What Property Owners Need to Know About Contaminated Land Assessments

There's a lot of joy in purchasing property or embarking on a development initiative, which is why contaminated land is one issue that can transform that joy into an expensive nightmare. Unfortunately, many property owners never think about what might be hidden in the ground until they're knee deep into a venture, at which point it becomes far too complicated.

Contaminated land is not merely an environmental issue, but also a legal issue, a financial risk, and in many cases, project on stopper. Knowing when and why assessments are important can save property owners from costly setbacks down the road.

Why Contamination Happens In The First Place

Contaminated land occurs when the soil, and by extension the groundwater, is infiltrated with harmful substances. This happens over time, usually by former industry activity, improper waste disposal or certain agricultural methods. Thus, properties that were once factories, petrol stations, dry cleaners and working farmland are at greater risk.

The catch is, land is not always contaminated when it shows obvious signs of being so. A parcel might appear perfectly fine on the surface while masquerading hazardous material underneath. Therefore, former uses of land are more important than current appearances, which means that property owners must look into the history of the land before any purchase or development work begins.

When Property Owners Should Be Concerned

Not every piece of property warrants extensive contamination findings, but certain situations mandate professional contaminated land assessment services. For example, property transactions are vulnerable if they're commercial or industrial. If paperwork shows the land was once home to a chemical storage or manufacturing facility, or if there are fuel storage tanks, it's time to assess.

Development projects add another layer of concern. Council regulations often require assessments prior to granting permits, especially for residential developments on land that was once commercial. Those who skip this requirement may run into preventable permit delays down the road and worse, expensive remediation efforts when they should have taken care of it in the beginning.

Despite this, even non-high-risk properties possess few surprises up their sleeve. Old orchards could contain arsenic from pesticide use; railway land might be covered in coal dust.

Properties adjacent to mining projects could have high levels of heavy metals. Contamination risk exists regardless of previous use; it is not always obvious from current perspective alone.

What Happens During An Assessment

Generally, an assessment includes a desktop investigation. This means that environmental professionals will look into historical assessments, aerial photographs, and council paperwork to assess the history of the site and determine if there was ever a reason for concern.

The next stage is physical assessment. Professionals walk the property to look for tell-tale signs: discoloration in the soil, vegetation that looks stressed or absent, suspicious smells and signs of previous buildings (since everything goes somewhere). They'll look for drainage and runoff patterns as well as what is near the site, land use next door that might run groundwater contaminated materials into the subject property.

The next step is the most invasive: soil sampling and groundwater sampling. Boreholes are drilled into strategic positions around the property, both longitudinally and laterally, which allows professionals to collect samples from different depths. Depending on the size of the site and the history, they will send their findings to a laboratory to find out what contaminants, if any, were found and what contamination levels were also present. More of this is better; otherwise, missing contamination will rear its ugly head at a later date.

Results: Assessing Them

Laboratories come back with reports of chemical concentrations against guidelines provided by regulations. These guidelines vary based upon what standards need to be met. For example, residential properties have stricter guidelines since people are there longer, and children might play in the soil.

But hitting guidelines does not mean it's all over. For example, some naturally occurring substances show higher levels through testing without indicating contamination at all. Other factors might be found but aren't deemed troubling based upon proposed land use and site conditions.

Thus, proper reporting puts things in context. Professionals compare findings with

appropriate standards and assess exposure pathways based upon the initial site inspection. General findings derive from laboratory results themselves but taking the bigger picture into account helps property owners avoid being alarmist or minimizing a serious situation unnecessarily.

Financial and Legal Consequences

There's no denying that contaminated land is costly. Remediation can vary from moderately low to incredibly high depending upon the number of contaminants and size of impact zone.

Property owners who discover contamination through testing after they've already purchased property may discover unexpected costs that were not factored into their initial investment.

Legal liability is another factor. Property owners can be held responsible for contamination they did not create, especially in situations where seepage occurs off the property or neighboring assessments are consistently questionable. Certain jurisdictions have contaminated land registers that impact property value and future sale ability, For instance, if this information was known from the start, the property owner could have avoided being liable for something beyond their control.

On top of this, insurance coverage rarely accounts for contamination unless an environmental policy exists and even then, they're few and far between. This means property owners are 100 percent on their own with cleanup and other damages that might result from discovered contamination.

Proceeding With Confidence

Assessments for contaminated land are not merely hoops to jump through according to jurisdictional requirements; they're ways to protect investments and avoid damaging revelations later on. Assessing for contaminated land is a nominal fee compared to what efforts and extensive work would cost if land was discovered polluted at a later time.

Property owners who take the initiative find themselves empowered as they can negotiate purchase price based upon conditions discovered during assessment, better project budgets realized and fewer delays with permits, they need to report findings, after all. Most importantly, property owners can sleep better at night knowing what's going on instead of second-guessing their discoveries in the ground.

If property owners want to make the best possible decisions for their assets, they need all the information they can get, and that starts with understanding what's going on in the ground professionally.