SCS Engineers has been awarded Phase 1 and Phase 2 on-call brownfield services for the City of Tucson. Voluntary Remediation Programs encourage property owners and other interested parties to invest resources voluntarily to restore contaminated sites as quickly as possible to healthful standards. Often these sites are in now historically significant neighborhoods with excellent infrastructure.
Remediation of Historic Properties
In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency selected Tucson for a $1 million grant to focus on the neighborhoods of La Doce, Thrive in the O5, Barrio Centro/Julia Keen Neighborhood, and Downtown Tucson/Historic Barrios. The areas were chosen because of their economic and cultural significance to the community and redevelopment potential. Priority sites include a vacant former fueling station, a vacant former private school, a transit center, and an adjacent parking lot.
SCS offers full services such as assessment, cleanup planning, remediation, and regulatory closure of properties participating in grant-funded activities and properties owned or redeveloped by the City.
“Our team has deep experience in brownfield environmental services and understands the complexities involved to remediate property successfully,” said Iain Olness, senior project manager at SCS Engineers’ Tempe office. “We are honored to work with local governments across Arizona to return sites into economic drivers for their communities.”
When Virtual Care Providers, Inc. (VCPI) set out to sell their company, David Bartlett, VCPI Chief Financial Officer, thought they had their environmental due diligence squared away. “We did our due diligence in 2006 when we purchased the property,” said Bartlett. “Unfortunately we discovered that the original Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) missed some potential issues.”
To complete the sale, VCPI needed to conduct a new Phase 1 assessment. That’s when David hired SCS Engineers to help VCPI through the environmental due diligence process. “When Ray Tierney and his team went through the Phase 1 process, they discovered there was something there. The original Phase 1 from our prior consultant missed some things.”
Long before it was a data center, the property owner used hazardous chemicals in their manufacturing process. As part of that process, they stored some of the chemicals on the exterior of the property. Although the chemicals had been removed long ago, some of them had spilled onto unpaved areas. While VCPI had no knowledge of the property’s prior use when they bought it, SCS Engineers uncovered detailed records and photos of the chemical storage in state agency files.
“Of course the parties involved in the sale were concerned about these past issues and the impact they could have on the sale and ongoing use of the property,” Bartlett confirmed. “We initiated a Phase 2 to gain clarification. Then we worked with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to get the property closed.” In the end, no active remediation was required. However, these steps were necessary to get the WDNR to grant site closure.
“Being in this situation was painful,” Bartlett admitted. “But SCS Engineers’ integrity shone through in every step and was absolutely critical. Everyone that I worked with at SCS Engineers gave us peace of mind that the steps we took weren’t just to pad pocketbooks. Ray’s team showed us how each step in the process was necessary to get us past the problems, on to resolution, and on to the successful sale of our company. I completely trusted the information SCS Engineers gave us.”
“Without Ray and his team, we never would have been able to expedite the process. We simply didn’t have the connections or the relationships with the WDNR to move it along. SCS Engineers’ familiarity with the process and relationships with the WDNR really helped speed us to resolution, which allowed us to move forward with the sale of our business.”
“I don’t know what would have happened or how long it would have taken without SCS Engineers’ expertise. The depth and breadth of their knowledge shed light on issues I wasn’t aware of. Not only did Ray’s team help us uncover the issues, they gave us a plan to determine the extent of those issues and helped show us how to move past them. Their expertise, knowledge, and guidance were critical.”
VCPI kept the sale of their business on track and closed on December 22, 2016.
Thank you for your kind letter, Mr. Bartlett. We were happy to help resolve the issues leading to the sale and the safe ongoing use of the property by its new owner.
“I was afraid a consultant might give into the temptation to recommend extreme measures for personal financial gain, but SCS Engineers is not like that. They gave me and my buyers just what we needed.” ─ Patti Filkins | Mt. Horeb, WI
Today’s commercial real estate transactions both large and small must take environmental issues into consideration. Complex laws and rules can impose significant environmental liabilities on purchasers, sellers, and lenders, whether or not they caused an environmental problem, and whether or not they still own the property.
SCS’s nationwide presence and expertise make us the consultant of choice for companies requiring environmental due diligence on portfolios of properties with multiple locations throughout the country that require a quick turnaround. We have the capacity to expedite multiple, concurrent investigations, giving the parties adequate time to make informed decisions regarding potential liabilities.
We also serve individuals, like Patti Filkins (link to testimonial). SCS Engineers has conducted thousands of environmental assessments in connection with business transactions throughout North America and around the world. We offer a range of due diligence services, from Desktop Reviews to Phase I Environmental Site Assessments to Environmental Regulatory Compliance Reviews, for all types of assets. SCS has particular expertise in solid waste facilities and specialized industrial and manufacturing operations.
We have considerable experience supporting environmental due diligence for corporate mergers and acquisitions. SCS is particularly valuable evaluating environmental and operational risks to supporting private equity recapitalization used to fund solid waste infrastructure expansion.
Our staff includes engineers, geologists, hydrogeologists, risk assessment specialists, real estate experts, and other environmental professionals. Environmental regulation is complex. No matter how big or small the property, approaches to addressing hazardous substance contamination must satisfy local, state, and Federal requirements.
Lenders, insurance companies, buyers, and sellers trust our professionals to know and perform what is necessary to make a property safe and always within environmental compliance guidelines and the law.
Learn more about these services at SCS. Each link takes you to our services and related case studies, articles, and events:
Simply have a question? Contact our technical and business professionals at .
