Buyer and Lender Beware!
Why? Because you could be held financially liable for the cleanup of contamination on a site that you were not aware of. Buyers, investors, lenders and real estate brokers must take steps to ensure that property which they purchase, develop or finance is not "contaminated". Contamination can be caused from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, current or past site activities, deposit of materials on site by offsite source(s), runoff from adjacent property to the subject site, groundwater sources, building materials, etc.
Federal laws require a purchaser or lender to exercise "due diligence" by making "all" appropriate inquiry into the previous ownership and past uses of the subject property in order not to be held financially liable for cleanup of contamination that may be present. Cleanup costs can exceed the value of the property resulting in a liability, in and of itself. Businesses, who in the past were thought to be immune to environmental liability, can pose the biggest problems for lenders and purchasers when looking at commercial property. Some of these businesses include gasoline stations, dry cleaning establishments, print shops, paint and body shops, and many others.
It pays to know whether you are assuming a hidden liability. Limiting that liability is the reason we are here.
Phase I
The first step in performing an audit of residential, commercial and industrial properties. It consists of a thorough research of data into current and past property use and ownership. A visual inspection of the property is always conducted in this phase to determine the potential for present contamination caused by on site or offsite sources.
Phase II
If additional evaluation of a site is required as determined in the Phase I, an analytical approach is undertaken. In this phase, samples of suspected contaminants are obtained and analyzed by a laboratory to determine if contamination is present. This phase can be expanded to determine the amount and extent of contamination that may be present.
Phase III
If contamination is found to be present during Phase II activities, then a Phase III is implemented. In this phase, contamination and/or a source of contamination is remediated (removed). WSI conducts these audits (assessments) using our experienced, qualified personnel and is equipped to perform and implement any or all the phases that may be required to identify or remediate liabilities associated with any site, regardless of size.