Environmental Assessments
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments – Statement of Qualifications
PES routinely performs Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) as described in American Society of Testing Material (ASTM) Standard E 1527-05. These evaluations may quantify a potential property owner for the ‘innocent landowner defense’ provided under CERCLA environmental law. Broadly, this defense states that if the potential landowner’s environmental professional conducts a due diligence search of a property for environmental contaminants and qualitatively describes the contamination, the potential landowner cannot be held liable for the clean-up costs of those materials.
Mr. Daniel J. March, PES Principal, has prepared over 65 Phase I ESAs in his 40 year professional environmental career. ESA sites include a wide variety of industrial, commercial, and conservation properties in urban and rural settings. Industrial sites include textile, manufacturing, assembly, and chemical production facilities. Commercial sites include car dealerships, office buildings, and gas stations. Conservation sites include over 8,500 acres for five North Carolina State Parks, plus Land Trusts, and National Forests.
Phase I Activities include:
- Evaluate chemicals used in an industrial, agricultural, or commercial process and identifying potential for migration to soil or groundwater.
- Conduct title searches for environmental liens on the subject and adjacent property.
- Interview current and past property owners concerning activities on the property.
- Develop area maps from geographical information systems – an economical alternative to surveying.
- Calculate the mass or volume of potential pollutants and compare to regulatory threshold amounts.
Phase I and Phase II Experience includes:
- Cone Mills Textile Plant – Conducted 65 subsurface soil environmental contaminant evaluations for metals and organic compounds from cloth dyeing operations and PCB contamination from transformers. Produced reports for Brownfield status through NC DENR Brownfields Program.
- Deltec Homes – Phase I report for pre-manufactured housing plant. Collected and analyzed groundwater monitoring well samples to evaluate impact of upgradient electronics plant.
- NC State Property Office – Phase I report for 2,400 acres for inclusion in State wildlife refuge in Morganton, NC.
- Kimmel & Associates – Phase I report for office buildings in Asheville for purchase transaction.