Chapter Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area Introduction Property usage information is a preliminary means for projecting the potential for hazardous material contamination of a property Undeveloped property will not have the same exposure possibilities as the site of an oil refinery A residence will not generate the same volume or type of waste as an auto repair shop Grazing pastures will not have the pesticide exposures associated with farmland Historic records provide a means for tracking property usage A minimal ASTM search goes back to when the property was first devel‑ oped (e.g., agricultural use) or to the year 1940—around the time of World War II, when technology and the volume of hazardous waste began to esca‑ late—whichever is earlier (i.e., further back in time), reasonably ascertain‑ able, and likely to be most useful For instance, property development may go back to the 1600s Yet, locating historic sources four hundred years back in time is not reasonable nor is it likely to be useful In these instances, it becomes a judgment call Further complications may occur where historic records are unavailable to the public or are not obtainable within a reasonable time frame (e.g., 20 cal‑ endar days) or cost If the records have been filed chronologically, rather than by property or facility, a year-by-year search would be reasonable Searching records that in context are not likely to provide meaningful information may be a waste of time Although the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule goes back to when the prop‑ erty was first developed, the only mandated search is that of environmental liens—which were filed only after the enactment of the 1980 Superfund Act The Rule also does not require any specific historic documents nor a mini‑ mum number of documents be reviewed The decision as to the extent of a historic usage search is discretionary A minimum search interval should be no less than five years Yet, in some cases, the gap may be greater due to limitations of the search For instance, aerial photography was not performed until the after 1935, and aerial runs may have been performed at seven-year intervals or greater On the other 85 © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 85 10/19/07 6:49:40 AM 86 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I hand, in rare cases where there are annual updates, the environmental professional may choose to limit the search to once every five years upon establishing a trend The property may have had some activity within that time frame Although it may seem unlikely, all things are possible The basic ASTM search includes, but is not limited to, title records, aer‑ ial photographs, fire insurance maps, local street directories, historic topo‑ graphic maps, property tax records, building permits, and zoning/land use records Others search possibilities will be discussed as well Title Records A title search should be initiated when the client first requests an assess‑ ment In accordance with the Standard, the title search involves a search of recorded deeds of historic ownership, leases (in some cases), land contracts, activity and use limitations (i.e., environmental exposure controls such as incinerating hazardous wastes), and environmental liens The historic ownership and lease search provides a means to identify pre‑ vious owners A previous owner’s name may be an individual’s name or a business name—potentially indicating “prior business activities.” If a busi‑ ness was associated with the property, the previous owner(s) may have pur‑ chased the property under the corporate or business name The name of the business may, in turn, disclose the type of business previously located on the property For instance, a prior owner under the business name of Billy Bob’s Service Station would likely have installed a gasoline station and under‑ ground gasoline storage tanks On the other hand, if an individual’s name is listed, not assume that a business did not exist The owner may have used his/her own name when opening the business The title search will provide information on easements as well An easement is the acquisition of rights to use the property, and it may include a gas or oil pipeline, underground utili‑ ties/services, or mineral rights For instance, the owner may use the land for cattle grazing, but an oil company may own mineral rights and require an easement for drilling petroleum A title search will sometimes identify predetermined environmental con‑ ditions of the property Although it is strictly voluntary in some cases, an “environmental warranty” is required by some states whenever there is a known environmental condition This is a formal disclosure of environmen‑ tal concerns, and, if misrepresented, the other party typically has a cause of action for breach of warranty under the contract without having to rely on statutory or common law claims Environmental liens are also recorded with the warranty deeds (See Fig‑ ure 5.1.) These are usually posted when the federal or state government man‑ ages and pays for a cleanup, and the property owner has yet to financially reimburse the government The amount owed could be many times greater than the asking price for the land A search for environmental liens is man‑ dated by the Rule © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 86 10/19/07 6:49:40 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 87 Figure 5.1 Sample environmental lien [Source: Environmental Data Resources (EDR), Milford, CT.] Failure to identify potential hazardous material contamination during the title search should not stop here An effort to determine historic background of the property can result in the addition of very important information Aerial Photographs Aerial photographs1 have become a valuable tool for studying the surface of the earth and its environment The U.S Geological Survey uses them for land con‑ © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 87 10/19/07 