I ordered a Phase 1 and it came back with a “Recognized Environmental Condition.” The state in which it is located has a superfund that is paying for the remediation since it was due to underground storage tanks from a gas station next door. I’m uncomfortable moving forward at the moment. Is there any more light anybody can shed on this? My biggest concern is that it will hurt the resell value moving forward. I’m being told by an environmental expert that it is very unlikely that I will have any liability under the “contiguous property protection under CERCLA.” The expert is also telling me that there is $2,000,000 that the state has allocated to cleaning this up and the state has only used $600,000 and the results are pretty positive so far and that it is no on a low priority list due to the levels of petroleum in the ground water improving.
I had a situation where underground oil tanks used for heating homes had leaked. One of the previous park owners had the old oil tanks removed, had the contaminated soil removed and registered the work with the state - and ultimately got a clean bill of health from the state. The phase one noted this and also provide me with a clean bill of health…
If you like the deal and can get the mess properly cleaned and signed off by the state (make sure the work is done by a certified professional, soil samples are done to confirm that it’s clean, etc) I don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t move forward. If your park uses a well for its water source I’d think twice about moving forward however.
There are also certificates you can get from your state called “Innocent Owner” that ensure liability is not on you - need to check but I believe can pass with the property.
For re-sale these items do scare some people off irrespective of whether all of the liability items are addressed. I would use this as a bargaining chip to get a better deal if this is in your risk wheelhouse.