As Dick Cheney’s former quail hunting partner can attest, order of operations matters. Ready, Aim, Fire is good standard practice. Whereas Ready, Fire, Aim results in plucking unrequested buckshot from your skin.
The Phases of Environmental Investigations
The same holds true for environmental consulting—without the buckshot collateral damage (well, most of the time!). Thorough evaluation of environmental conditions at a property during the due diligence period has a definitive starting point, known as the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment. Standardized by ASTM International, the Phase I ESA is designed to identify potential environmental concerns (known as recognized environmental conditions (RECs). The Phase I ESA does not generate any new data, but rather, is an exercise in historical research, interviews, and visual site reconnaissance.
Continue reading the GlobeSt blog here.