6:49:42 AM 88 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I touring The state departments of highways use “aerials” to detail road maps The U.S Department of Agriculture uses them to track land usage and crop patterns More recently, the U.S EPA has been using them to track industrial activities, for research, for enforcement activities, and for setting standards In environmental site assessments, aerial photographs are used, in con‑ junction with other historic information, to determine prior land use and/or abuse The image may depict a large concave area, devoid of vegetation This may be a gravel pit, landfill, or quarry Ground impressions of old structures are more visible from an aerial photograph than from the ground An image of large cylinders may be aboveground storage tanks Building structures become evident, as parking lots and well-traveled paths Extensive truck or car traffic may also be evident The investigator should be aware of some of the problems associated with interpreting aerial photos Most of them are taken from more than 2,000 feet from the earth’s surface A cleared area of land may appear as a smudge Sev‑ eral dots may be 55‑gallon drums Buildings generally have a well‑defined form and shadows Size can be measured, and height can be approximated by shadows A good rule of thumb is that if it has a defined form and structure, it is man-made Form and structure includes straight lines, circles, and order Roads, buildings, and plowed fields have well‑defined form and structure Unless dug or cut by humans, hills not typically show well‑defined form and structure Trees are irregular in shape, but when planted they may form a straight line Although they may not be distinct and clearly identified by aer‑ ial photographs, unidentifiable forms and structures may be researched and identified by other means, with the relative location(s) and date(s) known Stereo glasses permit 3‑D visualization of a site Two photos of the same location, taken within minutes of one another, are placed side by side to be looked at through special magnifying glasses The photos are aligned next to one another with the site location under each of the eye pieces The photos require further adjustment while the site location is being viewed through the glasses This process is not advised unless both photos are readily avail‑ able and the investigator needs elucidation of the content Most aerial photos are done with a 30% overlap, in which case the adjacent frame photo may be readily available Aerial photographs are available through various state and federal agen‑ cies Of note are those produced by the U.S Geological Survey, the U.S Department of Agriculture, and state departments of highways They may be purchased directly from the pertinent agency, and they are also available through libraries, history centers, and some private collections Many cities maintain old aerials for historic interest either in their public library, history center, or city planning department Each state has its own private collection that includes donations from state and federal agencies Information as to where each private collection is maintained may be obtained from the U.S Geological Survey © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 88 10/19/07 6:49:42 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 89 A road map with the site clearly delineated is necessary when search‑ ing for a specific area in a composite of aerial photos If you send away for the aerials, you must enclose a map detailing the site This is particularly important when dealing with some of the major aerial photographic sources; incomplete information call‑backs might be replaced with time‑consuming deficiency letters There is also generally an associated fee and anticipated response time Major sources should be consulted for availability, prices, and turnaround time The following are major sources: U.S Geological Survey Earth Sciences Information Office Reston, VA They provide information about the federal affili‑ ates that maintain collections U.S Department of Agriculture Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Services Salt Lake City, UT Aerial photos are available for various areas throughout the United States There is a fee and a fourto six-week turnaround time Detailed information as to the exact location must be provided, and the nega‑ tives maintained on site date back to 1950 National Archives and Records Service Cartographic Archives Division General Services Administration Washington, DC Negatives date back to 1935 at the earliest In some counties, the tax appraisal district will maintain and duplicate, upon request, aerials with the tax maps This is typically done by overlay‑ ing a transparent tax map onto an aerial of the area and copying the two together These maps are often used in boundary disputes and may be pur‑ chased for a nominal fee Most aerial photographs are black and white Because aerials came into extensive use in the early 1930s, this is as far back as most searches may be performed In some instances, they may date back to the early 1920s Color aerials came into use in the early 1960s, and color infrared aerials started to be used extensively in the late 1960s The latter provide additional details not available through previous techniques Infrared images respond to heat sources All live materials give off heat, and underground pipelines generate more heat than the ground Infrared © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 89 10/19/07 6:49:42 AM 90 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I photo imaging shows substrata information and underground heat-generat‑ ing sources not normally visible to the naked eye Aerial photographs are created in different scales Most are in the scale of 1:24,000, or inch is equal to 24,000 inches, which is 2,000 feet The ideal is 1:2,000, or inch to 500 feet The latter is not normally available Although they may be enlarged fourfold to allow better viewing, the