Assessment of environmental impacts has become a reality for companies whose facilities, operations, or products intersect with the physical world. Environmental site characterization and Phase II ESAs are often conducted to determine whether environmental impacts to real property have occurred or to characterize and delineate such impacts. Environmental site characterization studies are often a legal necessity and generally occur during real estate transactions or following an event that caused impacts that can only be fully understood by conducting a proper environmental investigation.

In many instances, Phase II ESAs are conducted following the identification of a Recognized Environmental Condition (REC) in a Phase I ESA conducted on the property. The purpose of a Phase II ESA is to evaluate the presence (or absence) of petroleum products, heavy metals, chemicals, or other hazardous substances on a site. Although most Phase II ESAs are conducted in accordance with the ASTM E1903 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Process, designing and implementing the scope of each investigation requires highly trained and experienced professionals that understand site conditions and how to satisfy regulatory compliance.

Environmental investigations for soil and groundwater are often common on sites where known or perceived contamination exists. These investigations involve various assessment methods and typically require environmental drilling to obtain subsurface soil and groundwater samples. Thorough assessment and analysis are critical when making recommendations and helping owners, buyers, and agencies understand liabilities and business risks.

One of the most common mistakes we see when conducting environmental site investigations is hiring a consultant that lacks an understanding of site characteristics, local regulations, and existing regional environmental issues. Hiring the wrong team to complete this work can result in incomplete assessments and misguided recommendations that ultimately result in additional expenses and failed transactions.

Our team of licensed environmental professionals has the experience and knowledge to develop the most appropriate scope for every investigation. Before a scope of work is designed, we gather an understanding of the site variables that will ultimately determine how the investigation is completed and the cost of the job. These variables include contaminant sources, chemicals of concern, geologic conditions, and groundwater depth/flow. It takes an experienced firm like McGinley to know how to effectively take these variables and conduct a cost-efficient and satisfactory investigation. This experience is attributed to our performance of thousands of environmental site characterization studies on a variety of industrial and commercial properties across the West.