Phase II Environmental Site Assessment and Site Characterization
The Phase II Environmental Site Assessment is generally considered the second step in the process of environmental due diligence. If a Phase I ESA identifies a Recognized Environmental Condition (REC) as defined by ASTM Standard E1527-05, a Phase II ESA may be necessary based on lending or other property 
transaction requirements. Previous or existing property use that can typically create the need for a Phase II ESA include gas stations, dry cleaners, machine shops, metal plating and processing, manufacturing, hazardous materials or waste storage, etc. The Phase II ESA includes sampling of environmental media (soil, soil gas and groundwater) and laboratory analysis to investigate the presence of hazardous materials/contamination that may be associated with the REC. The Phase II ESA should outline additional site investigation needs and potential remedial actions that may be required to clean-up the property.
For real estate transactions, the Phase II ESA is generally limited to an initial screen of environmental media in order to confirm whether or not a property is contaminated. If contamination is found to exceed federal, state or local cleanup or human-health risk standards, a Site Contamination Characterization may be required to establish the vertical and lateral extent of contamination. Contact and consultation with an oversight agency will be necessary if a "no further action" (NFA) letter is necessary as part of the transaction. EMS has extensive experience in assistance our clients with negotiating and establishing voluntary cleanup 
agreements with oversight agencies that are have specific, measurable and attainable objectives which are relevant to our client's needs and resources.
No Phase II ESA can eliminate all uncertainty associated with potential contamination. The quality of the Phase II ESA is entirely dependent on the expertise and experience of the personnel performing the assessment. Professional judgment and interpretation are inherent in the process. EMS provides our clients with over 20 years of performing simple to highly complex Phase II ESAs ranging from small business owners to Fortune 500 companies. Our Phase II ESAs are comprehensive and provide the highest level of reliability and legal defensibility for our clients. Depending on the scope of the environmental condition, Phase II ESAs and Site Contamination Characterizations performed by EMS can include the following items:
- Soil boring installation
- Monitoring well installation
- Soil and groundwater sampling and analysis
- Soil gas probe installation and sampling and analysis
- Indoor and outdoor air sampling and analysis
- Geophysical assessment including ground penetrating radar (GPR)
- Receptor surveys and health risk evaluation
- Contaminant pathway evaluation
- Fate and transport evaluation
- Natural attenuation modeling and evaluation
- Data collection and analysis Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) evaluation