resolution of a photograph does not improve with image size Enlarging, however, is fre‑ quently done and may be accomplished by increasing the image size in the darkroom from the negative or by enlarging with the aid of a color copy machine Color copies reproduce with almost the same clarity and detail as the original photo It is ideal to collect aerial photographs for every year, back to raw land However, every year is impractical and back to raw land is often impossible Other than occasional photos taken from air balloons, aerial photos were not available until after the mid 1920s, and these are rare So, the best efforts can go back only to the mid 1930s Then, each agency requiring aerials had them performed as much as seven to ten years apart In order to obtain aerials for every year, the researcher would have to go through numerous sources An attempt to collect more than fifty aerial photos can be time consuming, expensive, and possibly impossible Thus, a reasonable limit must be set Some researchers seek one aerial for every five to ten years, going back at least fifty years Others use one major source (e.g., the state aerial collection agency) and gather what they can Discrepancies and questionable findings may require aerials of specific time periods Each situation will vary Even raw land evolves over time Changes should be noted and recorded For instance, an aerial photo taken in 1964 depicts ponds and oil drums, but the aerial for that same location, taken in 1990, shows grasslands and vegetation Further investigation is indicated (See Figures 5.2 and 5.3.) Fire Insurance Maps Fire insurance maps were originally designed to assist fire insurance agents in assessing fire risk and determining the fire spread potential associated with insured properties A map may be inclusive of an entire town, or it may be one of a composite of several sections of a city Cities for which multiple sheets have been produced have an index map with an index to streets and special features (e.g., schools and churches) They generally include the more populated areas of a town and not include rural environments (See Fig‑ ures 5.4 and 5.5.) These historic maps, typically a 1:600 scale (1 inch is equivalent to 50 feet), are valuable sources of information Land use and structural changes in buildings are documented for the years of coverage They detail street addresses, land usage, occupants, gas storage areas, raw material pilings, and types of products manufactured and/or stored Other features include type of construction (e.g., brick, stone, or frame), roof composition (e.g., asbestos), © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 90 10/19/07 6:49:43 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 91 Figure 5.2 Aerial photograph with property tax map overlay © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 91 10/19/07 6:49:47 AM 92 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I Figure 5.3 Aerial photographs depicting the site of an apartment complex that was vacated in 1992 due to hazardous gases seeping out of the ground—the site of a former landfill The top photo, taken in 1990, is of the apartment complex shown in Figure 5.2 The middle photo, taken in 1980, depicts the location as undeveloped land The bottom photo, taken in 1966, depicts the location as a landfill © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 92 10/19/07 6:49:48 AM 7966.indb 93 Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 93 10/19/07 6:49:50 AM Figure 5.4 Fire insurance map of San Francisco, California, published in 1913, depicting industrial activities in the present-day tour‑ isty Embarcadero area along the bay front (Source: EDR, Milford, CT.) 7966.indb 94 94 © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Environmental Site Assessment Phase I 10/19/07 6:49:52 AM Figure 5.5 Fire insurance map of San Francisco, California, published in 1990, depicting shops, restaurants, and parking at the loca‑ tion shown in Figure 5.4 (Source: EDR, Milford, CT.) 98 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I be missed A property tax record search is one of the sources the ASTM protocols list as a “standard source.” Yet, if not reasonably ascertainable or time/cost effective, this approach is not practical Zoning Records Zoning records provide general information about how land use has evolved, present uses, and future projections An area that has always been zoned single‑family residential will not present the same concerns as property that is zoned industrial Generally, zoning designations for a particular property evolve to be more restrictive rather than less restrictive Therefore, if your area is zoned resi‑ dential–single family, it is not likely that the area was zoned industrial in the past, but this is not always the case The planning department will have a map of the areas under its control, and the zones will be clearly delineated It will also have recent projections for rezoning Rezoning of residential to commercial or commercial to industrial will have an impact on future potential contamination Although contaminants may not be generated on a given site, they may migrate from another and possibly provide a conduit for the associated properties’ contaminants to enter into a major aquifer For instance, a resident installs a water well, but the driller did not comply with proper drilling precautions A contaminant migrates to the hole and down through the confining rock layer The city planning department will have zoning and expansion plans for incorporated areas However, if an area is outside a city, in a rural commu‑ nity, it will be classified as “unincorporated.” In many states, there is no zon‑ ing for unincorporated property Building Permits Building permits are generally available through the city planning depart‑ ment or local building management These permits, filed by street address, are filled out by the builder, owner, or owner’s representative whenever changes in a building are anticipated