a soil vapor survey to see if impact from either station was present. No USTs or impact were found.

Phase I Study - EnvApps conducted Phase Is on several large vacant parcels in the Lancaster/Palmdale area; minimal environmental concerns were found, limited to possible pesticide/arsenic impact from former farming practices.

Import Soil Site Profiling - A developer needed to import 100,000 cubic yards of fill onto a site previously remediated by EnvApps. Over 20 possible sites were quickly screened, either by reviewing previously prepared Phase Is, or conducting our own streamlined site review, usually in less than a few days. For the sites passing review, soil sampling was conducted, and if the analytical results were favorable, the soil was imported for use as grading fill.