Environmental studies phases 1 and 2

When purchasing commercial land, banking institutions are increasingly requiring the buyer to provide an environmental site assessment. Since 2013, Bill 72 on Environmental Quality (CEQA) has required the characterization and remediation of contaminated land upon a change of use or permanent cessation of activity at a site.

When the need for an environmental assessment arises, EXPERTBUILDING can help you in various situations such as :

• The purchase or sale of a commercial property requiring an appraisal;

• The purchase or sale of a multi-unit commercial building requiring an appraisal;

• Or following an oil spill on your commercial property.

Services also offered by our experts :

• Price estimation for the environmental analysis of a land or commercial site;
• Establish the different procedures to do the environmental analysis properly.

What is a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)?

The Phase I ESA identifies the presence of actual or potential risk of soil and groundwater contamination at the site from past and present activities. The Phase I ESA allows us to locate locations likely to be contaminated and to identify potential contaminants.

The Phase I ESA shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements of CSA Z768-01.

Therefore, all available information on the history of the land such as : past activities, municipal complaints, government reports, topographic maps, archival photos, aerial photos, satellite images, etc. must be traced in order to detect any past or future contamination risks. Finally, the analysis of this information, a site visit and a survey of local people will allow us to evaluate if a phase 2 environmental assessment is necessary.

What is the Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA)?

If the Phase 1 study concludes that there is a risk of contamination, then a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment should be undertaken.

In accordance with CSA Z769-00, soil and groundwater samples will be collected to confirm or deny the presence of contaminants on the site. The analysis of these samples will make it possible to define the nature and degree of contamination according to the generic criteria for soils and groundwater established by the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les Changements climatiques (MELCC). In addition, our team will proceed to a characterization of the soils and will be able to carry out the stratigraphic profile of the ground.