Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase 1 ESA)

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Anderson Environmental Inc provides Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESA’s) for industrial and commercial industries, real estate evaluations/valuations, oil, gas and mining.  Contaminated Site Assessment is important to manage risk.  We have conducted Phase I ESA’s through much of Alberta and service Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Athabasca, Peace River and offer our services throughout the whole of Alberta. We provide Environmental Site Assessment services to: Commercial, Industrial, Real Estate, Agriculture, Mining, and the Upstream Oil and Gas industries throughout Alberta.  We have experience assessing a wide range of sites from gas stations, industrial buildings, metal smelters and industrial manufacturing facilities, asbestos, railway lines and yards, gas and oil sites, pipelines, agricultural land, and residential land.

Our site assessments are undertaken in accordance with;

  • Canadian Standards Association (CSA) document Z768-01 (2012) Phase I Environmental Site Assessment; and
  • the Alberta Environmental Site Assessment Standard. March 01, 2016.

The Alberta Environmental Site Assessment Standard covers both Phase I ESA’s and Phase II ESA’s and Remediation.  Our ESA’s utilize Tier 1 and Tier 2 Guidelines, including guideline modification and human health based risk assessment, where appropriate.  We are Certified Environmental Site Assessors (Phase  and Phase 2) – Associated Environmental Site Assessors of Canada (AESAC National Certification Programme).

The role of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is to assist in reducing uncertainty about potential environmental liabilities and in making informed decisions about property transactions. Due diligence reports are also undertaken for a range of clients to provide a baseline of conditions before a development occurs.  In commercial real estate transactions, many lenders require a detailed Phase I Environmental Site Assessment before a loan can be approved.  This process is essential to help protect your investment by undertaking due diligence to identify any former land uses on or near to the site which may have caused the site to become contaminated.  This is important as when the site is purchased generally any contamination present becomes the property of the new owner and any associated clean-up costs are often borne by the new owner.

We have completed reports as requested by for many of the big lenders such as RBC, TD, BDC, Scotiabank, and CIBC to name a few

The four core components to a phase one assessment include the following.

  • Record Reviews:  A thorough records review is undertaken which includes: county or city records, fire department records of spills, underground storage tank registrars, ERIS Report, aerial photographic interpretation, topographic and geological/soils mapping, well records, and evaluation and searches of other records where appropriate to reveal any former uses of the property could have caused environmental damage or site contamination.
  • Interviews:  Abundant information regarding the actual uses and on-site activities can often be gained by interviewing past and current tenants of the property. Interviews are undertaken where possible of current property owners, neighbours and other parties such as county officers, city officers, or fire department officers to gain further background information.
  • Site Inspection:  A detailed site inspection is undertaken to determine any signs of potential or actual contamination.
  • Reporting:  A detailed report is provided which outlines in detail the potential for contamination on the site and identifies potential risks.

Due diligence reports are also undertaken for a range of clients to provide a baseline of conditions before a development occurs.In commercial real estate transactions, many lenders require a detailed Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment before a loan can be approved.  This process is essential to help protect your investment by proving you have completed your due diligence down the road.  If any issues are found it may help prevent you purchasing a property with lots of issues you had no idea were present or make you aware of issues that may need to be cleared up before purchase.

As experienced Environmental Consultants and Biological Consultants we can undertake a range of assessments to assist our clients throughout Alberta.  As a small company we are client focussed and cost effective.

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