What is a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment?
A Phase II ESA is a soils and/or groundwater investigation, or a “down and dirty” way of getting “the dope” on real estate. It involves sampling and analyses of soils and groundwater. This could range from a number of drilled boreholes or test pits advanced around an underground storage tank (UST), to an extensive investigation over large tracts of the site to map contaminated soils or groundwater. Fewer people are familiar with a Phase II ESA, which is undertaken as a follow-up intrusive study when a Phase I ESA reveals sources of contamination. Perhaps this is because, statistically, fewer than 30% of Canadian properties have historically revealed potential problems that would warrant further investigation. However, for those properties that do, investment in a Phase II ESA is well worth the cost incurred, for it could reveal gremlins in the subsurface you wouldnt otherwise have a clue about, which could directly affect the market price of a property!
