20C — April 26 - May 9, 2013 — Spring Preview — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
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E nvironmental C onsulting
By Mark Hasting, Hillmann Consulting A Case Study in Loss Prevention
P
roperty managers need to be vigilant. This case study focuses on a prop-
ardous metals. The property manager in this case was un- aware of the extent of chemi- cals in use on the property. The tenant of the property was in financial distress and eventually abandoned the site. What was left on the site were open pits of strong acids and bases, numerous 500 gallon totes and 55-gal- lon drums of waste. These drums and totes were un- labeled, making disposal of the waste impossible without further investigation. The property sat in this condition
until someone reported the conditions to the state. Once the conditions were reported, things progressed quickly. The state notified the EPA and county HAZMAT team and, by the following week, the property owner was told to begin the cleanup or the state would take control of the cleanup. When Hillmann mobilized, the first step was to secure the building. One of the doors was rigged to open from the outside which could have allowed for unauthorized ac-
cess. Once the building was secure, Hillmann mitigated the immediate hazards; the open pits and vats of strong acid and bases. Some of the pits were surrounded by a 2-4 inch lip and no guardrail, presenting a serious safety hazard. There was no run- ning water available so if anyone had fallen into the pits there would have been no way to wash off the corrosive liquid and they would have suffered serious, if not fatal, chemical burns. In order to eliminate this risk, the waste
in these pits was removed and placed in totes for subsequent disposal. Next, the long process of identifying the waste in the drums and totes began. Each container had to be sampled. The workers had to be in a high level of PPE which increased both the cost and duration of the cleanup. Once the waste was identified, the disposal process began. The cost of the disposal was in excess of $100,000. After the waste was re- moved, the process of inves- tigating the site to determine if there was a release to the environment began. Soil and groundwater samples were collected throughout the site and the results were compared to regulatory standards. Once the site was given a clean bill of health by the regulatory bodies, the property owner was able to receive the CO and re-lease the property. This was an extreme case, not all tenants pose such a large risk, but almost all busi- nesses pose some risk of envi- ronmental impact. Hillmann has conducted investigations on a multitude of tenant-oc- cupied spaces; from a dry cleaner with a significant tet- rachloroethylene release, to an outpatient surgical facility with an emergency generator that had a release, to multi story residential buildings with improperly closed under- ground storage tanks. One of the most important lessons we can learn from this case study is that it is imperative to insure that ten- ants are properly maintaining a property and complying with all applicable regula- tory requirements. If that would have been done for this property, the cost for cleanup and the delay in re-leasing the property would have been significantly less. Mark Hasting is a li- censed site remediation professional in the State of New Jersey and has over 14 years of experi- ence in the investigation and remediation of con- taminated sites. Hasting has worked on projects in many states including California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. n
erty that was utilized for the prepara- tion/manu- f a c t u r e o f metal parts. While this may sound i nn o c u o u s the manufac-
Mark Hasting
turing process includes the use of liquids with high and low pH, hexavalent chromium and cyanides, and other haz-
Your Property. Our Priority. ENVIRONMENTAL & ENGINEERING CONSULTING SERVICES
HILLMANN CONSULTING, LLC is a full-service Environmental and Engineering Consulting firm providing an array of customized Environmental Health and Occupational Safety, Remediation Support, Sustainability Consulting, Environmental Due Diligence, Geology and Laboratory services.
For more information contact us at (800) 232-4326 Or visit our website at: www.hillmannconsulting.com
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