SRW Environmental Consulting LLC in Rochester was hired by an investment company around 2000 to address environmental issues at one of the hundreds of properties bought on the cheap at auction without conducting a single environmental assessment. Todd Scheffer, a principal with SRW, says the investment firm figured it would rather pay to remediate any individual issues than fork over $200,000 for 100 assessments to find out there weren’t any issues. The problem, he says, is one of the properties had chlorine and petroleum contamination that ended up being too extensive for SRW, and Scheffer estimates it probably cost the client more than $500,000 to address.
That cautionary tale is why environmental consultants say it’s critical to bring them in early to identify and mitigate environmental hazards before they doom construction projects already underway or lead to real estate buyer’s remorse.
Between state and federal laws, there are nearly 50 environmental regulations to consider when beginning a new commercial construction or renovation project, according to the National Resources Defense Counsel. Even if they don’t all apply to a project, it’s still a regulatory nightmare to keep straight with significant consequences for companies that don’t comply.
While those rules have some companies seeing red, they generate plenty of green for environmental consultants. Revenue at U.S. environmental consulting firms is projected to climb 19 percent by 2020, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Globally, environmental consulting firms grew revenue by 4.7 percent, on average, in 2012, according to the UK-based Environment Analyst 2013 Market Trends Survey of more than 350 participants. It found those firms plan to grow their workforce by 8 percent or more in 2013 and 2014.
Many environmental consulting firms offer a variety of services, but specialize in one or two. These services can include assessing land for contamination, conducting environmental impact assessments, energy checks, flood risk assessments, asbestos remediation, and indoor air quality checks, among others.
What’s in the Ground?
Most construction projects rely on reports generated by consultants to secure the bank loans. Banks want to make sure that a project is compliant with environmental regulations. Environmental consultants also give construction managers an idea of what the property is like before it is purchased, developed or renovated. “I have had projects where the presence of recognized environmental conditions derails a project,” Scheffer says. “When this happens, I feel badly that I am the one to derail a promising project, but on the other [hand] I feel good that I saved the client and investors from an unsuitable property, which is, in fact, why people hire me.”
Companies must properly address and manage soil or groundwater contaminated by oil and other waste products before a project can get underway, says Russ Lagueux, president of EnviroSense Consulting in Londonderry. He says remediation can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars if there is a small spill on a property that is caught quickly to several hundred thousand dollars for a long-standing, ongoing leak.
One common service provided by consultants is preliminary site assessment to determine whether a property is worth the money, and it may be mandatory for securing permits to begin work. For a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment, a consultant will examine the history of the building or site, check its’ environmental compliance history, and check the site for potential hazards and other issues, says Scheffer. If the consultant finds potential contamination or other problem, he or she moves on to a Phase 2 Assessment and actual testing.
Scheffer says his firm was recently called in to assess a former shoe factory in Dover. The $9.8 million renovation will transform the brick building into 42 units of low-income housing called Woodbury Mill. SRW found old underground heating-oil tanks and aboveground waste-oil tanks that posed an environmental threat. The tanks ended up being removed and the potential contamination was mitigated, allowing investors and state regulators to give the project the green light.
Renovating Older Buildings
Old mill buildings have been getting new life during the past decade, but such renovation and restoration projects come with their own environmental pitfalls as building codes have evolved and become stricter during the long lifetime of these buildings. It is common to find lead paint and asbestos, as well as issues with air quality, in older buildings.
Among the most requested services environmental consultants receive for such projects is asbestos management and remediation, says Dennis Francoeur, a certified industrial hygienist with RPF Environmental Testing and Consulting Services in Northwood.
Francoeur’s firm has many asbestos and air quality contracts for state buildings ranging in value from $1,000 to $25,000. His firm also recently tested and oversaw the removal of asbestos at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. “We’re routinely out there,” he says. “That dates back to the 1800s when they historically used a lot of asbestos.” He notes asbestos was used in products and buildings as late as the 1980s, so even newer buildings need to be examined.
Once found, whether it’s asbestos or another hazard—such as lead paint or PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls), consultants typically develop a plan to remove or safely manage in place the materials. Penalties for noncompliance range from $2,000 to $25,000, according to Mark Ledgard, the compliance and enforcement program manager with the NH Department of Environmental Services. Ledgard says the state likes to work with companies to prevent problems through education and remediate problems when they happen. When asbestos is found in a project that is underway, he says the project is shut down until there is an inspection and corrective action plan completed.
Air quality permitting is another important part of construction. Ron Guerin, president of Calex Environmental Engineering in Colebrook, is testing a Southern NH power generation facility for an air quality permit so it can renew its license. To do that, Guerin creates a computer program loaded with the layout and details of the building to determine what is being emitted and at what levels, and where it is coming from.
Francoeur says RPF most recently fulfilled a large indoor air quality evaluation for the Alton School District. “For that one, there were some questions from some of the parents wanting us to test for carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, radon, particulate levels, VOC’s (volatile organic compounds)—and those are pretty common for us to test for,” Francoeur says. “And actually the building was in pretty good shape.”
Guerin says indoor air quality testing related to occupational health and safety can cost from $1,000 to $10,000 while testing related to environmental compliance, often referred to as stack testing, could run from $2,500 to $5,000, and testing larger boilers could cost $5,000 to $25,000 or more depending the testing protocols and the chemicals to be tested.