Hello everyone,
We are about to purchase a plot of land. Some people apparently dumped their garbage there, but we were aware of that beforehand. It’s not excessive, so it didn’t really bother us.
However, we have now found roofing felt containing tar and an old broken oil barrel, as well as a container with white powder. Before finalizing the purchase, we obviously want to make sure the soil is clean and free of any contamination. The owner is willing to cover the costs of a contamination assessment.
If the inspector confirms the soil is clean, can I really assume the soil is truly uncontaminated? How does this process work? Do you have any experience with this? He said he will examine the entire plot and send suspicious samples to a laboratory for detailed analysis to find out what might be hidden in case of potential issues.
What do you think? What if he says everything is fine, but in, for example, three years something is discovered? Can I then rely on the report to reject any claims against me?
Of course, no plot of land can offer 1000% certainty.
sauerpeter
We are about to purchase a plot of land. Some people apparently dumped their garbage there, but we were aware of that beforehand. It’s not excessive, so it didn’t really bother us.
However, we have now found roofing felt containing tar and an old broken oil barrel, as well as a container with white powder. Before finalizing the purchase, we obviously want to make sure the soil is clean and free of any contamination. The owner is willing to cover the costs of a contamination assessment.
If the inspector confirms the soil is clean, can I really assume the soil is truly uncontaminated? How does this process work? Do you have any experience with this? He said he will examine the entire plot and send suspicious samples to a laboratory for detailed analysis to find out what might be hidden in case of potential issues.
What do you think? What if he says everything is fine, but in, for example, three years something is discovered? Can I then rely on the report to reject any claims against me?
Of course, no plot of land can offer 1000% certainty.
sauerpeter
N
nordanney23 Sep 2015 14:57That’s just your personal bad luck!
In that case, you probably shouldn’t start building a house at all 😉
In that case, you probably shouldn’t start building a house at all 😉
S
sauerpeter23 Sep 2015 15:21That's why I said earlier, you can never be 100% sure. :P
If an inspector says: clean soil, then the soil is clean!
You need to have some trust in the skills of inspectors and professionals; otherwise, building a house won’t work out.
I wouldn’t worry anymore if you are buying a proven clean plot of land. You even have the advantage that the sellers are covering the investment – something that is quite rare nowadays!
You need to have some trust in the skills of inspectors and professionals; otherwise, building a house won’t work out.
I wouldn’t worry anymore if you are buying a proven clean plot of land. You even have the advantage that the sellers are covering the investment – something that is quite rare nowadays!
B
Bieber081523 Sep 2015 22:18You could choose and hire an independent expert yourself, carefully examining the methods they use for sampling and the types of analyses performed.
In addition to the soil survey, you might consider commissioning an analysis of the "white powder."
In my honest opinion—without knowing the specific circumstances—you are being overly cautious (and that’s coming from me in this context). You can trust a reputable, independent expert! If they find nothing, then there is nothing there.
If neighboring properties are contaminated, over the years contamination can naturally migrate or spread (while becoming diluted). In such cases, a report on your property alone won’t be very helpful. For example, if you are near a gas station…
Another question:
Do you want to buy a property in an area where people dump their waste? What kind of neighborhood is that? Aren’t there better areas?
In addition to the soil survey, you might consider commissioning an analysis of the "white powder."
In my honest opinion—without knowing the specific circumstances—you are being overly cautious (and that’s coming from me in this context). You can trust a reputable, independent expert! If they find nothing, then there is nothing there.
If neighboring properties are contaminated, over the years contamination can naturally migrate or spread (while becoming diluted). In such cases, a report on your property alone won’t be very helpful. For example, if you are near a gas station…
Another question:
Do you want to buy a property in an area where people dump their waste? What kind of neighborhood is that? Aren’t there better areas?
sauerpeter schrieb:
The assessor is now preparing a report. In this report, they confirm, for example, that the site is free from contamination and that the soil is clean. Since I don’t know how such things are checked, my question is whether, after the report, you can really assume that the soil is clean, or is there always some residual risk because it can never be checked 100%?They won’t sift through your entire property and analyze every single grain! They will take soil samples—how many exactly, I don’t know. Certainly according to a grid pattern that allows conclusions to be drawn about the whole site. At least enough so that a trained expert with specialized knowledge can produce a report that would hold up without dispute in court.
sauerpeter schrieb:
So let’s assume the site is declared free of contamination and the soil clean. But if traces of, for example, gasoline or oil turn up after a few years, can I hold the assessor accountable since they confirmed and evaluated the site as free of contamination back then?No, of course not. For instance, your mother-in-law could easily contaminate a few spots on the site later on with her rusty shed after the soil assessment has been done 😉
It’s certainly possible for traces of substances (gasoline or oil) to be found, but small traces do not constitute contamination damage. A minor spill from a 5-liter (1.3-gallon) gasoline container might not even be detected by the sampling because that particular soil area simply falls between the grid points. Unless these residual chemicals have extensively contaminated the soil in concentration sufficient to identify contamination, this does not qualify as contamination in the sense of a “brownfield site.” There are established threshold values that determine how “traces of...” are evaluated.
I’m not familiar with contamination reports in detail, but such a report likely won’t be a brief statement like “nothing found.” Instead, it will be a multi-page document comparing sample results to threshold values, possibly showing graded contamination levels (if any), and concluding whether the property is considered “contaminated” or not. I would be very surprised if a leftover roofing felt and an empty container would turn a site into a contaminated property.
Be glad that the current owners are paying for this report 🙂
I negotiated a two-year withdrawal right in the purchase contract of my plot of land (which was previously partially used for commercial purposes, a carpentry workshop) in case of contamination.
In other words: if we find plutonium when digging the foundation pit, he gets the land back.
However, this is only a safeguard for really serious contamination.
In other words: if we find plutonium when digging the foundation pit, he gets the land back.
However, this is only a safeguard for really serious contamination.