Phase I Environmental Site Assessment

An Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) is a comprehensive review of a specific property to identify and evaluate the presence of recognized environmental conditions associated with the property. Phase I ESA consists of a thorough review of the historical use of the site and any adjacent properties. No physical testing is performed on soil or groundwater at this stage. This review is crucial for property owners, land developers, lenders and any interested parties as part of due diligence to identify potential environmental concerns that could lead to costly cleanups of hazardous materials on the property or remediation of a site by the landowner. ESAs are typically conducted at properties with a history of commercial or industrial use.

For this exercise in Selangor, four sites comprising of three manufacturing facilities and one greenfield site were assessed by AGV’s team. The sites were being considered for purchase by a local major recycled paper manufacturer.

Greenfield site

Staining at production floor

The assessment revealed no evidence of historical or potential soil or groundwater contamination on the said sites. Nonetheless, de minimis conditions and non-compliance issues were observed such as exceedance of industrial effluent standards, staining at production area and minor concrete cracks at secondary containment which could potentially lead to contamination within the premise. A Phase II ESA was recommended for further investigation which involves collection of soil and groundwater samples for analysis of various contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, asbestos and mold.