Permits can be for changes in the usage of the building or to seek permission to construct, alter, or demolish a struc‑ ture There may be plans to change a building from an apartment complex to an office building, or a building may be expanded to increase the square footage and appearance Intent must be declared and alterations permitted prior to work commencement Plans and building specifications generally accompany each building per‑ mit but are maintained for a limited time, with a few exceptions For large buildings, plans and specifications are generally maintained for an indefi‑ nite time period, so they may assist firefighters in developing a strategy for managing a fire The plans and specifications are also helpful when assess‑ ing structural materials, a topic to be discussed in the next chapter © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 98 10/19/07 6:49:57 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 99 Be aware that old permits may be as difficult, time consuming, and costly to obtain as the tax records The information may not be reasonably ascertainable Certificates of Occupancy Certificates of occupancy are generally available through the city planning department These certificates are filed according to building address, and they contain the owner’s name and the building usage information A certificate may also include the name of a lessee who is not named in the deed information Health/Safety and Environmental Compliance Records Regulatory compliance records are oftentimes overlooked in environmen‑ tal site assessments Maybe it is because of the additional time and expense required It may be due to the low probability of generating any more infor‑ mation than that gathered by other means Or it may simply be a site that has had no industrial activities, which, in turn, would not have a compliance his‑ tory Yet, such records are available and are another source of information Safety and Health Records The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal regu‑ latory agency that promulgates and enforces workplace employee exposures to hazardous substances and work conditions It has been in effect since 1970 The first list of health hazards included only ten substances This has grown to more than 350 chemicals in recent years, and the list is ever increasing All their records are maintained for at least twenty years, and requests are made through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Administrative and copy fees can be excessive if there are several files on a given location or business Older files are archived and may take time to locate Compliance visits are generated in one of three different ways A worker may complain and/or express concern regarding workplace exposures to health and/or safety hazards All complaints are confidential, but the records are a matter of public record A complaint may be generated through the sin‑ cere concern of a worker who is unable to approach management for whatever reason, or a disgruntled employee may simply be trying to cause problems Most visits are random Out of each industry type, OSHA will generate a number of visits Although the visit may be fairly innocent, many manag‑ ers feel that OSHA will always find a problem—this is their job Then the compliance officer judges the situation to be minor or “serious and willful,” depending on the evaluation of the work environment and the attitude of the management A “serious and willful” designation could accompany a maximum fine of $20,000, and insurance bonding companies frown seri‑ ously on such companies © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 99 10/19/07 6:49:58 AM 100 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I Follow‑up visits are also conducted to evaluate whether the company has come into compliance This, again, may reflect the attitude of management Keep in mind also that even if a site visit occurred, the compliance officer cannot see all or know all Things get missed Do not make the mistake of assuming that if a hazardous substance has not been named by a compliance officer, there are none, especially if this information conflicts with other data For example, an investigator visits a plastic container manufacturing plant Management makes a statement to the consultant that the plant received a clean bill of health from OSHA two weeks prior to this visit The investi‑ gator later finds that an activity that was part of normal business was not being performed during the OSHA visit During a discussion with one of the employees, this information is disclosed An employee had previously been required, as part of his job, to toss a flammable solvent on the ground around the machinery This was done to cut down on and allow the cleanup of machine‑generated grease on the floor The solvent was, subsequently, squee‑ geed out the back door, onto the soil After the worker received first degree burns, this practice changed They now use a toxic, nonflammable chemical to accomplish the same end OSHA was unaware of these procedures These records are only a portion of the larger parcel Further investigation may be indicated State and Federal Environmental Records The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) handles environmental health hazards (i.e., stack emissions from industrial plants, community air pollution, ground and groundwater pollution, effluent from industry, and pollution of crops and livestock by industry) It was made into law in 1970, and the agency began to function in 1974 Each state has been given the option of handling all or a portion of the fed‑ eral EPA requirements States vary as to what agency manages the different details Either one agency or several may be involved Records and file mainte‑ nance vary from state to state, and some state laws exceed federal regulations Once a commercial or industrial activity has been identified as having operated on a property, past or present, the investigator should contact the pertinent