©2016 Saratoga Photographer.com
Every building site, redevelopment, and manufacturing company faces a complex set of regulatory requirements at the federal, state and local levels designed to protect the environment and keep people safe from contaminants.
Even the public sector and green spaces like trails, parks and cemeteries must comply.
This is the challenge of environmental consulting, a highly specialized, professional field that is thriving around Glens Falls and points north. Companies like C.T. Male Associates and the Chazen Companies navigate the ever-changing regulatory process as they seek permits, perform research and testing, and resolve when and how a project should best proceed as contaminants or environmental issues are identified.
Trending now is the redevelopment of idle or abandoned parcels and their structures. The professionals call these areas brownfields, as opposed to undeveloped or greenfield real estate, according to Dan Reilly, division manager of environmental services for C.T. Male Associates.
“Brownfield projects are important to the growth and redevelopment of New York and can have a direct impact on the revitalization of an area’s economy,” Reilly said. “We prefer to be part of the overall cleanup or remediation of properties to put them back into productive use.”
C.T. Male is working now with the town of Fort Edward and an interested developer in helping turn a former manufacturing facility into a grocery store, Reilly said.
What is good for the project is very good for the community, the tax coffers, the developer and the environment. What had been useless land has a new purpose. It is put back on the tax rolls. The community gets a lift.
“Redevelopment programs help with the energy of the area and pride in the community,” said Arlette St. Romain, director of due diligence and brownfield investigations for the Chazen Companies.
Her firm partnered on such projects as turning an old paper mill in Warrensburg into a park and a former car wash into a much needed parking lot downtown.
Environmental consultants are hired to meet the development needs of the property owner or its buyer while complying with the strict standards of the regulators. Since the 1980s the Environmental Protection Agency has made the purchaser of real property liable for any contaminants on the property, according to the web site www.brownfieldaction.org.
An environmental site assessment, or ESA, is the starting point for a potential buyer of brownfield property, said St. Romain. The ESA helps them assess potential liability for the cleanup of contaminants in navigating complex state regulations under the umbrella of tough federal standards.
There are phases to an ESA.
“Phase I researches potential petroleum products and hazardous substance contamination,” she said. “What was the land used for? Were there spills? Are there underground tanks? Where is waste water flowing?”
Phase II relates to identifying contaminants through soil and groundwater collection and analysis, plus asbestos and lead testing of any structures on the property slated for demolition. Site plans and construction timelines may have to change if contaminants are present or there are issues involving stormwater management or endangered species.
There are many kinds of scenarios when developing a brownfields property. So in performing due diligence for the client, the environmental consultant works “like a detective” to determine the history of the land in question, said St. Romain.
“We have a convenience store now, but what was it in the past?” said St. Romain. “We look at aerial photos, topographic maps and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, research databases for spills, do site visits, and talk to the site owners, occupants and tenants, going back as far as we can.”
St. Romain said while it is common for a buyer to order a Phase I ESA prior to purchase, more and more owners are having these studies performed before putting the parcel on the market.
“Sellers are not required to obtain a Phase I ESA,” she said. “But their goal is often to be able to present a clean site to the buying market.”
Reilly said that advancements in technology make it possible to better understand the scope of contaminants in water and soil through improved tools to identify them.
“While we can detect more contaminants today than decades ago, we also have to put the readings into perspective for the lay person so that they are not alarmed,” said Reilly.
In other words, looking for contaminants that have been there in the water for decades will surely be identified. But that doesn’t necessarily mean an increased health risk.
“We believe that in the long run it is better for the public to understand,” Reilly said, “and we have a professional obligation to maintain perspective.”
Environmental compliance is not necessarily a one-time thing that, once attained, need not be maintained. Industrial compliance, for example, is ongoing, constantly changing, and requiring periodic inspections and reporting anywhere from once a day to once a year.
“We can look over the client’s shoulder to help them feel confident that they are doing the reporting right,” Reilly said. “Or we can be much more active and manage the environmental compliance program for them.”
Environmental consultants help clients navigate complex regulations, reach their property development goals, and take part in revitalization efforts that are boosting the North Country’s economy.
Moreover, the Brownfields Cleanup Program in particular offers financial benefits to the parties in the agreement. Property owners can get tax credit incentives to investigate, remediate and revitalize idle parcels. St. Romain said reforms in 2015 updated tax credits for the developer and that the credits can be transferrable.