Detailed Contamination Assessment & Site Auditing
 

Contamination of land or groundwater can pose a heavy legal, financial and environmental burden on the property owner. If you own land or plan to develop land, you need to consider if it could be contaminated. In the land redevelopment process, services of environmental specialists are required during the following stages:

Pre-purchase due diligence – It is important to know what you are buying into and be able to identify and quantify the risks and opportunities associated with contamination;

Rezoning of the site – As the consent authority, the Council needs to be satisfied that the site is suitable for the proposed use or can be made suitable through remediation and would direct the applicant to demonstrate such suitability;

Development approvals – Councils often place a condition on the development consent for the project, relating to the site being suitable for the proposed use and to the auditor issuing the Site Audit Statement;

Construction – If contaminated, the site would need to be remediated and validated. In addition, environmental services may be required to design and implement control measures to abate environmental impacts during remediation and construction as well as lead consultation/liaison with stakeholders; and

Post development – In some cases, the remediation & management strategy adopted for the site requires ongoing monitoring.

The Site Audit Statement is based on an independent review of a Consultant’s site assessment, which may be one or more of the report types outlined above (eg. Phase 1 ESA, Phase 2 ESA). The level of site assessment required to obtain a Site Audit Statement is quite rigorous, and at the very least a Phase 2 ESA is generally required with no unresolved contamination issues. In case that there are contamination issues a Remediation Action Plan should be added to the process in order to delineate the strategy adopted to remediate the site before a Phase 2 ESA be submitted. Environmental Investigations has conducted numerous site assessments for the purpose of obtaining a Site Audit Statement.

Generally, the Phase 1 ESA, Phase 2 ESA, Remediation Action Plan and Site Audit Statement could be described as follows:

Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (Phase 1 ESA):

The scope of the Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (Phase 1 ESA) work is generally based on the requirements of the client and other stake holders. A variety of stake holders may be involved including vendors, purchasers, financiers, property developers planning authorities, and government agencies.

The objective of the preliminary (Phase 1 ESA) assessment is to assess the potential for site contamination (environmental concerns) and off-site environmental concerns associated with the current and/or past activities within the site or surrounding areas.

The assessment allows the stake holders to become aware of the potential for site contamination and provides necessary information to develop a sampling and testing plan (detailed assessment). A preliminary environmental assessment will typically involve some or all of the following:

  • A site walkover inspection;

  • A site history search through land titles, aerial photographs, and interviews with local persons and/or Councils (or other relevant authorities);

  •  Review of soils and geological maps;

  • Search of available records from Work Cover and/or Department of Land & Water Conservation; and

  • Selective soil sampling and testing (if required).

The outcome of the site history review is a conclusion of whether there is a potential for site contamination to exist or not, and if so, whether further site assessment is required in the form of a soil and/or groundwater investigation. The need for and scope of subsequent investigation is usually based on the sensitivity of the future site use - for example, residential, open space, or commercial/industrial.

Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment (Phase 2 ESA):

The detailed Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment (Phase 2 ESA) should be carried out if the preliminary assessment (Phase 1 ESA) indicates that there are areas of environmental concern within the site. The objective of the detailed assessment is to:

  • Provide comprehensive information on the contaminants present within the site, including location, concentration, extent and leachability (if required);

  • Identify potential impacts on the environment and/or human health, including any off-site impacts; and

  • Provide sufficient information for the preparation of a Remedial Action Plan, (if required), which, upon successful implementation, would render the site suitable for the proposed end use;

Based on Environmental Investigations knowledge, it is often an advantage to the client, in terms of future remediation costs, to fully delineate the areas of soil requiring remediation prior to commencing remediation.

Remediation Action Plan

Remediation systems for the treatment of soil and groundwater are designed based on site conditions, soil and/or water characteristics, characteristics of the contaminant and cost effectiveness. Environmental Investigations provides its clients with a suitable remediation strategy that meets current EPA endorsements.

The Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is prepared in accordance with current EPA guidelines and will generally outline the following:

  • The remediation goal, which will normally be to ensure that the site will be suitable for the proposed end use;

  • Details of the remediation areas and volumes expected;

  • Details of the remediation procedure(s) to be implemented, with the resultant expected outcome ;

  • The environmental safeguards required during and upon completion of the remediation works;

  • The necessary approvals and licenses required by the regulatory authorities The Occupation Health & Safety requirements for workers associated with the remediation; and

  • The methods to be adopted in validating the success of the remediation.

Environmental Investigations has prepared numerous of Remediation Action Plans aimed at providing the best cost-effective solution for its clients.

Site Audit Statement

A Site Audit Statement is a report provided by an Environmental Auditor (Contaminated Land) which states information reviewed by the auditor and provides current contamination status of a site and the types of land use or development acceptable for the site.

The Site Audit Statement is based on an independent review of a Consultant’s site assessment, which may be one or more of the report types outlined above (eg. Phase 1 ESA, Phase 2 ESA). The level of site assessment required to obtain a Site Audit Statement is quite rigorous and at the very least a Phase 2 ESA is generally required with no unresolved contamination issues. Environmental Investigations has conducted a large number of site assessments for the purpose of obtaining a Site Audit Statement.