agency for information concerning registration and citations A search can usually be done by company name Registration records provide information as to what is or was being discharged into the environment Citations provide information about noncompliance with discharge restric‑ tions or administrative procedures Waste Management Permits Waste may be handled by in‑house treatment then discharged or hauled away In‑house management of waste may involve, but not be limited to, neu‑ © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 100 10/19/07 6:49:58 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 101 tralization of a chemical, surface impoundments, incinerators, evaporative ponds, biological degradation, landfills, and air scrubbers Sanitary Sewage Discharge Permits Sanitary sewage discharge permits are required of certain commercial and all industrial wastewater generators The organization most affected by discharge will be the local water/wastewater management agency Permits frequently detail the constituents of the discharge and sometimes the volume This infor‑ mation can be used if you suspect ground or groundwater contamination Each agency sets its own standards with which the local operators are required to comply This may involve routine monitoring of certain records that are reviewed by the agency on a routine basis, and it may involve com‑ pliance monitoring or random routine checks An operator may refuse to report a discharge, hoping he will not get caught Generally, where there is industry there will be some form of discharge Storm Water Discharge Permits Storm water discharge permits are required any time industry discharges into the storm drains This water eventually discharges into surface waters Contamination of surface waters can lead to the destruction of aquatic habi‑ tat and to the contamination of groundwater and drinking water sources Solid Waste and Landfill Facilities Solid waste and landfill facilities within proximity of the property may have a negative impact, depending on the materials being disposed, the proximity to the property, and the geology of the ground The consensus is that prox‑ imity is a radius of 30 to 50 miles This is the area that is generally considered when evaluating potential impact on a property Solid waste is categorized into household, industrial, and hazardous mate‑ rials Household solid waste is managed primarily by municipal landfill facil‑ ities Yet, even they not handle all household wastes They will not accept tires, explosives, or certain hazardous materials City restrictions vary There are three classes of landfill sites that handle hazardous materials: Class I, Class II, and Class III A Class I landfill manages extremely hazard‑ ous materials Type of soil and opportunity for contaminants to enter the groundwater and/or impact the environment are used to determine the lin‑ ing requirements Once the lining has been installed, material is brought in, checked for content and proper containerization, logged, tagged, categorized, isolated from chemicals with which it may react, and charted as to its loca‑ tion within the site Utah is home to a well-known Class I landfill A Class II landfill manages moderately hazardous materials, including many solvents, gasoline, and heavy metals A Class III landfill manages © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 101 10/19/07 6:49:58 AM 102 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I hazardous materials that are not expected to leach into the ground, such as asbestos and metal shavings Stream and Lake Discharge Permits The U.S Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) is charged by Congress with reg‑ ulating the nation’s water resources Any activity that will discharge, fill, or dredge material into a freshwater stream, lake, or adjacent wetland requires a permit and must be reviewed for compliance Air Emission Permits Air, or stack, emissions are handled by state and local agencies that are desig‑ nated by that state government to manage air pollution The total air burden of a hazardous substance is the issue, not a measurement of an acceptable standard or standard emission rate for a given industry A large industrial complex or numerous air-waste-generating sources in an urban environ‑ ment will contribute a much larger total burden than a large plant in a small rural community Many states require industry that has any type of process involving gaseous emissions to seek air pollution permits Gaseous emissions can be generated by incinerators, local exhaust stacks, or open burning of materials Hospitals and international airports gener‑ ally have incinerators, as heavy industry with by-products they wish to dispose of in house Local exhaust stacks may be associated with various operations in the semiconductor industry, paint shops, fiberglassing opera‑ tions, and so on Open burning of allergy-causing bushes, tree limbs, and woodland scrap can cause community complaints And the list goes on On‑Site Paper Detective Property that is presently used for industrial purposes will generally require some form of a records review The purpose is to tag hazardous substance usage and determine whether in‑house management of these materials may result in environmental contamination An attempt to track records on obso‑ lete activities may be like chasing a red herring So, the investigator may wish to confine efforts to the present Some consultants automatically include an in‑house records audit in all industrial assessments Insurance carriers require risk audits when issuing environmental insurance packages, and occasionally clients require a com‑ plete records audit because they intend to purchase the business with the property and want to know what operating liabilities they may be investing in These audits are time consuming and expensive A partial review may be feasible and informative, but if an extensive records audit is indicated, recommend this as part of a Phase II assessment © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 102 10/19/07 6:49:58 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 103 The easiest, most informative records to review are the chemical inventory records, material safety data sheets, Community Right‑to-Know records, and process flow charts These are discussed herein, along with a few others that are typically included in the assessment Chemical Inventory Records Most manufacturers maintain a chemical inventory If done properly, the manufacturer will have a chemical inventory list, which is generally kept with the MSDS manuals Otherwise, the inventories may be maintained by the purchasing department, shipping and receiving, the safety and health manager, or the person who formulates the processes These records may be spread throughout the plant in the various departments Locating these elusive papers may be a challenge Keep in mind you may also wish to go back several years to when MSDSs were not a requirement The chemical inventory records may be a last resort, and they may already have been archived Material Safety Data Sheets Maintenance of product material safety data sheets (MSDSs) has been required in industry since 1987 The requirement was created by OSHA Before 1987, MSDSs were available but not always maintained OSHA requires MSDSs on all chemicals, hazardous and non‑hazardous, used and/or sold by a particular manufacturer The material safety data sheet is a product data sheet with information regarding the constituents of a particular product These sheets are required to be made available to the workers who may potentially be exposed Generally, a manufacturer will maintain a centralized file of MSDSs Along with a list of the components and their associated flammability, reactivity, and health hazards, the data sheets provide information about the decomposition products and which chemicals the product should not be mixed with, how to handle and store the product, and what to in case of an emergency (See Figure 5.7.) Many MSDSs, including those that involve non‑hazardous chemicals, are created with a concern for the liability of the manufacturer Therefore, in the recommendations for proper handling, most all data sheets will tell you to use proper ventilation They not, however, define proper ventilation The MSDSs provide information about the chemicals currently being used by the manufacturer, located at a given site Some MSDS composites consist of less than twenty product MSDSs, but many are bound by volumes (e.g., several volumes of three-inch binders) The Community Right‑to‑Know law—the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), Title III—is a more recent law It requires that industry provide a listing of chemicals that are maintained on site Infor‑ mation on the forms will divulge chemical names and descriptions, physi‑ © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 103 10/19/07 6:49:59 AM 104 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I Figure 5.7 Sample material safety data sheet Continued © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 104 10/19/07 6:50:00 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 105 Figure 5.7 Continued © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 105 10/19/07 6:50:01 AM 106 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I cal state, associated hazards, daily usage, amount stored and where, peak quantity, and NFPA hazard rating The intent is to provide information for emergency response activities For instance, fire response teams may use the information in case of a fire They can determine the location and type of hazards potentially involved, the potential hazards to the response team, and the potential hazards to the community The information must be submitted annually, and it was left up to the states to enact the law on their own The states were required, however, to comply with the intent of the law by March 1, 1992 Transport Manifests Whenever shipped in certain amounts or volumes, hazardous chemicals must be manifested All manifests must be maintained by the manufacturer or generator The manifest will contain information about not only the type of chemical shipped, but also the amount and where it was taken There have been instances of falsified receipts in the case of disposal activities Waste disposal in a Class I dump is expensive Transporters have been known to “get lost and end up at the wrong dump.” Process Flow Charts Process flow charts describe the use of chemicals, their contributions to the processes, the amount used, and their destination They afford an easy‑to‑read sequence of events and usage of each of the chemicals (See Figure 5.8.) Safety and Health Audits If a manufacturer has had a safety and health audit, it will have been com‑ pleted by corporate auditors, the manufacturer’s insurance company, or an outside consultant These reports are informative and direct Purchasing Records If all else fails, purchasing should have maintained records Yet, the records will document not only chemical purchases, but paper, mechanical parts, and other unrelated items Reviewing these records could be extremely frus‑ trating and time consuming Yet, these too are likely to have been archived, and past information may be accessible for review This step might involve a tremendous volume of work with very little to show for one’s efforts Corporate Management Records Records of safety meetings may be helpful They generally review recent acci‑ dents and/or potential problems associated with safety and health concerns Once again, this step could also involve a tremendous volume of work © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 106 10/19/07 6:50:02 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 107 Figure 5.8 Process flow sequencing for semiconductor ingot wafer manufacturing Reference Manuals/Documents A never‑ending source of reference manuals and documents exists Those listed herein are the more frequently used sources The items