Phase I & II ESA's for Major Industrial Laundry; Multiple Locations

Project Highlights:

• Multiple Phase I Environmental Site Assessments Throughout United States
• Several Phase II Investigations Conducted due to the Identification of Recognized Environmental Conditions (REC's) and/or Historic Recognized Environmental Conditions (HREC's).
• Lead and Asbestos Characterization
• At several sites, identified REC's and/or HREC's which led to contractual and monetary set-asides to account for potential site investigation and remediation and/or future regulatory oversight.

This Laundry Firm is a large industrial laundry chain that requires the highest level of due diligence prior to any acquisition, lease, or property purchase. This Laundry Firms environmental managers and legal staff require it's consultants to perform due diligence well beyond that required under the AIA or ASTM standards. This Laundry Firm commissions EEC to perform the ESA's to obtain liability protection and meet environmental due-diligence requirements on all properties that may be occupied by the company, whether for lease, sale, or rental. These assessments included the following:

• Inspecting sites to identify potential environmental liabilities, such as, vent or fill pipes to locate Underground Storage Tanks (USTs), transformers or capacitors to identify potential PCB sources, asbestos containing materials, hazardous chemical storage, and other sources of environmental contamination.
• Interviewing property managers to determine historical use and activities at the property.
• Reviewing regulatory environmental files maintained by state and local governments.
• Reviewing regulatory environmental data bases, such as, the National Priority List (NPL), State Hazardous Waste Sites list, and Leaking UST list.
• Reviewing neighboring properties to evaluate the potential for off-site contamination
• Researching aerial photographs, fire insurance maps, soil conservation surveys, city records, environmental liens, and environmental permits.
• Reviewing other available environmental information and reports.

Once all appropriate inquiries are complete, EEC personnel prepare written reports in accordance with AAI and ASTM Standard Practice E-1527-05 and the lender's requirements. EEC's reports detail information gathered during the assessment, summarize issues of recognized environmental concern, present conclusions, and provide recommendations.

When findings from a Phase I ESA indicate the potential or likely presence of REC's or HREC's. EEC submits a written scope of work and cost estimate to the client for a Phase II subsurface investigation. Upon the approval of the client, EEC performs the investigation utilizing the most cost effective and technically sound investigative method. Several investigative methods have been utilized on US Bank sites including geoprobe, hollow stem auger, hydropunch, and hand auger.

At several sites, environmental concerns discovered during the Phase I and Phase II investigations performed for US Bank have resulted in the borrower and/or bank determining that the potential liabilities were too great to warrant the risk of a loan approval for the site.