Real Estate Sector

GOS' clients within the real estate community take advantage of our extensive experience in performing Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments and Hazardous Site Assessments.  GOS is committed to excellence and quality in the performance of all our services.  Our high quality services are provided in the most cost-effective, safe, and environmentally sound manner possible.

Real property transfers typically require Phase I and/or Phase II Environmental Site Assessments in order to protect the buyer and lending institution from environmental liability.  Included in an Environmental Site Assessment is a complete title search by a licensed or certified legal professional, review of applicable state and federal regulatory databases and files for information regarding potential environmental conditions on or around a subject site, a review of dated aerial photography, Sanborn maps, and personal interviews to provide a record of current and historic property uses.   Surface investigations are conducted, and as necessary subsurface investigations (Phase II assessments) are completed, in order to determine the potential impact of current and past property uses.   A report is prepared summarizing the findings.

The presence of environmental contamination at a property does not necessarily prevent a real estate tranfer from proceeding.  The applicable regulations state that the owner and operator of the underground storage tank system, facility, and/or property at the time the release occurred will remain responsible for all corrective action activities associated with a release.  The owner and/or operator will retain responsibility for these activities until such time as an individual or entity assumes this responsibility from the owner, if ever.  In the event that the property is transferred to a new owner, the responsible party must continue to perform all required corrective action activities until such time as the facility receives a letter of “No Further Action Required” from the applicable regulatory agency.  GOS has assisted numerous clients in navigating these issues, and is adept at facilitating these transactions through communications amongst buyers, sellers, brokers, agents and lenders.