discussed, however, are by no means a complete list of all possibilities Commercial Directories Some towns have commercial directories, which list commercial activities by name and location This source of information may require a volumi‑ © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 107 10/19/07 6:50:03 AM 108 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I nous amount of work with data already gathered from other, easier-to-access records The city Chamber of Commerce is the most likely source Newspapers An incident involving a property or property owner may have been of such note that newspapers did a write‑up on the event Major newspaper articles are often indexed and retrieved in the local libraries Newspapers that are distributed on a large scale, nationally, will be indexed in university and public libraries For small city news articles, there is generally no indexing either at the public library or by the publishers Where indexing is available, suspicious events of potential public note in a given time frame may be checked, using the address, company name, and/or responsible party’s name Computer indexing started around the mid 1980s Prior years are indexed in Periodical Indexes Where indexing is not available, dates must be known and a visit to the newspaper publishing office is necessary They have copies or microfiche/ microfilm that can be reviewed Yet, this involves a time-consuming search of each paper around the time of a suspicious event Industrial Process References An industrial process reference may aid the identification of industrial pro‑ cess descriptions and hazardous wastes that are generated This should be reviewed prior to the on‑site inspection or evaluation of work practices Most industry follows a similar sequence of events in their processes, and these processes are generally known and published for review Process descrip‑ tions can be evaluated, according to industry standards The U.S EPA Forms and Publications Distribution Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, has information sheets on various types of manufacturing These range from leather product and cleaning agent manufacturers to chemical and printing industries The topics covered include an industry overview, hazardous wastes generated, and effective waste minimization techniques used within that industry These publications are easily accessed and are a good source to begin identifying potential environmental exposures associ‑ ated with a given industry There is available for quick, easy reference an abbreviated discussion of some of the commercial and industrial processes within this book Yet, the information is provided only as a starting point Mining and Natural Resource Records A source of groundwater contamination that will require a separate records search is the use of the land’s natural resources This includes mining for minerals, oil and gas activities, and water well drilling Each state has an © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 108 10/19/07 6:50:03 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 109 agency charged with maintaining records and regulating natural resource extraction from the ground The investigator may obtain this information from the state agency that manages the water resources The agency will know who handles mining and gas and oil extraction sites All this informa‑ tion should be plotted on an area map with the locations delineated relative to the site If any seem noteworthy and the sites are accessible, they may be further evaluated during the site reconnaissance Mining Mining encompasses the extraction and processing of rock, ore, and min‑ erals These operations are often overlooked, because they are generally located in sparsely populated areas Although most of the early mining activities were underground, most mining performed today is on the sur‑ face (i.e., quarry, open pit mining) or through solution injection and retrieval from the ground Some of the more common sources of environmental contamination in mining are mine drainage, surface storage of materials, dewatering activities, well head contamination, and tailings (i.e., solid wastes derived from on‑site processing of mined materials) Liquid and slurry wastes are disposed of in ponds, sumps, lagoons, and injection wells; or they are discharged into sur‑ face waters The spent liquids are transported to these spots via pipelines or ditches Suspended solids settle out in the ponds, and the liquids either evapo‑ rate or are discharged to surface water The remaining solids are later dredged out or abandoned In unlined ponds, contaminants may migrate into the soil, down to the groundwater Liquid wastes that are too toxic to dispose of in sur‑ face water (e.g., uranium tailings) are disposed of in injection wells The type of mining activity may or may not be associated with hazardous substances and potential environmental contamination This information should be clarified and the process evaluated For instance, gold extraction generally involves a process whereby mer‑ cury is used to scavenge uncollected gold from the final slurry wash after which the mercury–gold alloy is subjected to heat The mercury is boiled off and recycled The mercury-tainted slurry goes into a holding pond If not managed properly, old mercury residue may have been left behind in the soil or migrated to surrounding areas The potential for groundwater contamination is considerable A records search for mining activities in the vicinity of rural property is highly recommended Oil and Gas Wells Oil and gas wells may serve as conduits for groundwater contamination As the gas/oil yield declines in drilling operations, brine (i.e., saline water, usu‑ ally high in dissolved solids) is pumped to the surface with the gas/oil This brine may render groundwater undrinkable © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 109 10/19/07 6:50:03 AM 110 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I The first wells