Local Experts Weigh in on What Makes Phase I ESAs Unique in Fort Lauderdale

1. If the site is within the city limits of Ft. Lauderdale, contending with the groundwater plume stemming from Port Everglades can have wide-spread varying impacts across the area.
2. Broward County sites (like Ft. Lauderdale) require one to be familiar with the FDEP and BCDEP databases in order to properly research sites. While ERIS gives links to the FDEP database documents, the BCDEP database must be independently searched. The county database has more or different documents than the state database, especially in reference to dry cleaners.
3. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for the City of Ft. Lauderdale must be emailed to a list of certain city employees, as there is no central online portal for FOIA requests. Through trial and error, as well as the years of experience having worked in the city, experts will often compile a list to assist if someone is trying to ghostwrite a report for a Ft. Lauderdale site, or has difficulty in requesting FOIAs.
4. A common occurrence unique to Ft. Lauderdale is when a property is on a major waterway, ERIS reports may have dozens of Emergency Response Notification System (ERNS) or Spills listings for the subject property and adjoining properties. This is because people will notice a sheen on the water and call to report them in case, they are a sign of a spill, and the entry made regarding the sheen will be attributed to the nearest address or the address called from. On heavily trafficked public waterways this happens very often, so you end up with dozens of calls made over decades, where the call does not lead to any further action and may have 38 database listings for your subject property with no additional information.