Environmental Analysis and Remediation

The purpose of a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment is to identify conditions indicative of an existing release, past release, or material threat of a release of any hazardouse substances or petroleum products on a property. So what defines a release?

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) defines a "release" as "any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the...

A Phase II Environmental Site Assessment (Phase II ESA) is conducted to determine whether chemicals of concern are present in environmental media at a property, mainly through chemical testing of soil and/or groundwater samples collected from locations where chemicals of concern are most likely to be present, and if present, to gain sufficient information regarding the chemical concentrations to meet the objectives of our clients.

Our extensive experience with subsurface investigations can help...

Historical Recognized Environmental Conditions (HRECs) are often identified during Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. A HREC is an environmental condition which in the past would have been a recognized environmental condition (REC), but which may or may not be considered a REC currently. The final decision rests with the environmental professional and will be influenced by the current impact of the HREC on the commercial property in question. If a HREC is determined to be a REC at the time...

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) is a list of sites compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the EPA has investigated or is currently investigating for potential hazardous substance contamination. CERCLIS sites are investigated for possible inclusion in the National Priorities List (NPL), a list of properties with the highest priority for cleanup.

For more information, call 800.579.0770 and ask to speak to one of...

During Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESAs), we often encounter underground hydraulic lifts (or cavities where they once existed) at automobile repair facilities. To alleviate concerns with hydraulic oil releases associated with underground lifts, make sure to take appropriate soil and groundwater closure samples when removing old underground lifts. If subsurface sampling is not conducted during the lift removal, a Recognized Environmental Condition (REC) may be identified...

During Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESA), we often encounter concrete holding tanks that accept discharge from floor drains located in car wash bays, automobile service garages, etc. To prevent holding tank contents from impacting the soil and/or groundwater beneath your commercial property, make sure to:

• Prevent hazardous materials/petroleum products from entering floor drains
• Hire a waste service company to REGULARLY pump out floor drains/holding tanks and properly dispose of...

Did you know that August Mack is a self-certified small business?  We can provide many different services as a small business under the environmental remediation NAICS code (562910).  These services include preliminary assessment, site inspection, testing, remedial investigation, feasibility studies, remedial design, remediation services, containment, removal of contaminated materials, storage of contaminated materials or security and site closeouts to restore or directly support the restoration...

August Mack Environmental offers safety services to our clients. We can help develop your lockout/tagout program, perform a safety audit, as well as numerous other types of safety projects. But safety is also very important in many of the environmental jobs we perform for a client. Since many of our projects include environmental remediation activities, we must keep safety at the top of our mind. These projects have hazards that must be identified and a health & safety plan must be developed...

Many times problems have multiple solutions. The goal is to determine the best solution for your set of circumstances. So if you have a remediation project, August Mack can evaluate if there are multiple solutions and give you all the necessary information to determine the best course of action.

It is very important, and most times required, by lenders to have a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) performed prior to a property transaction. The purpose of an ESA is to identify environmental risks associated with the property and to protect against liability related to existing site conditions. However, there are a number of environmental considerations which are outside the scope of a Phase I ESA; commonly referred to within an ESA as “non-scope considerations.” These additional...

Green remediation is a term used to describe the process of considering sustainable environmental practices during remediation of contaminated sites. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a Green Remediation Technology Primer in April 2008 to provide “topical introductory information” relating to Green Remediation. The EPA defines green remediation as “the practice of considering all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating options to maximize...

Intern Tyler Hill's work has included entering new data in existing tables while also updating previous information. The data tables are of soil and groundwater sampling constituent concentrations. As further remedial investigations are done, new data becomes available which needs to be entered into our existing tables in order to be compared with previous data. This task is often meticulous and tedious, but it is important that the updates are done correctly.