Due Diligence and Compliance Audits for a Fortune 500 Industrial Laundry

Due Diligence and Compliance Audits for a Fortune 500 Industrial Laundry

Project Highlights
  • Multiple Phase I environmental site assessments(ESA) throughout the United States
  • Several Phase II investigations conducted due to the identification of recognized environmental conditions and/or historical recognized environmental conditions (REC)
  • Lead and asbestos characterization (HREC)
  • At several sites, identified RECs and/or HRECs, which led to contractual and monetary set-asides to account for potential site investigation and remediation and/or future regulatory oversight
  • Researching aerial photographs, fire insurance maps, soil conservation surveys, city records, environmental liens, and environmental permits
  • Reviewing other available environmental information and reports

EEC Environmental (EEC) was contracted by a client who owns and manages a large industrial laundry chain that requires the highest level of due diligence prior to any acquisition, lease, or property purchase. The laundry firm’s environmental managers and legal staff require consultants to perform due diligence well beyond that required under the USEPA’s All Appropriate Inquiry Rule (AAI) or American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. The client commissioned EEC to perform the ESAs to obtain liability protection and meet environmental due diligence requirements on all properties that may be acquired by the company, whether for lease, sale, or rental. These assessments included the following:

  • Inspecting sites to identify potential environmental liabilities, such as a vent or fill pipes; locate underground storage tanks (USTs), transformers, or capacitors; and identify potential polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) sources, asbestos-containing materials, hazardous chemical storage, and other sources of environmental contamination.
  • Interviewing property managers to determine historical land use and activities.
  • Reviewing regulatory environmental files maintained by state and local governments.
  • Reviewing regulatory environmental databases, such as the National Priorities List, State Hazardous Wastes Sites list, and Leaking Underground Storage Tanks list.
  • Reviewing neighboring properties to evaluate the potential for off-site contamination.

Once all appropriate inquiries were completed, EEC personnel prepared written reports in accordance with AAI and ASTM Standard Practice E-1527 and the client/lender’s requirements. EEC also evaluates each site, in accordance with ASTM E2600, potential vapor encroachment conditions (VECs) at each property. EEC’s reports detailed information gathered during the assessment, summarize issues of REC, presented conclusions, and provide recommendations.

When findings from a preliminary site assessment indicated the potential or likely presence of RECs or HRECs, EEC submitted a written scopes of work and cost estimates to the client for subsequent subsurface investigations. Upon client approval, EEC performed the investigations utilizing the most cost-effective and technically sound investigative methods. Several investigative methods have been utilized, including geoprobe, hollow stem auger, hydropunch, and hand auger.

At several sites, environmental concerns were discovered during the preliminary assessment phase and subsurface investigations performed have resulted in the borrower and/or bank determining that the potential liabilities were too great to warrant the risk of a loan approval for the site.

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