All Forum Posts by: Lawrence P. Schnapf

soil cleanup can range from $20K-$50K depending on the extent of the contaminated soil. If groundwater is contaminated, the costs could exceed $100K. I once represented a homeowner where the cleanup cost over $400K but that was largely b/c the tank contractor went crazy overexcavating the site. 

heating oil tanks are NOT regulated by EPA. you have to look at your state cleanup standards. 20,000 ppm is significant but the good news is that heating oil tends to be very viscous (unless you were using no. 2 oil) so it may not migrate very far. the cost dramatically increases if you have groundwater contamination and the groundwater is used for drinking water. you need to engage a environmental consultant, not a tank contractor. Depending on the state, there may be some grants available to help pay for the costs. 

wetlands maps are inherently unreliable. if you want to be sure, engage a biologist to perform a jurisdictional wetlands determination (this is based on three specific factors-hydrology, soils and vegetation). it is also possible the wetlands may not be federally-regulated but subject to state regulatory jurisdiction. your state may also have buffer areas that cannot be developed to protect wetlands.  

in addition to waste oil tank, there could potential PCBs from leaky lifts and impacts from motor disposal well or septic system if was used at site.  

the purpose of home inspection is to let you walk away if there are unacceptable conditions. happens all the time. you can negotiate price reduction if the defect can be cured. In fact, home inspections are often used to drive down pricing...inspector exaggerates price of defects and seller is somewhat committed to buyer and is loathe to put home back on market--especially if they need to sell quickly for a variety of reasons  

candles could produce discoloration from incomplete combustion. The last (bottom) photo looks like carbon dust. why dont you have that material sampled? has A/C filter been cleaned/replaced lately?

any lead abatement work needs to be conducted by licensed professionals...

it is not necessary to delead a a building to comply with the federal LBP rules though some local jurisdictions require certain uses such as day care to be "lead-free" meaning that no lead paint is present-even the underlying layers of paint. the customary technique used in phase 1 assessments are lead swabs but they do not detect buried layers of lead paint. XRF would need to be used to declare a building "lead free". 

and just to be clear, the boundaries of a federal superfund site are determined by how far the contamination has migrated and is not necessarily limited to the source of the contamination. there can be groundwater plumes that can extend for several miles so that all of the properties sitting above the zone of contamination would be considered to be located within the superfund site but that are not responsible for the contamination but simply impacted. very different calculus than if the parcel you are considering is a source of the contamination  

Many clients have acquired superfund sites for redevelopment. this is a very site-specific assessment with lots of issues that are probably not suitable for a general discussion post.However, some of the factors such as:

1. was the site remediated under EPA or state superfund?

2. is the cleanup completed?

2. is there residual contamination remaining on the property.

3. who is the seller?

4. will they provide an indemnity?

5. Are there any responsible parties seeking cost recovery?

6. will the regulator be willing to enter into a settlement agreement with the buyer to provide liability protection?

you probably wont be able to do your own sampling but will have to rely on the public record.