date back to the late 1800s, when brine was typically discharged into gullies and streams Later, unlined (eventually lined) evaporation pits were used It was thought at the time that the salts would evaporate with the water into the atmosphere However, the minerals remained, and brine seepage from pits became evident with the passage of time as brine reached the groundwater Overflow during rainy seasons became a means for migration Consequently, since 1969, brines have been injected into deep wells or re-injected into the ground from whence they came Disposal into these wells is very expensive, which makes midnight dumping incidents likely Logs can generally be obtained from the state-designated agency assigned to manage the records (e.g., the Texas Railroad Commission) The agency maintains records of oil and gas wells, generally identified on a large map More recent ones that have yet to be entered onto the map will be recorded Management and information retrieval methods of marked maps and well files vary by state The designated agency that manages gas/oil logs will also have records and maps of pipelines that run through one property to another However, if the pipeline remains on the same property, it may not be identified in the agency records In the latter case, an existing pipeline may show up on the property easement records Further identification of wells located within the vicinity of the property is a sound practice Water Wells Improperly abandoned water wells can provide a significant means for groundwater contamination Abandoned wells that have not been properly plugged or capped can be used creatively by others Such wells may end up being used to making hazardous waste disappear or as a convenient place to dispose of human excrement Another source of contamination is inadequate completion of a well by not installing a cement surface casing and/or cementing intervals where poor water quality exists Interval cementing prevents inter-aquifer mixing, which is particularly important if one aquifer is of poor quality or is already contaminated with hazardous substances Ground penetrations may disrupt the natural ground barriers that serve to isolate the groundwater Where the water has a natural barrier (which protects it from the downward migration of contaminants), penetration may provide an easy conduit or channel from one layer of soil to the next Con‑ taminants in one layer may have been stopped from downward movement— until the underlying layer was penetrated Mark the location of all water wells within the vicinity of the property on the map These wells should be inspected during site reconnaissance © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 110 10/19/07 6:50:03 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 111 Summary Historic usage of the property and surrounding areas provides a point of departure for the investigator to speculate as to what hazardous substances and/or activities may require further investigation There are numerous sources of information, some easier to use and more informative than oth‑ ers Not all topics need to be addressed, and some may be addressed only in special circumstances A minimum search is recommended by the ASTM protocol regarding Standard Practices for Environmental Site Assessments Resources include the following: • • • • • • • • Title records Aerial photographs Fire insurance maps Local street directories Historic topographic maps Property tax records Zoning records Building permits Review as many of the above standard historical sources as is necessary and “reasonably ascertainable.” Reasonably ascertainable means informa‑ tion that is publicly available, obtained within reasonable time and cost constraints, and provided by the source in a format that gives relevant infor‑ mation without the need for extraordinary analysis On the other hand, some sources are not applicable and may be equivalent to searching for a red herring For instance, fire insurance maps were not developed for rural properties, and local street directories are not available for many communities Property tax records and building permits for a given community may have been destroyed by fire Do not limit your search to the minimums Some searches extending beyond the minimums may be specifically requested by the client Addi‑ tional searching may be required to confirm information and intuited con‑ cerns Some investigators occasionally perform a search on some of the surrounding properties The possibilities are endless References Johannsen, Chris L., and James L Sanders: Remote Sensing for Resource Manage‑ ment Soil Conservation Society of America, Ankeny, IA, 1982 Ristow, Walter W.: Fire Insurance Maps in the Library of Congress—Plans of North American Cities and Towns Produced by the Sanborn Map Company Library of Con‑ gress, Washington, DC, 1981 © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 111 10/19/07 6:50:04 AM 112 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I The Use of Historic Sanborn Maps in the Identification and Analysis of Prop‑ erties and Structures Containing Potential Environmental Hazards [Letter from J.C Cherubini, Director of Marketing & Sales], Sanborn Mapping and Geographic Information Service, Pelham, NY, May 7, 1990 © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 112 10/19/07 6:50:04 AM ... town and not include rural environments (See Fig‑ ures? ?5. 4 and 5. 5.) These historic maps, typically a 1:6 00 scale (1 inch is equivalent to 50 feet), are valuable sources of information Land use and. .. 10/19/07 6 :50 :00 AM Historic Usage of the Property and Surrounding Area 1 05 Figure? ?5. 7 Continued © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 1 05 10/19/07 6 :50 :01 AM 106 Environmental Site Assessment. .. divulge chemical names and descriptions, physi‑ © 2008 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC 7966.indb 103 10/19/07 6:49 :59 AM 104 Environmental Site Assessment Phase I Figure? ?5. 7 Sample material safety