Phase I ESA question
Hey everyone. I’m working on a phase I in Indiana and I came across an interesting scenario. An adjoining upgradient property has a documented release of TCE. The RSL is 5.0 and the ISL is 7.2, but the property had a concentration of 7600 in 2010. The boring that this reading came from is 150 feet (upgradient) from my property. However, four more borings from the same year along the boundary of my property and this one showed levels of TCE below 5.0. I’ve seen some abrupt plume boundaries before, but this seems insane given the short distance and the fact that the contamination should be migrating towards my property. The regulatory body (IDEM) has issued the adjoining property an NFA provided that they follow an ERC, and has stated that they don’t expect offsite migration to be an issue due to a building being present on the adjoining property. The NFA was issued in 2010, so I think migration (especially of TCE) downgradient is likely, but a phase II could be argued as unnecessary since there have been borings between my property and the contaminated one. How would you rule this one?
Additional info: my Subject Property and the adjoins property are owned by the same person, and the two parcels were once two tracts of the same parent parcel. Initially, the ERC applied to both tracts, but the 4 borings I mentioned earlier were sufficient for IDEM to remove the ERC from my tract (eventually my parcel). So I think any pushback I give (recommending a phase 2) will be met with resistance from the current owner since IDEM has essentially cleared him. However, if I say there are no concerns and my client then tries to sell the property, and a new potential buy gets a phase II done and finds contamination, that could blame my client and site my phase I against him.