In the past, when a parcel of land was traded, a careful buyer or lender would be concerned with issues of public safety relating to the structural integrity of buildings. Such things as buried underground tanks and garbage dumps were a concern for people stepping, falling or driving into underground void spaces and being injured. The crumbling of building footings built above unstable ground was a great concern.
Today these things are just as important. However, there is now a new list of public health and environmental safety issues for a buyer to address.
Mostly since the Second World War, the negative health effects of hazardous substances such as lead, asbestos, DDT, radioactive materials, and many others have become commonly known. Many of the industrial and farm chemicals that concern us have been used for a relatively brief time in our history, less than sixty or seventy years. However, the public health and safety concerns when these materials show up on a parcel of land will be affecting people far into the future. Our knowledge of the long term health affects of hazardous materials in the environment increases daily.
We are exposed through the news to the most extreme of these issues in the form of lawsuits and sensational stories of ruined health and huge financial settlements. Many feel that these stories are exaggerations and that we need not concern ourselves with such things in daily commerce. In reality, long term studies concerning hazardous substances have taught us that there are real issues here. Long term exposure of children to hazardous materials can have disastrous results.
It is false to think that these concerns are only driven by government regulations. The real concern comes from the banks, insurance companies and mortgage lenders who must pick up the pieces when a deal blows up over the discovery of an environmental hazard on a presumably clean property. The government is mostly concerned with public facilities, and they have plenty of these to deal with.
When property is traded, the knowledge of past practices that may reduce the present value is vital. This is accomplished in several ways. An experienced site assessor with a history of visiting and reporting on sites is the first line of defense for a careful buyer. The signs of hazardous conditions may be subtle but they are usually present. Public records can disclose not only site history but surrounding conditions that could impact value. All available sources of information are accessed including the thoughts of neighbors and public officials
The Level 1 is a report. It usually contains a minimum of twenty pages specifically about the site plus appended data that can make it thirty or forty pages or more for a small site. Besides information learned during the site visit, maps of the site will probably be provided to the owner, lawyers, lenders or other interested parties designated by the owner. These maps should show major listed hazardous sites at least for a 3-mile radius. A detailed map of the site should show photo locations and findings of interest. Any assertions will be supported with historic air photos or topographic (contour) maps or other documents to give a clear picture of the process of the investigation. Pages of data from government sources will not suffice here although they are sometimes used as padding in an otherwise weak report.
A Level one assessment report generally follows the guidelines of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). The report will take from two to four weeks or more depending on the size of the site and its complexity. The cost will usually begin at around $2000.
Besides land transaction records at the courthouse, cities and counties maintain jacket files and property records pertaining to land use permitting and complaint files. Local health has records concerning complaints and known hazards to the environment and health. Public works and planning files may contain valuable facts.
State sources are generally accessible by the Internet and contain information about known and suspected hazardous sites, existing waste disposal sites, locations of leaking underground tanks and hazardous waste generators of all sizes. Water well information in your area can be particularly valuable.
Federal Government sources are many. A complete level one assessment must include knowledge of the information available in the vast universe of federal government files. Only a few of the available federal databases follow.
Detailed information will be required on contaminated sites closest to the subject property. Every assessor has trusted local and regional contacts within the government who talk relatively freely about cleanup sites. This information is after all public. Such information as groundwater flow direction and speed must be gained about the subject. The size and chemical composition of nearby plumes that are being tracked by regional cleanup companies are invaluable. Predicting potential affects on the subject property must be part of the report. The ability to find the most reliable information on dificult or sensitive sites will distinguish the best assessors from the rest.
You will seldom get to see an example of an assessment report unless you retain an assessor for your own property or know someone who has had this done. The information is private to the owner of the report. The information contained in the report is used by owners and lenders to assess risk and to set value of property. Also the report may indicate the need for a Level 2 assessment if something of interest is indicated.
Although it is always the desire of the owner that the level one assessment will disclose all hazards existing on the site, this is not possible. A report can only document the observations and findings of the writer at the time of the assessment. The nonexistence of all possible hazards can only be guaranteed by excavating the entire site, usually an impractical idea. As long as the assessor is experienced, respected in the environmental community and diligent in the work, your obligation is met under the law.
