Illinois Environmental Site Assessments & Remediation

An Environmental Site Screen can provide information detrimental to the due diligence phase of commercial and light industrial property transactions. This high-level risk assessment reviews Federal, State and Local databases to identify underground storage tanks (UST), hazardous materials handling and disposal or chemical spill history at and adjacent to a subject property.

Illinois Environmental Group provides thorough Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) initiated by lenders, buyers and sellers of commercial and industrial properties in order to identify environmental risk and liability. A comprehensive examination of past commercial/industrial activity and land use on and adjacent to a property along with any hazardous materials processing, storage and handling, USTs, spill history along with historic and open regulatory compliance cases for the subject site and neighboring sites that may have implications on the subject property. Review of historic city and county aerials, applicable fire insurance maps, United States Geologic Survey (USGS), US Fish and Wildlife Service provide additional insight and can reveal otherwise hidden environmental conditions to high risk for lenders or too costly or burdensome to mitigate.

A Phase I ESA includes an onsite walkthrough with an environmental professional who looks for conditions indicating potential environmental issues that were previously unknown or undocumented.

All Phase I ESA reports exceed the applicable ASTM standard (ASTM E1527-13) accepted by lenders and the Small Business Administration.

Occasionally, a Recognized Environmental Concern (REC) is identified in a Phase I ESA indicating an environmental concern that can’t be adequately explained resulting in the need for further investigation, inspection and possibly sampling of groundwater, soils or other materials for contamination. The client’s intentions for the site will dictate the scope of the Phase II which may be to confirm that no contamination exists, delineate the extent of contamination or develop data necessary to navigate Federal and/or State Regulatory Agency programs.

In some cases, a project may require an assessment that does not require the depth and expense of a formal Phase I ESA. The Small Business Administration (SBA) developed a less stringent assessment acceptable to them for some types of loans associated with low risk properties.

Proposed projects or developments must identify associated environmental, social and economic impacts that can be addressed early in the project planning stages. This Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool that can reduce cost and time of project implementation and design, identifying cost effective treatment, cleanup or disposal options as well as navigate applicable laws and regulations.

Soil and groundwater contamination from chemicals and hazardous materials associated with current and past land uses can pose significant risk to the environment and human health. Gathering defensible scientific data regarding soil and groundwater contamination and remediation involves following stringent regulatory requirements. Illinois Environmental Group has experience in the development and implementation of soil and groundwater remediation projects including groundwater monitoring well installation, sampling and horizontal/vertical assessment of contamination based on sampling data.

Once a site has been appropriately assessed, any contamination characterized, and the size and extent of the problem identified, IEG professionals work with clients to develop a plan and budget to achieve the desired goal whether that be full remediation and elimination of contamination or stabilization and sequestration all in an effort to receive a determination of No Further Remediation from the Illinois EPA. Such assessments and planning are compiled into a comprehensive Site Investigation Report for use with Agency coordination and approvals.

Illinois Environmental Group professionals navigate this voluntary program administered by the IEPA Bureau of Land provides as the liaison to regulatory officials coordinating on behalf of Remediation Applicants to garner approval of a workable plan necessary to achieve a No Further Remediation (NFR) letter. Remediation objectives identified in the Site Investigation Report utilize the Tiered Approach to Corrective Action Objectives (TACO) procedure’s three tiers for exposures from soils through ingestion or inhalation along with ingestion through groundwater contaminated by soil. IEG offers guidance and design with engineered controls for addressing contamination along with planning and partnered services for appropriate excavation, handling and proper disposal of contaminated materials. Implementation of remediation plans addressing identified objectives finalized with demonstrative closure sampling and reporting to the Agency.

An NFR can be obtained as a comprehensive or focused letter whether used to assist in a property transfer or conduct cleanup and remediation for a specific land use as intended by the owner.

Illinois Environmental Group conducts a confidential evaluation of compliance with applicable environmental Federal, State and Local laws and regulations with respect to necessary multimedia permits/authorizations, inspections, maintenance, monitoring and recordkeeping for a facility’s operations. Such audits may be part of acquisition due diligence, expansion project planning, customer/client or internal sustainability programs such as ISO14000/14001.

An independent evaluation of a facility’s compliance status and level of risk of compliance enforcement action can provide invaluable tools to management tasked with making informed business decisions regarding prioritization of compliance-related activities and expenditures associated with achieving and maintaining regulatory compliance.