Occasionally we get Phase I orders from developers or others interested in purchasing a vacant lot, and they wonder why they are spending money on the environmental assessment when there is barely anything to inspect. No building or structures. No visible signs of drums or fly dumping. Just a standard urban lot, waiting for development.
Sometimes this innocent looking vacant lot can actually be masking an environmental problem. Take, for example, a vacant lot located on a busy stretch of Elston Avenue, just south of Fullerton. Nothing on this property indicates that there are any potential issues – just weeds and a chain link fence. A less-savvy investor may purchase the property for cash without any environmental due diligence and think they’re getting a steal. What they’re actually getting is an EPA Superfund site.
The Economy Plating site was first cited in 2009 by the Chicago Department of Environment for its hazardous waste violations, and then referred to U.S. EPA when the owner could not conduct cleanup activities on his own. EPA found 195 drums and 12 chrome plating vats holding hazardous chemicals. Several containers were leaking and holes were found in the ceiling and walls of the basement. Markings indicated that the containers held potentially dangerous and harmful substances, such as chromic acid, hydrochoric acid, and methyl acetate.
EPA officials coordinated the removal, disposal and clean up of these hazardous materials, including the demolition of the building and excavation of impacted soil and groundwater. Their total cost for these clean-up activities and testing was over $800,000. 
Analysis from the site after the cleanup was completed shows that the site is now clean to commercial standards, so a developer would be free to build any commercial or industrial structures on the site. Residential units or other sensitive uses (such as a day care or school) would not be advised, however, due to the former use of the site and any remaining contamination from the hazardous materials.
Without having done a Phase I on the property prior to purchasing the property, the developer may not know about any of these environmental concerns and land use restrictions. Furthermore, the new owner would also be responsible for any remaining contamination on the property or that migrated to neighboring sites, including the cost of any future testing, cleanup or lawsuits. Spending a little bit of money on a Phase I now could save this potential developer a lot of money and headaches in the future.
