Home
About
Services
Clients
Gallery
Contact
Links

This was a former Midas Muffler shop. Owner stated the building was the only one constructed on the property, but investigation uncovered that it was a gas station back in the 50s. Tanks were removed but...there were hydraulic lifts inside, and hydraulic lifts may leak fluid to the soil environment. Plus, there was the possibility of asbestos – brakes (made with asbestos) are cleaned by blowing out with air hose with asbestos settling in area.

This vacant land once had 11 underground storage tanks installed. Records indicate 9 were removed. What happened to the last two, and what still remained from the others?

An engineering control diverts water, in this case from the Silverbell Landfill. It is now closed and being remediated with bioremediation (using bacteria in the soil to clean up).

Here is a dry cleaning operation. This property was contaminated, cleaned up with soil vapor extraction but still has institutional controls. This property has a deed restriction associated with it that disallows disturbing the soil at a certain depth below ground surface due to remaining contamination.

This site was abandoned by a hazardous waste transporter, storage, and disposal firm. When they left, they left many drums of unknown and hazardous chemicals on-site. EPA came in and did a “removal action”, removing the wastes from the property. The bare soil is what they left, but it still has chemicals in it as well as staining on it.

This site needed additional work prior to purchase – delineation of contamination if it was found on site, drill the leach field of the septic tank, test the septic tank, etc.

Here is a small market that needed a Phase I investigation. The property had been home to a gas station, but the underground storage tank had been removed with no contamination or other problems for this buyer.

Here is another site with hydraulic lifts – known for leaking underground. The concrete can be drilled into to test the soil in the immediate area.

This well was hand-dug back in the 40s next to the owner’s home. Though the well was filled in, it needed to be tested for asbestos since well bricks of that era often had asbestos. In addition, a “truck farm” was located adjoining to this property. A truck farm is a vegetable farm that hauls off their produce with…trucks. They are often contaminated due to the pesticides and herbicides used historically.               

Drums were found at an industrial site in the garbage collection area. No one would lay claim to them – therefore, the owner is responsible since they are on his property. He needed to call a waste oil company to have them tested and removed.

The owners of this old building requested an environmental site assessment. It had been used as a house, apartments, and now offices.

This is a “closed well”. This would have had a pump, water tank and electric supply associated with it. Since it is closed, those have all been removed.

This site was clean – supposedly. When they went to build it, they came upon a waste pile by the footers. Unlike a regular landfill where you know what has been dumped, this type of find has no records associated with it. Questions arise, such as the length of use as a dump, who used it, and what had been deposited there. What was found was 2 dozen batteries that will leach lead into the ground over time.

Electric boxes are known to contain mineral oil, which used to have Polychlorinated bi-phenyl (PCB) to prevent the oil from degrading. Newer electric boxes, like this one, have a statement showing that they don’t have PCBs. In the environmental arena, you are guilty until proven innocent. Unless it has a sticker stating it has been tested or does not contain PCBs, it is considered contaminated. Look closely at the upper right corner of the box. That sticker states something to the effect of disclaiming PCBs.

Nice office building on NE corner of Swan and 5th, across from Rincon High School. In the 50s, it was a gas station. Tanks were reported to have been removed, but records were not clear and an inspection needed to be done.

This is what a typical water well and tank look like on a property. This one isn’t being used so it should be “closed”, but this often isn’t done due to the cost involved.

Staining on wall…what caused the stain? SASA will leave no stone unturned... or no stain a mystery!